He bends, thrusting harder — each stroke deep, perfect — and bites into the curve of my neck. His teeth break skin, a sharp, primal pain that yanks another orgasm straight out of me.
My pussy tightens around him in fierce, desperate pulses.
He roars against my throat and drives deep — deeper than ever before— and I feel it when he comes. His seed filling me in long, shuddering bursts, his entire body locked against mine.
When he finally lifts his head, his eyes are wild, and a shudder goes through me. I see man and bear in one, and it’s the most beautiful sight in the world.
Heat still pulses low in my belly, but the rest of me is shaking—uncontrollable tremors running through my limbs, the kind that come after something too big, too intense to process all at once.
Holt goes still.
“Lila?” His voice drops, rough with fear. “Did I hurt you?”
I shake my head, but my throat’s too tight to speak. He pulls back just enough to see my face, one hand cupping my cheek, the other skimming down to my neck.
His fingers brush the claim-mark.
A growl trembles out of him—not anger, but something rawer. Protective.
“I was too rough,” he says. “I lost control. I—dammit, Baby, look at me.”
I lift my gaze.
He looks wrecked.
Wrecked in a way that makes my heart twist and expand at the same time.
“You didn’t hurt me,” I manage. My voice is shaky, but the truth is solid under it. “I’m just… overwhelmed.”
The word feels small compared to what’s happening inside me.
He drags his thumb along my jaw, slow, careful, reverent.
His breathing eases.
But his hand keeps trembling.
“I need to make sure,” he murmurs, lowering his head to my throat. He studies the mark like it’s the most important thing he’s ever seen, gently touching around it, checking every inch for pain.
“You’re okay?”
It’s barely a whisper.
Almost a plea.
“I’m okay,” I say. “Just… yours.”
His eyes flare.
Then he gathers me against his chest, holding me like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
I melt into him, still trembling, the weight of what just happened settling into my bones.
I’m his mate.
Claimed.
Bound.
