CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Kayla
My orgasm explodes outwards like a supernova, making every nerve ending in my body sing with pleasure.
“I love you, my Kayla, my witchy beauty.” Shadow thrusts into me, his gorgeous face hovering above mine, love shining in his eyes. “I love you so much.”
Finally being with Shadow feels transcendent. All of the build-up of the past several weeks comes to a head: having admitted I love him, hearing him say he loves me, and being able to be together without worrying about the consummation clause…
I’ve never felt freer in my life!
Free to love him. Free to feel everything.
“I love you!” I cry out and cling to him, loving the sensation of his weight on top of me, loving the musky wild scent of his clean sweat layered over forest and pine.
Loving the way he fills me over and over.
I still want more.
His aphrodisiac seed burns through me, setting me alight all over again, and I tighten around him.
He groans, the sound so deep it vibrates through me. “Do that again.”
So I do, over and over, squeezing at the end of every deep thrust, sending pulses of tingling warmth radiating outward. We rock together, pressed as close as two people can be, lost in each other.
Shadow tosses his long hair back out of the way and brushes a lock of mine from my face so we can see each other. He holds my gaze as we continue to move, and I feel like he’s seeing straight into my heart. I could fall into those gorgeous green eyes, so full of warmth and love and desire.
“I love you.” He murmurs with every thrust. “I love you so much.”
I’ve never felt so special, so cherished. Emotion fills my throat, and I have to swallow several times before I can whisper it back. “I love you, too.”
He kisses me, nipping at my lips with his fangs until I open for him, then whispers directly into my mouth, “Are you close? Would you like a toy?”
I can’t bear the thought of him needing to hold himself away from me to make room for a toy. I dig my heels into the backs of his thighs and shift my hips, changing the angle slightly until he rocks against my clit. “Please stay just like that. I’m close.”
So close, the warm tingling building with every thrust.
I let it carry me up and away, riding a high of pleasure that builds and builds until I’m bursting. “Shadow!” I scream, my muscles locking around him as my entire body shudders with delight.
“Kayla!” His hips snap forward, burying him deeper than ever as he roars and continues to press me into the mattress.
There’s a growing pressure, stretching me like I’ve never been stretched before, and I come again, moaning, my toes curling. “Oh, god.”
“Goddess, Kayla. Feel that?” He bounces inside of me, but can’t go far, stopped by a hard ball that tugs at my entrance. “That’s my knot. You’re my mate, just as I always thought.”
My muscles clamp down, and he grunts, hips jerking, as another round of aftershocks races through me.
“It’s even bigger than your werepanther form,” I pant. I’ve never felt so full. Sex has never felt so right.
“You never felt my full werepanther knot. The one I have upon climax is even bigger.”
“Bigger? Oh, god.”
He hears the need in my voice and chuckles, rich and deep and wicked. “Tomorrow, my witchy beauty. You’re locked to me now for at least twelve hours.”
Shadow pushes up onto an arm, and I frown. There are two black marks on his chest, over his heart. “What’s this? That wasn’t there before.”
“They’re panther fangs,” he says, his voice full of awe.
“Okay, but how did you get a tattoo in the middle of sex?”
“You have them as well.” Amusement glitters in his eyes as his fingers brush over my skin with a tiny flash of discomfort that feels almost like a sunburn. “My fangs.”
I look down to see the fang marks on me, too. “What the…” He didn’t bite me, and even if he had, it wouldn’t make a tattoo.
“They’re our mate marks.” He cups my cheek. “They mean we’re not only mated, we’re also fated mates, destined to be together.”
“Fated, as in forever?”
“Longer than forever.” He grins.
My mouth opens and closes, but I’m too shocked to speak.
Shadow rolls onto his side, pulling me with him, his knot tugging at my entrance and making another round of aftershocks shiver through me. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” I nod. “I’m just trying to process it.”
“There’s only one thing you need to know.” He smiles and cups my cheek. “I’ll love you until the end of time and beyond.”
I thought it would be impossible to fall asleep while knotted to Shadow, but I sleep like the dead, all those orgasms making me the most relaxed I’ve been in my life.
I wake hours later, sprawled across him, still attached. The rich golden sunlight tells me it’s early evening, and birds sing happily.
When I stir, his knot tugs at my entrance, sending little shocks of pleasure rippling through me. I clench around him, and the feeling grows stronger.
“My wife.” Shadow’s deep voice sounds husky with sleep, but his green eyes glow up at me as his hands grip my butt. “Twelve hours is a long time. I wouldn’t want you to get bored. Why don’t we see what this knot can do?”
“Don’t you know?”
“My knot’s never formed for anyone before.” He grins. “Which means we’ve both got a new toy to explore.”
I can’t move far, but I don’t need to. Each movement, no matter how small, sends pleasure racing through me.
His hips lift as he bounces me on his knot. Shadow’s hands grip my hips, helping me ride him until we’re both crying out in climax.
We nap again, and the next time I wake, night has fallen, and moonlight floods the room through the open curtains.
Shadow rolls us onto our sides. His hand grips the back of my knee, pulling my top thigh over him and opening me wide.
He slips my smallest vibrator between us and flicks it to life, pulsing his hips forward so his knot moves inside of me.
The combined sensations send me flying over the edge in the fastest orgasm of my life.
We play for hours. That’s what sex is like with Shadow once he satisfies the burning intensity of our initial encounters: full of experimentation, full of joy. I fall deeper in love with him every time his dark, sinful chuckle fills the room as he discovers a new delight.
By the time his knot releases in the middle of the night, I’m happier than I’ve ever felt before. A deep contentment warms me from the inside out.
And love. So much love.
Shadow nuzzles my neck, sniffing deeply. “Have I ever told you how much I love your scent?”
“Maybe?” I tease. He totally has. “You might have to tell me a few more times, just to make sure it sticks.”
There’s that low, wicked laugh that makes my toes curl.
“I like this. I like being with you, being playful.” I swallow against the thickness in my throat. “I like that I can make you laugh. I’ve never had anything like this before, never felt comfortable enough to try.”
“I too have never had anything like this before. You’ve taught me that the best play occurs with someone I feel the most seriously about.” He picks up my hand to press a kiss to my palm, then interlaces our fingers. “I seriously love you.”
Joy and love fill my chest with overwhelming strength, feeling doubled.
“What is this?” I rub the mate mark covering my heart. “What am I feeling?”
“It’s our mate bond. It connects us. We share feelings through it.
” He presses my hand over his heart. “Every second we’ve been connected, I’ve felt the strength of your love for me, and it’s beautiful and true.
” Then he presses his palm to my chest. “And what you feel is my love for you. What does it feel like, my wife?’
“It feels so strong I can barely contain it, and it’s filled with the greatest joy I’ve ever known.”
“That’s it exactly.” He smiles. “That’s how I love you.”
Feeling how much he loves me chases away any last lingering doubts. I am worthy. I have a home and a family. I am loved.
“Oh, Shadow!” I throw my arms around him as he cups my face and kisses away my happy tears.