Her first release built so fast, it shocked her. She gasped out his name, and he kissed her, holding her so close as they moved against each other.
Her orgasm came fast and hard, gripping his dick with pulse after pulse of pleasure.
He smiled into their kiss and told her she’d done good. And then he rolled her over onto her back and started building up her release again with powerful strokes into her.
Vic’s body was tense and strong against hers, and underneath his comforting weight, she felt safe and whole.
He pushed into her deep, and pulled out by inches, then drove into her again, and again, and again until she was writhing helplessly against him, begging him for more.
Her orgasm felt blinding for a moment, and she had to close her eyes. He thrust into her harder and harder, deeper until he gritted out her name and emptied himself into her. It had happened fast, but she loved it. She loved the way he lostcontrol with her. She loved the way he kissed her for a long time afterward, and stalled pulling out of her, as if he was craving that connection to her just as much as she was craving it with him. She loved the way he whispered that he’d missed her against her ear. She loved the way he rolled her with him when he went to his side and just held her, stroking her hair.
“You’re going to make me appreciate this damn scar, aren’t you?” he asked in the darkness.
She smiled and stroked his chest, then kissed his collarbone. “Damn right. It’s hot.”
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Do you want to tell me what you remember about your mom?”
Lyric froze. Did he know? Did he understand? Did he fathom how much it touched her heart that he had listened and wanted to know more about why she had been crying in the woods earlier?
So, she did. She told him every detail she could remember about the memory. What her mom looked like, the living room, the color of the cushions on the couch, the picture on the wall. What the outside of the house looked like. How it felt being held by her mom. How safe she had felt back then.
And bless that man, he listened to every detail and asked the perfect questions and was so understanding and soft with her raw little heart.
The next question he asked took her completely by surprise. “Is Cian dead?”
She grew quiet at the change in topic. “Yes,” she said low. “He’s dead. Liam ended him. He was standing over you with a knife. We never figured out if he cut you or not. You were pretty messed up.”
He swallowed audibly. “And how are you doing with that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you hurting from the breaking of that bond?”
She frowned. “I don’t…I don’t know what you mean.”
“You were bonded to him.”
“A Maker Bond, but I thinned that out a long time ago.”
He pressed another kiss to the top of her head. “You can tell me if it’s hurting you. I’ll understand.”
She eased back to look up at him. The glow of Earline’s cage highlighted the chiseled lines of his face. She thought about it. Honestly, she thought about it for the first time since the war. “I’ve been worried about you. Cian’s death…I can’t say it.”
“You can say anything to me.”
“It’ll make me a bad person.”
“Nothing you say will make me think you are a bad person. I know you.”
She swallowed hard. “Cian’s death was a relief.”
Vic brushed a strand of hair from her face with the tip of his finger. “In what way?”
“Because if he didn’t die in that battle, I would have to hunt him. He went after you. He is the reason you were hurt. He was the reason I almost lost you. And he would never stop coming if he knew you had lived. War Wolves are like that. But also…” She thought harder about her feelings. “Also, I never have to worry about him showing up and trying to force me back into the same pattern with him again. I used to think he was my mate, but I think my feelings were just muddy with the Maker Bond. What you and I have is very different than anything I ever felt with Cian. I’m not mourning the loss of a mate, Vic.” She leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his throat and then pulled back so she could look him in the eyes when she told him, “My mate is still here.”
“I saw you fighting,” he rumbled. “Little monster.” He said that word with a proud smile.
“You killed a wolf in that battle, not me, and you were half dead doing it. The monster is you. I’m glad you are who you are. I know I’m safe.”
