Another slow blink, then she shook her head, tongue darting out to moisten her lips. My gaze locked on that tiny pink tip, and I almost leaned down and tasted her. Now was not the time, but as the bite on my neck pulsed, reminding me of our new connection which I felt all the way to my wolf soul, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to hold back.
From my mate.
“I feel weird but okay,” she mumbled as she tried to moisten her lips again and groaned. “Need water.”
There were a few bottles on my desk, which I could only reach by bringing her along with me. I sure as fuck wasn’t about to let her go. Cracking the lid, I sipped it so it wasn’t so full, and then lifted her upper half closer. She closed her eyes as she drank, and when she’d had enough, I recapped it and threw it to the floor, letting Emme slump into my hold once more.
“What happened?” she whispered, sounding marginally clearer. “Did we bond, or did I dream that?”
Pure bliss was a shot of adrenaline to my body. “Baby, we absolutely bonded, and you saved my life. Again.”
There was a pause as her eyes widened and her cute little brows wrinkled. “When did I save your life the first time?”
Fucking hell she was adorable. There had to be a way for me to bottle her up and keep her with me always. I was hooked. I refused to spend even a single day without a dose of Emmeline. “You saved me when you arrived in Golden Claw. My existence was empty, and I didn’t even know how pathetic it was until you filled it with… well, you. With warmth and love and perfection. With the other half of my soul.”
Her wide eyes bored into me, a murkier blue than usual. When her lips trembled, I shook my head and cupped her face with one hand. “Oh, Shortcake. Please don’t cry. Your tears illicit two reactions in me: I need to beat someone to death, or cry withyou. Neither of which are appealing when I have you here, alive, in my arms.”
“You almost died,” she croaked, that tremble more pronounced, heavy moisture rimming her lash line. “You almost left me, right after you made me love y?—”
She cut herself off, breathing deeply, and I laughed as I leaned down and kissed her lips. Tasting her soft sweetness. “I’ve read your messages, my perfect mate. You didn’t get a chance to delete them, and for that I’m eternally grateful. You don’t need to hold back how you feel. I fucking love you too. More than anything in existence, more than this world, more than I thought was possible. You will never get rid of me, baby. You have to know that. We are one now, and I can feel you deep in my wolf essence… in my soul.”
The heat of her tears slipped between our lips, and we tasted her salty sorrow as we kissed. “I love you, Golden Boy,” she breathed, her words strangled. “I’ve never said it out loud to someone who was awake before, but I can’t wait another second to tell you. Please don’t ever leave me again.”
Fuck my heart. It shattered in my chest, and each piece glowed with the knowledge that she loved me. “They will have to tear me away,” I whispered back. “Cleave and tear me from you.”
Her ragged breaths eased as she leaned back, and while the remnants of tears remained, she was calmer. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She lifted her hand and pressed it against the now healed mark on her shoulder. My wolf howled at the sight of her wearing our claim, and whatever possessiveness I’d felt before was a million-fold now. A billion even.
Fuck. There wasn’t a number high enough.
“Mine,” I rumbled, my voice low and threaded with my beast. “My pretty mate.”
Emme’s breaths quickened again, but in a completely different way as her pupils dilated. “Yes,” she whispered. “As you are mine.”
I was. Completely and irrevocably.
This time when our lips met there was desperation between us, and I sucked her tongue against mine, needing more. When she moaned against my mouth, my cock kicked hard in my boxers, and I groaned in return. Knowing I’d been in this bed for days and was no doubt gross as fuck, I hauled her tiny frame into my arms and lifted us from the mattress.
We didn’t stop kissing even as I strode into the bathroom, pleased to see my strength had returned to normal, with no apparent lingering weakness from the spell. When the water was warm, I stripped off our clothes and stepped under the spray.
Emme arched against me, and I barely held on to my control as my dick jerked in an attempt to get closer to the warmth between her thighs. Emme’s perfect, pretty pussy had a manicured strip of dark blond hair leading to paradise...Fuck.I could feel her arousal, and smell it, against my stomach, but I refused to claim her for the first time in the shower.
She deserved more than a quickie. She deserved hours of me worshipping her as the goddess she was.
“Please, Golden,” she cried, arching again as she tore her mouth from mine and threw her head back under the spray. Sliding one hand higher up her back, I supported her as she ground her core against me. “I need you inside me. Now.”
Gah.She was going to kill me again if she wasn’t careful. What a fucking way to go though.
With a strangled laugh, I dropped my head and sucked one of her tight pink nipples into my mouth, consumed by how delicious she tasted. She was sweet chocolate, and I was enthralled. This siren had me completely under her control, and I’d never been happier. “I will be inside you, baby. For hours.Don’t worry about that. I just need to get cleaned up first, then we’re heading right back to bed.”
The snarl that erupted from her had my dick kicking harder against her soft skin, and when she turned needy and demanding, I was even more of a goner. “Please, Golden. Please, please, please.”
The begging, that was it, the best moment of my life. “Patience, my little wolf. You know I’ve got you.”
Her pupils were blown as she slowed her thrusts against me, the smallest of sigh escaping. “I did actually throw up earlier, so maybe some teeth brushing wouldn’t go astray.”
I hadn’t noticed any vomit; my sole focus always on Emme. Florence had probably cleaned it up at some point. “Why were you sick?” I took in her drawn features, happy to see a little color already returning.
“Distress over you,” she whispered, no longer moving against me at all. She just studied my face as though she’d never see it again. “You were dying.”
