“So fucking beautiful.” His breath danced over my skin as he nuzzled my neck again.
I could come undone just like this—him pressing me to the mattress, covering me, and rocking his body against mine. I bucked against him, helpless to do anything else. His hard cock slid against mine.
“Fuck…” I shuddered.
“Wait,” he commanded. “Want to be in you when you come.”
He grabbed the lube from the bedside table. Prep was fast, but thorough. I didn’t mind a touch of pain, but Gideon refused to give me even a moment of discomfort. With each slipperyfinger he thrust inside me, my magic sparked wildly around us until the whole room glowed.
“Now, Gideon… I can’t wait.” I pushed him gently, and he let me roll him to his back and straddle him.
I stared down at him through my steamed-up glasses. I’d forgotten I had them on, but I didn’t stop to take them off. Not now. Not when Gideon was under me, waiting for me. I needed him too damn much to stop for even a second.
He was flushed and sweaty and so fucking gorgeous. But best of all, he was mine. My mate. My amazing, brilliant, sexy mate.
He held his cock as I lowered myself onto him. And I groaned as I sank onto him. Every time we came together like this, it felt more perfect than the last. When I’d taken all of him deep inside my body, he moved his hands to grip my hips.
“I love you,” I whispered. Because he needed to hear it again. And I needed to say it.
Then I started to move. Rocking up and down on his length.Fuck. He filled me so completely, and I never wanted him to leave. Nothing in my life had been as perfect as being with Gideon. I couldn’t look away from him as we moved together, even when our rhythm became increasingly chaotic.
Faster. Harder.More.
The glowing embers of my magic pulsed around us with each thrust. Each spark that touched Gideon’s skin was like a tiny tether binding us together.
I was so close now. I curled over him, turning my head to the side, offering him my neck. When his blunt human teeth bit me, my body clenched in pleasure. My magic burst into thousands of tiny pieces and fell over us in a glittering cascade as my release shot across Gideon’s stomach. His arms wrapped around me like steel bands holding me still as he thrust deep inside me once… twice… then he came on a deep guttural grunt that reverberated through me.
When he loosened his embrace, I snuggled closer. I didn’t want this moment to end. I never did.
Gideon was safety and love and acceptance. He was home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Keep Your Heart Out of the Mixing Bowl
Gideon
No matter how hard I tried to convince Declan that things would be okay, he insisted on going to talk to Elwood before we ate breakfast. He said he was too worried to even think about eating food.
Elwood was in his living room when we arrived, sitting in his ancient wicker chair with a mug of something that smelled of chamomile and an expression of profound serenity. Like he didn’t have a care in the world. George was in his shirt pocket, small nose twitching in our direction.
"Morning," Elwood said.
"Morning," I said.
Declan said, "I made truth muffins."
"I heard," Elwood agreed pleasantly.
"Accidentally."
"I figured."
"I ruined the poker tournament, and Avery told everyone she was bluffing, and a man announced his cards out loud in the middle of a hand, and then Nadia confessed to the hexes, and –"
"Declan." Elwood set down his mug. "Come here."
Declan went. Elwood reached up and took his hand, and something in Declan's posture loosened just slightly, the way it always did when his grandfather touched him. George sniffed at Declan's knuckles with the air of a physician conducting a thorough examination.
