She was aware of him everywhere—the hard heat of him behind her, his massive body caging her beneath him, the heavy weight of his balls slapping against her with each powerful thrust. One hand slid up to close over her breast and the other slipped between her legs to find the hard, sensitive nub between her thighs.
He circled it with one calloused finger, and she bucked against him, a high, keening sound escaping her lips.
“Valrek,” she gasped. “Please.”
“I have you,” he growled, the words hot against the back of her neck. “I have you, my mate. My star lady.”
His pace quickened, each stroke harder, deeper, more possessive. He was a Vultor warrior, a being of untamed power and strength, and for the first time, he wasn’t holding back. He was letting her see the beast, the wildness that lived beneath his civilized exterior, and she met it with her own wildness, her body moving to match his rhythm, her inner muscles clenching around him as if she never wanted to let him go.
His finger on her clit moved faster, pressing against her with a pressure that was almost pain, and the pleasure coiled in her belly, hot and tight and insistent. The waves were building, rising higher and higher, threatening to pull her under.
“So close,” she whimpered. “So close, please don’t stop.”
“I won’t.” He punctuated the words with a particularly hard thrust that made her cry out. “I’ll never stop. Never let you go.”
The wave broke.
A brilliant white light exploded behind her eyes, her body convulsing with a pleasure so intense it was almost agony. She cried out, a high, thin sound that was half sob, half song, and her skin blazed with light, so bright it illuminated the entire cave in a soft, ethereal glow.
With a roar that was pure, unadulterated beast, he followed her over the edge, his knot expanding and locking them together as a hot, wet flood of release filled her. His teeth sank into her mating bite again, a primal brand of ownership.
For a long moment, they stayed like that, their bodies humming with the aftermath of their passion. The only sounds were their ragged breathing and the distant murmur of the sea. He drew her closer against him, their bodies still locked together, and settled down onto the furs. Her body was limp and boneless, still thrumming with residual pleasure.
“That was…” He laughed, a rumbling sound of pure contentment. “I don’t have words for that either.”
“We seem to be running out of words tonight.”
“Good. Words are overrated.”
She smiled against his skin, tracing idle patterns over the map of scars on his arms.
“Are you happy?”
The question slipped out before she could stop it, and his arms immediately tightened around her.
“Happy doesn’t begin to cover it.” He pressed a kiss to her hair. “Two months ago, I was alone on these cliffs with a future I couldn’t see and a daughter who deserved so much more. Now I have a mate. A pack. A purpose.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Now I have everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything that matters.”
She tilted her head up to look at him, this massive, scarred, beautiful male who had somehow become her whole world. His golden eyes were soft in the starlight filtering through the cave entrance. His hand came up to cup her face, his thumb tracing her cheekbone.
“I love you,” she said. “In case I forgot to mention it.”
“You mentioned it. But I don’t mind hearing it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you, Valrek.”
His smile was like sunrise breaking over the ocean.
They lay there in comfortable silence, listening to the waves and the wind and the distant sound of Lilani’s soft breathing. Outside, the stars wheeled slowly through their eternal dance. Inside, the echo-pipe hummed a quiet note of contentment, as if blessing the scene before it.
She thought about everything that had led her here.
