Chapter 19
His brown eyes took on a golden hue as he closed in on her. Anticipation ran rampant as Savon stared into Nate’s eyes, waiting for him to end her torment. Years of him chasing, and she thought it was all in her head.
The truth set her free. She didn’t want to run anymore. She wanted to be claimed and let the past fall away.
“Forgive me,” she whispered.
“For what?” His voice rumbled.
“Running so long and hard.”
“Nothing to forgive.” He captured her face and took her mouth in a kiss full of love that had waited too damned long. She pressed against him, deepening the kiss.
He broke away. “If my father is alive and comes back, I’ll kill him before he has a chance to touch you. I’m not letting you go again.”
She ran her hand up his abs, to his chest, covering his heart. “I believe you.”
A smile burst across his face. “Tell me you want me, you want this. Us. Then no more running, no more distance. You’re going to have to let me in.”
“Already have. I’m tired. I need you, more now than I ever thought possible after hurting so long.”
“No more hurting, Sav. I want to love you for the rest of our lives.” He swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs, to his room.
As soon as he was through the door, she twisted out of his arms, landing on her feet. Opening his pants, she leaned up to nip his bottom lip. “Shh.”
He caught her shirt, sweeping it over her head. “Slow down. It’s not a race.”
“Need you.” And she hoped the bond would wash out the lingering fear. She pulled his shirt up and unbuttoned it as she went. Then she pulled it and the undershirt off and tossed it behind her. She pressed her lips over his heart. Colors burst through his aura. Pure love, passion, and need.
A soft growl left his lips when she shoved his pants down and stepped back to slip out of her jeans.
“Fuck, Sav, you smell so damned good.” He landed on his knees, running his nose across the apex of her thighs. He pushed her down on the bed and bent to lick through her heat.
Her fingers tangled in his hair as his tongue curled around her clit. He sucked and a ragged moan left her lips as she held him in place, greedily taking everything he wanted to give her. One hand ran up her stomach, between her breasts, and he pressed her down, onto the bed while one finger entered her, probing.
“I’m fine,” she gasped.
He lifted his head, his eyes locking on hers. “Never want to hurt you. Want you soaking wet before I make you mine.”
Tears burned as she dropped her head back.
He never meant to hurt her. She understood that now.
Curling his finger, he rubbed that patch that sent her to heaven. “Please,” she begged.
He pushed another finger into her, stretching, drawing out pleasure as she toppled into bliss. Her back bowed as all the doubt and fear were washed away in waves of pleasure.
“Come here,” she cried, needing more than his mouth and hands on her.
“Nah-uh.” His tongue dipped into her, a purring sound rising up, the vibration too much on her already sensitive body.
“Can’t take it.” She needed him to fuse himself to her, become a part of her. She needed him deep within her soul.
He drove her over the edge again. She couldn’t see, only feel. Nate lifted her, and she bounced. Her eyes flew open as he moved over her, his tip sliding over her clit.
Bronze burned around his irises. Colors of the forest danced through the white and red of his aura. She pulled his head down, taking his lips, tasting herself on his tongue. She rolled him to his back, throwing her leg over his hips to slide over his hard length.
Nate caught her breasts, squeezing until she moaned, rocking forward and reaching down to grip his shaft to take him in. He rose up, one hand in her hair, the other gripping her hip as she rode him.
She’d always craved him when they were younger but this was more. This was pure need.
Savon licked up the column of his throat, feeling his heightened pulse beating with hers. He sucked her lobe, and she bit down. Her back hit the wall and he was so deep she felt his beast rolling through him, rubbing against her. A whole other entity resided inside him, its will matching Nate’s.
She ran her hand over Nate’s torso and the beast within purred. The faint image of the wolf watched her from his aura.
One hand squeezed her ass as he pounded into her. The other caught her chin, tipping her head back.
“Mine,” he grunted.
“Yours,” she cried.
Nate’s mouth covered hers, his tongue delving in, claiming every bit as much as his powerful thrusts.
His length jerked and she knew he was close. Sliding her fingers into his hair, she pulled his head back, latching onto his gaze as she shot over the edge. Gold burned through the brown of his eyes.
Climax hit, taking him with her, staring into her.
The spirits murmured. Some sighed, others expressed happiness. They seemed to agree that she belonged with Nate.
His love, white and pure, washed out all the colors except his eyes. Pressing his forehead to hers, he clung to her, watching for something.
A tear fell down her face. “Love you, Nate.”
“Never stopped loving you, Sav.”
* * * *
Sparks of emerald and gold sparkled through Savon’s eyes as she gazed back. A smile played over her lips and colors danced around her. Blinking, he moved down the bed and pulled Savon into his embrace. Finally, everything he’d ever wanted was there, in his arms.
Walking away wasn’t an option. No matter what his father thought. If that meant killing him to become Alpha, then so be it. “Where do you want to be, Savon?”
“With you.”
A grin spread. “That’s a given. But here, or your home? Somewhere else in the world?”
She closed her eyes. “At the moment, here is fine. My place is warded, though. Nikolai can’t get in. Neither can Clay, or anyone else I don’t trust.”
“How does that work?”
“Magic.” She leaned up and put her head on her hand. “Told you, I’ve learned a lot about myself and my powers.”
“Sav, if you’re safer in your home, what are we waiting for?”
“We’re fine for now. I doubt any healer can regrow eyeballs that fast.”
“Paineater could take the injury. They’d heal it in moments.”
Savon rolled her eyes. “I pushed magic at him when I popped his eyes. The bear mauled him. Not sure what all the spirits did, but when I lose my shit, so does every entity in the area, and usually animals. It’s why I couldn’t find a sorcerer to properly train me.”
“Maybe I can help with that.”
“Look, if you’re really thinking about becoming Alpha, the pack is going to have a problem with me. I could control them, if I concentrated. Hell, I was able to stop a werecat who had no intention of stopping, which is only supposed to happen with a bond, and I sure as hell didn’t have a bond with that cat.”
Nate smirked. “I’m not worried about it. They’ll have no choice but accept you if I take the pack.” He ran his hand up her side. “I have to know. What was Tremaine to you?”
“Mostly a very good friend. We tried for more, but it wasn’t a good fit. It ended amicably, and we became closer friends. Besides, he was always hung up on Liz, and then Robert entered the picture. And now, you have me.”
Nate pushed his fingers into her hair and brought her head back to his chest. “I can live with that. And I get that he was there for you in a capacity I couldn’t be.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “I hate that you trust him more than me.”
“That isn’t why I called him.” She leaned back, capturing his gaze. “He’s more than a mage. He has connections. Shit, he catalogs all types of Others, and he knows more about what I am than anyone else. He’s something of an expert on hybrids. And he isn’t afraid of me.”
“Who is afraid of you?”
“Sorcerers. I guess I disrupt their ability to use their normal entities. I’ve been told they’re afraid to help me get a handle on my abilities because I can shut down any other sorcerer within my range.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Nate whispered.
“Yeah, but you don’t know why you should be. You may change your mind.” A laugh escaped. “You didn’t see what happened to Nikolai. He looked like a marionette in a hurricane, then the bear. Shit, I pushed my thumbs in his eyes until they popped, then got my ass out of there.”
“Not freaked out now?”
“No. I processed the ordeal. I know better than to let my guard down, but I didn’t expect him to find me here. Fuck, that was stupid.” She rolled away and climbed to her feet.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Thinking. Need to be on my feet. I just—I need…” She sighed. “Look, I can’t lie here and dwell. I need to come up with a solution. I need some answers. And Ms. Murdock thinks I’ll find them in my home. So, we go back to my place.”
Nate hopped up and dressed quickly.
She picked up her ruined pants. “I loved those pants.”
“I hate that he touched you when you didn’t want it.”
“Hopefully Nikolai got the point by now.” Dropping the jeans, she pulled on the pair she wore back.
“You can’t run from me anymore,” Nate told her with a serious note.
She spun on him. “I’m not running. You’re coming with me. And for the record, you are still going to work when you’re on shift, and I’m going to continue what I do. I’m not giving up my independence or free will just because you’re a werewolf and we’re mated. I’m not submissive, though I can be under the right circumstances, but that isn’t long term—”
He crushed his mouth to hers, stealing her breath.
A laugh escaped as she pushed him back. “Stop, I’m serious. You won’t always get your way.”
“You’re still you, Sav. I’d never expect you to change, and you’re the only woman I’ve wanted all these years.”
She smirked. “So, Evangeline. Did you two ever hook up?”
He dipped his head. “Similar situation as Tremaine, which is why I’m letting it go and banishing it from my mind. Besides, my father hoped we would mate, and you would never enter my mind again. You were who I imagined when I was with her.”
“Oh, fuck. No wonder she was so bitchy when we first met.”
He shrugged. “She knew what I went through, but didn’t talk about it. She was there when my father forbade me to come for you. She watched me fall apart, helped me find you.”
“Look, it’s been twelve long years. I’m not worried about who you were with. But if we run into them, tell me so I’m not thrown a curveball.”
“None of them lasted. I’d give it a month, maybe two, and walk away because it was empty and meaningless.”
“Nate, honest, I don’t care. I’m no stranger to werewolves and their mate bond and the cases where the bond was twisted, there are reasons for that. I threw that at you, but not because I thought ours would be wrong, but I was afraid of hurting again.”
“So many things are a mess, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We’ve learned a lot. Things we may not have learned if your father hadn’t interfered.”
He managed a tight smile. “Come on, let’s see if we can find some answers.”