24. Leviathan
LEVIATHAN
Iwatched June walk back to the kitchen. Once she was inside, I turned back to the painting of Naphele.
“I miss you,” I said. “I wish you were here. I wish I could talk to you, ask for your advice.”
What I wanted to ask was whether she would approve of me being with June.
I’d spent all these years trying to find a carbon copy of Naphele.
My hopes and dreams had been to come across her reincarnation, and that she’d be exactly the same, but with a different face.
That wasn’t the case. I had almost no doubt that June was Naphele’s reincarnation.
June reminded me of her in some ways, but in others she was so different that it was hard to see the comparison.
I also had that strange pull when I was near her.
That subtle connection reminded me of the fated mate connection I’d felt when I met Naphele.
Part of me was excited to build something new with June, but a deeper, more bitter part was hesitant and afraid of neglecting Naphele’s memory.
“This isn’t as easy as I always thought it would be,” I said. Naphele’s picture gazed back at me, silent and calm. Apparently, you could still be na?ve about things when you were more than a hundred years old.
None of those thoughts dimmed my desire for June. I took the painting and stashed it back in my closet, handling it as delicately as always. When I closed the door, there was a finality about it that made me uneasy, but I hurried off to meet up with Rainier before the feeling could seep any deeper.
That evening, after dinner, I sat in my living room, alternating between sketching and reading a book by the low light of the fireplace and the lone lamp I had lit. When the knock came at the door, I nearly leapt to my feet in anticipation.
Opening the door, I found June outside, but a different June than I’d ever seen before. Rather than looking somewhat embarrassed or hesitant, she smiled at me and stepped in, gently brushing by me, grazing my chest with her arm. A new confidence surrounded her.
“Hey,” I said, closing the door.
“Hey.”
She put her hand on my chest, sliding it down to my stomach. The sexy and seductive look she gave me stole my breath. It seemed she’d learned a few things. Her fingers moved lower, then tugged at my belt.
“Are we going to talk, or are we going to do what we both want to do?” she whispered.
Every ounce of air left my lungs, and my cock went rock hard.
Our earlier talk must have helped her shed all the uncertainty and shyness she’d had since I met her.
It was as if admitting to herself what she truly wanted had opened a door inside her, allowing her to discard the bullshit that had weighed her down.
I growled deep in my chest, and June grinned.
“Is that a yes?””
“Yes,” I snarled, crashing my mouth to hers.
Her lips parted, and her tongue flicked over mine. My cock ached to be freed. She pressed her body against me, grinding against my erection. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything.
Pulling away, June looked up into my eyes, her lips glistening from our kiss. “Take me to bed, Levi.”
I scooped her into my arms and carried her to my room. She kissed my neck, and her warm lips on my skin had my desire for her skyrocketing even higher.
I laid her down on the bed, kissing her greedily as she worked at my belt. Something tingled at the back of my neck, a pleasurable yet confusing sensation of acknowledgment that I didn’t understand. Too consumed by need for her to think about it, I tore at her clothes while she tore at mine.
Her pale skin flushed as I kissed her sternum and cupped her breasts. June sighed, running her hands through my hair, allowing me to move lower, trailing kisses down her stomach then back up to her neck.
“I want you,” she whispered as I suckled at her earlobe.
My inner wolf snarled and growled in unrestrained desire, yearning to do exactly what she asked. His need was powerful, almost palpable. I had to blink a few times to clear my head as he attempted to take full control.
A breath shuddered out of me when June turned on her side and wrapped her fingers around my shaft, stroking slowly.
“I’ve never done this before,” she said, smiling up at me. “Let me know how I do.”
Before I could ask what she meant, her mouth was on me. Her moan of pleasure caused a low vibration to rumble along my cock. I gasped as she bobbed her head, her cheeks hollowing out as she increased her pace.
“Fuck, that feels so good,” I groaned, thrusting my hips.
Leaning forward, I clutched her ass, squeezing the round cheeks, delighting in how soft and inviting every part of her body was while she made me feel so good.
Spreading her apart, I slipped a finger into her, drawing another moan from her.
She was soaking wet, and I wanted that heat around my cock.
Dazed with pleasure, I pulled myself free of her mouth. “I need to be inside you.”
“You were inside me,” she said, giving me a coquettish grin.
“You know what I mean.”
June giggled as I pushed her onto her back, her hair falling across her face as she spread her legs for me.
Brushing the stray strands from her eyes, she looked up at me, and that unmistakable connection pierced into my very soul, attaching me to her.
I’d only experienced that feeling once before, and a memory of it bounced through my mind as I plunged into her body.
June’s guttural moan fed my desire. She clenched around me, making me dizzy with pleasure. Rather than thrusting into her, I pushed as deep as I could go, filling her with every inch of my cock.
When our lips met, I rocked against her, rubbing my pubic bone against her clit. God, she felt so good. My wolf howled deep in my mind, making it hard to think of anything. A single word thrummed in my skull, deep in my subconscious. Mate.
June must have felt something too. She broke the kiss. “Do you…feel that?”
Words wouldn’t come; I couldn’t get them to form.
The first time I was with her had been frantic and explosive, a connection tentatively made.
This time? It was deeper, more complete.
Even though she didn’t have a connection with her inner wolf, she could sense it.
She could sense the fated mate connection. She was my fated mate, and I was hers.
I nodded. “I do,” I moaned. “I feel it.”
June kissed me again, and this time I thrust into her, again and again. Nothing could compare to this. She was amazing.
“I’m gonna come,” she gasped, reaching a hand down between us to rub at her clit. “Harder. I want it harder.”
“Fuck,” I groaned and sat up on my knees, grabbing her hips and slamming into her.
My own orgasm built rapidly, the pleasure her body gave me mixing with the delight I felt at making her feel good. After a few moments, June’s body tensed as her climax shuddered through her.
“Oh, God,” she cried. “Levi.”
“That’s right, baby,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “Come for me. I love watching you come.”
She let out a gasping groan as another orgasm shattered her.
Digging her heels into my ass, she pulled me in deeper, her hands clawing at the sheets.
The pressure building in my balls suddenly let loose, and a flood of ecstasy burst outward, slamming into me with explosive, mind-bending force.
I couldn’t even speak; all I could do was release a guttural cry of pleasure as I emptied myself inside her.
I collapsed onto her, curling my arms around her. Our sweat-slicked bodies sticking together. My wolf howled in joy at having found our mate again.
After all these years, I had someone again.