Squeezing my eyes shut, I lose myself in my orgasm, wave after wave of pleasure making my core contract around him.
A sharp, blinding pain in my neck makes me gasp, and my eyes fly open.
He’s biting me, his canines sinking deep into the soft place where my neck meets my shoulder.
The claiming bite.
It hurts so good. The sizzle of pain turns to pleasure in my core.
His enormous body covers me. I push at his chest before he crushes me.
Might as well be trying to move a mountain.
His thick forearm slides across my chest, pinning me down as he sucks and licks the wound.
I shudder with aftershocks with each lick.
“Fuck,” I mumble. I sound drunk. “Aurus…”
“Mine,” he purrs. “We are bonded now.” He rears up and looks down at me with those intense, hypnotizing, amber eyes. “Now you belong to me. Forever.”
There’s a twinge of sadness deep in my chest, followed by a jolt of helpless anger. Better to be mad than hurt. “Whatever,” I whisper.
It’s true. I’ll always belong to him. But the thought brings me nothing but pain.
No matter how much I love him, he won’t ever be mine.
FIFTEEN
Aurus
Words cannot describethe horror I felt when I saw that huge orange branch collide with Kim’s head. My heart stopped beating, all the breath left my lungs, and my entire focus narrowed down to one thing: making sure she was unhurt.
In that instant, I knew with piercing certainty that I love her.
I love her.
So once we had ascertained that she’d had a lucky escape, my only instinct was to claim her. To make her mine in every way.
Forever.
Her howl of anguish when my teeth sank into her soft, peach flesh chilled my bones but there was nothing I could do. I was too far gone in the rut and besides, it had to be done.
After my conversation with Khan, I had thought about giving her the claiming bite more and more—but something had still held me back. Kim is defiant. She is infuriating. She does not want to be with me.
When she shouted at me that she hates me, zooming away from me on that platform, it felt like a poison-tipped dagger spearing me in the chest.
And that only fueled my desire for her.
Now, with the taste of her tingling on my tongue, my loins exploding with pleasure as I shoot into her over and over, I know I did the right thing.
Kim was destined to be my mate.
We have a soul bond, and now that I’ve claimed her, she will feel it too. She will no longer be relegated to a mere harem. She will be my equal in every way, always by my side, as it should be.
I slump over her, breathing in her sweet musk, feeling more alive than after the fiercest battle. My heart is pounding so hard, it takes a moment to register that my little Omega is shaking beneath me.
I rub my cheek against hers, scent marking her. Her wispy hair tickles me. I love how it frames her pixie-like face. Did I ever hate how she cut it short? Now I cannot imagine it any other way. It suits her.
