Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Ally licked her lips and nodded once. It galled her to yield, but he’d outlasted her, earned the right to claim her.
“Good girl. But I need to hear you say the words. Tell me.”
Awkward, demanding fucker. “I’m meant for you.” Her back bowed as he slammed home, burying himself balls deep in her. He groaned as her pussy contracted around him, holding him there. Then he was punching his cock in and out of her. The muscles in his back bunched and flexed beneath her hands. His thrusts were so deep, rough, and hard that they hurt. But she didn’t care; she wanted this, wanted to feel his vicious, frenzied need to claim her. She burned hotter and hotter, wound tighter and tighter.
His hand flexed around her throat. “This body and this sweet little pussy belongs to me. Always has, always will. Do you understand?” The claws pricking his back dug deep enough to break the skin, and he snarled in the back of his throat. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“That’s good.” Releasing her throat, he threw her legs over his shoulders and powered into her. “All. Mine.” Tangling his fingers in her hair, he snatched her head to the side and sank his teeth down hard into her neck, sucking, marking, and claiming. Her body bowed and then locked in place as a scream tore out of her throat and her pussy clutched and milked him. He slammed into her once, twice, three times, and then exploded deep inside her—marking her with his come just as he’d marked her with his teeth.
Then the world seemed to fucking tilt as pain sliced through his head only to be quickly replaced by warm, fuzzy feelings he wasn’t interested in, because there was one other thing he could feel: Ally. He could feel her inside him, outside him; she lived in him now just as he lived in her. As expected, their bond wasn’t fully formed yet. It took emotional “steps” to make that happen. But their link was still strong and distinct.
He rolled onto his back, taking her with him, watching the series of emotions that played across her face—emotions he could also feel through their bond. She was content, sated, and satisfied . . . and a little annoyed. “What is it?”
“We’re so fucking stupid.”
He chuckled, knowing what she meant. “We didn’t have a hope in hell of sensing the truth any sooner.”
He was right, Ally knew. They had both been too messed up by other things to sense it. The mating bond was . . . comforting. The brief pain had been quickly smoothed away by the tranquility and peace that had both calmed and gratified Ally and her wolf. And Derren . . . it felt like he was part of her, like he both filled and surrounded her.
Best of all, she could sense something she’d worried over for some time. “You care about me.”
“Of course I care about you.” Derren circled her claiming mark with his finger, loving to look at it and know she was irrevocably his. “I already made that clear weeks ago when I told you I was keeping you.”
She frowned, sitting up to straddle him; his hands curved around her hips. “No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No, you said I was your obsession. That’s not ‘caring.’”
“I also said you were mine. I don’t claim things or people, Ally. I’m protective of what’s important to me. But I’m not a possessive person.” He traced her hip bones with his thumbs. “But if you really need me to say the words, fine, I care about you.” He knew the smile that curved his mouth was smug. “And you care for me.” He could feel it.
Sensing an element of surprise mingled in with all that masculine satisfaction, Ally cocked her head. “You thought I didn’t?”
“I thought it would take a lot of work on my part before you did. It was bad enough that I was a shit to you in the beginning. Add in that I’m pretty much an asshole, have an underdeveloped conscience, and I’m fucked up in too many ways to count, and I’m not exactly easy to care for.”
“You’re not an asshole”—she smiled—“all the time.” His mock scowl made her smile widen. “It’s true that you’re an awful cook, have little room for error in your world, can be somewhat judgmental, and are a little too serious. But you’re also extremely supportive, your word is as good as gold, and you own your shit to the extent that you actually verbally admit you’re wrong—do you know how rare that is for a dominant male wolf?”
Sitting upright, he pressed a kiss to his claiming mark. In his opinion, he didn’t deserve her glossy view of him. He was a selfish, aggressive bastard with a serious amount of baggage. But it didn’t change anything; she was his mate, and he was keeping her. Would have kept her even if she hadn’t been his true mate. “I know you find it hard to settle in places, baby. But you belong with me, which means you belong here. Now that I’ve marked and claimed you, you can’t leave.”