Shelley stilled. “I know they’re ugly.”
“No.” He kissed another one. “They’re badges of courage. Of survival.”
“I don’t want to talk about them.”
He didn’t want to spoil their claiming with talk of her past. She’d tell him about them when she was ready. If that was tomorrow or ten years from now it didn’t matter to him. Only she mattered.
He gently eased her thighs apart, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn’t object. “That’s it,” he encouraged. He couldn’t resist caressing her ass. It was round and firm. “Spread your legs and make room for me.”
The wolf inside him howled as her legs slid open even farther. He fingered the dark cleft of her ass, flicking his thumb over the tight opening. She jerked, but remained steady.
He shifted until he was settled between her soft thighs. Holding her steady with his hands at her waist, he angled his body so his cock slid over her heated folds, bumping her clit. Her moist heat enveloped his cock as he repeated the action again and again.
Slowly, Shelley relaxed and began to move with him. “That’s it, baby,” he crooned. “I want you to feel good.”
He slid his hands over her sides and around to her front to cup her breasts. Her nipples were so tight. Hard little nubs of pleasure. He caught them between his fingers and pinched, careful to exert just the right amount of pressure.
She was panting hard now. But so was he. His heart was racing. His cock aching.
Easing back, he fit the head of his cock to her opening. He pushed past the natural constriction and slid the head of his shaft into her channel.
Sweat beaded on his temple. The sheets were cool beneath his knees. The air in the room was warm and filled with the scent of sex. Of male and female. His cock head was throbbing and hot as her sheath rippled around him.
“Forever,” he gritted out as he surged inward. She was tight, her inner muscles contracting around his shaft. She tilted her head back, a low cry coming from her lips.
Swearing, he worked his hips back and forth, going deeper with each thrust. “Relax, Shelley. You can take me like this. Take all of me,” he pleaded.
Every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Shelley didn’t know if she’d survive this. She only knew she had to.
The orgasm had ripped her to pieces, leaving her shaky and exhausted. Now a new energy gripped her. Expectation flooded her with adrenaline. It was time for them to complete the claiming.
She knew what it entailed. She knew James had to take her from behind in order for her to be claimed, for them to be considered mated. It was a submissive/dominant position. One that required trust. She hadn’t been too sure she’d ever want to make herself that vulnerable to a man. Now, she couldn’t wait for it to happen.
She was more aware of her body than she’d ever been in her life. Especially the imperfections. James had mentioned her scars for the first time. She knew he’d seen them. It was impossible for him not to, considering he spent every night in her bed. But they hadn’t turned him off. He saw them as badges of valor. For the first time, she didn’t mind them so much. Not that she’d ever want to talk about how she got them, but she could live with them.
She was panting hard now. Her hair was damp and hung around her face. The sheets below her were pristine white.
His hands gripped her waist in an unbreakable bond before shifting to her breasts. The ache was almost unbearable, but nothing compared to the need to have his shaft buried in her core.
She wanted him. Needed him. Loved him.
She’d cried out when he’d finally put the head of his cock to her opening and pushed. Her inner muscles were sensitized and swollen after her orgasm and it made it more difficult to accept him. James wasn’t a small man.
But she wanted him.
Desperately, she breathed in and out, trying to relax. He used his grip on her breasts to rock her as he made shallow thrusts, pushing deeper with each one.
“Take all of me.” She heard the urgency, the need in his words.
Shelley found a rhythm, rolling her hips back to meet him as he forged inward. Patiently, he worked his cock until he was buried to the hilt. She felt stretched to the limit. She had little control in this position. But she trusted James.
They were both panting hard now. There seemed to be a shortage of air in the room. It was thick with the scent of her cream, his heat, their growing need.
She sensed the growing determination in him and it fired her own. They belonged together and she wasn’t going to let her past rob her of her future. Not any longer.
A new sense of purpose grew in her and she shoved her ass back, wanting him to be a part of her.
He growled and began to thrust. There was no slow deliberation now. Hard and fast, he took her. His balls smacked against her sensitive clit with each thrust, driving her up quickly.
He caressed her breasts, massaging them, teasing her nipples as he pumped his cock into her core over and over. “You feel so fucking good.” His voice was guttural as he plunged over and over.
Shelley was mindless of everything but the need to find completion. He was deeper than he’d ever gone before. She bucked and shoved against him. He gripped her tighter. His hips hammered against her.
The wet slap of skin against skin was an erotic sound that made her even hotter. His cock rubbed against a sensitive spot in her channel and she felt her inner muscles contract.
“That’s it, baby. Come for me.” James urged her on. His thrusts became harder, more violent.
She cried his name. He swelled inside her and she knew this was it. The claiming was upon them. Her sheath tightened around his cock, rippling around his hard length, locking him inside her.
Arching back, she cried out again as her body was drenched in pleasure. Her arms shook. Her thighs quivered. Only James’s hold on her was keeping her from falling face down on the bed.
He was rigid behind her. She dimly heard him yell. Felt his hot, wet release as he came. With his cock head swelled, he was locked in her core. His orgasm seemed to go on forever and sent her flying over the edge twice more. He leaned down, caught the back of her neck between his teeth and nipped, marking her.
Spasms of pleasure shot through her and she moaned, loving the sign of his possession. She didn’t fear James. She knew he’d do whatever he thought she needed, no matter the cost to himself. That knowledge was priceless.
Her heart raced and her lungs burned as she struggled to get enough air into them. The room around her began to fade and her arms buckled. Her head hit the pillow.
She heard James swear and then she was lying on the mattress with him practically on top of her. He was still buried in her core.
She turned her head and sucked in a breath. James angled his torso off her and she was immediately more comfortable.
Shelley couldn’t believe what had happened. The first time she’d been claimed by a male it hadn’t been her choice. She hadn’t even known the male or understood what was happening. She’d been so lost in her first needing, she hadn’t cared. He’d been tranquilized and dragged away from her and killed before she’d even learned his name.
This experience had been totally different. This felt right. This was her choice. James was her mate.
They were still joined, his cock still pulsing within her. She liked the feeling and it made her smile. She had no idea how long they spent like that before James finally moved.
It wasn’t easy to disengage their bodies. Their skin was practically glued together with sweat. They both moaned and then she laughed as he dragged himself up and landed face down on the pillow next to her.
He slowly turned his head and stared at her. “Are you laughing at me?”
She couldn’t help herself. She felt so good. Amazing in fact. Light. As though the shackles of the past were finally gone. “Yes.”