I shuddered, my whole body reacting to the tremble in his voice, the reverence with which he whispered my name. “Yes.” Yes to it all, to everything and anything he wanted.
With another growl, Rys stood, hands gripping my thighs and holding me effortlessly against him as he headed towards my bedroom.
I had a moment to think,this is really happening, before I ended up flat on my back in the middle of my bed. The thought of being tied to Rys for the rest of my life should have been terrifying. Should have me putting a stop to this before we went too far to turn back.
But it wasn’t, and stopping the inevitable wasn’t something I had in me.
And it was inevitable.
I felt it with every sweep of his heated gaze. In the way he peeled off his shirt, his jeans, and stood naked at the foot of my bed, letting me drink him in until I was ready to combust from the fire building inside me.
“Rys.” I swallowed, my pulse hammering so loud it drowned out everything else. Kneeling up, I tugged the remains of my shirt off and let it fall by the side of the bed. I fumbled at my belt, eager fingers uncoordinated and clumsy.
“Fuck.” Frustration threatened to overwhelm me until Rys’s hands found mine.
“Let me,” he whispered, touch surprisingly gentle as he eased me back onto the bed and undressed me until I was as naked as him.
Crawling up over my body, he settled between my legs, propped up on arms that bracketed my head. I felt caged in, pinned down by his weight, and desire coursed through every fibre of my being.
No one had ever made me feel this way.
Not even Rys’s younger self.
My blood burned for him, the ache in my chest so intense it felt like it might crack open any second if he didn’t do something to ease it.
To make me his.
I might not be a wolf, but having Rys this close, I felt the connection between us like a tangible thing. Waiting for us to slot the last piece of the puzzle into place and complete something we’d put in place the moment we’d met.
Dipping his head, Rys ran his nose up the column of my throat, a strangled groan escaping him as claws slid out the tips of his fingers and tore through the bedsheets. The sharp scrape of teeth on my skin made my toes curl, and time seemed to freeze as he stilled above me.
Warm breath tickled my neck, the only indication he was still alive until he spoke.
“I’ll ask one last time,” he murmured, kissing a trail up to my ear before pulling back to look down at me. “Are you sure you want this?” His gaze searched mine, and I forced myself to consider his words carefully. I owed us both that. “If we do this, it’ll be forever.” He moved as he spoke, the barest roll of his hips, and my eyes fluttered closed. “And if we start down this path, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop.” He moved again and I wasn’t sure he was even aware of it, but I was.
My whole body burned where we touched. I ached with the need for more, to have him pin me to the bed and take everything I was offering.
Because I wanted this with a certainty I’d never felt about anything.
Didn’t give a shit that less than two days ago we couldn’t even be in the same room together, because this was right.
I knew it with every bone in my body. Rational thought had left the building the moment he said my name, only raw instinct remaining.
“I’ve wanted to be yours from the moment I met you.” As I said the words, the truth of them hit me hard. I might not have known why, but I’d felt it then and in all the years since. “Take me.”
Hooded eyes regarded me a second longer before he tipped his head back and growled, low and needy. Fangs extended to their full length and then he looked back down at me, gaze wild and dangerous.
I’d never been so hard in my life.
Scrambling for the lube I’d left under my pillow from the night before, I hurried to squirt some on my fingers. Rys was too far gone to do it for me, claws still embedded in my sheets. He pushed up, sitting back on his heels to watch as I gave myself the quickest prep ever.
I wanted to feel every second of this.
Wanted it to hurt in the best way as he claimed me as his.
“Rys.” I beckoned him closer, but he shook his head. In a move far too graceful for someone his size, he settled himself against the headboard instead.
Okay.
