I let go, floating on an ocean of desire and sensation, cresting with each wave.
We find each other, coming together the way an alpha and omega are meant to, until we’re one, until I’m whining and crying out for his bite, for him to mark me and claim me. For him to mate me.
His smoke-and-whiskey eyes flash with need before softening with the deepest, most ardent love.
“Do it,” I murmur.
A possessive gleam lights his eyes, and then I feel his lips at my throat, the scrape of teeth where my shoulder meets my neck. I rock up against him as he moves inside me. His knot stretches my entrance before locking us together, then he sinks his teeth into the crook of my neck, and pain spirals through me, dissolving into the purest ecstasy in the world as he holds me close and licks the wound clean.
Our bond snaps into place, and his love for me pours through it, filling me until I’m so loved, so cherished, that tears slip down my cheeks. He kisses them away, kisses my cheeks, my jaw, my lips, the wound on my neck where his bite is already beginning to heal.
We float together, instinct giving way to love and passion. My desire stirs, and he takes me again. My mate claims me, loves me, holds me until my fever breaks and sleep finally claims me.
* * *
I wake to an unholy ruckus.
I scramble up against Cassian’s chest, slipping my arms around his neck, and then turn to find Ian, his scribe leveled at Cassian, murder in his bright blue eyes.
“You mated her?” he roars.
“She asked me to.”
“She was in heat! She wasn’t in her right mind and couldn’t consent?—”
“And Cass was in rut,” I say gently. “We were both… affected.”
Cassian nuzzles the faint red marks left by his bite. They don’t hurt anymore. I feel the bond between us, a warm presence in my chest, and through it, I feel the swell of Cassian’s feelings.
I feel his regret.
CHAPTER25
Cassian’s regret snaps through me like a whip. I startle, trying to meet his gaze, but he refuses to look at me.
“Could… could we have a moment, please?” I ask Ian.
Ian sags, his arm dropping. He nods to Luca, who has his fist raised, and my alpha slowly lowers his arm.
“Put a locked door between us again and you’ll regret it,” Ian warns Cassian.
Simon studies Cassian with a frown, rubbing at the mating mark on his neck. Does he feel the same regret through his bond with Cassian? The storm of forlorn frustration?
“Cass?”
“Leave it, Simon,” Cassian says quietly.
Simon casts me an apologetic frown and backs from the room, taking Luca and Ian with him.
The moment the door snicks shut, I wrestle my way from Cassian’s arms, blotting at my teary eyes with the backs of my hands.
“You regret mating me…” I murmur, my throat burning with the words.
Cassian turns away, his dark hair falling in his eyes. “I took your choice from you. I’m no better than Rad. Ian was right. You were in heat, and you couldn’t consent.”
Bitterness rushes through our bond, overwhelming me.
“You were in rut,” I protest, my voice weak.
