No bareback, either, he remembered suddenly. He felt the loss of her touch against his raging hot cock all the way to his tight sac, but he knew that the next time she caressed him, he’d be wrapped up.
He had to. No way in hell was he going to claim her with his seed or his bite until she was ready. If she trusted him enough to welcome him into her body, he would respect that gift with everything he had.
And he’d do it while wearing a condom.
His father had warned him about what to expect during a claiming in what was probably the most awkward conversation they’d ever had. If he came inside his mate, it would be almost impossible to keep from biting her. The claiming needed his seed and his bite at the same time to be finalized. Condoms were absolutely necessary unless he wanted to steal that choice from Evangeline.
Which he most definitely did not.
So, he would listen to his Alpha. He would do what his mate wanted. When they were married, he could fully claim her, and then it would be his turn to take what he desired from the only woman he would ever truly love.
For now, as he laid his mate out on their bed, already wondering how he’d pull the condom on when his claws had unsheathed on their own in his obvious excitement, he had only one goal in mind: he just didn’t want to embarrass himself too much.
Luckily for Maddox, he didn’t.
Epilogue
They say practice makes perfect.
Maddox and Evangeline’s first time was, for both of them, pure perfection. There was a ton of fumbling, and it was obvious that neither had any real clue what they were doing, but their initial experience had a sense of charm and wonder to it that stayed with both of them in the months that followed.
For once, they both were able to rely on their individual instincts, listening to their bodies, doing what felt right. What felt good. And, okay, maybe Maddox might’ve embarrassed himself a little by being too excited, and he did go off as soon as he got a glimpse of Evangeline in all her naked glory, but his generosity as a lover—and his enthusiasm—made it one of the best nights of Evangeline’s life which was all he could have ever asked for.
It was perfect, it was messy, it was real. And, now that the two of them had gotten the hang of mating, nothing stopped them from practicing.
A lot.
Every chance they got, actually.
A week after they consummated their relationship, Evangeline officially moved in. She put her house up for sale, earning enough in the quick turnaround to completely refurnish Maddox’s former bachelor pad. It was theirs now; Maddox loved the idea of Evangeline putting her touch on it. It was a family home, the place they would eventually raise their pups together… as soon as she allowed him to claim her for real.
Until then, they went through enough condoms that Maddox mentioned he was thinking about buying stock in Trojans. Teasingly, Evangeline suggested they switch to Durex since they were designed to help increase stamina.
Maddox responded by nipping her lip and, as she laughed, carrying his mate off to their bedroom in order to prove that a switch wouldn’t be necessary.
On the eve of their one year anniversary, Maddox finally got the nerve to propose again—with a lot of forethought and planning this time around.
Evangeline, of course, said yes.
It didn’t matter that her parents tried to interfere when they realized how serious it was, that they didn’t want her settling down with a shifter forever. She loved him, she wanted to be his mate and his wife, and if that made her happy, Maddox was willing to go along with the whole marriage thing.
They got married at the courthouse in Wolf’s Creek early one Monday morning. The simple ceremony was her idea. Most shifters didn’t bother with a true wedding ceremony since a claiming was a bond that was virtually unbreakable; shifters didn’t do divorce. Evangeline pretended as if she wasn’t hurt when her parents refused to bless their union, and she invited Colton to be the only witness to the wedding as a way of accepting that, while she wasn’t quite a paranormal, she now belonged to a pack.
Maddox tried to get her to change her mind. Just because he proposed, it didn’t mean that they had to get married right away—even if he was super fucking eager to—and he wanted to give her the big, white wedding that many little girls dreamed of.
Not his Evangeline, though. She agreed to a celebratory dinner the following weekend with his pack and her parents—if they showed up—plus a few of her co-workers. That was it.
That first weekend? It was theirs.
As soon as they were pronounced legally wed, with a marriage license to prove it, Evangeline wanted to be alone with her new husband. He translated that to: it’s about damn time to claim his mate.
There was an isolated cabin that belonged to the pack, perched along a hidden track along the mountains. His father gave it to Maddox and Evangeline as a mating day present. They planned on spending five days there together, making their union final in all ways.
Well, not all ways. While the marriage license was all they needed to prove their union was official in the eyes of the humans, their bond wouldn’t be recognized in the paranormal division until they stopped by a local Bumptown and arranged for a bonding license.
That was okay. As soon as they finished their honeymoon, that was the first thing on Maddox’s to-do list.
After Evangeline, of course.