He pushed deeper, and I felt my body welcome him, opening like a flower at dawn, accepting him into the deepest, most vulnerable part of me. Tears pricked at my eyes, not from pain, but from the overwhelming intimacy of it, the vulnerability of being so completely joined with another person. I could feel his heartbeat through our connection, could feel the tremor in his muscles as he fought to go slow, to savor every second of this moment we'd both thought might never happen again.
When he finally settled fully inside me, neither of us moved. We just breathed together, his forehead pressed to mine, his pale eyes locked with my own. I could feel the heat of him inside me, the pulse of his heartbeat echoing through our joined bodies. The bond between us hummed with emotion, grief and relief and desperate, aching love all tangled together until I couldn't tell where his feelings ended and mine began.
"I can feel your heartbeat," he whispered, wonder coloring his voice, his hand sliding up to rest over my chest. "Right here. And here—" His hips shifted slightly, pressing deeper. "Around me. Inside you. You're alive, Ava. You're really alive."
I clenched around him involuntarily, and a groan tore from his throat, his eyes squeezing shut, his jaw going tight with the effort of control. A growl rumbled through his chest, deep andprimal, and my Omega answered with a keen that seemed to rise from somewhere deep in my soul.
"Move," I begged, my hips rocking up against him, seeking more of that delicious friction. "Please, Caleb. I need to feel you. I need you to show me I'm yours."
He began to move, and it was nothing like I expected. There was no urgency, no desperate rutting. Instead, he made love to me like we had all the time in the world, slow, deep strokes that seemed to touch my very soul. Each thrust was deliberate, intentional, a rolling wave of sensation that built and receded, built and receded. He drew back slowly, letting me feel every inch of him retreating, then pressed forward again in one smooth, endless glide that made me gasp with the fullness of it.
His hands traced the lines of my body with reverent attention, mapping the curve of my waist, the swell of my hips, the arch of my ribs as I gasped beneath him. His lips followed, pressing soft kisses to my collarbone, my shoulder, the sensitive spot behind my ear that made me shiver. He worshipped me with his body, each touch a promise, each kiss a vow, and I felt tears streaming down my temples, overwhelmed by the tenderness of it.
"Tell me you're here," he murmured against my throat, his hips maintaining that achingly slow rhythm. The drag of him against my sensitive walls made my toes curl, and made heat pool low in my belly with every measured stroke. "Tell me this is real."
"I'm here," I gasped, my fingers threading through his hair, my back arching to press closer to him. A purr rumbled through my chest, vibrating between us, answered by the low growl that seemed to live permanently in his chest now. "I'm real. I'm yours, Caleb. I'm not going anywhere. I love you. I love you so much."
"Again." His pace increased slightly, his thrusts going deeper, hitting places inside me that made stars burst behind my eyes. The angle shifted and suddenly every stroke sent shockwaves of pleasure radiating through my entire body, building something bright and desperate in my core. His breath came faster now, his control beginning to fray at the edges. "Say it again. I need to hear it. I need to believe it."
"I love you. I'm here. I'm staying. I'm yours." The words spilled from me like water, like breath, like something essential I couldn't hold back. Each declaration was punctuated by the roll of his hips, the slide of his body against mine, the building pleasure that coiled tighter and tighter in my core.
His rhythm began to falter, his body moving with more urgency now, each thrust deeper, harder, more desperate. I could feel his emotions through the bond, the fear of losing me, the relief of having me in his arms, the desperate love that threatened to overwhelm us both. His hips snapped against mine, and I cried out, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist, pulling him deeper.
"More," I pleaded, my nails raking down his back. "Caleb, please — I need more — I need all of you?—"
He gave me everything. His thrusts became powerful, rhythmic, driving us both toward something inevitable. The workbench creaked beneath us with each movement, a counterpoint to our gasps and moans. I could feel his knot beginning to swell, catching at my entrance with each thrust, stretching me in ways that made my vision blur with pleasure. The pressure built and built, a delicious fullness that pushed me toward an edge I was desperate to fall over.
"Mine," he growled against my throat, his teeth grazing my pulse point, his voice rough and raw with need. The vibration of the word against my skin made me shiver. "You're mine, Ava. Say it."
"Yours," I sobbed, my body trembling on the precipice, my inner walls fluttering around him, clenching with each thrust. "I'm yours, Caleb. Completely. Forever. Please — I need?—"
"I know what you need." His hand slid between us, his fingers finding that bundle of nerves that made me see stars, circling with perfect pressure. "Let go, sweetheart. I've got you. I'll always have you."
Something broke open in me, the last wall crumbling, the last defense falling. He drove into me with a desperate cry, his knot swelling to fullness, locking us together in the most intimate embrace possible. The stretch triggered my release, and I shattered around him, my body convulsing with wave after wave of pleasure that seemed to go on forever. I screamed his name, my back arching off the workbench, my inner walls clenching rhythmically around his knot as the orgasm tore through me. Every nerve in my body sang, every cell alight with sensation, with love, with the overwhelming rightness of being joined to him so completely.
Caleb followed me over the edge, his whole body shaking as he spilled himself inside me. I felt each pulse of his release, felt the warmth of him filling me, felt the bond between us flare bright and hot as our bodies joined in the most fundamental way. His arms trembled where they braced on either side of me, his breath coming in great shuddering gasps.
Then his teeth found my throat, reopening the mark he'd left weeks ago, and the pleasure crested impossibly higher.
I cried out, a sound somewhere between ecstasy and surrender, as the bite sent me spiraling into another peak. The bond blazed between us, strengthening with every moment, every heartbeat, every breath we shared. I could feel him, not just his body joined with mine, but his soul, his heart, his very essence intertwining with my own.
"Mine," he growled against the wound, his tongue soothing the sting even as his knot continued to pulse inside me, each throb sending ripples of pleasure through my oversensitive body. "You're mine, Ava. You've always been mine. And now everyone will know it."
"Yours," I whispered, my voice wrecked, my body boneless beneath him, still trembling with aftershocks. "Always yours, Caleb."
We lay there for a long time, locked together by his knot, our hearts racing in tandem before slowly settling into a synchronized rhythm. The workshop was quiet around us, filled only with the sound of our breathing and the soft purr rumbling through my chest, answered by the contented rumble in his. His knot throbbed inside me, each pulse sending little aftershocks of pleasure rippling through my body, keeping me floating in a haze of satisfaction.
The workshop smelled like sawdust and intimacy and the mingled scent of us, Alpha and Omega, bound together in the most primal way possible. I could feel his heartbeat against my chest, could feel the warmth of his skin against mine, could feel the unshakeable certainty of our bond humming between us.
Then Caleb lifted his head, his pale eyes meeting mine, and something in his expression made my breath catch. Wonder and hope and desperate vulnerability, all tangled together in his gaze.
"Now you," he whispered, his voice trembling with emotion, with hope, with fear, his whole body still pressed against mine, his knot still locking us together. "Complete the bond."
My heart stuttered in my chest. He tilted his head, baring his throat to me, the thick column of his neck vulnerable and exposed, his pulse jumping visibly beneath his skin. The gesture of submission from such a massive Alpha, from my Caleb, whohad carried me out of the snow, who had held me while I died and brought me back to life, made my chest ache with love.
I leaned up and pressed my lips to his throat, feeling his pulse race beneath my mouth, feeling the trust and love and desperate hope pouring off him in waves. Then I opened my mouth and bit down. He groaned his hands gripping my hips, a rumbling growl vibrating through his chest. . When I released his throat and looked up at him, he was crying, but they were good tears now, happy tears, tears of relief and joy and overwhelming love.
"Mine," he whispered, his hand pressing against his chest, his pale eyes wide with wonder, his voice filled with awe. "You're part of me, Ava. Forever.”
