“I’m counting on it.”
His hand fists in my hair, tilting my head to expose my throat. The position should make me feel vulnerable, but all I feel is powerful. I’m the one who brought this massive, dangerous man to his knees. I’m the one he’s been waiting for his entire life.
“And you’re not doing this in the throes of passion?” he asks, confirming what I suspected was his greatest fear, that my eager requests for his bite were just the result of the intense sexual connection between us, and not what I really want in the cold light of day.
He lowers his mouth to the spot where my neck meets my shoulder and presses his lips against my skin. The contact sends heat racing down my spine.
“I want you.” I gasp as he sucks gently, sending a jolt of electricity traveling between my thighs. “Including your mark on my neck.”
Reaching for him, I press my body against his, desperate to feel his teeth in my flesh.
“Patience.” He drags his canines across the sensitive flesh without breaking skin, just letting me feel the scrape. “I’ve waited my whole life for this moment. I’m going to savor it.”
I curl my fingers into his shoulders, nails biting through his shirt. “I don’t want to be patient. I want to be claimed.”
He inhales against my throat, long and slow, and then goes still. Sniffs again, deeper this time, his nose tracing from my pulse point down to my collarbone.
“Bodhi? What is it?”
“Nothing.” He smiles against my skin. “You just smell incredible.”
Before I can ask more questions, his mouth crashes into mine. I gasp, and he swallows the sound, lifting me against the tree until my legs wrap around his waist. The friction makes usboth groan. His hands find the hem of the flannel I stole from his closet, yanking it up, desperate for skin.
“Tell me you’re sure again.” He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. “Look at me and tell me.”
“I’m sure, Bodhi.” The words feel like a vow.
He buries his face in my neck, then opens his mouth against that perfect spot as he yanks my shorts down, taking my underpants with them. With one powerful thrust, he buries himself deep, pinning me against the tree as he strokes in and out. Knowing what’s coming, feeling his bear right there, and the primal urges driving him, I’m about to explode already.
My walls quiver around him, and I claw at his back, craving completion.
“Fuck,” he shouts in ecstasy, then drives into me hard, one last time as he comes deep inside me.
And bites.
The pain is sharp and bright, stealing the breath from my lungs. I cry out as the bond between us blazes to life with an intensity that whites out my vision.
I feel everything he feels. The wild satisfaction of finally claiming what’s his. The desperate love that’s been building since the moment we met. The fierce protectiveness that will tear apart anyone who threatens me.
Mine, his bear rumbles through the bond.Mine. Mine. Mine.
He pulls back to examine his handiwork, running his tongue over the fresh mark to soothe the sting. The gentleness after such primal violence makes my chest ache.
“Beautiful.” His thumb traces the indentations of his teeth, and I shiver. “How do you feel?”
“Like I belong to someone. With someone.” My voice comes out thick with emotion. “Like I’m finally home.”
Something raw passes across his face, and through the bond, I feel the echo of old wounds being healed. He kisses me again, softer this time, reverently.
“We should get back.” His lips move against mine. “Before the entire clan comes looking for us.”
“In a minute.” I pull him closer, rolling my hips against his in a way that makes his eyes glaze. “I’m not done with you yet.”
His laugh is deep and husky. “We’re in the middle of the forest.”
“And?” I do it again, feeling him harden against me. “I thought this was your forest. Can you not do whatever you like?”
He doesn’t need to be told twice.
