My body moved through the crowd seemingly on its own, without my conscious consent, and when I stood in front of him, he raised an eyebrow and curled his perfect lips into a smile.
“There she is,” he whispered, grabbing my hand to bring it to his mouth. He kissed my knuckles before leaning in to plant another on my cheek.
“Did you feel it, too?” I asked with a breathy murmur, and I internally chastised myself for being so transparent.
“Oh, yes.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tighter, pressing my entire body against his. “You’re mine now, little wolf. No more running.”
I drew a deep inhale, letting his scent intoxicate me as I nuzzled into his chest, desperate for him. It was more than his pheromones, though that, too, made me light-headed and dizzy. He was home. He meant safety and care and love.
“Five—Four—Three—Two—One!” The crowd erupted into cheers around us as couples kissed and a chorus sang, “Happy New Year!”
I stared into his big sky-colored eyes and grinned.
“Happy New Year, Fen,” I whispered.
“Happy New Year, Wyn.” He leaned down, hovering centimeters above my mouth and waiting for me to close the distance.
Heart fluttering in my chest and limbs shaking, I pushed up on my toes and sealed our mating bond with a tremendously romantic kiss. He tucked his fingers in my hair and held me to him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. Our tongues wrestled with each other, always fighting for dominance, and I moaned at the taste of whiskey and apples and him.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine and smiled.
“Let’s get out of here, huh?”
I nodded, and he swooped me into his arms to carry me back to my cabin.
“You’re absolutely sure?” Fen asked as he slowly pulled out, only to surge back in at the same agonizing pace. He’d been teasing me for hours…days…months. After we burst into my cabin attached at the mouth, he’d promptly yanked my dress over my head, thrown me onto the bed, and devoured me like a starved man. Like we hadn’t just done this same thing a few days ago. Like we hadn’t spent three days in a magic-fueled heat.
“Yes,” I whined, digging my nails into his lower back in a pathetic attempt to get him to go faster, to take me harder. I liked making love to him, sure. But I loved when he fucked me.
“You poor thing.” He pretended to pout, and that aggravated me more. “All these days waiting for your mate to mark you. Must have been terrible for you.”
“Fen,” I growled, my voice dropping a few octaves as my wolf took the reins on my control. “Stop fucking around.”
He gasped and dragged his cock along that decadent spot inside me, drawing out a high-pitched, needy moan.
“Such naughty words,” he teased. “You must be really wound up.”
I was losing my patience. He’d fucked me three times already, his knot sealing us together, and he still hadn’t bitten me. The tender flesh on my shoulder tingled from all the licking and sucking he’d done, but as soon as his fangs elongated and my heart stammered with expectation, he pulled back.
My claws shifted out of my fingertips, and I dragged them up his spine deep enough to hurt, but not enough to break the skin. He arched into the touch and groaned, rutting into me harder, but still not enough to please the feral part of me that wanted more.
“Tsk, tsk. That wasn’t very nice.” He grabbed my hands and pinned them to either side of my head, leaning down so he could drag his tongue up my windpipe. His teeth ghosted over my skin, and I tilted my head back to give him more access.
“You’re not being nice.” I rocked my pelvis into his, trying to get him deeper, but he held magnificent control over both of our bodies and angled his hips so he didn’t give me what I wanted…what I needed.
“No?” He nipped my jaw, and chills skated down my exposed skin, ending in a deep clench where we were connected. Fen must have felt it because he hummed his approval and stopped moving, simply holding himself inside me while I trembled around him. “I’ve already made you come five times this year, and the sun’s not even up yet. Is that not nice? Am I not a benevolent mate?”
“Ugh, Fen!” My wolf had officially lost her nerve. She snapped at him, teeth sinking into his earlobe before retreating with a long, slow tug. “Do it.”
“Say please,” he murmured.
“Please.” The word tripped over my lips in a broken stammer.
“Tell me how badly you want it. Tell me I’m the only one for you, your mate, yours forever. Tell me who this deliciously wet cunt belongs to. Tell me who gets to take care of you every night. Tell me?—”
I yanked my hand out of his hold and fisted a handful of hair at the back of his head, jerking his head back. He moaned and closed his eyes, his cock twitching inside of me. “Yours, Fen. Always yours. But if you don’t mark me so everyone knows it, I’ll strut around the homestead tomorrow in my tightest little skirt just to see how long it takes you to get on your knees and beg me for the honor of burrowing between my legs.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he mumbled before tucking his head into my neck and dragging his fangs over my shoulder. He picked up his pace, fucking me in earnest as he licked my tender flesh. “Be a good girl and come for me.”
