There is hot breath on the crook of our neck. I whine.
Sharp teeth scrape our fur, and then they sink into our hide, piercing fur and flesh, deep, ripping muscle, clamping down and holding on. She howls. It hurts like hell, but we love it. We go limp. Pliant.
He slowly extricates his fangs, licking the wound gently and methodically with his raspy tongue, soothing the hurt.
I stretch my neck to test the tendon. It works. Everything is still attached. There’s no pain.
Something thumps in my chest.
And then there’s hot skin on my back.
“Shift, baby.” Killian’s human voice is gravel.
My wolf whines. He’s above us, pushed up on his arms, shielding us.
“Come on, baby. Shift back.” He infuses the words with alpha command. My wolf doesn’t have a choice. Our body complies, breaks and remolds itself, and it aches, but not nearly as bad as my wolf’s disappointment. She wails inside me.
Killian stokes my bare back. I’m laying on my naked stomach. My neck throbs, and my muscles are limp. Wrung out. He’s on top of me, braced on his forearms, nuzzling and lapping at the bite wound. He bit us. Claimed us.
No, he didn’t. His wolf did.
I try to buck him off, but I have no strength. All I manage to do is press my bare ass closer to his groin. He groans.
“Baby, hold still.”
And the haze from the shift clears some more. I register his weight, his hard cock pressing against my butt cheek. His thick thigh is nestled between my thighs. His knee is firm against my pussy. And I’m wet.
I don’t want to be. I’m not my wolf. My brain’s all muddled, but I’m pretty sure I still hate him. I want to toss him off, but I’m scared to move. His body is too entwined with mine, and the touch isn’t bad. It’s—interesting.
His licks slow and then stop. “You’re not bleeding anymore. It’s okay.”
It’s not okay. Nothing is.
His lips brush the wound. It’s pulsing now. Hot. It makes me squirmy inside. Unmoored. The place where the bond was feels different. More raw. And prickly.
He continues down my shoulder blade, his lips brushing my skin, his nose skimming lightly down my spine. He’s breathing me in.
A tangled web tightens in my belly like a cord was pulled.
I stay very still and screw my eyes shut.
I want this to be over.
And I don’t want him to stop.
My wolf is demanding, prowling, angry now. Mate.
He ruined my business. He crushed my dreams. I have to hate him.
“You can relax,” he says. “You’re safe. I’m not angry. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
I snort in the dirt.
He chuckles. “There’s my grumpy mate.”
Mate? Oh, fuck him.
“I’m not your mate.”
“I talked to the crone. She says you are.”
“I reject you.”
He chuckles. “You can’t reject me. My bite mark is on your neck.”
Every word he speaks, his lips tease my skin. No one has ever lingered on my back like this. Shivers race down my spine, and my breasts are responding, growing heavy, aching where they’re smooshed against the hard ground.
“Let me up.”
“You presented.” He brushes my hair to the side and kisses the back of my neck, right under my hairline. My knees clench, gripping his thigh tighter. I’m getting his leg wet with my slick.
“That was my wolf.”
“The wolf and the man are one.”
I draw my stiff arms closer to my sides, all my muscles clenching. Unease chases away the shivers. “Tell yourself whatever lies you want.”
He pauses. Then he rests his nose in the crook of my neck, the opposite side as the bite. “You’re scared.”
I wasn’t. But now I am. A little. I hate it. I don’t want to be afraid of him.
He pushes up, and in one fluid motion, he sits on his butt, knees bent, a few feet from me.
It takes me a lot longer to get myself upright. I have to roll to my side, and it’s awkward, and I can’t stand that he’s watching. I draw my legs to my chest, even though the bad one aches, and I wrap my arms around my calves.
He doesn’t even bother to close his legs. His erection lays flush with his belly. It’s purplish-red and thick and there’s a drop of moisture on the tip. His balls hang so low they rest in the dirt. He stares at me, brow furrowed.
How can he just ignore—that?
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he says.
I lower my gaze to the ground between us, scattered with leaves and twigs.