“You’re mine,” he growled, his voice rough, barely human. “All mine.”
He leaned forward, covering her back, and his teeth scraped her nape, sending a jolt of pure, unadulterated fire through her. The base of his cock began to swell, stretching her further, and shepushed back against him, taking him deeper, her body already shuddering on the edge of another climax.
“Adrian,” she sobbed, her fingers clutching at the sheets. “Now. Mark me now.”
He sank his teeth into the soft flesh where her neck met her shoulder, a sharp, piercing pain followed by a wave of heat that spread through her entire body. She felt the mate bond snap into place between them, and she screamed as another, more powerful orgasm ripped through her.
The base of his cock grew and grew until she was so full she could barely breathe, their bodies locked together, and then a hoarse cry erupted from his throat as he poured himself into her, his knot pulsing, marking her as his from the inside out.
He collapsed on top of her, careful to keep most of his weight on his forearms, their bodies still joined in the most intimate way possible. She could feel the lingering sting from his bite, a primal brand of ownership that made her feel cherished and claimed and completely, irrevocably his.
She lay there, panting, her body humming with satisfaction, as he licked gently at the bite mark, cleaning the wound. The sensation was both soothing and incredibly erotic. Her hips moved instinctively and he groaned.
“If you keep doing that, my knot will never subside.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she gasped, her body still shuddering with aftershocks.
“Greedy little kitten,” he purred, his clever fingers finding her still swollen clit. “Do you want more?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. He teased her, circling the sensitive nub with just the right amount of pressure. The friction was maddening, a slow, deliberate torture that had her climbing towards the peak again. His knot, still lodged deep inside her, pulsed with each beat of his heart, a constant, possessive reminder that she belonged to him.
“You’re so beautiful like this,” he murmured against her shoulder. “All flushed and needy. All mine.”
His words, combined with the relentless stimulation of his fingers, sent her over the edge again, a smaller, more intense climax that left her trembling and boneless. When he finally slipped out of her, she immediately missed the feeling of being connected to him, and she whined in protest. He chuckled, a low, satisfied sound, and gathered her into his arms, pulling the covers over them.
“I know, kitten. I miss it too,” he said, his voice still rough with emotion. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she snuggled closer. “How do you feel?”
“Marked,” she whispered. “And very, very happy.”
He kissed her forehead, a gentle, almost reverent touch. “I love you, Harper.”
“I love you too, you big, bossy wolf.”
She’d spent twenty-two years looking for somewhere to belong, but it turned out she wasn’t looking for a place at all. She’d been looking for him. And now she was never going to let him go.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Harper’s laugh rang out across the rooftop restaurant, bright and uninhibited, and Adrian leaned back in his chair, watching her. The wave of possessive pride was so strong it almost left him breathless.
Mine.
He’d spent years convincing himself he’d never feel this way. That the capacity for this kind of happiness had been burned out of him, scorched away by betrayal and disappointment until only duty remained.
He’d been spectacularly wrong.
“—and then the entire server room flooded with foam because someone thought it would be funny to test the fire suppression system manually.”
Derek groaned, rubbing his temples. “In my defense, I was nineteen.”
“You were twenty-two,” Julie corrected sweetly. “I’ve seen the incident report.”
“You have an incident report?”
“I have all the incident reports.” Julie’s smile was pure mischief. The curvy brunette had Derek wrapped around her finger, and his brother seemed perfectly happy about it. “My husband’s youthful misadventures make excellent bedtime reading.”
Harper snorted into her wine glass. “Please tell me there are more stories.”
“So many stories.” Julie leaned forward conspiratorially. “Did you know he once tried to convince the IT department that he’d been hacked when he was really just locked out of his own email?”
