Chapter Nine
Daryn kissed a promise to his mate’s lips. Cedar. Her name was beautiful and strong. Just like her.
He laid her back on the thick sleeping bags and found her eyes. They shone bright, telling him she was happy, even if things weren’t ideal.
At least this would make a kickass how-did-you-meet story they could tell their grandkids.
He appreciated that Cedar was wild, and could accept things moving at warp speed. He knew he would have to prove himself over the next few months, before he could mate her properly with a ceremony. Make them legal by shiften law. But he was up to the challenge.
His woman was worth it.
He lifted his shirt over his head and her gaze dropped to his chest, going all lust filled. She ran her hands over his muscles, earning a growl of approval from him. It was cool in the cave, but he was burning hotter with every second closer to being inside his mate.
She pressed scalding kisses to his jaw, his chest, his neck, as he bent to unzip her coat and get rid of her clothes. He wanted to rip the things from her body, but she’d need them tomorrow when the others came back for them. He wasn’t letting any of them see a fucking inch of her skin until they were mated for good.
A frustrated sound snapped from his throat, and Cedar flinched.
Quickly, he found her eyes to show her he was solid. But he was huffing like a bull right now, so probably not actually reassuring her she was safe.
Her lips curled into a sexy-as-hell smile. Like she liked seeing him wild too. “Whoa there, big guy. What was that?”
Daryn debated whether to be honest and tell her the truth, or pretend it was nothing.
He settled on truth. If they were to spend their lives together, he didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot.
“Getting you naked wasn’t happening fast enough, so I wanted to rip your clothes free. Except then the other avien would see you bare tomorrow, and I would want to kill them or gouge out their eyes. And I don’t think Rhen would be very happy with us. There. Does that scare you?”
Her gaze gleamed. She looked excited.
“No. But it does make me want to help get them off faster.”
Daryn snarled.
“My clothes!” she rushed out. “Get my clothes off faster.”
He kissed her hard, warning her not to say anything like that again.
“I think it will be like this until I make you mine. Until they all know it, and my animal knows it.”
“Yours,” she groaned as he struggled to get her tight thermal top free. “That sounds really, really good.”
“I want you sure first. Then we’ll have a ceremony. Then I will be civil when you and my brothers are in the same room.” He got the bastard shirt off and tossed it aside, staring at the sight of her in a black bra. “First we do this,” he breathed. “Before I lose my fucking mind.”
“Okay,” she agreed, breathless. “But I was going to say I was pretty damn sure already.”
“Don’t tease me, mate,” he warned. Didn’t she know he was at the end of his rope. His control was unraveling at top speed.
He tugged at her pants, managing to get them an entire inch down her hips. He bent and nipped at the skin there, until she brought his face up to hers with her soft hands.
She stared into his eyes, her rainy-day ones completely serious. “I’m not teasing. We’ll take our time. Get this ceremony thing right. I know there is still so much I need to learn. About what I am, what you are. Our roles in this. It will take time, I know. But…” Her teeth toyed with her lower lip. The sight of it toyed with his cock. She did that when she was nervous, he’d noticed. “For the first time ever… ever, Daryn… I feel like I’m in the right place. I feel like I’m home. You’ve done that. No one else. Ever. So, yeah,” she said quietly, “I’m yours.”
With that admission, she reached down, unhooking her pants and wriggling out of them, leaving her in only her underwear and that bra that was supposed to be functional but was actually just sexy as fuck.
“You’re beautiful,” he ground out. But that wasn’t even a big enough word for what she was. And his body was going so hard for her, he’d need relief soon.
But not until she was satisfied.
Some of his flock had taken human lovers occasionally, to keep the urge to rut steady. But Daryn hadn’t done that since he was younger and a brand-new guard recruit. He hoped he could last inside her body. If not, he could do amazing things with his tongue.
He slowed down just a little to remove her bra. He wanted to remember this unwrapping of his gift.
When her perfectly round tits were revealed to him, his mind blanked. He couldn’t remember his name. What year it was. What fucking decade it was.
She tugged her own panties down, dragging them over her legs and past her ankles before handing them to him.
Oh… fuck, that was hot.
Daryn stared at the black fabric in his hands, finding the crotch area already wet with her arousal. He resisted the urge to lick her panties. Why do that when he had the real thing right in front of him?
Tucking the panties aside, he shucked his own pants, letting his erection spring free, and relished Cedar’s whispered, “oh my” as he descended upon her.
He gave himself three licks and two sucks to her sweet spot—just enough for a taste to satisfy his beast—before he rose up between her thighs and slammed into her.
“Fuuuuck,” he roared tossing his head back, eyes squeezed shut with how good she felt.
Cedar went perfectly still beneath him and he didn’t move an inch. Wouldn’t until he could open his eyes again and see if she was okay.
She moaned long and loud. And that did it.
Daryn stared down at her, loving the way her face was glazed over with lust, the way her breath panted out in short puffs from his body invading hers. He wanted to invade her everything. Her heart, her mind. Even her soul.
Especially that.
“You okay?” He grunted the question, but she understood it.
Slowly, he pulled back, watching as her eyes fluttered closed. Her nails dug into his arm where she held it. And he hoped when this was over, he’d have permanent marks.
He pushed back in, letting her feel every inch of him. Out, and then in. Slow again, until he couldn’t go slow anymore.
Dipping his head to capture one taut nipple with his mouth, he settled into a brutal rhythm, knowing his female could take it, his beastly side.
“Made for me,” he rasped against her skin, and she locked her knees around his hips, urging him on.
Going to his elbows, he wrapped his hands around the back of her shoulders to hold her still for his thrusts. She moaned into his ear and he knew he was hitting her in the perfect spot when her body squeezed his dick tight.
“Oh, yessss,” she squealed, shaking apart around him. She was an earthquake and he was at the epicenter.
Fuck, he was about to blow. But he couldn’t slow down. Marking her in any way possible was all that mattered. And he had her orgasm all over him. It was time to repay the favor.
She screamed his name as another one overtook her, and it was all he could do not to pound her into the snow covered ground beneath them as his release hit him harder than thunder.
Mine, mine, mine… his raven cawed inside, claiming her as he thrust until his body gave out.
He fell limply on top of her, keeping enough of his weight on his arms not to crush her while he tried to catch his breath.
Damn.
Her arms wrapped around him the same way her legs did, and he buried his face in the curve of her neck, getting lost in all that bare skin and dark hair.
“I’m keeping you,” she murmured in between kisses to his shoulder.
His breath rushed out of his chest as relief hit him so hard, he almost fell on her. He rolled to his side, tucking her in close to him, and kissed her forehead.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “You took me seriously when I said I liked going fast. But I didn’t really know if I was telling the truth until just now.”
A laugh rumbled up his chest. “Are you saying what we did just now was good?”
“I’m saying if you want to do it again twelve times before the helicopter comes for us, I wouldn’t say no.”
“Twelve times, huh?”
She nodded. “Or thirteen, but that’s my limit.”
“You have a limit?”
She tapped her chin, pretending to think about it. “Now that you mention it, probably not. How about you?”
He propped himself up on one elbow, letting his gaze move up and down her bared body, catching on all her precious dips and valleys. He brushed over her curves with the tips of his fingers, loving the soft feel of her.
“I’ll never tire of you, Cedar. That’s another promise I can make. No limits. I’ll want you forever.”
She smiled so bright, he thought the sun couldn’t even match it. Her smile, he’d live for that. Always.
“That’s what she said,” she whispered softly.
***
In a quaint little coffee shop in Kodiak, Alaska, a girl sat swinging her legs at a table. Not just any girl. A half-raven quarter-angel quarter-human girl who was loved by her gigantic family. She had a grandpa and grandma that bought her lots of presents. Four uncles—if you didn’t count the mean one that came to her in nightmares—and too many aunts to count. But she was practicing learning all their names.
It was easy because most of them were named after flowers, some after trees, others after plants. As long as she remembered that, she could name about half of them. It sure impressed her daddy. He could only remember mama’s name. Because he loved mama the most.
He said one day, she’d find a boy that loved her that much. And they’d live happily ever after. Because she was like a princess.
She sure hoped it was true. Because happily-ever-afters were her favorite.
******
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