“It seemed appropriate.” He was far too busy drinking in the sight of Honey to bother glancing at the view. “And it’s private. Pass me that rucksack.”
Honey trailed behind as he searched for a good spot. “What did you pack?”
“Spare pants, because I still don’t trust my motherloving animal’s sense of humor.” Finding a place nottoocovered in rocks, he opened the rucksack. “And also a camping mat.”
“You’ve come prepared,” Honey said as he unrolled the mat, her voice teasing. “And here I thought you’d just swept me into the wilderness in a fit of wild passion, you savage shifter.”
“Woman, I will fuck you against the nearest tree if you want.” He caught her wrist, pulling her down to the mat. “But I intend to mate youthoroughly. And I don’t want you to be picking gravel out of your back for the next week.”
She rolled to straddle him, a smirk curving her lips. “Who saysI’mgoing to be the one on my back?”
Fuck, she was gorgeous. Like some wild goddess, fierce and triumphant; hair windswept, crowned with stars. His Honey. His mate.
“Honey,” he breathed, already so hard that it was all he could do not to flip her over and take her in a single thrust. “You can have me any way you want.”
She didn’t have to tell him what she needed. He knew, as instinctively as flying. Desire gripped him, but there was sweet pleasure in the agony of waiting; of undressing her slowly, lingering over every inch.
He knew her intimately by now, in every way. Knew when and where to touch gently, with feather-light strokes of tongue and fingers; when to be rougher, taking charge.
She knew him, too. How to play him like an instrument, teasing and tormenting, until he was at the very limits of his control. Still, he held back, drawing out the moment.
He knew when she was ready. When she was crying out, all words lost, slick with desperate need, he couldn’t wait any longer. With a gasp of relief, he slid into her at last.
And even knowing her as well as he did, it still felt like a motherloving miracle. She always would.
“Honey.” He drove into her, again and again, all thought abandoned. Aware only ofher; her heat, her strength, her glory. “My Honey.Mine.”
“Yes.” She opened to him, gripped him, welcomed him. “Yes, Buck!”
No more hesitation. No doubt. He fisted his hand in her hair, drawing her head back. She arced up to him, willingly giving him her throat. As she gave a final cry, as he spilled into her, his teeth sank into her skin.
And at last, everything was right.
CHAPTER43
The soft, insistent tapping sounded again. Beth yanked open the window of the girls’ dorm, glaring down.
“Finley, it’s after lights out!” she hissed. “Go away!”
“For once in your life, forget the rules,” Finley whispered back. “Come on, all of you!”
Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Estelle was already elbowing her aside. The smaller girl slithered out of the window without hesitation, Flora hard on her heels. Claire shifted to her chameleopard form, flowing outside like water.
Beth bit her lip, glancing back at the sleeping dorm. Grimacing, she followed the other kids, leaving the window open behind her.
“We’re going to be insomuch trouble if we get caught,” she muttered.
“Don’t worry,” Finley said. “We aren’t going far. And you have to see this.”
He led them away from the cabin, into the meadow beyond. Archie, Rufus, and Ignatius were already gathered there, faces upturned.
“What are you all looking at?” Flora asked, craning her neck as well. “Is it a meteor shower or something?”
“Waycooler.” Archie thrust a finger at the sky. “Look!”
Thunder rumbled in the distance. A shape wheeled above the mountain, silhouetted against the moon. Lightning sparked around vast, outstretched wings.
And next to it, another shape—smaller, but brighter. In the dark, she glowed like sunlight, and in her wings was all the warmth of summer.
