Chapter 22
Jenny went lax as Bishop’s booted feet pounded up his cabin steps. It felt like all the fight left her and she just went limp until Bishop burst through his front door then spun and kicked it closed before setting her down and steadying her with his hands on her arms. He was in her face in a flash, snarling, “I’m done with this.”
She felt her heart sink and jerked back out of his hold. Immediately, her knees buckled and she went down. In a heap on the ground, she crossed her arms over her chest like she could ward off the pain that blossomed inside and threatened to burst.
“Do you want this or not, Jen?”
Confused, her head snapped up. “Wh-what?”
“Do. You. Want. This?”
Jenny blinked up at him trying to decipher if she was interpreting the question the way he’d intended. She didn’t have to wonder long because he growled and grabbed her upper arms again, hauling her up and pulling her body firmly into his.
“Let me rephrase because I don’t want there to be any confusion, no misunderstanding. Jenny Houlton, do you want me or not? Do you want to try and work this out? Do you want to be my mate?”
Shock and hope tore through her in equal measure. Without hesitation, she nodded and answered with a breathy, “Yes.” Then more firmly, “Yes, Bishop. I want us to work. I want you. I want you to want me.”
His eyes flashed black and narrowed on her the instant before he pulled her into him and kissed her hard. His mouth was demanding, and she met him ounce for ounce. No more fighting it, no more fighting him.
Picking her up, he carried her blindly to the bedroom and didn’t ease his fervent kiss even as he lowered her onto the bed.
Then his hands were everywhere. His beard brushed the side of her neck as he sucked there and worked his way down the vee of her chest to nuzzle between her breasts. When he turned his head and sucked a taut nipple into his mouth through her shirt. Jenny cried out as the tugs sent arcs of pleasure shooting straight to her clit. He sucked so hard on her nipples that her clit was actually throbbing its demand for attention and she could feel her sex creaming in preparation for what was to come. With one last lick to her nipple, Bishop’s muscled body slowly worked its way down her torso, peppering kisses, licks, and bites as he went. His hands made quick work of ripping her shirt open and then her bra. His glazed eyes locked on her exposed breasts and then his mouth was back on her, suckling her even as his hands ripped open the front of her jeans. He pulled back only a moment to tear off her shoes and slide her jeans and panties down her legs before his big body was settled back between her legs. He kissed her lips and then trailed to just below her ear. He kissed her just above where her pulse raced in an erratic beat and then started working his way down her body again.
“Tell me to stop,” he panted raggedly against her stomach. “Tell me you don’t want this, Jenny.” He kissed her hip bone. “Tell me you don’t want me before I fucking ravish you and end this agony for the both of us.”
“Don’t…” she panted. “Don’t stop!”
She thought he’d put his mouth on her. She prayed he did, but when his body surged upward, she didn’t even get the chance to protest before his cock forced its way into her wet slit. It was how it had always been with them. There was no slow and easy, no gentle lovemaking. No, Bishop straight fucked her and fucked her hard. Only this time, his eyes locked on hers as he pulled back and then shoved back into her.
She gasped at how suddenly full she was. Her mate was long and almost too thick, stretching her and filling her in a way she’d never experienced. He pounded into her like a man possessed, the sounds of their wet sex and slapping skin filling the room. Jenny felt tension coiling in her middle, but before she could fall over the edge, Bishop picked her up and flipped her over. Shoulders pressed into the mattress, ass presented to him, she screamed into the bed as he impaled her. It felt so good, so right. She thrust back against him. Her fingers clawed at the bed while Bishop pounded his hips against her ass with an almost violent fervor.
Monstrous mate! My mate! She smiled into the bedding even as climax tore through her and had her crying out again as her toes curled and her body seized.
Bishop continued to thrust into her a few more strokes before he slammed home and came with a roar. His hips worked in slow, jerky movements, drawing out both their pleasure until he was emptied inside of her. When he pulled out and dropped to the bed beside her, he pulled her up onto his chest and pressed his lips against her hairline.
“I love you,” he whispered against her skin.
“Love you more,” Jenny breathed into the quiet room. She could feel Bishop smile against her skin as his heart actually accelerated beneath her palm.
“Impossible, Jen. Im-fucking-possible!”
And with that little admission, flitter-flies started a brawl right in her middle. The sensation had her hunching her shoulders and beaming against the happiness that assailed her.
It hadn’t been too late. She hadn’t completely ruined things for her mate or for herself, and for all the rest of her days she vowed to never take him for granted or to keep anything from him again. Because that wasn’t how love worked. You didn’t get to make decisions based on what you thought was best for your mate. No, you talked it out and made decisions together based on what was best for you as a couple. She’d never forget that! Even more, it was actually nice realizing she didn’t always have to carry her burdens alone anymore. It was a big deal for someone like her who was always in charge, always in control. Her shoulders were often weighed down with the burden of duty, but now she had someone to help her shoulder that burden. And, not just someone. She had Bishop, her big bad monstrous mate whose shoulders were wide enough and strong enough to carry everything on his own, but who chose to see her strength and let her help him too. A team. That’s what they were, two people, on the same side, working toward the same goal.
By the Gods she loved him, and until her time on this earth ended, she’d spend every second proving it, but first, she had to know.
“You sent me away. When you were in the infirmary, you sent me away. I thought that was it. I was so sick with how it’d ended.”
“Didn’t want you seeing me like that, all weak and laid up. I wanted to be strong for you. Wanted to be enough for you.”
“Bishop,” she pressed her body closer to his and let soft sobs wrack her body. “You’re perfect. You’re my perfect mate.”
“And you’re almost my perfect mate too.”
Jenny sniffed and looked up confused. “Almost?”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “Something’s missing?”
Wordlessly, he reached up and pulled the double-helix halo from his throat, a brand searing his flesh with its removal.
“Bishop!”
That one word from her was so full of hope that Bishop’s own eyes glistened with emotion. “You’re mine, Jen. Forever.” He slid the helix-halos around Jenny’s throat. A high-pitched whine filled the air as ethereal light flashed.
“Yours,” Jenny breathed mere seconds before her eyes fluttered closed.
Pulling her closer, Bishop held her tight determined to protect her from their enemies, their allies, themselves. Anyone or anything that wanted to get to Jenny would have to go through him first, and as he held her, he made that vow to the Grandfathers.