I nod, throat thick.
He claps a hand over his mouth. But his smile fades when he touches my collarbone. “Rowen, I… I’d love to. But I don’t even know how to control my shift yet, let alone—”
I pull him in until our foreheads are together. “That’s okay, hon. We have time. And even without it, I know I’m yours.” I take his hand and press it over my heart. “Right here.”
The tether between us vibrates, stronger than ever and full of love and belonging.
He kisses me again, slow and certain. Reaching for the bottle on my nightstand, he smears some around his hole and down my shaft. He doesn’t bother stretching himself at all—just positions me at his entrance and sinks down.
“Toby—” My voice cuts off as the most amazing pressure surrounds my cock.
Tobias drops his head back, inching himself lower. “Yes! Shit, I needed this.”
Seeing his lust, his need, and feeling the heat in his ass, is making it hard not to drive up into him.
I pull him down for a kiss. The world quickly fades to the warmth of his skin, the rhythm of his breath, and the quiet promise between us. When he bottoms out, we both groan.
He rocks slowly, breathing against my lips. “How’d I get so damn lucky to have you? You’re the most amazing person I know.”
I sit up to wrap my arms around him, and his deep moan as he sinks down on me again makes me growl. I lick up his throat to his ear, but whatever I was going to say is lost to his sudden cry of passion.
Tobias arches his back, eyes closed and arms around my neck. I must be nailing his prostate. He rocks hard, adding some lift. “Yes. Shit. Yes!”
Heat flows south, making my cock pulse in rhythm with my heart. A deep rumble in my chest vibrates our tether, and I curl my arms protectively around him.
“Mine,”I growl.
Tobias gives me a lust-drunk smile, and I feel the echoingminethrough our connection. He rides fast—every touch needy, every sound desperate. I bury my nose against his skin as I inhale. The rapid, tight motions combined with his aroused scent and warm body sends me over way too soon. Heat floods my shaft, blood rushing to the tip. It swells as I come, nuts drawing up tight.
Tobias grins, rocking harder. His lips crash down on mine, fingers slipping into my hair. His deep, guttural moan tells me I’m hitting him just right. A few more needy whimpers, then his hot cum splashes against my belly.
He pants hard, still tugging at my hair and riding the high. “You know what I think? Unfated mates are really,reallymissing out.”
I laugh hard. “Like the knot, do you?”
“God, yes.” Tobias moves his hips. “I’m so going to get addicted to it. Just warning you now.”
He rocks more, working himself into a second orgasm before melting against me.
As gently as I can, I pull him down on top of me, holding him for a long time in shared silence. My heart has never been fuller. Tobias’s either, if his tether is any indication.
As we lie tangled in the sheets, I think about the last three days. Not the battle with Rip and Orem, but the time together in the forest. How calm my wolf had been, even in pain. I don’t think I’ve been this calm since before my dad died. Not really. Everything felt too hollowed out, too pointless. Now it’s alive.
I’m alive.
Moonlight slips through the curtains, painting silver across Tobias’s shoulder. He lifts his head. “You know what I just realized?”
“Hmm?”
“I haven’t heard any whispers since I shifted back. I don’t know why, but I still kind of expected it. Like I feared it, I mean. You know? That it was my half-blood and not just Rip.”
I trace slow circles across his back. “Red had a theory you’d be in more control than your mom was, so you might not have the same symptoms. I think you’re proving him right.”
He huffs a quiet laugh. “Yeah, he thought because I knew about it before the shift, I’d accept it easier or something. But I don’t know. It’s still my genetics. And I’m still not in complete control, obviously.”
“You’re in control enough,” I say. “Don’t fear it.”
“I don’t. I just mean that I hope they never come back. That’s all.”
