“It’s time for my knot and bite, babe. You’ve earned it,” Ace stated, more like a threat than a treat.
Gripping my hip with exponential force, he drilled into my core like a mad man plumbing for natural resources. As he used me, he grunted, roughly squeezed my breasts, and called me all manner of foul names. Each one turning me on more than the last.
Finally, when he reached his zenith, he seated his cock all the way to my cervix. Growling, he bit down into my raw throat and the flesh parted like even my skin welcomed his aggression. Crying out beside him, I came as soon as his cum splashed the walls of my womb.
I could feel my blood drain from my neck as he sucked greedily at the wound he’d created. It would heal within hours, but I hated the thought of losing it. Some scars are too precious, and memorable, to lose.
Ace jogged my hips back and forth so that I could feel his knot firmly locked inside of me. “It’s so good, your cunt holding my dick and knot hostage inside you. I’ve never felt anything like it before. It’s pure fucking bliss!”
It was for me, too. Though I should have feared what he was doing to me, what he’d been doing all night long, I couldn’t summon the energy to hate it. It was heaven. It was hell. It was everything I wanted and more.
It took several minutes for his knot to deflate enough to safely extract from my sensitive tissues. As soon as I lost his warmth and connection, I was reminded of how bizarre it was that before he came into my life, I’d felt whole. Now, without him locked deep inside of me, I felt like something essential was missing. Not like I was less than, but like a very important piece of the puzzle had been lost within the depths of the couch cushions and left me just shy of complete.
Kissing my temple, Ace whispered, “Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?”
Despite being awoken in the night over and over again by his cock, I had. Surprisingly well. “Yes,” I admitted, blushing when I thought about all the depraved things we’d done together.
The whole night came crashing down on me then. The revelation of what I was. Of what I’d become. It was almost too much to take and my chest began to build with painful pressure over the swirling memories.
“Easy, Cat,” Ace soothed, pulling me into the warm circle of his arms when he felt my pulse and breath quicken.
It was just another thing I’d noticed about him. No matter the temperature outside or what he was or wasn’t wearing, Ace’s body always seemed reassuringly warm and cozy.
“It’s all going to be okay. I know what happened last night was a lot to take in. I can’t imagine what that was like for you. Findingout who you are this late in life. But, whatever happens, I’m here. I can help you through it,” he crooned affectionately.
Ace’s words were reassuring, but I was still struggling with an identity crisis I’d been unceremoniously thrown into. There was only so much someone else could do to square that away for me. It was just going to take time and a lot of self-reflection to completely tackle. Even then, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever truly be able to accept my new reality.
“Have you always known?” I posed in a small voice.
“That I was a shifter?” He clarified. When he felt my head bob beneath his chin, he said, “Yeah, my parents are both shifters. They were very open about it with me from a young age.”
I envied him his secure world perspective. To have always known he was a shifter must be a very different experience than finding out accidentally like I had. Last night had been confusing, gut-wrenching, and terrifying all rolled into one. I know your twenties are supposed to be a time of self-reflection and finding out who you are, but this was beyond my wildest imagination.
“What’s your name?” I queried, my cheeks turning pink when I realized I’d never bothered to ask him before. “I mean, I know it’s Ace, but what’s your real name? Your birth name. How old are you? When did you first shift?”
He chuckled at my barrage of questions. “My full name is Aiden Montgomery. I’m twenty-nine,” Ace answered before dropping an affectionate kiss on my nose, “and my first shift happened when I was fifteen.”
Spinning around in his arms, I gave him a confused look. “Fifteen?” Was I a late bloomer or was he the exception to the rule?
Ace tucked my hair behind my ear. “Yes. Most shifters change when they hit puberty, but it’s never an exact science.”
“So, is it common to change in your early twenties?” I pressed, wanting to understand why I hadn’t shifted before I met Ace.
“I wouldn’t say it’s common,” the man hedged, his eyes shifting away from mine as he spoke.
What wasn’t he telling me? I struggled out of his arms then and sat upright on the bed of grass we’d fallen asleep on in the wee hours of the night. “Why do you think I didn’t change as a teen?”
Ace shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I haven’t met your family before, but I don’t think anyone in your life was a shifter. Being in close proximity to other wares helps because of the constant exposure to their pheromones.”
“It helps?” I repeated, not able to shake the feeling there was something left out of his explanation. “But it’s not the only thing that would affect my change?”
“There are many contributing factors,” Ace replied evasively.
I wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “Like what?”
Scrubbing a hand down his stubbled face, Ace’s grey eyes narrowed like he didn’t want to be having this conversation at the moment. “Like the Blood Moon. It’s a very powerful influence on shifters of all kinds. I bet that played a big role in your shift last night.”
I stored that piece of information away for later. I wanted to know what other kinds of shifters there were in the world, but right now, I needed to know exactly whyIhad become one.
