She pulled together enough strength to force herself vertical, crawled into his lap and with one sure motion, joined them.
They both clung tight, as if afraid the other would disappear. Vanish like a dream upon waking. Gem didn’t want this to end. She belonged with Shaun, and if she admitted the truth to herself, the idea of living in the north didn’t scare her anymore. Not like it had at first.
Because she’d have him.
She rose and fell over him, a constant, rhythmic dance that increased in tempo and pressure until she pounded down, his hips canting upward to greet her on each movement. Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging him closer, and she took a deep breath, her nose buried right beside his ear.
Her wolf howled with delight as she opened her mouth and caught hold of his shoulder muscle between her teeth.
Shaun froze, his cock sunk to the root in her core. “Gem?”
She closed her lips, added a slight pressure. Asking permission without saying a word.
“Oh hell, love, yeah. Bite me.”
He grabbed the back of her head with one hand and pressed her harder to his shoulder. At the same time he drove his hips upward like a mad man, his erection pistoning in and out, thrusting her over into a climax just as she bit down. Marking him. Making him hers.
He threw back his head and damn near screamed. Gem laughed, her orgasm pulsing on and on, then igniting into something out of this world as he yanked her closer. He fastened his mouth on her neck, and a second later, stars were all she saw as his teeth pressed into her flesh.
“I love you.”
Sweet mercy. She’d heard him. In her head, just like that first time they’d made love.
“Shaun?”
She wanted to try again, wanted to see if it was real, but the pleasure streaking through her couldn’t be denied, not even to experiment with their potential mate connection. She held on tight and rode out the storm.
When she could think again, it was to discover him stroking her back, fingertips gentle along her ribs, dipping down her waist before cupping her butt then rising up in endless circles.
“I’ve waited my entire life to experience this.”
Shaun kissed her temple. “I have to agree.”
Tears rushed into her eyes. “It’s real then? You can hear me?”
He nuzzled her neck, licking where he’d marked her, and a shiver shook her against him, rubbing their skin together. “You’re in my soul, love. Hearing you this way is just the icing on the cake.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shaun stared across the Moonshine Pub at Gem, wondering how it was possible for them to be so connected, and him still have no bloody idea was going on in that pretty head of hers.
Odds were he was simply too stupid to read the signs.
A couple of women from the pack wandered over and joined the table, leaning in to chat with Gem and Caroline. The four ladies laughed freely, their heads close together. To their left, Gem’s father sipped from a large brandy glass, a group of old-timers gathered at his side shooting the breeze and trying to one up each other with fish stories. The stiff in the suit leaned on the wall, a dark pair of glasses covering his eyes.
Shaun shook his head and turned his gaze back to his mate. She was far more interesting to look at, even if the secretive glances being tossed his direction from the four women made him nervous.
“You going to tell me what’s got you looking so constipated?” Evan slammed a new beer on the table in front of him, then propped himself up on the tall stool to Shaun’s right.
Shaun took a constitutional swig of the brew before pointing the mouth of his bottle in the direction of the ladies. “I don’t understand what you’re doing with a human who’s not your mate, but hell if I’m going to give you shit when I’ve got a mate and don’t quite know what I’m doing either.”
Evan lifted his drink and saluted him. “Women. Can’t live with them, can’t find the car keys without them.”
They set down their bottles at the same time, simultaneous sighs escaping as they stared at the women.
Shaun shot a glance at Evan.
Evan snorted.
Then the laughter set in for real, and they were lost. Shaun had tears streaming down his face right about the time Evan fell off his stool. Things kinda went downhill from there.
Every time Shaun managed to catch his breath, Evan started up again and set him off. Shaun clutched his stomach, the pain almost as bad as being beaten black and blue. Somehow they were both on the floor, dragging themselves up against the wall and hoping for a reprieve.
“Do I need to come and rescue you?”
The sweet touch of Gem’s voice in his mind hadn’t grown old. Not as they had traveled from the camp to the chopper, not over the past couple days as they’d shown her father around Whitehorse.
It calmed him and excited him all in the same breath. She was in his core, and he couldn’t imagine living without her.
“Nah, we’re okay. You having fun with the girls?” He tried poking his head around the barstool legs to spot her face again.
“Yes, but what I’d like is…”
When she stopped, a touch of longing in her tone, it was enough to sober him up from his giggle fest. He groaned as he slapped Evan on the shoulder, his stomach protesting as he sat up. “On that note, I’ll be back. My mate needs something, and your ugly mug just don’t cut it anymore.”
Evan waved him off as they both rolled to their knees.
“Now you should know better than to stop in the middle of that kind of a sentence. Me being the hound dog I am, I could find all kinds of fascinating ways to finish that thought.”
She watched as he approached, her dark lashes fluttering over her bright eyes. Her mouth curved in a smile meant all for him. “That sounds more interesting than what I was going to ask.”
Shaun stopped at her side, nodding politely at the rest of the table. “Ladies. If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow Gem for a few minutes.”
For a bunch of grown wolves, there was far too much winking and nodding happening as she took his hand. Shaun’s face grew hot at the blunt stares from Caroline and the other girls. What the hell had they been talking about, and holy shit, was he actually blushing?
This night got weirder by the minute.
Gem squeezed his fingers. “Where we going?”
Shaun tugged her close, his hand slipping to her lower back to keep them close. “Dance floor for now.”
They swayed easily, the music nice and slow. Gem draped her arms around his neck, the move lifting her breasts against him.
Hmmm.
They danced, bodies comfortable, in harmony. Part of what he’d longed for was right there. Complete connection, total belonging. There was no question about that truth—he and Gem were together.
“Shaun, we need to make some decisions.”
He turned her slowly, holding on to the peace for one more moment. “There was only one decision that had to be made, love, and you already made it when you marked me.”
Gem stiffened. “When…I marked you?”
Shaun nodded, attempting to guide her from the dance floor toward the open patio. “Come here, let’s not do this in the middle of the entire pack.”
She resisted. “No, this is as fine a place as any.”
Somehow she twisted from his arms and took a spot a few feet from him. He missed her warmth immediately, and the sadness in her eyes haunted him. “Gem, what’s wrong?”
“Just because I marked you, and you marked me doesn’t mean you get to make all the decisions. I thought you understood that. I thought that was clear when we worked together, on the trail, when we escaped from being kidnapped.”