There is only Billy, his body moving with mine, his scent surrounding me, his heart hammering against my chest in perfect rhythm with my own.
I feel the tension building again, another climax approaching fast. Billy must sense it too, because he shifts slightly, changing the angle of his thrusts to hit exactly where I need him.
“That’s it,” he murmurs against my ear, his beard tickling my sensitive skin, and his breath making me shiver with delight. “Let go for me, Carla. I want to feel you come around me.”
His words push me over the edge, and I shatter, pleasure radiating outward from where we’re joined, until my entire body is pulsing with it. I cry out his name, my back arching off the bed, my inner muscles clenching around him.
My release triggers his own. With a hoarse shout, he buries himself deep inside me, his body shuddering as he finds his pleasure.
For long moments, we lie tangled together, breathing hard, sweat cooling on our skin. The fever has receded, for now, replaced by a warm contentment that hums through my veins.
Billy rolls to the side, pulling me with him, so I’m sprawled across his chest, his arms wrapped securely around me. His heartbeat thunders beneath my ear, gradually slowing as his breathing evens out.
“That was...” I trail off, not sure how to put the experience into words.
“Yeah,” he agrees, his hand tracing lazy patterns on my back. “It was.”
I should feel awkward. Embarrassed. I just had sex with a man I barely know, driven by heat symptoms I haven’t fully explained to him. But all I feel is... right. As if this is exactly where I’m meant to be.
My wolf certainly thinks so. She’s curled up contentedly inside me, satisfied in a way she’s never been before. He’s our mate. To her, this is simple.
“Thank you,” I murmur, already feeling sleep tugging at the edges of my consciousness. “That was so good.”
Billy’s arms tighten slightly around me.
“So good,” he agrees, pressing a featherlight kiss to the top of my head. “Carla?” he asks after a moment, his voice thoughtful. “How long do these... heats... usually last for wolves?”
I tense slightly. “Why?”
“Just trying to understand. Bears are different. We go into rut at the same time every year, predictable as clockwork. But this...” He gestures vaguely between us. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“Every wolf is different,” I say carefully.
He makes a frustrated sound. “I asked Marcus once, about him and Leila. How their first time was, if wolves were different. He just said, ‘when you know, you know’ and changed thesubject. Not exactly helpful for understanding what you’re going through.”
The admission makes my heart race. He’s trying to understand, trying to be prepared. My wolf wants me to tell him everything, but I can’t. Not yet.
“Sometimes it’s just one night,” I finally say. “Sometimes... longer.”
“Longer?”
“Two or three days. If the connection is particularly strong.” I can’t meet his eyes as I say it.
His arms tighten around me protectively. “Then we’ll stay as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
As I drift off, safe and sated in my mate’s arms, I know I’m lying to both of us by not telling him exactly why we’re so perfect together. This wasn’t just physical relief. This wasn’t just the heat.
This was the beginning of something I’m not ready to name, and he doesn’t yet appreciate the magnitude of.
And in the morning, I’ll have to face what that means.
But for now, I curl up in his arms and rest.
CHAPTER 8
BILLY
Early morning comes with pale light streaming through thin curtains, and the sound of birds singing. The storm has passed. For a moment, disorientation clouds my mind, then the warm weight against my chest brings everything rushing back.
