He leans close like he’s divulging a secret, amusement and tenderness lacing his tone. “I like doing anything with you. From watching you inspect every leaf you pick to dancing with you beneath the moon and stars.”
My chest swells with affection. Our slow dancing comes to a stop and I step into him.
“I love you,” I murmur.
His gaze softens, roving my face. “My heart. My mate. I love you with all that I am.”
He crooks his fingers, lifting my chin for a kiss. I melt against him. It’s full of passion and love, a kiss that touches me to the depths of my being, brushing the bond with his devotion to me. When we part, we remain close, his hot breath ghosting across my lips.
I meet his fathomless blue eyes. “Do we need to go back in there?”
“Not if you don’t want to.”
“Good.”
Taking his hand, I drag him in the direction of our quarters. He chuckles at my urgency, riling me up by locking an arm around my waist, drawing me back against his chest.
“Where are you going in such a hurry, mate?”
He clasps my throat in a loose hold, then guides my head back, kissing me until I’m swaying with dizziness. I tear away with a gasp.
“I want you.”
He nuzzles my neck, kissing his mating mark. “You have me. Always.”
I close my eyes, enjoying the tingles racing across my skin. Our fingers lace together over my stomach. I sigh contentedly, tethered by his embrace.
“Will you come with me?”
“There’s nowhere in this realm or any other I wouldn’t go with you.”
With one last kiss to my shoulder, he sweeps me into his arms, carrying me to our room. I laugh, tucking my nose against his throat, lashes fluttering in bliss as I drag in lungfuls of his spiced musk.
“I’m capable of walking,” I tease.
He rumbles with a smirk. “I like my way better.”
In our guest quarters, he sets me on my feet, circling me with a heady, gravelly vibration in his chest. My wolf responds. My fingertips slide beneath the lapels of his jacket, pushing it off. He touches his lips to my temple, undoing my dress.
I step out of it, backing away in nothing but lace panties. He matches me step for step, gaze hooded, stalking my retreat until my back hits the wall. Grasping my thighs, he lifts me, guiding my legs around his waist while I unbutton his shirt to get to his chest, splaying my hands over his firm pecs and chiseled abdomen.
We collide in a searing kiss. Our hands are all over each other. Mine in his hair, his skimming my sides and kneading my breast. He grinds his hardness right where I want him until I fall apart with a shuddering gasp.
He’s still wearing too many clothes. I tug at them without breaking the kiss. We manage to get his shirt half off while he kicks off his shoes.
His hands partially shift and he uses his claws to tear my panties off. My fingers slip on his pants and a desperate exhale blows out of me. He bats my hands aside and gets them open, then lines up without bothering to take them off.
My head tips back when he sinks in. He tucks my hair and kisses beneath my ear.
“Is that what you needed? Your mate’s cock filling your pussy?”
I nod, unable to form words. He flashes me a handsome lopsided smile, resting his forehead against mine. It’s so divine when he moves.
“You feel so good,” he says reverently. “So perfect for me.”
Everything feels more intense than usual. I’m not sure if it’s the magic surrounding us in this sacred landmark, but I’m ready to come again, my core taut with quivering pleasure every time his cock glides inside.
When he stops moving, I nearly claw him. He hushes me with a kiss, keeping me supported while stripping off his pants. Then there’s nothing left between us. He adjusts his grip on me, pinning me to the wall to fuck me.
Yes. This is what I needed.
I writhe against him, pleading for harder, faster, more. He meets my demands.
Fucking Fates, his scent. It’s incredible. Mooring me, bursting on my tongue. He’s a warm crackling fire and the most refreshing drink of spring water. He’s the forest all around me.
He’s home—my home.
My chest vibrates with a rough noise. I bury my face in the crook of his neck.
Instinct takes over. The faint rumble grows into a possessive growl that rolls on continuously as I scent him, dragging in rich cedarwood and feeling the misty kiss of the falls on my skin. My fangs descend and my nails shift into claws, pricking his skin in my urge to get closer.
Caden releases a husky laugh tinged with desire. “Fuck, that’s hot. You’re getting so loud, mate. You’ll let every pack here know you’re claiming me.”
Claim. Yes. That’s what I want. I need him. He’s mine. My mate. I want to mark him.
“Caden,” I plead.
“I know. Come here.” He holds me close with ease in his strong arms, backing us from the wall while he’s inside me. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m yours, mate. Always yours.”
“Yes.”
Need unlike any I’ve ever known surges through me. I need to claim him. Now.
I kiss him hard, cutting his lip with my sharp canines. He doesn’t care, grinning into it, guiding us to the bed.
“Mine,” he rasps against my mouth. “My stunning mate. I want to watch you ride me.”
My core throbs with desire. I sit up, giving an experimental rotation of my hips. My teeth rake my lip at the way his cock hits me deeper and the delicious friction on my clit. He kneads my hips and thighs, pinning me with a heavy-lidded smoky gaze, his wolf purring in approval when I find my rhythm.
“Does it feel good?” He skims a palm up my inner thigh, finding my clit.
I nod with a whimper. He strokes the bond at the same pace he’s rubbing my clit until I throw my head back, mouth open with a silent cry of ecstasy. My hips circle, riding out my release, lit up by how deep he’s buried in me.
I collapse against his chest and he takes control, thrusting into me at a new angle that tears another gasp from me. I’m going to come again, the pressure builds in a crescendo, his cock hitting me at the perfect spot.
My mouth clamps over his sinewy shoulder to muffle my scream. The urge returns with a force, the bond expanding around my heart in a warm glow.
Mine, mine, mine, it chants. My wolf agrees.
“Mark me as yours,” he commands.
There’s a mark already there. My wolf freaks out. We are fated. He is hers. He cannot belong to another.
He doesn’t. They’re his scars from trying to protect his father from mine. My heart clenches. I kiss the faint ragged lines left by claw marks.
Caden shudders, arms locking around me to hold me tighter. We fought the Fates’ design and still found our way back to each other. Our past can’t haunt us anymore. We only have our future together, bound and mated.
My bite covers the old scars, teeth piercing his skin. He groans, cradling the back of my head, uttering encouragement. His cock jerks, buried inside me.
I lick the mark, empowered by the way it makes him twitch with pleasure. His fingers sink into my hair.
“Mine,” I hiss against the healing wound.
His grip flexes on me and his hips jolt with a sharp thrust. Biting out a curse, he yanks me into a kiss. I swallow his groan as he comes.
The bond thrums between us with a burst of magic, the electric sparks intoxicating and wonderful. Then it settles. I feel him more deeply, not just sensing his emotions through the bond but feel more anchored to him, as if we’re interwoven in the fabric of our beings.
We are one. Whole. Complete.
36CADEN