Aurora groans, bucking and writhing wildly. When she comes, she takes me with her, her orgasm clenching around me and throwing me over the edge. We cry out together, clutching each other like drowning people finding shore. I spill inside her with a roar of pure ecstasy, my wolf howling in triumph as we fill our mate and claim her body.
After, we collapse onto her bed, still tangled together. I can’t stop touching her, running my hands over her skin, pressing kisses to her shoulder. The thought of withdrawing from her, of no longer being connected in this vulnerable and intimate way, is almost too much to bear. I would die inside her if I could.
“I meant what I said,” I murmur against her neck as I soften in her body. “I love you. The thought of you in danger… it kills me.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, tracing the scar on my cheek. “Did your father give you this? After you spoke up for me that day?”
I stiffen, but force myself to answer honestly. “Yes. His wolfsbane ring.”
Her fingers ghost over the scar. “That’s why you rejected me, isn’t it? To protect me from him?”
“Partly.” I catch her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. “But mostly I was a coward. Too afraid to stand up to him, too weak to be worthy of you.”
“You’re not weak,” she says softly. “A weak man wouldn’t admit his mistakes like you have.”
Hope blooms in my chest. “Does that mean you’ll give me another chance?”
She studies me for a long moment. “I don’t want to leave you either,” she finally admits. “But I can’t go back to Pack Jade. Not yet. I need answers first.”
“Then we’ll go back to Pack Onyx lands.” I pull back to meet her eyes. “Together. We’ll find out what happened to your family, figure out how to stop the fae. Then we’ll return home and face whatever comes next. As mates.”
“Even if it means defying your father?”
“Especially then.” I brush hair from her face, loving the trusting way she looks up at me, how vulnerable and close she is to me now. “I’m done letting fear rule me. Done denying what we are to each other. Whatever comes next, we face it together.”
She searches my face, then nods. “Okay. Together.”
Relief floods through me. Pulling her closer, I kiss her softly. “Together. Always.”
We’ll face whatever comes next as one. The fae, my father, the pack—none of it matters as long as she’s by my side.
Where she belongs.
Chapter 32
Aurora
Kieran’s hand traces lazy patterns on my skin as we lie tangled together. I should feel vulnerable, being naked in his arms like this, but instead I feel… safe. Each touch is reverent, as if he’s memorizing every inch of me, afraid I’ll vanish if he stops.
“I can’t stop touching you,” he murmurs, pressing kisses to my shoulder. “You feel so perfect against me. You’re going to make me hard again.”
Heat pools in my belly at his words. Even after what we just did, my body craves more. “Then don’t stop.”
He pulls back to look at me, his ice blue eyes darkening with renewed desire. A flush spreads across his chest as I run my fingers down his abs, feeling the muscles jump under my touch. I bite my lower lip as I look down to see the thick curve of his cock as it starts to swell again.
“Your turn,” I whisper, pushing him onto his back. “Let me taste you in my mouth.”
His breath catches. “Aurora… you don’t have to.”
“I want to do it.” And I do. I want to learn every inch of him, want to make him fall apart the way he did to me. “I want to suck your cock. Let me?”
When he nods, I take my time exploring his body. His skin is warm under my lips as I kiss down his chest, mapping the ridges of muscle, the flex of them beneath his taut skin. He’s so strong, so powerful, yet he yields to my touch completely.
“The things you do to me,” he groans as I trace his hip bones with my tongue, inching closer to his hardened shaft. “The way you make me feel…”
I smile against his skin, licking a particularly long stripe that stops just shy of his erection. “Tell me.”
“Like I’m burning up from the inside out.” His hands fist in the sheets as I move lower, tightening as he struggles to maintain control. “Like I’ll die if you stop touching me.”
