She inhales sharply, making a small wounded sound. “You can’t just say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s true.” My hands find her hips, pulling her closer, thrilled that she lets me, that she leans toward me instead of pulling away. The bond pulses between us, heavy with need and fear. “I love you, Aurora. The thought of losing you terrifies me so much I can’t stand it.”
“You already lost me,” she whispers, but her body melts into mine. “You threw me away. Twice.”
“I know. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for that mistake, I swear to you I will.” I brush my lips against her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth, wanting nothing more than to worship her again, until she believes I mean it through and through. “Just don’t ask me to let you go again. Please.”
She makes a small sound of arousal as I kiss down her neck, her hips pressing toward me. “Kieran…”
“Stay with me.” I nip at her pulse point, rewarded by her gasp of pleasure. “Let me protect you. Let me love you the way I should have from the start. Let me be the man who deserves you, who earns you.”
Her hands fist in my shirt, but I can’t tell if she’s pushing me away or pulling me closer. “I don’t need you to hover over me, protective and possessive. I can protect myself. I’ve been doing it for five years.”
“I know you can.” I suck gently at her neck, marking her, even if temporarily. “But you don’t have to go it alone. Not anymore. Let me stand beside you, not in front of you. Let me be your partner, not your shield.”
“This doesn’t solve anything,” she protests, even as she tilts her head to give me better access. “It doesn’t change the past, or what our pack thinks of me.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agree, sliding my hands under her shirt to touch bare skin, coaxing gasps and mewls of pleasure from her. “But it’s a start.”
With a growl, I lift her up, pressing her against the wall. Her legs wrap around my waist as I claim her mouth in a desperate kiss. I pour all my need and fear into it—fear of losing her, need to keep her safe, to make her mine completely.
“I need you,” I pant against her mouth. “I need to be inside you. I need to prove you’re mine.”
“I was always yours,” she gasps as I grind against her, my cock trapped between our bodies, layers of clothes separating us. “Even when you didn’t want me, I was yours. Even when you wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t look at me, I was still yours.”
Her words cut deep, but they’re true. “I was a complete and total fucking idiot. But I’m done running from what we are, and I hope you are too.”
We strip down frantically, both of us desperate for skin contact. My hands shake as I pull her clothes off, need making me clumsy. She’s just as urgent, nearly ripping my shirt in her haste. When she’s finally naked before me, I have to pause just to look at her. Her skin glows in the afternoon light, marked with the evidence of my earlier attention, flushed and glistening.
“Beautiful,” I breathe, running my hands down her sides, my wolf howling in satisfaction and my cock throbbing. “Perfect.”
She shivers under my touch. “Kieran, please.”
The need in her voice breaks my control. Lifting her against the wall again, I grab my cock and position myself between her thighs. She whimpers as I tease the cock head at her entrance, slicking it in her drenched folds. She’s already wet for me, her thighs trembling with anticipation, her head thrown back to expose her delicate throat. When I finally push into her, rocking back and forth to work her open, we both cry out. She’s so tight, so perfect around me, like she was made for me. Like fate knew exactly what we’d need in each other.
My wolf howls with satisfaction as I claim our mate. He’s been waiting for this, waiting to mark her as ours again. I take my time, feeling her tightness slowly relaxing, her gasps turn to moans of pleasure. Finally I sheath myself inside her completely, my cock opening her wide. Her inner walls clench around me as I bottom out, making me groan with pleasure.
“This pussy is mine,” I growl, setting a punishing pace. Every thrust is a claim, every touch a brand. “You’re mine, Aurora. My mate. My heart. No one else gets to have you like this, no other man will ever put his cock inside you.”
“Never,” she agrees, nails raking down my back hard enough to draw blood. The pain only spurs me on, makes me groan in pleasure as I work myself inside her slick wet heat. “But you’re mine too, Kieran. No more rejecting me, no more pushing me away. Promise me.”
The possessiveness in her voice makes my cock throb inside her. I thrust harder, deeper, wanting to mark her from the inside out.
“Never again,” I swear, punctuating each word with a thrust that presses her against the wall, her heels digging into my back.“I swear it. I’m yours, Spitfire, now and forever. Myself, my heart, my cock—all yours. Always.”
I hold her possessively as I take her, one hand gripping her hip while the other supports her weight. Her body yields to mine perfectly, accepting every thrust, every press of my lips and nip of my teeth. The bond pulses between us, stronger than ever.
“Don’t leave me,” I beg between kisses across her neck, her cheek, her lips. “Don’t go where I can’t follow. I can’t lose you again, Aurora. Can’t stand the thought of it.”
She responds by sucking a bruise at my shoulder, marking me as I’ve marked her. The pain makes me growl and thrust deeper, the raw sound of our fucking filling the room.
“Then come with me,” she pants. “Help me find answers about my family. About who I am.”
“Anything,” I promise. “Everything. Just let me stay by your side.”
“Okay.” She writhes and mewls, gasping as I increase my tempo. “Kieran, I…”
“I’ve got you,” I slam home once again and grind my hips against hers, hitting that sweet spot in her pussy as I claim her fully. “Come on my cock like a good girl. That’s it, Spitfire, let go. Show me how much you love this cock inside you.”
