Epilogue
“No. No way in hell. Not a chance,” Niko said as he held Rylee’s phone above his head, just out of reach. He was goofing around, but try as he might to disguise it, the tone in his voice was dead serious.
She wiggled against his side, knowing full well what the move would do to him. Her breasts teased his chest, but then, maybe it was the other way around. The hot stroke of his skin against her nipples had them pebbling hard, demanding attention. How could she need him again so soon?
“Just let me respond to the text. Then I’ll put it away,” she pleaded. She trailed her fingertips down his chest toward that little patch of hair that led to her prize.
Goosebumps rose along his flesh. “Nope. Six months of no work. You agreed. And don’t think you can change my mind with that sexy body of yours.”
Rylee couldn’t stop her giggle from breaking free. “I agreed to three months. You and Luca bullied me into six.”
“Semantics. And don’t talk about Luca while we’re standing here naked. Besides, we have a shipment arriving later today.” The grin that lit his face couldn’t possibly be any wider than the one that creased her own.
“What time?” They’d placed the order for a brand new, custom Ducati what felt like years ago, and finally, her new bike was coming in. Ursula II was finally coming home.
“Supposed to be around two.”
Her heart raced, and she nibbled her bottom lip. Today was going to be special in more ways that one. Niko just didn’t know it yet. “That gives us plenty of time.” She slid her fingers lower, finally reaching his cock. Grasping it in a loose hold, she stroked it from root to tip.
“I like where this is going,” he said on a soft moan. His hand came down far enough for her to reach, and the look on his face when she snatched the phone from him—with his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open—would have been hilarious had it not been for the lust burning in their depths and the desperate need pounding through both her and her wolf. Rather than respond to the text, she hit the off button, then tossed the phone onto the bed. It bounced once, then went crashing onto the floor on the other side.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what we have time for?” she asked him, closing her fist tighter around him.
“I have a pretty good idea.”
She shook her head, and his eyes glazed over a little.
“What do we have time for, love?” he finally asked.
Leaning forward, she bit the skin over his heart. It wasn’t a gentle nip, but one that meant business. It had him moaning and his hips thrusting forward, pushing his cock deeper into her palm. “A proper mating,” she finally said once she released him.
Niko’s body went rigid. Pupils dilated, he focused his gaze on hers. “Are you sure?”
He hadn’t pressured her. Not once. They’d talked at length about what it would be like to be mated. It meant forever. It meant never being alone again. It was love, and devotion, and more passion than she thought possible. And she wanted it so much it hurt. Over the last couple of months, he’d taken her insecurities and obliterated them. He’d proven time and again that he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d helped her adjust to life as a shifter, introduced her to more of the pack, and had brought her more happiness than she’d ever dreamed.
“I’m ready for tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that, and the next one, too. I want all of them. Forever,” she said, her voice breathless with the magnitude of her words.
Mine. Mate him now, her wolf whimpered into her mind. The beast was insatiable and had begged for her mate every day since she’d woken after the crash.
Yes, it’s time, she told the she-wolf, infusing the words with a smile, adding to the creature’s joy.
Niko circled her in his arms, holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe.
“That is, if you want to,” she added.
“More than anything,” he whispered into her neck.
Lowering his arms so his forearms rested under her ass, he lifted her against him and walked with her to the bed they’d only minutes before vacated. He bathed her chest with kisses, pausing only long enough to capture a tight tip between his lips and tugging a little, just the way she liked.
He rested her on her back with her ass at the edge of the bed, settling himself between her legs. His cock, long and hard, rested on her pussy, and it was all she could do to keep from grabbing hold and guiding him home, but the look he gave her stopped her from moving. He was in charge. He’d do things the way he wanted, and she’d enjoy every second.
Reaching for her, he cupped her breasts in his palms, kneading and rolling each nipple between his thumbs and forefingers. Just when she thought he’d move on, he started again, only this time, he added a small thrust to his hips. The head of his cock nudged at her clit, making the throb already driving her crazy burst to life.
Just a slight shift in position, a little dip of his hips, and he’d be inside her. Her pussy clenched at the thought. Yes, she wanted that.
“Patience, love,” he told her as he kept up his sensuous massage.
The wolf inside her amplified her pleasure and her desire until it was a living, breathing thing that nothing but her mate would satisfy. Every bit of her needed the mating. The oneness. The complete joining. Nothing less would do.
“I can’t wait. She’s too… She needs you,” she tried to explain, yet somehow couldn’t put the words together to convey what was happening.
His growl rumbled from his chest, and a wicked glint shone in his eyes. “She does, does she?”
Rather than try to explain, she nodded and shifted her hips slightly. The different angle had him rubbing harder against her, and her moan slipped free.
She expected him to impale her then, but he licked his lips and dropped to his knees. With his shoulders spreading her thighs wide, he dove in. “Mine,” the garbled rumble came from deep in his chest, giving voice to his wolf. A second later, his mouth was on her. Her back arched from the bed, and she gripped the sheet on either side of her, desperate to hold on, knowing that she couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried. Niko knew her body’s secrets too well. A single touch set her on fire. A lick turned her into a quivering mass of desire.
His growl vibrated against her flesh, sending her careening into ecstasy as her pussy clenched around nothing. He continued his onslaught long enough for her breath to come a little steadier and her body to stop its rhythmic pulsing before he pulled her higher onto the bed, then covered her. It wasn’t enough. It never would be. She needed more.
When he lifted his hips and reached down to position himself, she pulled up and licked him from the base of his neck to his jaw, ending with a sharp nip that was all wolf.
Niko groaned and held himself still for a moment, then with one long glide, he filled her.
Her mouth ached, and her gums burned. “Niko?” she warned. She hadn’t had an unexpected shift in a while, and she sure as hell didn’t want one now.
“It’s okay, love. She won’t come out. You’ll need her right there to complete the claim,” he said in a rumbly voice that sent a zing of pleasure racing through her. His wolf was close, too.
He pulled his hips back, then snapped them forward, slamming into her. When he did it again, she met him halfway. She’d just come a little while ago, yet her body was flying high, demanding more. She dug her nails into his shoulders as he slammed home again.
“Now, please,” she begged as she tilted her head to the right. She bore a mark on the left side—the one that had turned her into a shifter. Now she wanted the other—the one that marked her as his and only his.
His mouth found her skin, and she gave a small yelp when his sharp teeth pinched her at the juncture between her shoulder and neck. “More,” she demanded. She brought one hand up, threading her fingers through his hair, and pulled him tighter against her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, tugging him closer, driving him deeper with every thrust. The small muscles inside her quivered at the invasion.
Niko breezed his lips over her shoulder again, teasing, taunting.
“Please,” she begged, pressing her neck more firmly into him.
The points of his teeth scraped against her skin. “Yes,” she moaned when he applied more pressure, testing the line between pleasure and pain. Just when she didn’t think she could wait a second longer, she didn’t have to. Niko growled and sank his teeth into her flesh. Pleasure exploded from every cell. Heat curled from her neck to fill every part of her. Her pussy spasmed hard as he pounded into her.
She couldn’t contain her scream any more than she could keep herself from coming around his cock. Thank God, they’d soundproofed their room.
When she was able to breathe through the pleasure still stringing her body as tight as a bow, and he finally released her neck with a long, soothing lick, she turned to her mate. He slammed into her, his moans joining her scream as he took his pleasure, but it wasn’t enough.
Rylee turned her face into his neck, and without a moment’s hesitation, she claimed her mate—her man—her very soul for her own.
Niko grunted and went stock still for a beat, then with a bit of a howl, he pounded into her again. His hips jerked and faltered as he came long and hard inside her, filling her with his seed, sealing their bond.
Neither spoke or even moved for an eternity. Niko had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her over top of him. His chest rose and fell in harsh breaths as he stroked feather light touches down her arm, her back, and anywhere else he could reach.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sense of being one with her mate that the claim had brought. Her she-wolf settled in peaceful bliss for the first time since she’d emerged. Tears prickled at her eyelids, and she blinked them back. She was home—for real—home. Niko had given her that.
Pulling herself up onto her elbows, she cupped his cheeks and sniffled.
His brows dipped, but before he could say anything, she placed a finger over his lips, silencing him. “I love you,” she whispered, meaning the words so much that it resonated into her soul.
His frown disappeared, and the smile that lit his face melted her heart. “I love you, too, Rylee. Thank you for giving me your tomorrows.”
And then he kissed her.