“I was afraid,” he continued, the words coming faster now, like a dam finally breaking. “Afraid that you wouldn’t want me. I thought I was afraid that you would betray me, but I was really afraid that you’d see me as I am—broken and bitter and scarred by betrayals I can’t forget—and decide I wasn’t worth the trouble. But Korrin was right. I never gave you the chance to choose.”
“I’m choosing now.” She rose onto her toes, bringing her face closer to his. “I choose you. Whatever comes next, whatever we have to face—I want you at my side. Always.”
The word seemed to shatter something in him. His control cracked, and suddenly his mouth was on hers, fierce and hungry and overwhelming. She gasped against his lips, her hands fisting in his shirt as he pulled her hard against him.
The kiss was a claim. A promise and a demand all at once.
His hands roamed her body as if he couldn’t believe she was real, and she arched into his touch, her body already cresting towards release.
“Tell me to stop,” he growled against her throat. “Tell me now, because once I start, I won’t be able to?—”
“Don’t stop.” She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, letting him see the certainty in her gaze. “Promise me that this time you won’t stop. Promise me that you will give me everything.”
Something primal flashed in his golden eyes, his beast rising to the surface, drawn by her surrender.
“Everything,” he repeated, the word barely human.
He lifted her effortlessly into his arms and carried her the few steps to the sleeping platform. She landed on the furs with a soft sound, and then he was covering her, his weight pressing her into the bedding, his mouth finding hers again in a kiss that stole her breath and scattered her thoughts.
Their clothing disappeared in a blur of impatient hands and frustrated growls. All of it torn away until there was nothing between them but skin and heat and desperate need. His body was a landscape of muscle and scars, fascinating and beautiful, and she traced the lines of him with her hands, learning his geography in the morning light.
“Beautiful,” she whispered, echoing the word he’d said to her. “So beautiful.”
He caught her hands, lacing their fingers together and pinning them above her head. His body was a furnace against her, his scent filling her lungs, and her passion rose to meet his.
“No more running,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. It was a vow.
“No more running,” she agreed before his head descended again.
His hand and mouth were everywhere, striking sparks against her nerve endings until her body hummed with electricity. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, could only feel the overwhelming tide of pleasure rising within her. When he closed his mouth over her breast, she cried out, her back arching off the furs as the sensation shot through her.
He took his time, tormenting her with pleasure, wringing responses from her body she hadn’t known she was capable of. And when he finally moved lower, parting her thighs with eager hands, she was already trembling on the edge.
She shattered when he tasted her, a blinding flash of pleasure that left her breathless and boneless, but he didn’t stop, his mouth working her relentlessly as he stretched her with his fingers, preparing her for his cock. This time when he finally rose back over her and settled between her thighs, she didn’t hesitate. Her legs wrapped around his hips, already trying to draw him closer.
He paused, his golden eyes searching her face, giving her one last chance to pull back.
“Are you sure?” His voice was strained, his control clearly hanging by a thread. “This can’t be undone. Once I claim you?—”
“I’m sure.” She pulled him back down to her, her legs tightening around his hips. “Claim me. Make me yours.”
“You’re mine, Ember,” he growled as he entered her, the sudden fullness stealing her breath. There was a brief flashof discomfort, a sharp sting that made her gasp, but then he pressed deeper. She’d read about this and understood the mechanics, but nothing had prepared her for the overwhelming stretch, the sense of being completed in a way she hadn’t known was incomplete.
He froze above her, his whole body trembling with the effort of holding still. “Are you?—”
“I’m fine.” She shifted her hips, drawing him deeper, and they both groaned. “Better than fine. Please, Rykan. Move.”
He did, slow and deep, watching her face with an intensity that was almost frightening.
“Say it again,” she whispered.
“You’re mine.” His rhythm increased, each stroke claiming another piece of her soul. “And I am yours.”
She met him thrust for thrust as the pleasure built again, sharper and more intense than before. The cabin filled with the sounds of their joining—the slide of skin against skin, the harsh rhythm of their breathing, the desperate sounds they made.
She was close, so close, and then he rolled them, pulling her atop him without breaking their connection. The new angle was perfect, hitting a place deep inside that made her see stars.
His hands gripped her hips, guiding her movements as she rode him, her head thrown back, her hair cascading down her back. She was lost in sensation, in the overwhelming pleasure of being completely possessed by this male who had become everything to her.
