“Savannah,” I groaned, my mouth crashing against hers. She kissed me back with a desperation that fueled my own, each breathless second pulling me deeper under her spell.
I’d never needed anything the way I needed her. My mind spun with the magnitude of it, a dark and endless whirlwind I didn’t want to escape. She was the eye of that storm, the calm in the chaos, and I was caught in her. Helpless. Wild. Lost.
Her name was a raw wound on my lips. My heart thundered in my chest, and I knew she felt it. Knew she felt the way she tore me apart and put me back together.
“Bridger,” she gasped, and the sound of my name was my undoing.
I took her finally, completely, with a savage need that ripped through the last of my control. I sank my teeth into her shoulder, marking her, claiming her as the taste of her blood filled my mouth, sealing the bond in a bite that connected us in ways I never thought possible. Her release came with my bite, her pussy clenching my cock in a vise that felt impossibly tight as my knot started to swell inside her. We were locked together, a physical manifestation of our bonding. It was as though the tumblers all fell into place and her essence began to fill every part of me. The beauty of who she was entered my soul.
The magic of it crashed through me, wild and relentless, an explosion that shattered my senses. My eyes slammed shut as I drowned in it, as I let it sweep me away. Then she leaned up,her teeth elongated, as she took my head in her hand and pulled me to her. She sank her teeth into my neck at the juncture of my shoulder.
Our connection flared brighter, hotter, filling every piece of me, setting my blood on fire. I’d never been so consumed, so possessed by anything in my life. She came again as I found my release. The impact shook both of us. Her body shuddered in beautiful waves of pleasure, and my cum filled her body to overflowing. The power of our combined climax tore the air from my lungs and left me weak and shaking. I groaned her name, barely coherent, barely able to comprehend the magnitude of what we’d done.
I was shattered and whole, a man brought to his knees by a single, searing truth:
This was what I was made for.
I would die for her.
We lay tangled in each other, bodies slick with sweat and blood. Her shoulder glistened where I’d claimed her, the mark a dark and beautiful promise. I knew that mine looked much the same. I could feel her inside me.
“Savannah,” I whispered, pulling her closer, feeling the tremors in my own limbs.
“Bridger,” she breathed, and the sound of it filled me with something more powerful than magic. More powerful than fate.
It filled me with her.
The room faded around us, nothing more than shadows and air and the quiet pulse of our synchronized hearts.
“Don’t let go,” I said, and I didn’t want it to sound like a command. Goddess knew I’d chain her to me if I had to.
“Never,” she replied, a vow as binding as any I’d ever heard.
I held her tight, felt the warmth of her skin, the soft weight of her against my chest. Her breath tickled my neck, and the sensation was more intimate than anything I’d known.
The bite mark pulsed with its own heat, the bond a living thing between us.
The intensity of it left me breathless, left me wondering how the hell I’d survived without it before.
“Savannah,” I said again, just to feel the shape of her name on my tongue.
“Bridger,” she answered, and it was all I needed.
It was everything.
I knew that we’d brought hell to our doorstep. Together, we’d face it. I just hoped we were strong enough to come out of it alive.
Chapter 9
Savannah
Menace told me about his meeting with Bronc and the other officers of the pack. They knew my identity and that my father was searching for me. I knew they’d be heading to Alabama to visit the king of this territory to head my father and Dominic off before he could take a stand against Iron Valor. I felt terrible that I was the cause of this stress for the pack. They’d already had enough with that Skeeter person sitting in jail, apparently.
Bridger told me it was not my place to worry about pack matters. He wanted me to concentrate on taking care of myself. I love him so much. Never in my life had I had anyone put me first. It was a new sensation. They’d also discussed my future with the pack. Everyone agreed that taking the job at the elementary school was the best idea. I needed to fly under the radar as much as possible. Blending in and hiding in plain sight was the best thing to do. So today was my first day as the music teacher at Hardin Elementary.
Principal Karen Day’s gaze cut to the mate mark on my neck like a blade, a look of disapproval hardening her features. “SawyerGalloway,” she repeated, her voice laced with disbelief. I felt the weight of her stare as she skimmed my resume, the air between us tense and charged. Her smile was a dagger wrapped in sugar as she leaned back. “Bridger,” she said, the name edged with an intimacy that set my nerves on fire. “Always good to see you.” Her eyes raked up and down his body before returning to me. “Glad to see he provided me with your credentials this time. Even though he already saw fit to go ahead and offer you the job before consulting with me.” Her passive-aggressive conversation was awkward to say the least.
Her office was sparse and clinical. A stack of papers marked “Requisition Forms” sat on her desk. After the hell I’d survived, I was determined not to be intimidated by this woman. I met her eyes, knowing she considered me prey in this cat-and-mouse game. “When I visited here, you indicated the position was vacant. I assumed you were ready for it to be filled.”
