“Get out,” he growled.
“Zeth—”
“No,” he spat. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to give me something, take it away, then ask me if I ever wanted it in the first place. You think so little of me that I’d get over being in love with you—”
“No. Stop it.”
He laughed. “You don’t get to do that, either.”
“Zeth, I was wrong.”
“I’ll say.”
Panic seized her spine. God, she couldn’t be too late. Not now when she was finally standing up to herself. “No, I was really wrong. I…shit, this is…” She looked at him, at his unimpressed stare, and felt the last remaining strands of whatever it was holding her together crumble and break. “Goddammit!” she screamed, turning and landing a swift kick in the door. “I can’t do this.”
Another moment of silence passed between them. When Zeth spoke again, his voice had changed. “Raegan?”
“I am so completely fucked up. Do you know how fucked up I am? How much I’ve tried to pretend I’m normal or strong or anything but irreversibly fucked up?” Her cheeks were damp already. Apparently, her tears had just been waiting for their shot. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Zeth. I wanted to say yes. I did. Last night I wanted to tell you I loved you too, but I didn’t. I’m so fucking afraid of everything. Afraid of you, afraid of me, afraid of what happens next, and I’m so tired of being afraid. I hate it, and I hate myself for—”
The next thing she knew, the door had slammed shut, her back was to the wall, and a hot, eager werewolf was pressed against her chest.
“Say it again,” he murmured against her lips.
“Zeth?”
“Just one more time. Say it again.”
A shaky breath rocked through her throat. “I love you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you then. I love you—”
His mouth covered hers, swallowing her words into a hot, desperate kiss. A kiss that melted the skin right off her bones. A kiss that reshaped and redefined. A kiss promising a thousand things suddenly she didn’t need to hear, for she already knew. “God, Zeth,” she whimpered, nipping at his lips. “I’m so sorry.”
He growled again but didn’t reply. His hands had busied themselves removing her blouse. Good. Clothes were evil. She’d felt far too clothed in the past twenty-four hours. She needed to be as naked as possible.
So did he.
“I didn’t think you’d come back,” he murmured, fingering the strap of her unremarkable lace bra. “I didn’t think…”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know you’re scared, Rae. I know. All I wanna do is take that fear away.”
“I know. I know. I’m terrified to trust, but I wanna trust you.” She swallowed hard. “I do trust you. I just don’t know if I trust me.”
“I’ll trust enough for the both of us.”
She offered a watery smile. “That’ll be enough. For now, that’ll be enough.”
“Good, ’cause I was wondering…”
“Yeah?”
“Can I take your bra off now?”
A harsh giggle tickled her throat. “Here?”
“I need you now. I’d tell you it’s part of the claim or restaking my territory, but that’s bullshit. I just need you.” He paused. “Can I have you now? Please?”
Sex in public places wasn’t high on her list of thrills, but honestly, after the emotional rollercoaster she’d been on, she wasn’t high on waiting, either. Therefore, nodding her encouragement, she asked, “Is the door closed?”
“You kicked it shut.”
“Just make sure it’s locked.”
He grinned and obeyed, tugging a few times just to appease her.
“Okay. Then break it.”
Zeth pressed himself against her and nuzzled her ear. “Break what?”
“My bra,” she replied, ripping at his belt, her all-too-eager fingers fumbling for the buttons of his jeans. “Tear it off.”
Zeth blinked and looked up, his eyes dancing in amusement. “I can work a clasp,” he replied teasingly, his mouth dropping to her shoulder. “No need to hurt your frilly things.”
“I give you permission. I just wanna feel you.”
“Mmm, but then these lovelies will be all bare.” He cupped and lifted her breasts, his mouth venturing farther southward until he had a lace-clad nipple sucked between his lips. “I rather like the way they look all…”
Raegan whimpered and thrust her hips anxiously against his. “Zeth, please!”
“You kept me waiting,” he growled, sliding a hand between them to assist her scrabbling fingers in freeing his cock from the confines of his jeans. “You kept me waiting for fuck knows how many hours.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.”
“I didn’t…I needed to…”
Zeth laughed and shook his head. “Whatever it is, I don’t care. You love me.”
“Yes.” Raegan cried out in delight when his cock finally sprang into her hand. The helpless gasps that spilled through his lips set her blood on fire. “I love you,” she replied, dragging his t-shirt over his head, then tossing it somewhere behind the desk. “I’m so sorry.”
“You can stop saying that now.” He nipped at her breast before pulling back to fist the sliver of material between the cups. With a quick jerk of his hand, her bra wound up effectively destroyed, and she couldn’t conceal her squeal of delight. “I forgive you.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop saying it. The time without you sucked.”
Zeth smirked. “Just remember that.” He used his hold on her slacks to drag her back to him, then quickly dropped to his knees to slip the offending material down her legs. “Lift,” he murmured, making quick work of her footwear. “Christ, you smell so good.”
“Do we need to talk? There’s more to talk about, isn’t there?”
“Probably. But I wanna do this now.” He buried his face between her legs and inhaled. “Oh God.”
“Zeth…”
“These hours without you have been the death of me.” He trailed his gaze heatedly up her body. “Did you miss me here, too?” he asked, rubbing her delicately through her panties. “Tell me you missed me as much as I missed you.”
“More.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” he teased, grinning and tonguing her through the thin cotton that separated her wet flesh from his amorous mouth before finally ridding her of the cursed cotton bindings. Then she finally stood naked before him again. Naked was infinitely better than clothed, as long as her werewolf remained with her. And hey, if he sat perched on his knees, she definitely wouldn’t complain. “Any ideas on what I should do now?” he asked.
“Wha…?”
“Well, I’m open to suggestions.”
“You’re evil.”
“You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
“Just touch me, all right?”
“Been dying to,” he replied, dipping his fingers between her slick lips with a wicked grin. “Rae…” He slid his hand up her right thigh, then lifted her leg and draped it casually over his shoulder. “You’re so warm.”
“Gah.”
“And all mine.”
“Yes.”
“So easy,” he said. “The way it’s supposed to be between mates. You said last night I had nothing to worry about,” Zeth observed, licking up her slit with an approving coo. “You said that you were going to be mine. And then—”
“Then I got stupid.”
He teased her clit. “And I’m supposed to take it on faith that you’re not gonna get stupid again?” he asked coolly. “What if you came here to break it off and just got distracted by my hot body? What if this is the pity fuck before you turn and race home?”
Raegan’s eyes shot open. “No!” she squeaked ineloquently, her head rolling back when he plunged his tongue inside her. “Oh my God. Ohhh!”
“Mmm, yeah,” he purred, lapping at her soaked skin, growlin
g enthusiastically. “That’s my girl’s honey.”
“Zeth!”
“Love hearing you scream.” He winked and bit lightly on her inner thigh, his finger slipping inside her warmth, sucking her clit between his teeth again. “Scream for me, Raegan. Lemme know how sorry you are.”
“So you want me to say it now?”
“Mhmm. Changed my mind. You got to make it up to me.”
No sense arguing with that. “I do.”
“Yeah,” he said, mouth latching on to her again before she could complain that he’d let go of her at all. His fingers thrust deeper inside her, his tongue running circles over her needy pearl. And when he growled his encouragement, her legs wobbled, and she teetered closer to the edge. “Mmm…”
“So…so sorry.” God, words could not express how sorry she felt. “I…I—”
Zeth smirked, smacking his lips together. “You’ve been dying for this ever since you left me, haven’t you?”
She shivered. “You let me leave.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” His tongue flicked her clit teasingly. “None of that.”
“But I… Aaaunnhh!”
His grin tightened. “You’re close, aren’t you?” he murmured, sliding his fingers out of her pussy, wrapping his wet fingers around his cock. “Mmmm, yeah. I can taste how close you are.”
The knowledge that he tasted her as he stroked himself pushed her over the edge. Pleasure racked every nerve. Her skin melted. Her heart exploded. Her cells split. Raegan trembled hard and cried out in ecstasy, his name chorusing off her lips. And the world blacked out.
When she convinced her eyes to open again, she was lying on her back, Zeth next to her. He lay propped on his side, his cheek resting against his closed fist, his other hand playing lazily with one of her nipples. He’d also removed the rest of his clothing.
“Mmm, there she is,” he murmured, flashing a particularly seductive grin.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“On the floor.”
“Mmmm. I like your floor.”
Zeth nodded and leaned over, curled his tongue around her nipple and parted her legs with his knee. “It likes you too,” he replied hoarsely, wrapping a hand around his cock again. “But I think we’d be better off in a bed.”
“Do you have a bed in your office?”
“Sorry.”
“Well, I don’t wanna wait.” Raegan wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips as he positioned his cock at her sopping entrance.
“Good. I don’t wanna either.” He sucked her tongue into his mouth, growling when he sank inside her. The sensuality of his kiss set her skin aflame. She could kiss him forever. Well, at least until he pulled away and opened his mouth again. “And I’ve always wanted to christen the office.”
“And here I thought you’d use this place as your other bachelor pad.”
“Don’t think I haven’t tried.”
“Let’s not talk about that now.”
“Ooh, someone jealous?” Zeth smirked before his gaze softened. Then he buried his face in the crook of her neck, trembling. He withdrew slowly, taking his cock in one hand and brushing the silky head against her clit. “I love you. I love you.”
Her nails tunneled into his shoulders. “A-and?” God, she hated the uncertainty in her voice.
Zeth laughed again and raised his head. “There’s not a woman in the world…” He brushed his lips against hers. “Living or dead that could ever hope to hold a candle to you. Not a woman in the whole world. And you’re mine.” A hard tremor shook his body. “You’re all mine.”
“Yes.” She nodded rapidly. “All yours.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“No.”
“For always. It says so right here.” He bit slightly on the possession mark, his hard length sinking inside her pussy again. “You’re mine.”
She scratched at his back, rocking against him. “Yes.”
“Will you claim me back?”
Raegan smiled, her vaginal muscles clenching around him. And when he pulled back to look into her eyes, every broken piece of her world fell into place. This belonged to her. Completely hers. And she wouldn’t risk losing it again. Zeth belonged to her, and it was time the world knew it.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I love you, Zeth.”
His eyes filled with tears, which nearly broke her all over again. “Love you,” he whispered, kissing her sweetly. “I love you. God, I think I always have.” He shivered. “Raegan…please. Make me yours.”
She buried her face in the nape of his neck and bit him. And that was that. It felt so simple. So beautifully simple. Such a small thing linked them together, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. Zeth jerked deeper within her, moaning hard when she whispered to whom he belonged. And when he said, “Yours,” the part of her that had been lost in darkness finally stepped into the light.
Yours.
She had never known a sweeter word.
Epilogue
“Knock knock.”
Zeth grinned but didn’t look up from his post-it. He wanted to get the number down before his overactive mind lost it in the tidal wave of sensation that was seeing his mate. Eight months after making it official, and his wolf still barked like a happy puppy every time they were alone.
“Steak, extra rare, eggs, and three biscuits,” Raegan said, plopping the to-go box on his desk. “Still don’t know how you can eat that stuff.”
“You like eggs.”
“I mean the steak. It’s all…gooey and gross.”
“Cook it too long and all the flavor goes out.” He looked up at last, taking in her smiling face. As always, she looked radiant, but he couldn’t help but swell with pride at the gleam in her eyes. The shine of something he knew was his doing. Every day she looked more beautiful, more carefree, more his. Her hair, which she had allowed to grow to her shoulders, was currently swept up in an artsy twist that left the claim mark in clear view of anyone who might think she was on the market.
“I think I’ve packed up the last box to take to your place,” Raegan said, slipping into the chair across from his desk.
“Only took you how long?”
“Well, if someone would let me out of his sight long enough to do more than grab breakfast, I think we probably could have knocked this out in a weekend.”
Zeth smirked and popped his carton open. “Blame it on me if it makes you feel better.”
“Blaming you almost always makes me feel better.”
“You say the sweetest things.” He blew her a kiss. “Packing’s not over, sorry to say.” He reached across the desk to hand her the post-it, motioning to it with his chin. “Got a lead we need to follow up on.”
Raegan blinked at him, then turned to frown at the small square of paper. “What’s this?”
“Me keeping my word. Nothing conclusive, mind you, but there’s enough to suggest Razor’s been sighted.”
She looked up sharply. “Where?”
“St. Louis. Not really my ideal place for a honeymoon, but I thought you’d—”
Everything went blurry for a second. The next thing he knew, Raegan had darted from her seat and planted herself in his lap, wiggling in all kinds of nice ways while dragging hot kisses off his lips. He would have laughed if he weren’t mesmerized by the contours of her mouth, something his tongue took every possible opportunity to explore.
She pulled away to pant a breathless, “We’re really doing this?”
“Of course. Was there ever any doubt?”
His offering wasn’t anything but a promise he’d made. Chasing the ghosts from her past and doing everything to right the wrongs she’d seen, even if nothing could bring back the dead. Yet she had handed so much of herself over to him. It was only right he return the favor.
He’d go to the corners of the earth to make her happy. To undo the hurt she’d suffered. It was a small thing in the scheme of everything she’d given him.
“I love you,” she whisper
ed between kisses. “My wonderful werewolf.”
“I’m going to be rewarded for this, aren’t I?”
The shine in her eyes was all the answer he really needed, but he wouldn’t trade their byplay for anything. “What do you think?” she replied.
“That we should close the door. I swear, this desk gets more use than our bed.”
Raegan smirked. “Don’t seem to recall you complaining.”
“Never.”
“’Cause you love me,” she said.
“And you love me back.”
“I really do.”
Zeth nipped at her lips. Those words were worth any price, and he’d do his damndest to earn them every day for the rest of his life.
About Rosalie Stanton
A lifelong enthusiast of larger-than-life characters, Rosalie Stanton’s muse is fueled by alpha males, from badass bikers to scruffy-looking Nerf herders, and the intelligent, strong and independent women who actually do the driving. She loves interweaving the lives of people who appear to be polar opposites and delving beneath the surface to see how well one actually complements the other.
Rosalie lives in Missouri with her husband. Writing is her first creative love, but she also enjoys working with other authors and has a variety of critique partners, and likewise works as an editor. At an early age, she discovered a talent for creating worlds into which she could escape. Over the years, her vivid imagination evolved into a love of words and storytelling. Rosalie graduated with a degree in English and is now a multi-published author. Neither writing nor editing pays the bills, but thankfully her day-job employers understand where her true passion lies. When her attention is not engaged by writing or editing, she enjoys spending time with close friends and family.
Rosalie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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