Chapter 18 One Good Thing #4
She stopped slowly, of course after pulling me damn near down her throat one more time, then smiled and pulled me onto the bed with her, I settled in between her thighs again, breathing hard to try and regain control of myself.
Cassie had other plans. She reached down and guided me into her, and the moment the tip pressed in I almost came right there.
I moved inch by inch, trying to go slow enough that I wouldn’t lose control.
“Ian, put it in.” Cassie whispered, the begging in her tone was too much for me.
Apparently, I didn’t move fast enough, because Cassie arched her back up and made the decision for both of us and I pushed all the way in with a groan I should have been ashamed of.
“God Cassie. You feel…” I stopped talking and thrusted into her, pushing into the arching of her back, to the depth that we were both clearly craving. “Cassie, I have no words for how good you feel”
She laughed breathlessly. “You never have words Ian.”
The friction was maddening as I slid in and out, hard and deep, but keeping her injured shoulder in mind so I didn’t cause any more damage. The sensation was blinding. Everytime I pushed inside, I hit a spot that made her gasp and dig her nails into my shoulder.
“Yes,” she breathed, her head falling back against the pillows. “Don’t stop.”
I had no intention of stopping. Possibly ever. I was closer to her than I had dared to dream would ever happen. Closer to her now than I had ever been to anyone before, and I’d be damned if I’d lose that now.
I let out a low growl, unable to contain myself anymore, and thrusted into her over and over, grinding into a rhythm that drove us both closer and closer to the edge.
Her pleasure began flooding the bond and my senses, and I know she could feel mine right back when her eyes widened and locked on mine with shock and pure unrestrained desire.
“Ian,” she whimpered, nails digging deep enough into my shoulder to break skin, “ I’m going to…”
I didn’t slow down, I pushed deeper and faster into her, the motion between us so seamless that it felt like one. The bond flared between us again, blindingly bright and hot, amplifying every sensation, every touch, every stroke.
She buried her face into my neck to muffle her scream while she came, back arching off the mattress and wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her.
She clenched around me, and the pulsing of her body sent me over the edge.
I thrust one last time, deep and hard, and felt myself swell inside her as I came, burying my face deep into her hair as I held us both through the last of the waves.
For a long, timeless moment, neither of us moved.
I was still inside of her, my body heavy and hot, my heart racing against her chest. The world outside the window seemed to fade away, leaving only the sound of our ragged breathing.
I shifted my weight carefully, to avoid the mark, keeping inside of her, but settling down with her, pulling her flush against my chest as she half straddled me, also unwilling for me to pull out just yet.
For once, there was no council, no hunt, no false mark, and no full moon waiting to decide what we were.
There was Cassie with me, alive and fierce and choosing. There was my body answering hers. There was the wolf inside me silent for the first time since the bite because the woman in my arms had not been taken. She had come to me.
I kept my mouth against the safe side of her neck while her breathing slowed. The mark had gone quiet beneath her skin, not asleep, but settled in a way I had no word for that didn’t frighten me.
Cassie’s fingers moved through my hair, slow and tired. “If you say something noble now, I’m pushing you off the bed.”
I lifted my head. Her eyes were half closed. Her mouth was swollen. Color had come back to her face. The bandage was safe, and she looked more alive than she had since the moment she fell into the circle.
“I was going to ask if you are hurt,” I said.
“That is allowed.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“Manageable.”
“Regret?”
Her eyes opened fully. “No.”
The answer entered the bond cleanly enough that I felt it before the word finished.
My chest hurt. I didn’t deserve that answer, but she had not offered it for me to deserve.
She had offered it because it was true. I pulled myself out of her, but kept close enough that she could choose the distance.
She chose none. She turned carefully onto her uninjured side and put her hand over my heart again.
The same place. Always that place.
“I’m still scared,” she said.
“I know.”
“I still might be furious tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“This does not mean I forgive the bite.”
“I know.”
Her fingers pressed lightly against my chest. “But this was mine.”
I covered her hand with mine. “Yes.”
Outside, the ocean moved in the dark. Inside, Cassie closed her eyes with her hand over my heart and the mark warm between us.
Tomorrow night, I would hunt her in front of wolves who wanted her dead. Tonight, she slept because she had chosen.