He paused, his mouth curving. “And to occasionally ride the mop without complaint.”
“Occasionally is acceptable.”
We spoke the binding words from the original ceremony together. This time, both of us knew what they meant. The bond flared between us again, recognizing truth the same way it had on our wedding day.
But this felt different. Chosen instead of arranged. Built through breakfast trays and arguments about research protocol.
He kissed me, and I forgot we were standing in an open meadow where anyone could see.
When he pulled back, I swayed. He steadied me with both hands on my waist, grinning in a way I’d never seen before. So beautiful and rare.
He swept me up and spun me around again. I laughed, the sound echoing in the small meadow.
He laid me down in the cool grass, with silver light filtering through the canopy. His expression held everything I’d been too careful to name until now.
I touched his jaw. He turned his face into my hand, his stubble rough against my palm.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” he said. “I have for a while now.”
“I know. I’ve been collecting evidence.”
His laugh came soft. “Of course you have.”
He kissed me again, slower this time. His hands moved to the laces of my dress with the same careful attention he’d given them before, working each one loose while his mouth traced my collarbone.
The grass felt soft beneath my back and the night air cool on my skin as he eased my dress off my shoulders. I helped him with his tunic, my fingers finding scars I’d traced before and new ones I hadn’t noticed yet.
“Tell me about this one,” I said, stroking a mark on his ribs.
“Border dispute. Three years ago.” He kissed my throat. “I’ll tell you the whole story later.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
His hands moved lower, finding the hem of my undergarments. I lifted my hips so he could slide them off, the motion somehow more intimate than anything we’d done before.
He settled between my thighs, his weight familiar now. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him close.
“Still yes?” he asked against my mouth.
“Always yes.”
He entered me slowly, giving my body time to adjust. The stretch felt different here, in the open air with moonlight on our skin. More ours.
He moved faster, finding the rhythm we’d learned together.
I could feel him in ways that had nothing to do with physical sensation. His wolf’s satisfaction. His heart’s certainty.
Mine.
The orgasm built fast, pleasure coiling tight in my belly before releasing in waves that made me cry out. He followed after, his body shuddering as he came.
We lay tangled together in the grass with our breathing slowly returning to normal.
“We lost the race,” I said.
