Something broke inside of me, something I hadn’t known sat at the edge, about to tip over, crashing to the ground into a thousand pieces.
And as I looked into her blue eyes, feeling happiness and love and pleasure swell within me, I knew I would love this girl until the end of time, until my heart stopped beating and breath ceased to fill my lungs.
I let my wolf forward and felt my orgasm approach, my balls drawing up tight, my cock thickening. She tipped her head to the side even more, her jugular throbbing, my mouth watering.
I ran my tongue over her flesh. Back and forth, over and over, feeling her pulse beat wildly under the muscle.
I closed my eyes and groaned, slammed into her once, twice, and on the third time I buried myself balls-deep inside her tight pussy and sank my canines into her throat, giving her my mark so all would know she was mine.
Finally. Finally she’s ours.
My wolf howled and roared as I came and came and came, filling her up with my seed, making her smell like me from the inside out.
My mark wasn’t just on her neck, but inside her body.
I came so hard, so long, that I started to feel my seed slipping out from where we were connected.
With one final full-body shudder, I was mindful enough to brace my hands on the ground beside her head so I didn’t crush her. I rested my forehead on her chest, breathing harshly, dizzy, sated, and drained of pleasure.
After a moment, I rolled over but took her with me, lying on the forest floor with my mate on top of my chest, my arms wrapped around her, and for the first time in my life, I finally felt complete.
I lay there and held my girl, staring into her face, memorializing the way she was looking at me, all wonder and awe and… happiness.
There wasn’t a shred of that worry that creased her forehead, or the pain that haunted her eyes.
She stared at me as if she knew I’d always have her, always keep her close, and I’d never, ever let her down.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Odhran
She was pliant for me. Her head rested on my shoulder and a small smile curved her lips. I didn’t think I’d see her looking so trusting of me for a very long time.
I tightened my arms around her as warmth bloomed in my chest, and I made my way through the forest and back into the manor, up the stairs, and into the master suite.
Once in the bathroom, I set her on the edge of the sink, dirt and mud covering her pale flesh. I stared at my mate for long seconds, amazed and marveling that she was actually here, after all this time. Mine.
She glanced down and her cheeks heated as she covered her breasts with her arms.
We hadn’t bothered dressing after what we’d done in the forest, but I wanted her to see how beautiful she was, how perfect she was in my eyes.
“Look at me.” She lifted her head and our gazes locked. I helped her off the counter and turned her around so she was facing the mirror. “Look at ye.” I took hold of her wrists and lifted her arms out. “I donna see flaws. I donna see scars. The ugliness we perceive in ourselves doesn’t define us. It shapes and molds us and we become fucking battle gods because of it. Ye hear me, lass? Ye are a warrior who conquered.”
Her breath caught and she looked at me in the reflection.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.” I turned her around and kissed her soft and slow, running my hands all over her body. I touched every inch of her skin, showing her with my touch that there wasn’t any part of her that wasn’t desirable.
After turning on the shower and letting it warm, I picked her back up and stepped into the stall, making sure the water wasn’t too hot for her sensitive flesh before putting her under the spray. She tipped her head back, the long fall of her raven hair getting impossibly darker as the strands became soaked.
My gaze latched on to her neck, where my mating mark was, and my cock instantly became hard once again.
The damn thing dug against her firm ass, and she looked over her shoulder, a dreamy, post-orgasmic expression in her drowsy eyes, heating the longer we stared at each other.
I didn’t stop myself from sliding my hand up her abdomen and gently curling my palm over her throat. The touch was light, and the fact that she moaned told me she was right fucking here with me.
I kissed her slowly and thoroughly.