Finally.
I wanted to believe that meant the same for him as it did for me. And as his strength seeped into me, I let myself finally accept what I’d been too scared to voice. Even to myself. I wanted him. Wanted to see where this could go.
Was I ready to be soulmates?
No, probably not.
But I wanted to know that it was an option for the future.
So, as much as I wanted to stay in Rys’s arms forever and forget about the outside world and all its problems, he was right. We did need to talk.
This was our second chance, and I didn’t want anything to screw it up.
I doubted very much we’d get a third.
“Come inside.”
As if knowing I’d changed my mind, Rys didn’t protest when I led him by the hand into the living room instead of my bedroom. He sat down next to me on the sofa, angling his body to face me but not letting go of my hand.
He held it loosely in his, thumb stroking over my knuckles and giving me the courage I needed to get this out. “You said we’re soulmates,” I began, looking up to meet his eyes. It was a mistake. I knew it as soon as my heart stuttered. The intensity in those warm depths stole my words and my breath, leaving me staring at him for what felt like an eternity.
Rys cupped my jaw but made no move to draw me closer. “You want to know what that means for us?”
I nodded. “Yes,” I added, finally finding my voice again. “I’m not a wolf. I don’t know what it means or how I’d even…” I waved my hand in the air, not brave enough to say it out loud.
“Claim me?” Rys said, voice rough and so low it hit me deep in my belly.
The breath whooshed from my lungs, my mouth dry. All I could do was stare at him and lick my lips, my imagination running wild at everything those two words implied.
And fuck me, I’d been so wrong before.
I did want it.
Wanted it more than anything in that moment. “Yes,” I said, watching the effect that one word had on him. His gaze darkened, morphed into something wild, feral, looking every bit like the wolf he was inside. I asked the one question I was desperate to know the answer to, but I was also terrified it wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear. “Is that something you want?”
He opened his mouth, tongue tracing the edges of teeth that lengthened ever so slightly. My cock throbbed, hard enough to warrant reaching down to adjust myself.
When he finally spoke, his voice had a rawness I’d never heard before. An underlying growl that reached inside me and set every nerve alight. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck you right now. To bury myself deep inside you as I sink my fangs into your throat and ease the ache I’ve carried forten fucking years.” He finally drew me close and rested his forehead against mine. “Yes, I want that.” His touch was gentle as he slipped his fingers into my hair, but his words hit me like a sledgehammer, breaking through every ounce of rational thought that I’d been clinging to.
I didn’t care if we were rushing into this. Didn’t care what the consequences might be. For either of us. The only thing I knew in that moment was that Rys was mine.
Mine.
And as I crawled onto his lap to straddle his thighs, I knew I’d do whatever it took to bind us together forever. Because this time I was never letting him go. A wildness overtook me, all caution tossed aside, and I didn’t recognise the reckless part-fae who ground against Rys with abandon, who gripped his face with both hands and forced him to look at me. Who hissed out words that would irrevocably changeeverything. “I want that too.”
He slid his hands up under my shirt, too-sharp nails scraping over the skin of my back, and I arched into it, loving the bite of pain edging the intense pleasure of having him hard beneath me.
Wanting more.
Needing it.
Desperate to get as close to him as I possibly could.
His throaty growl rippled through me, his grip tightened as his hips thrust up, the feel of him an exquisite torture through too many layers of clothes. “This is not talking,” he ground out. The sound of material ripping accompanied his words, the back of my shirt losing the fight against his strength.
Cool air hit my heated skin, and I moaned. “I’ve said everything I need to.” I had nothing left in my head, my sole focus narrowed to Rys, and only him. Everything else ceased to matter.
“Gabriel.”
