Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“Y-yes,” she warbles.
I tighten my grip and quicken my pace, arcing in and out of her. I bite my cheek bloody to rein in my aggression. To keep from getting too rough with my beautiful mate.
“Is that good, princess? You like to take me deep?” I tap her clit again.
“God, yes,” she breathes.
“Take it, then.” I fuck her harder, my breath dragging in rough gusts across my teeth.
“Yes!” she cries. “I need you. I need you. I need you.”
Her moans undo me. I lose control and pound into her, my fingers gripping too hard, my hips slapping into her gorgeous, cushioned ass.
The room spins. It’s too hot–the steam from our shower still fogs up the mirror. I feel my canines descend, ready to mark my Paloma.
“Are you sure?” I rasp, somehow remembering again to get consent.
“Yes! I want this!” she cries.
I wrap my arm around her waist and grasp the front of her throat, lifting her away from the wall, so her head falls back against my shoulder as I thrust up into her. “Mine,” I growl, my voice not sounding human at all. I rub her clit as I come, and she orgasms at the same moment I do. My teeth sink into the meaty part of her shoulder, forever embedding the serum coating my teeth into her flesh.
She jolts with the pain of it, and for one horrible moment, I think my bear is going to rampage, but I realize I have full control. I immediately retract my teeth from her flesh, licking away the blood and kissing up her neck. “That’s it, sweet dove. It’s over now,” I murmur, my fingertip still stroking her clit. “You’re mine now. My mate. Forever.”
She orgasms again, trembling and gasping in my arms, her muscles clenching around my cock, milking another climax from me.
“I love you, Paloma. I love you so damn much. More than anyone or anything in my life.”
Chapter Sixteen
Darius
She lets out a sob–whether it’s emotional or a physical release, I can’t be sure.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I hold her tight, continuing to kiss her everywhere my lips can reach. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I never want to hurt you again. Never.”
“I know, it’s okay. I’m okay.” She sounds teary, so I pull out and swing her up into my arms to carry her to bed.
I’m relieved once I can see her face. She doesn’t appear to be in pain–she looks like she’s in ecstasy. My incredible, beautiful mate.
“Do you believe I love you?” I ask. “I want you to know–it’s not just the pheromones. You are my fated mate, but it’s so much more for me. I think you’re incredible, Paloma. You’re braver than any warrior and smart as hell. And you’re kind and loyal. The sacrifices you made for your sister are–” My eyes get hot thinking of how I abandoned my brothers and Bad Bear Mountain while I told myself I was doing it all for them.
Paloma reaches for my face as I settle us onto the bed facing each other. “Are you thinking about Teddy?”
“I was thinking about all my brothers. What a fool I’ve been. I told myself I had to leave and build a fortune to save them all, but all I was doing was running from my bear.”
“The bear that I love.” She strokes my bearded jaw.
“You love my bear?” I’m fishing for her approval. Fate, it’s shocking how vulnerable I feel right now. Paloma might not love me. She doesn’t have bear pheromones to tell her I’m the male for her. But she did allow me to mark her. That must mean something.
“I love you,” she says firmly, lifting her soft lips to press against mine. “And your bear. Because you are one and the same.”
“You saved me,” I realize. “I was half a male, with a completely unexpressed side I was in denial about. And you set me free. All this time, I thought I was saving you, but I had it backward. Just like I told myself I was saving my brothers by moving to New York.”
“No,” Paloma laughs, but there’s a haunted quality to her expression. “You definitely saved me. God, I was literally enslaved. If you hadn’t come along, I would be some asshole’s sex slave in addition to Thom’s stock trader slave right now.” She shudders.
My bear surfaces with rage, and I let him growl out loud.
Paloma is unafraid. Her eyes crinkle as she presses another kiss to my lips. “There he is,” she purrs.
We both sober, remembering what she’s been through. “I can’t believe Thom knew about shifters and wanted to hunt them.”
I frown. “Yes, there’s a secret society of ultra-wealthy around the world who traffic shifters–more often juveniles about to transition. They call themselves Venatores.”
“Right. Latin for hunter. Thom told me when you were passed out.”