He huffed a laugh. My torment was amusing? Really? I tensed every feminine muscle I had. He groaned in response but didn’t move.
“Let it build,” he said. “It will be worth it.”
I wasn’t into delayed gratification. I preferred lots of it instead.
The pressure simmered lower, and he began moving slowly again. I tried keeping silent this time, but he knew and clamped us together to avoid me falling over the cliff.
“I hate you,” I snarled.
He snorted. “Sure you do.” Then he moved again.
“What are you trying to prove?” I ground out.
“That I love you, and no matter where you are, I will always find you. I’m proving that my heart beats for yours, because you own it. You make me feral with need, and this is a taste of what I feel every day.”
“If I own your heart, then you will give me what I need.”
His free hand tangled in my hair and arched it back so he could stare into my eyes. His gaze skimmed my face. “You aren’t feral, mate. Not yet.”
I growled and flipped us so he was on his back, then I took what I needed with a snap of my hips as I ground against him.
He rose and surged inside of me, feeding me more and more of his length. My scream split the air, and I felt the animals in the forest freeze as I came apart in the arms of a cat who had given me his heart. This spurred him on, dragging me back to awareness and building something wild in my chest. His teeth skimmed my shoulder, and they lengthened to wicked points before he sunk them into the crook of my shoulder, causing a second more powerful, deeper explosion. Something shifted in the fabric of my being, and my mouth fell on his throat. He grasped the back of my head when I paused.
“Bite me, mate. Mark me,” he pleaded. My teeth scraped his flesh, and I bit down. He exploded inside of me. Our hearts sparked to life and wove a spell, binding us on a level I didn’tunderstand but reveled in. This was a claiming, intangible but undeniable.
“I love you,” I mumbled before I collapsed against him.
“And I love and adore you,” he whispered as my eyes fluttered closed, and I felt the call of the sandman. “Rest for an hour, then we have places to be.”
If it was anywhere other than this sanctuary, I wasn’t interested. This was my happy place and it would be somewhere I would cling to when shit went south. This was a reminder of what I was fighting for. Soon, we would no longer have to fight for these nights—they would be our normal. They had to be. Nothing else was acceptable.
“Cora,”Hudson said. “Wake up.”
I groaned and rolled over, cocooning myself in the heavy comforter. It cannot have been an entire night yet. Where was a time god when you needed one? We got the big G and death.
He tugged the covers off me, and my eyes sprang open. It was pitch black outside. “It’s still night. Come back to bed,” I muttered, rolling onto my back.
“I have something to show you.”
I snorted. “I think I’ve seen it all now, Principal.”
“It’s chilly. Get dressed or don’t. Either way, you’re coming with me.”
The bossy alpha was in charge. With a groan, I rolled to my feet and blindly tugged on my underwear, followed by a pair of soft fleece-lined leggings and an oversized sweater.
“I can’t see a thing,” I grumbled.
He grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the house and onto the veranda. “Don’t worry, just hold on.”
I launched onto his back again, and he leapt from the deck to the floor. My heart beat hard with exhilaration as he raced through the forest, winding a path up a hill. The moon winked in the sky between the thick trees. He ran for a few minutes before the sound of rushing water met my ears. Were we by a river? My elemental twitched. Yes, that was definitely water.
He slowed, and we emerged into a small clearing as he placed me on my feet. I stepped forward and froze, captivated by the breathtaking scenery. A gushing twenty-foot waterfall fed a small lake, the moonlight and stars reflecting on the surface.
I glanced at Hudson and smiled. “It’s stunning,” I told him.
Why does he look nervous? He grabbed my hand and tugged me along the shoreline toward the waterfall. He led us across the damp rocks, only to discover a small gap behind the waterfall. Excitement bubbled in my chest as we ducked beneath the water and into a hidden cave. Crystals lined the ceiling, lit with purple and pink lights, creating a stunning sparkling display.
“Wow.”
