by Olivia Arran
Hard through his jeans, his thick length rubbed against my core as we lost ourselves in the moment, awakening a woman I’d thought lost and forgotten. Curling my hands under his T-shirt, I tugged it up, breaking away to pull it over his head and toss it to the floor. My hands were immediately on him, smoothing across the thick slabs of muscle and tracing every groove. Sliding a nail around one flat nipple, I sighed against his mouth as he shivered, his whole body closing around me, leaning into me as though he couldn’t get enough. Steam clouded around us, filling the small space with heat and suspending us in a dream.
“Off,” he groaned, smoothing his hands under my shirt and palming my breasts, his thumbs repaying my earlier teasing as he rolled the sensitive nubs back and forth.
My protective jacket creaked as I yanked at the fastenings, pulling the zipper down and shrugging it off. Crossing my arms over my chest, I pulled my shirt off over my head. A glance down confirmed that my bra was no use to man nor beast; he’d shoved it up and out of the way, his face filled with some kind of euphoric awe as he stared at my breasts. With one hand I unhooked the useless piece of lace and threw it on the floor. “I know they’re not…” I shrugged, not sure really what to say. I was the classic pear shape, big ass and small tits. I sucked in a breath as he pinched my left nipple.
“New rule. You’re not allowed to insult anything that I’ve claimed as mine.”
“Is that so?” My voice came out all breathy and soft, but that could be something to do with what he was doing with his hands, rolling and tugging at my breasts as he rocked between my thighs. “And what, exactly, have you claimed as yours? Do I get a list?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a spitfire?”
“Ralph.” At the dark look on his face, I backtracked rapidly. “He said that you’d called me a spitfire.”
His reply was to put a hand behind my back as he pushed me down, bracing me above the sink. His mouth came down on my breast, his tongue tracing around my nipple and flicking across the aching bud. Breath hot, his growl tickled across my skin, sending goosebumps racing in scattered lines, carrying a heat that shot straight to my core. “I’m claiming every last inch of you.”
My back arched away from his hand, thrusting my chest toward his hovering mouth. “Every inch?”
“I’m going to devour every … last … millimeter … of … you,” he replied, nipping at my skin and sucking my aching breast into his mouth. Turning his attention to my neglected nipple, his free hand slid between us, working at the fastening to my pants and tugging them open.
I cried out as his finger worked its way inside me, sliding through my slick folds and plunging into my center. Circling inside me, he rocked his hard shaft against my thigh as his hand thrust back and forth, his mouth kissing across my chest to my neck, then up to my jaw, as another finger joined his first, stretching me and filling me. His mouth reached my ear, his breath hot and his soft groan spiking the fever inside of me, carrying with it his urgency and need. His chest pressed against mine, his body filling my vision as he pushed me higher, his thumb sliding through my curls to press against my hot center and rub in frustrating circles.
A strangled cry left my lips as my head fell back, my hips bucking and dancing against his hand, his hips pinning me in place as he stroked me again and again.
Then his hand was gone, an emptiness in its place.
This time my cry was one of regret.
He popped the buttons of his jeans, shucking them off, then dropped to his knees.
Leaning over, I peered down at him through eyes blurry with unsatisfied lust. But I couldn’t see what I wanted to see, not from this angle and not with his great big knee in the way. Dammit!
Making quick work of my boots, he pulled them off, his hands sliding up my legs, onto my thighs, then around to my ass.
“Lift up,” he instructed.
I did as I was told. A booty shuffle later and my pants were happily making their way down my legs.
Wait. “Stop!”
Chapter Sixteen
Jeanie
He froze mid thigh, his eyes flicking up to meet mine. His face was a picture, tight with need and hunger. “Sweetheart?” he growled, leaning in and nipping at my naked thigh.
“I … uh…” As his tongue swirled, I completely lost my train of thought.
He nipped again, tugging at my pants.
Shit. “I need to warn you…” about my fucked up leg, I finished silently, the words sticking on my tongue.
“Sweetheart, when I said that everything about you was mine, I meant it.”
“But—” I grabbed at my pants.
He slapped my hand away. “You’re you. Therefore, you’re perfect.” His voice was low and earnest, his thumbs massaging me in soothing circles.
What did I expect to happen? That I’d manage a relationship with the guy without ever taking my pants off? I nodded and leaned back on my elbows. It didn’t mean I wanted to watch, to see the flicker of disgust.
Warm, moist air hit my calves as he gently removed the last of my clothes. My fingers tingled, cramping where they dug into the edge of the cabinet top.
The air shifted, heating. Wetness trailed a path across my knee, crossing in seemingly random lines as his tongue worked its way down my calf to my feet, his fingers firm yet so soft as he traced the path of destruction thoroughly, leaving no scar left unloved.
I forced my eyes open, pushing up so I could peek over the edge.
He looked up at me, but his face didn’t hold what I had feared. If there had been compassion or pity in his eyes I might have survived, could have pushed it aside, but it would have lingered, tainting everything. But his eyes told a different story, one of worship and longing, the kind of look a man gives a woman when she’s laid out naked in front of him and all he wants to do is fuck her. Hard. Ruthlessly. No apologies, no softly-softly. An I-can’t-wait-to-get-inside-you kind of look.
Seeing myself through his eyes, I finally understood: I wasn’t broken. Not if I didn’t want to be.
“Max…” It came out a soft moan, driven by the same need driving him. I wanted him filling me, his thickness stretching me tight and finishing off what he’d started earlier.
His hands crept higher, his head following the same path with an intent I’d have to be a fool to miss. I still jumped when his tongue swept through my folds, diving deep into my core with a ruthless determination, swirling and flicking and sucking as though he were starved for my taste. His deep groans vibrated up through me, sending waves of tantalizing pleasure rippling out through my limbs and gathering in my stomach.
I moaned, thighs clenching as I dug my fingers into his scalp, urging him on.
Nearly there…
He slowed, his licks featherlight and teasing.
No! I clung on, but he pressed a kiss against my thigh, a soft nibble of teeth, then, he straightened, and I got my first real close up look at what I’d spent all of last night fantasizing about. His cock was more gorgeous than I’d remembered, extra thick and stretching all the way up to his belly button, it was super-sized like the man himself.
My core clenched at the thought of taking him inside me, my mouth dry as I stared and stared, unable to rip my eyes away.
“What’s mine is yours, and vice versa…” he murmured the words. He shook his head, the movement catching my eye and breaking the spell. “That’s if … are you sure you want to do this? We don’t have to rush things, but I don’t know if can … not. Y’know, if we…” He motioned between us, his jaw clenched and eyes flashing.
“Do you not—?”
“Fuck, no! I want you more than anything I’ve ever wanted, but I need you to say the words. This is for life, sweetheart, there’s no divorce once we’re mated.”
Really? He couldn’t die on me and he couldn’t leave me? “What if you get bored of me?”
Crowding into me, he pressed between my legs, until his shaft stroked between my thighs. “I can’t, I won’t. It doesn’t
work like that. We’ll share a soul bond. We’ll be bound together closer than anything you could imagine. Our hearts would beat as one.”
“Oh!” What he described sounded so beautiful, yet I couldn’t think straight, not with his body so close to mine, teasing me. I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his chest, tasting the salt on his skin and, underneath it, the taste of him. The man who’d walked into my life and shown me what it meant to live again. Not to just exist, to really, truly grab life by the balls and ride it through all its ups and downs, reveling in the highs and clinging to each other through the lows. I could share all this with him. All I had to do was say yes.
Screw that, if I was going to be mated to a shifter, then he wasn’t the only one getting to go around spouting declarations with a growl. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down until we were nose to nose. Giving it my best shot, I lowered my voice to a husky growl, throwing inhibition to the wind, “You’re mine, sweetheart. Now, are you planning on doing something with this fine specimen, or am I going to have to draw you a map?”
My squeal was ear splitting as I was lifted clear off the cabinet and carried through the air. Locking my legs around his waist, I rocked against him while nuzzling his neck, gasping as water hit my back, drenching me in a matter of seconds. Wet, slippery tiles pressed against my spine as I locked my feet together, inching my way up him to meet his mouth with a throaty groan.
His fingers dug into my backside, holding me high as he licked and nibbled at my lips, teasing me, his shaft sliding between my slick thighs and prodding at my opening.
My head fell back as water pelted down on us, my nails carving grooves in his biceps as I tilted my hips, silently begging him to take me. To claim me as his.
Okay. Not so silent, my throaty moans bouncing around the bathroom as he rubbed the thick head of his cock through my curls and against my tight, throbbing clit in slow, deliberate strokes, his muscles rigid and breathing shallow. My breath caught in my throat as he seized my lip between his teeth, stroking it with his tongue in time with his hips.
I sucked in another breath, my chest tight and lungs burning, then another, my stomach churning as electric sparked up and down my legs, tightening my toes and shooting back up into my stomach in an endless circuit, short firing and pulsating, growing like a living thing inside me.
My back arched.
His fingers dug in, holding me still as he stroked faster, still not entering me. He groaned, grinding harder.
I erupted on a scream, shaking and quivering as my orgasm flattened me in its path.
He thrust inside with a grunt, stretching me wider than I’d ever been stretched before, filling me completely until our pelvic bones ground together.
Still falling, my scream turned into a wail as he retreated, thrusting into me again and again, his hips powering back and forth, each forceful stroke punctuated by his grunts, his breath heating my neck as our skin slid together, slick and wet, the water pounding on and on.
Pulling back, he slid his cock out to the tip, his eyes locking onto me. “Jeanie, sweetheart, my little spitfire, I will never leave you alone in this life and I’ll be yours for as long as you want me. I love you and I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.” Slamming back into me, I felt a sting as his teeth scraped my neck, nicking my skin in a move so tender, I barely felt it amid the heat flooding me. He pulled away, laying a gentle kiss on the mark. “You need to claim me as yours, sweetheart,” he said on a groan, deep lines furrowing out from his mouth as a muscle jumped in his jaw.
Oh. Okay. I reached for the first words that came into my head, riding the whirlwind high of lust and love, “I love you, Max. You—” I broke off, words failing me. He’d turned my world around, given me back something I had thought lost forever—forgiveness and hope. I had accepted that I would never forget my past, and that was okay, but I could move on and the sky wouldn’t fall. “Thank you,” I whispered, hoping he could somehow read the words on my face, because I couldn’t find a way to voice them out loud. Something tugged at the center of my chest, a warmth filling me to overflowing with love and lust and adoration. Closing my eyes, I shuddered at the sight of the soul bond stretching out between us, sparkling and strong. “It worked,” I whispered, opening my eyes.
“Your heart knew the words and now I can feel them.”
I cocked my head to one side, rocking my hips forward so his cock slid deeper inside me. “Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
He flashed me a lopsided smirk, one tinged with the same hunger I felt. “It doesn’t work quite like that … but, yeah, I can guess. You want something, sweetheart?” His eyes flickered to my breasts, his tongue darting out to lick his lips.
Using his iron cast grip on me, I rolled my hips back, sliding his shaft out to the tip. “Maybe…” I purred. Reaching down inside, I squeezed my core muscles tight, hoping he could feel it. It had been a long time since I’d—
“Fuck,” was his answering growl.
“Right answer.” I’d barely gotten the words out before he was thrusting back inside, his hips pistoning back and forth. Bracing me against the wall, he slid one hand out from underneath my ass to cup my breast, his mouth inches away from mine as he drove us higher, his breathing ragged and eyes wild.
“I fucking love your breasts,” he groaned, squeezing my nipple tight.
Sweet pleasure rippled out as he rolled and pinched my erect nub, the sting riding the edge of pain and tugging at the heat growing between my legs.
“Come for me,” he commanded, cupping my jaw and seizing my mouth in a kiss that was savage and abandoned.
And so perfect as I splintered once more in his arms, his thick cock pushing me over the edge and straight into oblivion, friction burning and nerves screaming as they trembled around him, clamping down until he poured himself into me on a roar, his hand sliding around to the back of my neck and clinging on, our foreheads knocking together in perfect understanding.
I shuddered, floating back down to a body wrecked by the kind of pleasure I would feel for days.
His hands loosened as we came apart, my feet hitting the floor and knees nearly buckling. On a low chuckle, he pulled me tight against his chest, smoothing my sopping wet hair back and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Easy there. What do you say we take this into the bedroom?”
Snuggling closer, I breathed him in. “Sounds like a plan—” My scream was earsplitting as a sheet of icy water drenched me, the hot water choosing that exact moment to run out.
I had to give it to him, he was the perfect gentleman, sheltering me as I edged my way out of the cubicle, his teeth gritted and goose bumps throwing a party.
“Come on, sweetheart,” I murmured, catching his hand and tugging him behind me as I walked toward the bedroom, “I’ll warm you up.”
Epilogue
Jeanie
A couple of weeks later…
“I’ve got something to show you.”
Buttoning down the smile that threatened to split my face in half, I gave Max my full attention, something he’d obviously been aiming for. “I think I’ve heard this one before.” Looping my arms around his waist, careful to keep my soap sudsy hands away from his neatly pressed shirt, I gave his hip a nudge. I snuck a quick glance at the clock on the wall. “Okay, but we’ll have to be fast or we’ll be late, and you know what your Mom gets like when we’re late to dinner.”
His low rumble of laughter was my first clue that things weren’t as they appeared. “Mind in the gutter; I like it. No, I love it, but unfortunately for me it isn’t my cock that I want you to look at.”
Mock pouting, I gave him a shove and struck my hands back into the sink, chasing a stray fork around the bottom of the bowl. “Tease.” I heard the rustle of clothing and glanced back, unable to pass up an opportunity to ogle my gorgeous mate, despite having explored every inch of him several times over in the last couple of weeks. “Oh!” I dropped the fork, spinning around.
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“Do you like it?” He sounded almost … bashful.
My hand hovered above his chest, dripping soapy water onto the floor, but I didn’t care. Emblazoned across his pectoral muscle in slanted, cursive was Jeanie, the dot above the ‘i’ a tiny, orange flame. Tracing a finger around the edges, careful not to touch the healing tattoo, I swallowed hard. This was just like him, always surprising me.
“You own my heart, I only made sure everyone could see it.”
The room blurred, my eyes stinging.
He caressed my shoulders, squeezing them. “Shit! Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I managed to force out, the smile finally breaking free. “You did everything right.”
“We’re good then?” he murmured, sliding his hands down my arms, skimming my waist and looping them around to squeeze my ass.
“We definitely don’t have time for that now,” I said with a snort.
“Mom will have to wait.” He kissed the corner of my mouth, dragging me closer. “You only wanted to get there early so you could snag baby Mae off of Gina.”
I thought about fibbing, for about a split second, then shrugged. So what if I liked to cuddle the cute, chunky angel. We were placing bets on what would be her first word, and I had laid money on Jee for Jeanie. “Guilty. But I did want to see if there’s any more news on Connie.”
He leaned closer, until his lips tickled my ear, the distinct outline of his thickening shaft pressing into my stomach. His voice dropped to a low and seductive whisper. “She’s fine, Ralph’s looking after her. Now, how about we stay here and get to work on making our own cute little, chunky angel?”
Yes! The shriek inside my head had my ears ringing. Clearing my throat, I refrained from shaking my ass in an excited dance, but only just. “Maybe I’ll let you persuade me,” was what I actually said, managing to keep the squeak out of my voice until right at the end. Busted, dammit. Oh, what the hell? Giving up all presence at cool, I vaulted into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and grabbing his face between my hands. “I expect you to put a lot of effort in,” I warned with a smirk.
