My wolf digs his claws in. Oh, like fuck am I leaving. I don’t bristle at the care. It’s genuine.He’sgenuine.
“You’re my mate.”
“Quinn…”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to go slowly, either.”
“And dates?”
“Yeah, we’ll go on dates.” I grin. “I’ll take you on some cheap ones, and you can take me on expensive ones.”
That gets me the laugh I’m after, and Asher puts my arms around his waist before he leans into me. His mouth is so close. “We’ll negotiate that one.”
“Okay,” I say and take the kiss he’s offering me.
Chapter Thirty
Asher
QuinngroanswhenIshove my hands into his hair and tug his head back, trying to get the perfect angle. I might have no wolf, but my blessing is reacting in the way I’d imagine he would—twisting and turning, an echo ofmine mine minerepeating in the back of my head. Quinn clutches at my hips and tries to drag me closer. No doubt his wolf is ridinghim just as hard. It might be even more insistent, seeing as they’ve only just lined up again.
My mate.Mine. I can hardly believe he’s here in my arms, but now that he is, I never intend to let him go again. I’ll do whatever the Huntsman requires to keep my blessing. I’ll beat any enemy—be they fae or not—to ensure I’ll come home to him again.
I’ll love him like the wolf I am. All-encompassing. Ever-enduring.
Quinn bites my lip as though he hears my very thoughts, then tears his mouth away, panting into the space between us. “Bed?”
“Yes.” I grab one of his hands and all but drag him up the stairs and into my bedroom. The bed is messy, sheets rumpled, but neither of us cares about that. Quinn yanks me back against him once we’re inside and slams his mouth over mine—he’s not to be a passive partner in any sense of the word, as far as I can tell.
Sure enough— “What do you want?” he asks, ghosting the question over my mouth before he adds, desperately, “I wanteverything, Asher. Everything.”
I kiss him harder, hands shaking with the desire to scrape my teeth down his jaw and leave bruises on his throat. They’ll heal quickly, but that only means I can leave more, later, and I’ll let him leave his own, let him mark up every inch of my skin that isn’t already covered in ink.
My blessing might not even heal them, if I’m careful. I can let everyone see that I’m his.
“I want you to fuck me.”
He leans back a little way, looking at me through narrowed eyes. “Youwantme to, or you think that’s what I’m ready for?”
I growl and tackle him onto the bed. It’s not too quick, and he laughs when I land on top of him and bury my face in his throat.
The mating bond will still work if we bite each other, though considering everything, I’m not sure what my blessing will do about that. Not that we’re doing it tonight. I want a lot fromhim, but thatwillwait until we have the patience for a longer discussion.
“Anything I say I want in here,” I tell him seriously, “is something I want. I respect you enough and trust you enough to make that choice for yourself, too.”
“And if I make a bad choice?” His voice is small.
I kiss him again—just a brief press of our lips. “Then we’ll fix it,” I say. “And I’ll check in with you when you want, and I’d hope you’d check in with me when we’re doing something new, too. But if I say Iwantsomething, then it’s just that, okay?”
Quinn smiles. “Yeah, okay. I want you to fuck me too, you know?”
“Oh?” I bite down on his jaw, licking over stubble and clean skin. “I suppose we could arrange that.”
“Asher!” He scoffs and rolls us so I’m the one on my back. Quinn straddles my hips and I reach up, revelling in the way my fingers travel up his stomach and over his chest, in the way heletsme do that.
