I had no recollection if the word was spoken or by whom. The world exploded into pure blinding whiteness that turned every line, every mate mark on my body, into a conduit of pure pleasure that burned itself deep, like a brand. Except it didn’t hurt.
Caz was roaring in my ear. I was thrashing and moaning, crying out like a wild woman as I soaked his cock, and he filled me with hot cum. The instant went on—two seconds, three, five, ten, and still it didn’t stop.
A full thirty seconds later, the world snapped back into view, though everythingwas still wildly out of focus.
Everything but the presence in my head.
My eyes found his, and I stared in wonder as I felt his emotions. In my head.
“I can feel you,” he whispered, his face awash in wonder and post-orgasm glow.
“Yeah,” I said just as quietly, analyzing the new sensations. “It feels like …”
“Floating.”
“Yes.” We locked eyes, and he smiled.
Once more, I felt his awe but also his happiness. His happiness withme. It was unlike any emotion I’d ever experienced. Which was true because it wasn’tmine. It was his.
My mate’s.
“Tell me what you need?” I said, stroking his face, unsure of what to do next. I had never looked past this part. Never thought I would ever even have so much as this, a mate who loved me, who wanted me for who I was.
It’s time to stop thinking of yourself as broken, Anna. Stop looking to a past that you don’t have. Instead, you need to look ahead. To a future you’re in the middle of creating. What do you want it to be?
“What do I need?” Caz grinned, and I felt his answer, on his face, between his legs, and in my mind, all at once. “Anna. The only thing I willeverneed is right here. It’s you.”
Thirty-Seven
Anna
“Caz, youneed to go now,” I said, my arms still firmly wrapped around his chest and not letting go.
“I’m the ice tyrant. I’ll go when I’m good and ready to go,” he growled, lifting me from my feet.
I laughed into his shoulder, blindly running my fingers over the spot where I’d claimed him. It was mostly healed now, the only visible reminder a pair of slightly pink dots.
“I love it,” he assured me.
“Stop reading my mind.” I sent a burst of laughter through our link to let him know I didn’t mean it. Not that he had a choice.
Sensing emotions was one of the most basic aspects of the completed bond, so I’d been told. I had to take Caz’s word for it, though, because I was still learning all about them.
“You know I don’t care about that,” Caz said, growing gruff. He hated it when I thought of myself as unworthy or less-than. “You’re mine. You’re everything I’ll ever need.”
“I know,” I said, kissing my bite mark andfeeling possessive all of a sudden. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel uncomfortable, not knowing how this is supposed to go.”
“It’s love, and forever, darling. There is no ‘supposed to go’ with it. The entire thing is unpredictable. See for reference the fact that you’re the first wing-clipped, possiblyever, to have a mate. Neither of us have any experience here.”
“No, but you’ve talked to others who have mated. You know what to expect. This is all new to me on every level.”
“It’s a little late to take it back,” he pointed out.
I laughed, kissing my mark on him again. “You’re also damaged goods now. Puncture holes void any return possibility, I think. So I guess I’ll have to keep you.”
“Youguess?” he rumbled darkly.
My laughter returned, stronger. “You can’tpossiblybe upset by that joke!”
