Leviathan
Ispotted June running into the forest, grinning when I saw her shift. Her wolf was beautiful. Graceful and lean. I’d been sitting there thinking of how I could prove to her that I really did want her and not Naphele.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I leapt off my porch, shifting mid-jump, and raced after her.
The trees and shrubs like crooked naked fingers in the winter season, clawing at my fur as I went.
The cold air was nothing compared to the heat burning within me, a hot desire to make June see, to help her understand that I really did want her.
June’s scent wafted through the air, easy to identify and follow. It didn’t take long to find her. She’d only gone as far as the creek where we fished. She was in her human form, throwing rocks into the water.
“I smelled you coming,” she said, calling to me without looking my way. She tossed another rock. “My senses are a lot better now that I can shift.”
After shifting to my human form, I walked toward her. For the first time in a hundred years, Naphele was far from my mind, almost totally pushed away into the deepest recesses of my mind. All I could think about was June.
“June, I’m sorry for everything. All of it,” I said.
Thankfully, she didn’t continue to ignore me. She tossed her last stone, then turned around, her face a mask of anxiety and worry. I didn’t like that look, but it still gave me hope. It meant her mind wasn’t totally made up yet.
“What do you want to say?” she asked, clenching her fingers together.
“Can you walk with me?”
June glanced back at the creek, then sighed. “Okay. Sure.”
We slowly strolled back to Hidden Grove.
“I want you as my mate. I know I’ve said that before, but it’s the truth. I can’t make it any plainer than that. I’ll do anything to prove myself to you. I’ll grovel if you want.”
“Don’t grovel,” she said, rolling her eyes and smiling weakly. “It’s unbecoming of an alpha.”
I smiled back. “Fair enough.”
“I don’t know if I can accept that,” she said.
“You can say you want me, but I can’t see into your mind.
I can’t be with you if you’re still hung up on Naphele.
A relationship doesn’t work that way. You can’t be with one person while you’re pining for another.
It’s not cheating, but it’s pretty damn close. ”
“I understand that,” I said. “I’ve thought about this.
I’ve had a lot of internal stuff going on, and that’s not fair to you.
I’ve spent a hundred years chasing this dream.
I know that it’s not going to happen. I’ve come to terms with that.
Naphele was a dream I held on to due to heartbreak and sadness.
Longing, I guess you could say. Longing for something I had that I’d never have again.
I’ve put it behind me. I’m ready for the future.
” I tilted my head to look into her eyes as we walked.
“A future with you. I love you, June. That’s the truth. ”
She gazed back into my eyes, searching for something. For a moment, it felt like she was staring all the way into my soul.
As the buildings became visible through the trees, June glanced at the watch on her left wrist.
“You got somewhere to be?” I asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
“What? No. It’s nothing. Just checking the time.” She ran her palms across her shirt, either smoothing it down or wiping sweat from her hands; I wasn’t sure which. “Levi, it’s easy to say you’ve changed, but it’s more difficult to actually change. Right?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I get that, and you’re right. There’s no way to truly prove it to you other than to show you.”
Turning to fully face her, I took her hands in mine, her fingers chilly and soft against my skin.
“June, please look at me.”
She did, and the sadness I saw in her eyes made my heart ache. My wolf whined. He didn’t like that we were the reason she felt like this.
“I love you more than anything,” I said. “Since the day I met you, I knew you were special—”
“Because of Naphele.”
“No. That’s not true. I understood you were your own person.
It confused me because I did hope that if I found her again, she’d be the exact same person.
You proved that you were an entirely new and special woman.
One I fell for.” I was trying to speak from my heart, digging up every word that could convey my feelings.
“You are Juniper Hollis. You are the woman I love. No one else, alive or dead, can change that or take me from you. Please believe me when I say that. I am yours and you are mine. Be with me. I want you, and I want you to want me too. Forever.”
Her face softened, and her shoulders sagged. It looked like a heavy weight had been removed from her shoulders, and a small burst of excitement filled me. Maybe I was getting through to her. Hopefully. A small smile formed on her lips, one that was less sad and more optimistic.
“I’ve always wanted someone to say that to me,” she whispered.
“I’ve always wanted someone who wanted me for me.
” She pulled one of her hands away and brushed her lips, a blush rising to her cheeks.
“Do you know, after that night in the woods, when you kissed me? I spent months wondering what it might have been like if I’d asked you to take me with you.
Just lead me off into the forest. Is that silly? ”
“It’s not silly, but I was a different man then. I wouldn’t have been able to give you what you needed. Now I can. Now I will.”
She looked at me hopefully, and I could see her mind working. I waited for her to say what I longed to hear.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay. I’ll stay. I will.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I whooped and picked her up, spinning in a circle.
Laughing, she wrapped her arms around my neck.
When I put her down, I kissed her, a joy unlike anything I’d ever felt swelling in my chest. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this happy.
June kissed me back, sweetly at first, but then she ran her fingers through my hair, her tongue probing hungrily into my mouth.
Breaking the kiss, she licked her lower lip. “Do you want to go to your place?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Fingers interlaced, we ran to my cabin. Once we were inside, I kicked the door shut and pulled her to me. Her breasts pressed against my chest, pushing away the cold from outside. Both of us were trying to say what we couldn’t with words, using our bodies to speak the truth of our souls.
Still kissing her, I ran my hands down her body and unbuttoned her pants, a low growl rumbling through my chest. I was desperate to have her, to make her feel good, to make her come like she never had before.
She was my life now. My fingers grazed the top of her panties, and I slid them inside, brushing her clit.
June gasped, pulling her lips from mine, and rested her head on my chest, as I circled her with my fingers. She moaned into my shirt, her hands clutching my shoulders.
“I love you,” I whispered. Pulling my hand away, I scooped her into my arms and carried her to my bedroom.
I gently set her down on the bed, like the gift she was, and knelt on the floor as I tugged her pants down her legs.
June panted and twisted, tugging her shirt off over her head.
Her breasts were covered in gooseflesh as she tossed her clothes aside.
I looked at her the way a starving animal looked at a meal.
That milky skin of hers begged to be caressed.
Her hard nipples begged to sucked. She was a gift, a glorious beauty I wanted to hold forever in my arms.
Slipping my fingers into the waistband of her panties, I slid them down, achingly slow, kissing her inner thighs and knees as I did.
“Oh, God,” she moaned, throwing her head back as I trailed kisses up her legs until I could feel the heat radiating off her pussy. Suckling at soft flesh only an inch away, I swirled my tongue and gripped her legs, feeling every inch of her, ecstatic to have her once and for all.
Unable to help myself any longer, I slid my tongue across her, tasting the musky sweetness of her. Using my fingers to spread her apart, I slipped my tongue deep into her, the heat of her pussy melding with the heat of my mouth. She tasted like honey, like sex. She tasted like home.