by Jess Bryant
He nuzzled against her neck, swiping her long, dark, heavy hair aside, kissing her there gently, in a string of kisses, up to her ear, “I ache for you.”
Luna hummed again and rocked her body against his. He couldn’t help himself. He took the leeway she’d given him and traced his hands over her body. Her slim hips and her taunt stomach. Up, up, he cupped her breasts and they both hissed a breath as he palmed her and then teased her hard nipples with gentle squeezes.
“You’re so perfect.” He nipped her earlobe gently, wanting to bite her and mark her, to claim her, but only giving himself this small bite that didn’t break the skin, “Do you feel that? Feel how well you fit me? Because you were made for me, baby.”
She was. She was his perfect match in every way. Her breasts filled his palms to perfection. Her ass fit against his rock hard erection. He could bend her over right here. He could push her against the wall and be inside her in two seconds flat. She was matched to him that well and he knew she was wet for him. He could scent her arousal. Something dark and magnetic that was pulling him closer and closer to the edge of insanity.
He knew she felt it too. Her movements against him were growing wilder. She moaned and pressed her ass back, grinding against his erection. He was going to come if she kept that up and he could feel that she was just as close as he was. So close, and he hadn’t even touched her. Not yet. Not really. He hadn’t even kissed her.
Michael spun her around so quickly that she gasped but he didn’t give her time to take another breath. He took her lips with his and groaned as soon as her taste hit him. Like red wine, it burst over his senses, drowning him, making him drunk, making him want more. Luna whimpered slightly but didn’t pull back. She kissed him in return, twining her arms around his neck and pulling him against her. Skin to skin from shoulder to knee, they kissed as the hot water rained down on them. Softly, sweetly, learning the ins and outs of each others mouths as they tasted and explored. Tongues twining and twisting, darting and retreating. And Michael couldn’t imagine his life ever getting any better that it was at this, exact, moment.
“Mine.” He broke the kiss, lapping at her bottom lip with his tongue, “Say you’re mine.”
“You know I am.” She whispered back, “Kiss me, mate. Just kiss me again.”
Mine. Mate. Michael took her lips again and held her close .
She was his. Just his. Finally, he’d found her. Finally he could be whole. He finally had something, someone, that was his and just his. And nothing was going to take her from him now. Nothing and nobody.
Chapter 10
Luna had never felt anything like it. The heat and fire coursing through her veins felt like a kick-start to her entire system. She’d only thought that she felt the pull before he kissed her. She’d only been syphoning a tiny speck of his power. Now, now she could feel it all around her, inside of her, filling her up and making her whole in a way that she hadn’t known that she wasn’t.
She could feel her body responding to him. She wanted him. Of course she wanted him. Her body was ready for him. She was wet and aching to be filled. Her nipples were so hard they hurt. Her breasts had swelled with anticipation and she couldn’t stop from rubbing herself against him like an animal in heat, which, she supposed, she kind of was.
But it went deeper than that.
She could also feel her body healing. She could feel her skin stitching itself back together. All of the aches and pains that had haunted her for so long faded away. She was certain that if she took the time to stop kissing him and look that she’d be able to see the bruises and burns fading from her wrists.
Not kissing him wasn’t an option though. Not while the warm water sluiced down their bodies. Not as his strong arms went around her, holding her just tight enough to make her feel safe and adored. Not when she could feel his erection pressing against her belly, throbbing with a need that made her body answer in response.
He didn’t push her though. He kept her right where she was when she tried to roll her hips against the hard length. He held her firmly and kissed the living hell out of her, kissed her until she was certain she’d forget how to breathe, forget how to exist if his lips weren’t there to steady her.
His lips were soft, so soft and so at odds with the hardness of the rest of him. He was all thick, strong muscles. Warm, firm skin stretched over granite. His hands were huge, easily encasing her waist and in the back of her mind she couldn’t help but think of the havoc they would wreak if they were balled into fists. Not towards her. She knew better. He was her mate. He would never hurt her. Never harm her. But he was big enough, powerful enough, that she thought after the ordeal with Maddox she should have at least a shred of fear.
She didn’t. His power and strength only served to remind her that nobody would ever be able to hurt her ever again. It only made her want him more. Want his strength and security wrapped around her the same way his arms were.
Michael licked at her bottom lip and she hummed with pleasure. He traced her mouth as if he was learning every inch of it. She tipped her head back further, giving him absolute access, absolute control, and he was the one that all but growled. He plunged his tongue inside when she opened for him and her knees went weak at the feeling of rightness that swamped her.
Never had she felt like she was where she was supposed to be more than she did right then and there. Her entire life had been leading to this moment, to this man. Nova had predicted that she would end up here and Luna hadn’t believed her, hadn’t thought it was possible. Now that she had it, had him, she never intended to let him go.
It didn’t matter if she wasn’t good enough for him. It didn’t matter what scars she would carry. It didn’t matter how they’d come together. All that mattered was that fate had decided they were meant for each other, two halves of a whole, and now that they were together the only thing she wanted, the only thing she needed, was to complete the circle, seal the bond and claim him as her mate forever.
Michael groaned as he dragged her bottom lip between his teeth, “Luna, we have to stop.”
She made a small, whimpering noise that would have embarrassed her with anyone else but not with Michael. He was her mate. He wanted her and she wanted him. He’d said he would give her what she needed and what she needed was more of him, all of him. She tiptoed up and took his mouth with her own, brushing her breasts against his chest and garnering another of those deep, sexy growls.
Only he still broke the kiss, “Baby, wait…”
“Why?”
“We don’t have to rush.” Michael cupped her cheeks between his large palms and met her gaze, “We have plenty of time. The next full moon is weeks away. I won’t rush you into something you’re not ready for.”
Luna tilted her head and stared up at him for a long moment. So handsome and strong. Kind and sweet. He was only trying to protect her. She knew that and it made her heart ache with wonder that he was hers. It also made her want to sink her teeth into him and beg him to sink his into her.
Along with another part of him.
This feeling of longing and desire was so powerful it nearly wiped away all common sense. Nearly. Not completely. She was still logical and reasonable enough to know that he was right. No matter how desperate the heat felt, they had weeks before it truly raged out of control. They had time to get to know each other. They could wait until she was fully healed and not coming off months of torture and despair. But if that ordeal had taught her anything it was that the world could change at any moment. Tomorrow wasn’t promised. And she didn’t want to wait to make this man hers.
The rightness that she felt when he touched her, when he kissed her, was what Maddox had tried to take from her. He’d tried to keep this from her. Keep her true mate from her. He’d tried to deny her the joy and happiness of knowing and falling in love with her other half as they built a life together. And she wasn’t going to risk losing it now, not now, not ever again.
She needed Michael to make her his now. Ton
ight. Before the rest of the world caught up to them and somebody or something else tried to come between them.
“I don’t want to stop.” She brushed her body against his again and when he hissed a breath through his teeth she nuzzled his chest, “I don’t want to wait. I want you. You said you’re mine. Make me yours.”
Michael groaned against the top of her head, “I don’t want to push.”
“You’re not.”
“You’ve been through so much…”
“And I don’t want to think about that anymore.” She nipped at his pec lightly and then kissed the spot, “I want to wash it all away, Michael. I want to let it go and just be me again. I want to be yours. I want to embrace what fate gave me. You and this life that we can have together, starting right now.”
She could feel his hesitation through the bond. He wanted her. Oh, she could feel how much he wanted her. She could sense his wolf all but brushing against his skin, trying to get to her. But Michael had locked him down, locked down his urge to take her and claim her, because he was a good man, a great wolf and an amazing Alpha.
“Michael, please…”
She’d barely uttered the plea when he flipped them. He backed her out of the spray until she collided with the cool tile. He was on her then. His mouth collided with hers and this time he didn’t hold back. She felt him break, all but heard him shatter, and he groaned as he stroked his tongue deep into her mouth, his muscles straining as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
He kissed her like a man possessed. Like he wanted to fuse them together as one. And since that was exactly what she wanted too she kissed him back and held tight to him.
When he broke the kiss it was with a growl, his lips skating across her jaw, “You taste like sin and salvation. I’m never gonna get enough of you. Never.”
Luna moaned when he nipped at the hammering pulse in her neck. She tilted her head, giving him full access and he groaned. They were both born shifters. He recognized the move for what it was. Acceptance. Permission. Submission. She bared her neck to him and only him as her man, as her mate, as her Alpha.
“Not yet.” Michael murmured as his lips continued their dance over her skin, down her neck and across her collarbone, “When I bite you, it’ll all be over. I won’t be able to hold back and I’m not ready to come yet. Want to taste all of you first.”
She opened her mouth to say… something… but his lips closed around one tightly puckered nipple and suckled and she lost all coherent thought. Her head crashed back into the tiles and a moan that must have been her own rang in the enclosed space. Her eyes closed and her hands came up of their own accord, clawing in his hair for a grip as he licked and lapped at her breast, causing her insides to somersault with pinwheels of need.
“Michael. Please.” She gasped a heaving breath when he finally pulled off but he didn’t hesitate, simply moving to her other breast to deliver the same delicious torment.
Her fingers tightened in his hair. Her body arched to give him more of her, all of her. And for the first time in far too long, she felt her wolf stir inside of her. Her wolf had finally taken notice of what was happening, had finally eased past her fear enough to trust this man with them, and now that he was delivering untold pleasure she wanted to be closer to her mate.
A growl tore through the shower and Michael pulled back with a gasp. His hazel eyes were glassy and wide as they searched her face. He felt it too. She knew he did. She smiled, softening her fingers in his hair, stroking him reassuringly, trying to tell him without words that everything he was doing was healing her from the inside out.
He leaned closer and hummed before kissing her again. His wolf was there too. She could feel him again, wanting to break free and get to her, to mark her and claim her. He wanted is mate as much as Luna wanted hers.
And when Michael broke the kiss and smiled at her again she knew that she should tell him the truth. She should tell him that she wasn’t what he thought she was. She wasn’t good enough for him. She would cause him nothing but trouble.
She already had. He’d gone to war with the Crescents, with Maddox, and who knew what would happen to them all next because of that. Because of her. She was the reason for all of this and even if he hadn’t known it at the time, she was the one that had brought trouble to his door.
Mating her. Biting her. Claiming her. It would only make things harder for him. She wasn’t an Alpha. She wasn’t a leader. She was never meant to be Queen of a pack. There would be dissent in his pack because of her. Someone might even challenge her. She was a good fighter but going up against an Alpha wasn’t easy. She could be killed as quickly as her own father had been in a challenge and then what? Where would Michael be then? Alone, again, only suffering and weak because of the broken mate bond. No, she should tell him before this went any further. She had to.
“Don’t know what I did to deserve you. I’d almost lost faith. Thought fate had decided I should be alone forever.” He rubbed his thumb across her full bottom lip, “But then, there you were.”
Her heart thumped too hard in her chest, “Michael…”
“I’m already addicted to the taste of you. Can’t imagine how much better it could get. But I intend to find out.”
Before she could object, or protest or pause, the Moirae Pack Alpha dropped to his knees in front of her and bowed his head in reverence. She gasped. All words failed her. He was on his knees, for her. A man that took a knee for no one. He bowed to her and only her.
Michael glanced up, meeting her gaze, golden and serious, “I’ll be worthy of you, Luna. You come first. Before the pack, before my family, before myself, you come first. Now and forever.”
Her bottom lip quivered but she knew he was waiting for a response. She was supposed to give him an answer. He hadn’t asked a question but in this position, in their culture, he had in not so many words. She managed a slight tilt of her chin and her acceptance forced another growl from him that she could feel as his mouth hovered over her mound.
Michael kissed her there, softly at first, and then, with a groan he delved deeper. His big hands went to her hips, holding her steady for him as he opened her with his tongue. If she’d thought he tortured her breasts, that was nothing compared to what he did now.
He used his tongue to lure her throbbing clit into his mouth and then he sucked until she was crying out and rocking her hips against his face. Michael only groaned and took her deeper. He slid one hand beneath her thigh and lifted. He slid her leg over his shoulder, opening her up for him further and then he moved that hand to her opening and teased her.
Lips and tongue and fingers, he pushed her closer to the brink. He drove her out of her mind. She felt like she was coming apart at the seams. Like she might explode and simply disintegrate into dust, wash away down the drain and become part of the earth again. Her hips rocked shamelessly. She made noises that didn’t even sound human. She pulled on his hair so hard she was certain she must be hurting him but he only continued his assault until she fell apart.
“Michael!” His name came out a hoarse groan as she splintered apart.
Her world shifted off its axis. Realigned. When she found the strength to open her eyes again, Michael was there, the new center of her world. Like a bright and shining sun, he looked golden and gorgeous.
He licked his lips lewdly, “So perfect. You taste like mine. Because you are, Luna. All mine.”
She moaned softly as he rose back to his full height and pulled her against him. He dropped his forehead to hers. Their eyes met and they shared breath, both panting as they recovered from the force of what had just happened between them.
“Say it.” Michael swiped his tongue over her bottom lip and she moaned when she tasted herself there. “Say you’re mine, Luna. My woman. My mate. My queen.”
She didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t. Whatever doubts her brain may have, her heart didn’t share them.
“Yours. All yours.”
Chapter 11
Michael forced himself to go slowly and be patient even as his wolf growled at him to simply shove Luna against the nearest hard surface and get inside her. He refused to act like an animal. Not with her. Never with her. She deserved his best and he was going to see to it that this first time, their first time, was something beautiful that would help rid her of any bad memories.
After making her come in the shower, he’d made quick work of washing them and then helped her out. He toweled her off with teasing caresses and squeezes. She wiggled against him and shook out her hair when he tried to dry it as well. And then she was there, pressing kisses to his chest, lapping at the water droplets and then his nipples, driving him out of his mind as he rushed through drying himself.
“Enough.” He growled, throwing the towel aside and scooping her into his arms.
Luna giggled when he tossed her over his shoulder and the sound was absolute perfection to his ears. Sweet and slightly husky, happy and full of joy, it was everything he wanted for her, everything he wanted to give her.
He dropped her to his bed with one simple move and then stared at her for a long moment. He couldn’t get over how good she looked there. Her dark skin against his pale sheets was sexy as hell. Her hair beginning to curl into a wild mess that he couldn’t wait to tangle his fingers in. Her eyes were bright and her full lips were smiling. Naked and unabashed, she stretched out and then crooked a finger at him enticingly.
“Come here, mate.”
He groaned, his mind battling with his body’s desire, “Be sure, Luna. Be completely sure you’re ready for me.”
Her smile softened and her body arched. He watched, fascinated, as she slid a hand down her slim body, over the flat plane of her belly and between her legs. His knees turned to jelly when she widened her thighs so he could see.
“I’m ready.” Her voice hitched and his wolf growled as he launched himself onto the bed.
That wasn’t what he’d meant. She knew it. But she didn’t want to have a serious talk right now. She wanted him. She’d made that clear. And since he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath, he gave up fighting his instincts and simply let himself feel the bond that surged between them.
