I followed her over the edge, my climax tearing through me like a storm, my seed flooding her, marking her, claiming her in the most ancient way possible. I roared her name to the stars, my body shuddering, my heart exploding with emotion too vast to contain.
Afterward, I collapsed over her, careful to keep my weight on my elbows, my face buried in the curve of her neck. We lay like that for long moments—joined, entwined, complete—while our breathing slowed and our hearts steadied. I pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then another to her jaw, tasting the salt of her sweat mixed with the salt of the ocean air. My hands stroked down her sides in long, soothing sweeps, reassuring her, grounding her, promising without words that I would always be here, always protect her, always love her.
"Egon?" she whispered after a while, her voice drowsy, sated.
"Yes, mate?"
"Is it always like that? For you?"
I smiled against her skin, feeling the truth of my answer in every fiber of my being. "No." I pressed closer, holding her tighter.
She sighed, a sound of pure contentment, and melted into my embrace. I rolled to my side, pulling her with me, tucking her against my chest with her head pillowed on my arm. The blanket was tangled around us, sand stuck to our sweat-dampened skin, and the ocean continued its eternal rhythm against the shore. Above us, the stars wheeled in their ancient patterns, indifferent to the small drama of two people finding each other on a beach in the middle of nowhere. But I wasn't indifferent. I was transformed.
"Tori," I whispered, pressing a kiss to her hair.
"Mmm?"
"Thank you."
She lifted her head, her eyes meeting mine in the darkness. "For what?"
"For trusting me. For choosing me. For giving me..." I trailed off, searching for words adequate to the magnitude of what she'd given me. "For giving me everything."
The ocean wind shifted through the trees, stirring the warm night air around us. I could hear the distant rhythm of waves rolling across the sand beyond the palms, the scent of salt and flowers drifting through the clearing. I rested my forehead briefly against hers.
"Tomorrow," I said quietly. "Will be difficult." She stilled slightly in my arms, already knowing what I meant. "There is a group date. The producers will expect me to entertain the contestants. I will have to pretend to be interested in them." My jaw tightened slightly. "I will have to smile at Jessica and let her touch me."
Tori's fingers tightened in the fabric at my shoulder. "I know," she whispered. The words were soft, but I could feel the tension in her body.
My hand lifted to her face, tilting her chin upward so she had no choice but to meet my eyes. "But know this." The seriousness in my voice made her breath catch. "Every smile is false. Every touch makes my skin crawl. When I look at them, I see only you." My thumb brushed slowly across her cheek. "When I close my eyes, I smell only you. You are my first thought when I wake and my last before I sleep."
The beast stirred inside me, quieter now that we had the taste of our mate on our lips, her wet heat around our cock. He was quiet but not sated. Watchful. Eager to claim her for himself.
Mate.
I agreed.
She lifted her head, kissing me softly. The kiss was nothing like the desperate one from moments earlier. This one was slower. Gentle. Full of quiet warmth that settled deep in my chest.
Tori's fingers traced idle patterns across my chest, following the faint ridges of scars earned in battles she would never see. Her touch was thoughtful now instead of hungry, like she was trying to learn something about me with her fingertips. But something had changed. I felt it before she spoke. Her body had gone slightly still. Her breathing had shifted. My instincts sharpened immediately.
"What troubles you?" I asked quietly.
She hesitated. That alone made my chest tighten. Tori was not a hesitant female. I had already learned that much about her. Her gaze dropped to my chest instead of meeting my eyes.
"It's… nothing," she said, though the words sounded uncertain even to her own ears.
The beast stirred restlessly.
She hides something.
"Yes," I murmured. My fingers slid beneath her chin, lifting her face gently until she had no choice but to look at me. Moonlight filtered through the leaves above, catching in her eyes. "There is no reason for silence between us," I told her softly. "You may speak freely to me, Tori. Always."
She exhaled slowly. "I know." Another pause. The ocean breeze shifted again, carrying the scent of salt and night-blooming flowers between us. "I just…" She shook her head slightly, clearly frustrated with herself. "I should have told you sooner. It's not exactly a secret, but everything happened so fast today. The church, the cameras, the show?—"
My stomach tightened. "What is it?"
She looked at me again, her expression serious in a way I hadn't seen before. "There might be a problem."
