His voice didn’t match his eyes at all. Those eyes were dark,possessive, and hungry—not in a sexual way, but in a need for reassurance, with claiming, withneeding to feel me alive and warm andhisafter the threat to our land.
“Wolfe…” My voice wavered.
“I could have lost you today.” His hand slid into my hair, his forehead coming to rest against mine. “Don’t ask me to pretend I’m fine.”
My breath caught. The bond buzzed, sharp and aching.
He wasn’t trying to start something.
He was trying toanchor himself.
“We’re okay,” I whispered, moving my hands up his chest. “We came home, and we stopped it before it got worse than it was.”
He exhaled hard, like he’d been holding it in for hours, and wrapped both arms around me, pulling me close. Not gentle. Not rough. Just complete.
“We’re not sleeping yet,” he said against my hair. “Not until I feel you settle.”
I could have argued and told him I was fine or that I was exhausted. But my legs were still trembling from fear and adrenaline from the day. His wolf, like mine, was pacing under his skin—frantic and protective—and I reached for him without hesitation. We needed each other tonight—not for pleasure, but to stay grounded.
“For five minutes,” I murmured.
He let out a humorless laugh. “Liar.” His lips grazed my shoulder, my collarbone—the spot where my pulse pounded strongest—caging me with his warmth.
Not seducing, and not claiming. Reassuring. Reminding himself that I was still here.
“You almost ran into that fire,” he said quietly. “You didn’t even hesitate.”
“I knew it was wrong,” I whispered. “I felt it. The Hollow?—”
“I know what you felt.” His voice was rough. “I felt you feel it.” His fingers threaded through mine, squeezing once, hard. “No sleeping yet,” he said again, softer this time. “Just…stay with me.”
I turned toward him. “I’m right here.”
We didn’t sleep. But we lay together in the dark, wrapped around each other while the Hollow hummed faintly beneath the floorboards, and for the first time since the attack, everything inside me loosened. His breathing finally eased. The bond settled.
His lips found mine, and I opened for him. Tasting him. Allowing him to taste the truth of me—exhaustion, fear, fury, relief—everything I’d been holding back since the moment we saw smoke rising over the Hollow.
Wolfe pulled back. “Sleep,” he murmured.
But I wanted more. I wanted more than just reassurance that he was beside me; I wanted him. I pulled him down for a kiss. Wolfe kissed me deeply, his mouth moving with slow urgency over mine, and I could feel the need beneath his kiss—the barely restrained wild need to make sure I was safe, that I was his.
His tongue stroked mine as he rolled me onto my back, settling between my legs, his mouth never losing contact with mine, his hand skimming down my side, caressing my stomach and then dipping between my legs to run his fingers over the cotton of my underwear. The T-shirt was removed with one swipe of his claws.
Wolfe moved his mouth from my lips, along my jawline, kissing down my neck to my breasts before his mouthcaptured the swollen peak of my nipple in his mouth. He licked and sucked my breasts until I was squirming for more. His hand slipped beneath my panties, deft fingers stroked through my wetness, and I couldn’t stop the moan of pleasure as my mate touched me.
“So wet, princess,” he murmured, moving down my body, laying soft worshipful kisses along my abdomen, and then he was on his knees, pulling my underwear over my hips, down my thighs before he settled in between them and took a long, slow lick of my pussy. He licked again, his mouth becoming increasingly urgent as my hips rose to meet every dip and swirl of his tongue.
“Wolfe…”
He knew I was close. Two fingers pushed inside me, curled just right, and started to move in sync with my hips. My fingers dug into his hair, pushing him in further, craving the release, needing something good to drown out the horrible aftermath of today.
He sucked my clit hard, and I screamed out my release, my hips bucking against his face as he licked me through the aftershocks. My breathing was ragged, my knees were weak, but I needed more. I needed him.
“Inside,” I demanded, my hand wrapping around his length to guide him, not hiding my desperate need to feel him where I needed him most. “I need you inside.”
Wolfe slid into me in one thrust, causing my back to arch off the bed as he seated himself inside me. His hands moved under me, lifting my ass off the bed, and I widened my legs to take more of him. Feel more of him.
“I want all of it,” I mumbled through my groans.
