The wall isn't enough. I need more space, more access, more of everything she's willing to give me. I carry her away from the entrance, her mouth on my throat and teeth scraping over my pulse point hard enough to make my bear surge with approval. We don't make it far before I'm laying her down on the thick rug before the hearth, firelight painting her skin in shades of gold and shadow.
"Beautiful." The word escapes before I can stop it, reverent despite the urgency screaming through my veins.
"So are you." Her hands frame my face, pulling me down for another bruising kiss. "Now stop talking and touch me."
I obey with enthusiasm that borders on desperation. My mouth traces paths across her throat, her collarbone, lower until I'm taking her breast into my mouth and sucking hard enough to make her writhe beneath me. My hand slides between her thighs, and when I find her wet and ready, my bear roars with satisfaction.
I work her with my fingers, watching her face as I stroke and tease until she's gasping my name and grinding against my hand. When I finally replace my fingers with my mouth, tasting her properly, she comes apart with a cry that echoes off the walls. But I don't stop, don't give her time to recover. I push her higher, demanding more, until she's shaking and begging and pulling at my hair with desperate hands.
"Inside me." The command is breathless. "I need you inside me right now or I'm going to lose my mind."
I shed my jeans and boxers in record time, and then I'm settling between her thighs with my cock positioned at her entrance. The first press is slow, letting her adjust to my size, but her nails dig into my shoulders and she wraps her legs around my waist to pull me deeper.
"Don't you dare hold back." Her voice is fierce. "I want all of you."
I give her exactly what she's demanding. One hard thrust that seats me fully inside her, and the sensation is overwhelming enough to white out conscious thought. She cries out, back arching off the floor as her body adjusts to accommodate me. For a moment I stay still, letting us both process the overwhelming rightness of this connection.
Then she rocks her hips and the last of my control shatters.
I set a rhythm that's rough and elemental, exactly what we both need. Her nails score lines down my back that will leavemarks. My fingers grip her hips hard enough to bruise, holding her in place as I drive into her again and again. The sound of flesh meeting flesh fills the room, punctuated by her gasps and my growls and the distant crash of waves against the cliff face far below.
"Harder." She demands it, and I comply, angling my hips to hit that spot inside her that makes her vision blur. "Yes, like that. Don't stop."
I have no intention of stopping. Not when she feels this perfect, hot and wet and clenching around me with every thrust. Not when every sound she makes drives my bear toward claiming and possession with renewed urgency.
Her climax hits without warning, her body tightening around me in waves that push me right over the edge. I come with her name torn from my throat, spilling deep inside her as pleasure whites out everything except the sensation of her body milking every last drop from mine.
We stay locked together for long moments, both of us gasping for breath. But it's not enough. Not nearly enough to satisfy the hunger that has been building since she walked into my life and turned everything I thought I knew upside down.
I pull out slowly, watching her face as I do. Then I'm lifting her into my arms and carrying her up the narrow stairs to the upper chamber where generations of guardians have slept. The bed is large enough to accommodate my size, built from dark wood that has weathered centuries without giving way. When I lay her down on the sheets, she pulls me down with her and we start again.
This time is slower but no less intense. I take my time exploring every inch of her skin with hands and mouth, learning what makes her gasp and what makes her moan. I work my way down her body, paying attention to the curve of her breasts, the dip of her waist, the softness of her inner thighs. When I settlebetween her legs again, using my mouth to bring her to the edge, she threads her fingers through my hair and guides me exactly where she wants me.
She comes on my tongue with a broken cry, and I drink down every drop like it's the finest whiskey. Then she's pulling me up, rolling us so she's straddling my hips with her hands braced on my chest.
"My turn." The promise in her voice makes my cock twitch with renewed interest.
She takes her time exploring, fingers tracing scars across my chest and shoulders with curiosity that feels like worship. Her mouth follows, kissing and biting and licking until I'm gripping the sheets to keep from flipping her over and taking control again. When she finally positions herself over my cock and sinks down in one smooth motion, we both groan at the sensation.
She rides me with confidence that's breathtaking, setting a pace that has my vision blurring and my bear roaring with approval. Outside, waves crash against the cliff face far below in rhythm that matches her movements. Inside, nothing exists except sensation and connection and the overwhelming rightness of finally giving in to what we both wanted from the start.
I grip her hips, helping her move faster, harder, deeper. When her pace falters, I thrust up to meet her, and the angle makes her cry out. We find a rhythm together, something primal and perfect, building toward a peak that promises to shatter us both.
Her second climax takes her by surprise, slamming through her with enough force that she collapses forward onto my chest. I wrap my arms around her and flip us, driving into her with renewed purpose. This time when I come, it's with her nails embedded in my shoulders and her legs locked around my waist, holding me inside her as deep as I can get.
We lose track of time somewhere between the third and fourth time, the world narrowing to just this room and this bed and the press of bodies that fit together like they were designed for exactly this purpose. When exhaustion finally claims us, we collapse in a tangle of limbs with her head on my chest and my arms wrapped around her in a hold that my bear refuses to loosen.
For long moments, neither of us speaks. Her fingers trace idle patterns across the scars that mark my torso, touches light enough to make my skin prickle with renewed awareness despite how thoroughly we've exhausted each other.
"Tell me about these." Her voice is quiet, almost tentative. "The scars."
"Reminders." I catch her hand and press it flat against the worst of them, a jagged line that runs from my left shoulder to my sternum. "That one was from a rogue selkie who went mad from isolation and started attacking fishing boats. Took three of us to bring him down, and he nearly gutted me before Declan finished it."
She's quiet for a moment, processing that. "How many times have you almost died protecting these waters?"
"Stopped counting after the first dozen." The admission comes easier in darkness, with her warm weight against my side and the ocean's voice providing background music. "It's what we do. What every Hale has done since before anyone bothered recording history. We guard what sleeps beneath the waves. We stand between the supernatural world and the humans who would destroy it if they knew it existed. We sacrifice everything else for that duty."
"Everything?" Her question carries weight I'm not sure I'm ready to examine.
