“Don’t apologize, princess. I have loved every second with you.” I seal my lips to hers, and the need for talking melts away with our desperate touches, an unspoken urgency fueling us.
BRIAR
Moros kisses me deeply. The constant ache in my chest ebbs a little, allowing me to feel the joy of the moment while still experiencing the pain of missing Ziv. I’m not sure I will ever fully recover my heart, but the clamp that seems to be compressing my chest and lungs doesn’t seem so taut at the moment. Kage remains a shadow in my thoughts, always hovering in the edges of my mind. I miss the way he would look at me, but at least I understand it now. The darkness in his gaze was pain, and the distance he kept between us was a necessary evil he accepted. He resigned himself to our fate the moment he met me. I wish I could feel the same acceptance for the loss.
It takes effort, but I cordon off my mind and shore up the walls I’ve been erecting to keep thoughts of them at bay. My mind slowly clears, and the only thing I can see or feel is Sunny.
His lovely scent fills the room and coats my skin. Hours from now, I will still be able to smell him, and so will anyone else who gets near me. He told me it’s a shifter thing, a way for everyone else to know I’m his. Thankfully it’s a biological response and not a magical one, because I would hate not to experience this and how it feels to be claimed by him. With shaking fingers, I lift his shirt, exposing skin I’ve thought about tracing with my tongue more times than I can count. He’s lean and built for speed and strength that I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing in the arena.
Our teeth clash once before he shifts his mouth away from mine and works his lips down my neck. When he nibbles on the skin of my shoulder, my entire body stills. Moros explained the way bonding works for shifters. He will bite me in this exact spot to truly claim me, and I will wear the scar for the rest of my life. I didn’t tell him that I bit Ziv, initiating the bond between us without even realizing it—not that I regretted it—and he didn’t ask, but from the way he described his bonding bite, making sure I knew it wouldn’t be too painful, I don’t think he knows that beings other than shifters have similar customs.
Anticipation makes my heart flutter in my chest, but what surprises me is the desire mixed with hunger swirling in my belly. I want to bite him… taste him. I want to know that I have some part of him inside me so no matter what happens, he will never truly be apart from me.
The realization hits me like a hammer, and I gasp in honest relief. This entire time, I’ve been focused on what I lost and not what I still have. Ziv may not be with me now, but I knew his heart—no, Iknowhis heart and how he felt for me. He loved me so deeply, I know his emotions mirrored my own. Something clicks into place, and while I still miss him, I no longer feel like I lost him entirely, because some part of the fallen god will always be with me even if he chooses not to be.
I run my hand up Moros’s back until my fingers are tangled in his hair, and then I put pressure on the back of his head. “I need you to bite me, Sunny.” I tilt my head a little more, trying to tempt him with more than just my words.
A sound rumbles from his chest, and I know it’s my wolf speaking through him. Before I can warn him that I plan to do the same in return, Moros strikes, sinking his teeth into my shoulder. My body reacts, bowing to anticipated pain that never arrives. My thoughts get hazy, like I’m just about to fall asleep when everything feels like it’s surrounded in cotton, then without warning, it’s like a rubber band snaps, and I’m hit with too much clarity. I sense Moros, and not just the fact that he’s with me, but unfettered access to his thoughts and feelings. Adoration and desire mingle together, making a potent cocktail that’s all-consuming. Obsessed wouldn’t be too large of a word to describe what I’m feeling, but I start to wonder if the emotions were mine all along, because I can’t tell where his thoughts end and mine begin.
The pressure on my shoulder wanes as Moros releases his hold. When I feel his tongue lap over the wound as if he can’t get enough of my taste, I release a small moan. I’m not sure if it’s the action itself or the show of care that elicits the euphoric feeling, but it makes me feel cherished all the same. While he’s still kissing me, I turn my face into his neck and return the favor, sinking my own teeth into the side of his neck much higher than he bit me.
He jolts as if I caught him by surprise, but then he makes that wonderful rumbly sound and holds my head against his neck. When the metallic taste of his blood hits my tongue, I expect my thoughts to shatter, leaving me feeling woozy, but it seems the drunken effect only comes with fallen god blood. My mind remains crystal clear, allowing me to revel in the exchange with complete understanding. When I bit Ziv, I had no idea Iwas forging a bond between us, but this is a conscious choice, a deliberate act to accept him as part of me and to give him part of myself in return. A thread of worry tries to slip into my thoughts, making me wonder if there will be anything left of me if I lose him too, but I shove it away. I have him in this moment and will have him as long as no one comes between us, and that’s more than anyone else could promise.
Moros’s hand slides from the back of my head after I release his neck, down my shoulders, and over the curve of my back with a delicate touch. When those same fingers reach the waistband of my pants, I lift a little, encouraging him to take them off.
After several less than successful attempts to rid me of the fabric without damaging it while I’m straddling him, I let out a husky laugh before shifting to the side and removing them myself with a little awkward shuffling. Moros takes the time to take off his own pants. The moment he’s done, his lips are back on my skin, kissing and caressing. There’s an unmistakable change between us. Not only do I feel the tethers of the bond tying us together, but the rushed urgency that was nipping at me has been replaced with desire and the need to reaffirm our connection.
I push him back on the bed then spend a little time cleaning the small amount of blood that dripped from his healing shoulder. Briefly, I wonder if the evidence of my bite will scar his skin. It’s selfish and vain, but I hope it does. I want everyone to know he belongs to me.
His hands roam over my back and waist, brushing the sides of my breasts while I move down his body, allowing my nipples to graze over the fine hairs on his chest and lower down to his belly. The texture against my skin is divine. When my face is over his thick shaft, I wrap my fingers around him but keep my eyes locked on his face. Moros tips his head back, exposing his neck, and I watch in fascination as his throat bobs when he swallows.
“Briar,” he pleads softly, and I answer by parting my lips and taking his tip into my mouth. His next utterance is a long, slow curse. The sound of fabric rending has me looking up again to see him fisting the bed linens. The cords in his neck are taut, as if he’s clenching his teeth. When I take him a little deeper, his back bows clear off the bed.
Seeing the way he reacts to me makes me feel desirable in a way I never thought I would experience again. My inner muscles clench. I want him inside me, but I need this first. I want to see him come undone with my mouth on him and witness how I affect him.
When his head starts to thrash from left to right, he releases the sheets and reaches for me. His hand slips into my hair, and he fists the strands. I suck harder, deeper, worried he’s going to try to pull me off, but he doesn’t have time to stop me. His cock jerks in my mouth, and he comes. I swallow quickly as his heady scent grows even stronger.
A heartbeat later, Moros pulls my mouth off him. The urge to resist is gone, but more importantly, I need to take a deep breath. I wipe the side of my mouth with the back of my hand while taking a moment to steady my breathing, and he uses my distraction to roll us over so I’m the one flat on my back with him hovering above me. His eyes are wild as he traces my features as if it’s the first time he’s seeing me.
“Sunny?” I feel insecure, like I did something wrong.
He slowly brings his body down to mine, covering me from chest to toes with his weight. “I, Alpha Moros of the Ashcroft Pack, take you, Briar, as my mate.” I have a physical reaction to the words. My breath leaves me in a huff as if the air is knocked from my lungs by a blow, but in reality, it’s just the results of hearing the words spoken out loud that causes it.
He leans in and kisses me tenderly, tasting my mouth like I’m a delicacy. When I catch my breath, I kiss him deeply. Myhands stray to his back, trailing up and down until he shudders and moves his kisses to the corner of my lips, then down to my neck and chest. The familiar ache between my legs grows until I’m lifting my hips off the bed in a bid to get closer to him. Moros slips his hand between our bodies, reaching for the exact spot I need him. I melt when his finger circles my clit, sinking into the narrow mattress. My hips swivel with his movement, but as good as it feels, it’s not enough. I need to feel him inside me.
“Sunny, I need you.” I barely recognize my own husky voice.
“Tell me what you need, princess.” His reply is instant. A wave of heat, which starts right where his finger is still making maddeningly slow circles, washes through me. I clamp my lips together. I don’t know how to tell him what I need.
“Yes you do, Briar,” he murmurs, proving not only our bodies are linked, but also our minds.
“You already know. You’re in my head,” I tell him, growing more desperate by the second.
“I wanted you before I even knew you existed. I want to hear—no,feelhow much you want me too.” I groan when he slides his finger lower, teasing my opening. My inner muscles clamp down, feeling way too empty.
“I want you inside me, Sunny, joining us together forever.”
He lets out a sigh that could be called a moan and slips two thick fingers inside me as if to reward me, but it isn’t his fingers I want. Moros’s hot breath huffs against my skin before he nibbles my nipple.
