Nothing in this world or the next tastes like a woman's arousal. Like every woman, it was different, a combination of their natural scent with their diet, even indicative of their health and condition.

In his first taste of the woman who had been forged by the gods to be his complimentary component, Bard learned a few things.

First, the tangy-sweet taste of her was better than any mead, any nectar, as it slicked his tongue and coated his beard. It was a taste he would crave, one that nothing could ever compare to.

Second, she was fertile and in perfect health, although he could taste the faintly metallic ting of medicine. Most likely some form of birth control, since she didn't have the scent of any sickness upon her, but he'd learn more...later.

Third, he couldn't bury himself inside of her, fill her with his seed, if she wasn't ready for children. And it would most likely be just that, children, since his family tended towards multiples, of both the fraternal and identical varieties. He quietly cursed himself for not thinking about protection, while hoping that his mate was smarter than he was.

Fourth, there was a hint of wildness in her, a touch of the Wild, the primal power that shifters drew upon. It was faint, sublimated within the ozone-tinged scents that marked most witches.

And fifth, Bard knew just how creepy it was that he could learn all this and more, just from her scent, from her taste. It was both a blessing and a curse that came with being a shifter, particularly of a breed known for their sense of smell.

Granted, at the moment, none of it really mattered, not when his mate was spread open before him, trusting him, letting him please her; and he would do just that.

With his hands gripping her ass, he lavished the lips of her labia, sliding his tongue up between the folds before letting it dive deep, seeking out the source of her sweetness.

His ears were tuned to every hitch of her breathing, listening for the slightest moan or gasp, using her own responses to dictate his.

Oh, there was a sixth thing he learned. His mate really, really liked it when he nipped at her, whether it was grazing his fangs along the inside of her thigh or if he caught her swollen clit between his teeth.

Taking ruthless advantage of that fact, he slipped a hand from her ass and while his teeth held her nub in place, flicking it with the tip of his tongue, he slowly pressed his thick finger between the slick lips of her sex.

Hotter than Sindri's fabled forges!

Then she fucking exploded.

Her entire body surged upwards, her broken sob of release a primal cry of his name that had his chest swelling in satisfaction, Bard lapped greedily at her release, curling his finger within her as he drew out her orgasm.

When she tugged at his hair, he looked up and met her glazed eyes.

"Please, Bard... more, I need... you."

With a groan of his own, Bard gave one last, long lap of his tongue before he crawled up her body. Placing his elbows on either side of her head, he looked down at her, studying her face for a few moments before he spoke.

"Darling, I want nothing more than to be buried inside of you, but..." He drew a deep breath and rested his forehead against yours, "You're..." He cleared his throat. Damn, this was tough. Particularly since his wolf just wanted to say fuck it, bury their bone inside of her, and fill her with a pack of pups. "Baby, you're fertile right now, and I don't have a condom. Even if you're on the pill, or have an IUD, there's a damned good chance I could get you pregnant. Thor knows, I'd certainly be trying, because I want to claim you again and again and again, and that's just tonight."

He closed his eyes, fighting back his wolf as he struggled to gain enough control over himself that he could roll away from her.

When he felt her cool hands clutching at his bare ass, Bard reared up and found her staring pointedly up at him. The cheeky wench had loosened his belt at some point, and slid her hands into his jeans, gripping his ass firmly enough he could feel her nails digging into his flesh.

"Bard, sweetie...if you don't mark, claim, and mate me right now, I will tie you down, and mark, claim, and mate you instead."

"But...?"

She reached up, palming his cheek, and gave him a small shrug and a sweet, shy smile. "Darling," she said, using his nickname for her, "If it happens, it happens. Neither of us planned this, but we have to have faith that we were brought together for a reason. I don't know what kind of mother I'd make, but seeing you with your sisters? With Erik earlier? You'll be an incredible father, one our kids will be lucky to have."

Okay, so maybe Bard should have put up more protest, should have just marked it up to passion speaking, but honestly? He just wasn't strong enough to resist.

Seizing her lips in a fierce, hungry, greedy kiss, Bard toed off his boots—glad he had worn cowboy boots, and had had years of practice in getting them off quickly—and tore off his jeans and briefs in a single, fluid movement. All without breaking that kiss. Yeah, it wasn't the most graceful way of stripping, but a man had to have priorities, and his biggest priority at that moment was kissing her.

Tearing his lips from hers with a ragged gasp, Bard knew his eyes were once more glowing with his wolf as he stared into her eyes. When he spoke, it was in his wolf's growl, but the words came from the bottom of his heart.

"I already fucking love you, Harper Llewellyn. You're my mate, my fucking beautiful darling, from the tip of your pert nose to the bottom of your cute little toes, and everything in-between..." He wrapped a hand around her left breast, kneading it gently as he leaned down to press his lips against her nipple, "And your fucking heart is mine. I'm going to make you love me, be worthy of your love, and do my best to make you happy." He, somehow, managed to summon a ghost of a grin. "Darling, I'm going to fuck up. I've been alone for a very long time, and I'm a bit set in my ways, so you're going to have to train me right good."

Harper let him speak, let him expose his heart to her, somehow realizing that he needed to get it out there, here and now. He was naked, not just in body, but his heart and soul laid bare and at her feet.

Framing his face in her hands, Harper looked deep into his eyes, looked at both him and his wolf.

"I'm not perfect. Life's not perfect, Bard," she said, carefully choosing her words. "This is all moving fast, so very fast, but it feels right. Life is too unpredictable, so if we can somehow find happiness together, support one another, then maybe it'll be a life worth living. Because before now? I was just surviving, one day at a time, focused only on getting away from the Llewellyns, on finding some place I could live the life I wanted to live. And all of that, the bad and the good, has led me here, to you."

Wrinkling her nose, she gave a short, self-conscious laugh. "Okay, appropriate romantic monologues out of the way."

Just as he was once more lowering his head, intent on claiming her lips, she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! I almost forgot!"

Grabbing his hair, she yanked his head up and when he saw that eyebrow arched just so, the crook of her grin, he almost laughed. Then she said, "I love you too, Bard Ulvfang...now, if you don't mind, can we get back to the whole marking, claiming, and mating thing?

Almost forgot? Oh, game on!

"Hold on, mate...afraid this first time is going to be a bit of a wild ride."

Aw, wasn't that cute, she was giving him the most adorably doubtful expression he had ever seen.

Seizing her thighs, he ground the full, thick, throbbing length of his erection against her soaked, molten heat. As she felt inch-after-inch slide upwards between her lips, the thickness and length of him must have shocked her, and drew a smirk of pure masculine satisfaction from him as her eyes widened.

Kissing the tip of her nose, he growled out softly, "I'll go slow for as long as I can, darling... we'll make it work."

Sliding back down, he shifted his hips until just the blunt, engorged head of his cock was poised at her entrance, then watching her face, he slowly began to sink into her.

Her hands clenched at his chest, her nails digging into his pecs as she arched her back, biting her lower lip as his girthy, throbbing organ forced her tight muscles to accept him within.

Fuck, it was damned difficult to keep from just sinking in to her welcoming heat, to bury himself balls deep, wrapping his entire aching cock within her clenching body. His mental walls were clawed raw from his wolf's desperate attempts to seize control, but the exquisite look upon his Harper's face helped Bard maintain control.

He had to squeeze his own eyes tight, clenching his jaw hard enough he was amazed his fangs hadn't sliced open his own lips, as more and more of his cock was engulfed within her.

Finally, finally, after what seemed like an entirely too long bloody lifetime, he felt his heavy, desperate balls press against the curve of her ass. His muscles strained, quivering with the ferocious need to hold himself back.

He felt Harper hook her legs around the back of his thighs, felt her hands slid smoothly down his sweaty, heaving chest, around his back and then down along his spine, until she was gripping his ass.

FUCK!

Her sharp nails dug into his ass cheeks, clawing at him as surely as his shoved his own claws into the mattress beneath her as he curled his fingers to keep them from marring her flawless flesh.

With a ragged groan that quickly morphed into a snarling growl, he gave into her not-subtle-at-all encouragement and began to rock his hips with increasing urgency. Every thrust of his hips sent his cock surging into her depths. Every withdrawal drew a low, mournful cry from her throat that only encouraged him to surge forward once more.

Settling his weight more fully atop of her, he buried his face in the crook of her neck, and wrapped his arms beneath hers, crushing her up against his chest. Moving his hips, undulating his entire body so that he was stroking her with his muscular frame, he knew he was not going to last for much longer—despite his earlier self-induced release.

Determined that he would not cum alone, determined that she would be caught up in another orgasm before he would sink his fangs into her body, he clenched his ass, tightened his pelvic muscles, and focused on delaying his orgasm even though he could feel it building rapidly out of control.

Again, and again, he thrust powerfully, using the strength of his hard-earned thigh muscles behind his cock's relentless assault, and when he found that spot inside of her that seemed to make her squeak, to clutch his ass tight enough that he could feel the blood welling beneath her nails and dripping down his ass to mingle with the sweat coating his body, he knew he had found just the right spot.

Angling his hips just so, driving the thick head of his sensitive cock against that point without mercy, he slid a hand between their glistening bodies, flicking his thumb over her clit until her body begin to shudder, her breaths grew shallow and swift, and at that moment when her breath caught, when the inner muscles of her pussy began to spasm, he let loose his wolf.