I swallowed. “It’s supposed to.”
“Explain.”
She didn’t yell. She didn’t threaten. She just stood, naked under the silk, looking at me with the expectation that I would finally stop bullshitting her. It hurt worse than being shot.
I tried to find the words. “You ever hear of a mate bond?” I asked.
She didn’t move. “I read every urban fantasy series in college, Shivs. Try me.”
“It’s real. The mark. It’s the first stage. For wolves like me. The bite signals the bond, but it isn’t final until…” I trailed off. Couldn’t say it. Wouldn’t.
She crossed her arms. “Until what?”
I felt the heat in my cheeks, hated it. “Until I knot you.”
The words hung in the room, vibrating against the old plaster and the cold Kentucky air. She didn’t look away. Didn’t flinch. But I saw the pulse jump at her throat, quickening.
She stepped into my space, almost nose to nose, her body radiating both anger and hunger. “You did this without asking.”
“I couldn’t help it.” It was pathetic, but true.
She put a hand to her neck, fingers splayed across the bruise. “So now I’m your property? Is that how it works?”
“No,” I said, but the answer didn’t satisfy either of us. I tried again. “It’s not about ownership. It’s about survival. Instinct. Once it starts, it’s all I can think about.”
She stared at my lips as I spoke, her eyes narrowing. “And what happens to me?”
“The same thing. The bond goes both ways. You’ll feel it. The heat, the need. But if you don’t want it—if you fight it—it’ll fade. Eventually.” The lie burned in my mouth, but I let it stand.
She considered that. “How long?”
“Depends on the person. The will.” I almost added how much you want me, but didn’t.
She let her hand fall, then ran both through her hair, pushing it back from her face. “You should have warned me,” she said, but the anger had drained out of her voice, replaced by something else.
“I should have.” I meant it. “But I’m warning you now: the bond is strong. It’ll get stronger. And the next time I lose control, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”
She let out a breath, slow and careful. “What does it feel like?”
“Like I can smell you in my bones. Like I’d kill anyone who touched you. Like I want to fuck you until there’s nothing left of me.”
She blinked, and for a second, her face softened. Then the boardroom mask slammed back into place. “Sit down,” she said.
I sat, perched on the edge of the bed.
She came over, straddled my lap, and the skimpy silk robe hiked up over her hips. She leaned in, teeth grazing my ear, and whispered, “If you want it so bad, you’d better prove it.”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against me, hard enough to bruise. She rocked her hips, grinding against my cockuntil it hurt. I reached for her neck, massaged the mark, and she gasped, the sound low and wanting.
She pushed me back onto the bed, then slid down my body, lips and tongue tracing a line from my throat to my stomach. She yanked my pants open, freeing my cock, and wrapped her lips around the head, sucking with a slow, deliberate rhythm that made my vision blur. She took me deep, throat muscles clenching, then pulled off and grinned up at me, face smeared with spit and determination.
“Thought you were the animal,” she said.
I gave her a maniacal laugh, grabbed her by he hips, and forced her down onto the bed, ripping the robe apart before wolfishly burying my face between her legs.
I licked her, slow at first, savoring the taste of her. She was sharp and sweet and dangerous as a line of coke off a switchblade. Her thighs clamped on my ears, nails scoring tracks down my scalp. I worked her with my tongue until she moaned, until the sounds coming out of her throat were impossibly desperate and completely hers. Ate her pussy as if I’d never eat again. That’s what it felt like—greedy, endless, unsatisfied. I tongued her clit, then sucked it between my lips, then flicked it as if I could whittle her down to the nerve. The more I sucked, the more she bucked under me, her hands in fists in my hair, yanking me closer. When she came, it was sudden and violent, thighs crushing my face, the taste flooding my tongue as she grunted my name.
I looked up and saw her, hair wild, cheeks bright with color, chest heaving. I could smell our need in the room, and before I could make my next move, she climbed back onto me, lining herself up and sinking down, inch by inch, until she was filled to the hilt. I knew what she wanted.
