She dimly perceived Emory’s fingers in her hair, using enough force that her scalp burned. The pleasure turned to pain when his teeth sank into her throat, holding her in place as he started pounding into her hard and fast. Agony swiftly took over, yanking her from the floating height of climax, blinding in its ferocity. Her eyes and ears started to burn as if a poker had been jabbed into the orifices and her cries of bliss turned to those of misery. Her bones felt like they were being hollowed out with a spoon, aching worse than if they’d been broken. Fire sped through her veins, blistering her from the inside out.
Emory’s skin was no longer soft or smooth, it felt rough and piercing in every place they touched. He wouldn’t let her go when she tried to push him away, holding her tight when she struggled. Panic hit, an alarm she knew only too well.
Would her life end like this? Right here and now in Emory’s arms? Had he tricked her? Was this some form of punishment?
“Stop. Please stop.” She hated begging. Doing so dredged up memories she wanted to forget, of things she never wanted to witness again. But she didn’t care, wanting to put an end to what was occurring, thinking she might die if she was forced to endure it much longer.
“I have you.” Emory sounded so torn, so guilty. “It’s going to be all right. I promise. I’m here, angel eyes. I’m here.”
She wanted to tell him she didn’t want his comfort and closeness but the pain robbed her of speech, her tongue suddenly heavy and thick in her mouth. It was as if knives were plunging into her skin, the edges sharp and relentless. Like the night before, odd smells invaded her nose—woods, earth, grass, water and pine. The molten waves crashing through her intensified, multiplying and spreading as licks of flame seemed to eat her alive. Tears streamed down her face, a river that wouldn’t stop, then a strange sensation startled her. Something smooth and sleek teased the inside of her skin, brushing against her as though it could somehow break through the barrier of her flesh.
Fur.
Then everything clicked as she grasped the significance of what was happening. Emory’s wolf had somehow made its way inside of her as he’d told her it would, leaving behind an imprint of itself. The rusty flavor lingering in her mouth allowed her to put the pieces together. When she’d bitten Emory she must have started the second stage of the bloodbond. He’d told her to wait but she didn’t listen. It was her fault she was suffering, her misery a consequence of her own actions.
She stopped fighting, any remaining strength draining away. Slumping forward, she rested against Emory’s sweat-slicked chest, panting for breath. As abruptly as the pain started, it was gone. She waited for the lethargy to send her into a deep sleep as it had the night before, but exhaustion didn’t arrive.
“It’s over,” Emory said hoarsely and slowly withdrew his cock from her, flipping her over so that she was nestled against the pillows at her back.
She was going to ask him what he was doing when he made his intentions clear. He took her nipple between his lips, sending a different, more welcome kind of heat racing through her blood. Pain was forgotten, sent scattering to nothing when he scraped his teeth against skin that felt alive and new, flicking his tongue against the flesh he’d trapped between them. When she twined her fingers in his hair he moved to the other breast, lavishing her aching nipple with the same attention.
His hands gripped her hips, holding her steady as his cock glided along her folds and found the entrance to her pussy. One thrust and he was lodged completely inside her, so deep she felt the head nudge her cervix. The connection was impossible to miss, the newfound bond washing over her like warm rays of the sun. Two people inexplicably became one, knit closely together.
Emory lifted his head from her breast, gazing up at her. It wasn’t his glowing eyes that captivated her, it was what he was able to express silently with one single expression. Hope flared in her chest, bringing her from caged darkness and into freeing light. She hadn’t had that emotion directed toward her in so long she’d almost forgotten how easy it was to see if you were looking for it, how wonderful it could be to have it aimed right at you.
Reaching out, she touched his temple, fingers shaking. He didn’t have to say the words, not when he could communicate in this way, in a manner that shook her to her very soul. Emory might be an alpha male, capable of tearing men apart with his bare hands if they pissed him off, but he felt something entirely different for her. And God help her, she felt it too. She’d felt it from the moment she first laid eyes on him.
Adoration, attraction…
Love.
Emory couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe—not with his mate staring at him as she was. The way he felt about her evolved with each passing second, the second bloodbonding mark reaffirming and intensifying their connection. He’d known he wanted Mary from the moment they first met, in the animalistic way of his kind. Yet when he’d spoken to her, had spent time with her and had gotten to know her he’d fallen head over heels in love with the woman. Whereas he was hard, she was soft. When he was forceful, she was gentle. They were a perfect match, their opposite traits balancing each other.
“Emory,” she whispered, her fingertips flittering over his hair.
He caught her hand, brought it to his mouth and placed a kiss in her palm. Then he started moving, dragging his cock along her vaginal walls and sinking back into her heat with each return. She was so tight he had to push his way inside her, so hot he thought she’d burn him alive. With a snap of his hips he had her whimpering, his cock roughly spearing into her. He loved the sounds that she made, from her soft cries to her heavy moans to her ear-piercing screams.
The wolf wanted him to turn her around, pin her in place and fuck her from behind. It was the ultimate act of mating, the preferred way for a male to assert his dominance over his female. He fought the urge, making love to Mary as she deserved. She’d done something he’d never anticipated, accepting two of the bloodbonding phases in less than twenty-four hours. It wasn’t unheard of but it was rare. The pain was too much, the fear too difficult to overcome for many females.
Not my female, he thought with an enormous surge of pride. My beautiful, courageous mate.
When she’d bitten him he’d tried to stop from doing the same, but it hadn’t been possible with the need to possess her taunting him like a devil on his shoulder. He’d reacted despite his reservations, taking them beyond that first step and bringing her deeper into his world. The pain was something he hated—something he continued to dread—but now that it was over he was already thinking about the third mark. When their bloodbonding was completed, Mary would be more than his mate. She would finally be safe. The physical changes that came with being mated to a shifter would ensure she wouldn’t be harmed as easily, able to heal wounds that would kill a normal person.
Don’t focus on that now. She’s been through enough.
Lowering his head, he captured her mouth, pouring all of the emotions he felt into the kiss and his movements. He cupped her ass, lifting her so that her clit brushed his pelvis with each thrust of his hips, timing it so the motions matched the dips of his tongue. Back and forth he moved, until the tingle in his spine worked its way to his balls. He felt his sac tighten, a hard jerk of his cock warning him he wouldn’t be able to hold off for long.