Chelsey moved across the small living area of Brock’s home, taking in his choice of furniture and setup. The space was devoid of clutter. The two bedroom, two bathroom log cabin sat on a small lot adjacent to one of the town’s biggest ponds. The Aspen Valley nature park that she had always wanted to visit was just five miles up the road. When her dad had first been elected as Governor, the privately-owned park was one of the first places she’d had on her list to explore. Unfortunately, even after her family was settled in at the mansion, much of her free time had been devoted to preparing for her last semester of college and she never got around to visiting.

“Is this where you live?” she asked.

“Yes. When I’m in town.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside the door. “My brother Garrett lives close by. He’s never home, though.

“It’s so secluded,” she said. “Don’t you get lonely.”

“Not really. I prefer the seclusion. Besides, if I want company, I can just race across town. Doesn’t take very long.”

“Right. With you being a wolf shifter and all that, I bet you travel back and forth through the woods so easily. Where do you spend most of your time when you’re not in Aspen Valley?”

“On the road mostly dealing with matters outside of the Pack that affects us.”

“Isn’t this eminent domain thing a Pack issue?”

He sat down in a chair and took off his boots before answering. “Yeah. I was in Jersey when Dane called me about it. This is a big deal since what they’re trying to take makes up the bulk of our acreage.”

“And you need places to…just be a wolf and not a man. Right?” She smiled, her gaze running across his body. “I get it.”

Brock grinned. “Do you now?” He stood up and crossed the small distance between them. He took a seat on the sofa’s armrest, grabbed her hand, and pulled her between his legs.

“I’m trying to, at least,” she said.

“Does it bother you that I’m both wolf and man,” he asked.

“It amazes me that you’re both,” she replied.

With him being so close to her, her temperature rose. Even now as he stood in close proximity to her, she realized how much she’d missed his touch. If she had listened to her instincts and returned to LIVE nightclub, she would’ve missed Brock showing up at her house. Would she have seen him again in that case?

“Now that we’ve been outed, we have to protect our own at all costs. There are still some who seek to get rid of what they fear,” he said. “In the beginning, they tried to destroy us. They feared those who could shift between wolf and man at will, but it was our job to make them understand that we weren’t rabid or out to kill. We’ve been living alongside humans for a very long time. We’ve come a long way, but still, we’re not granted some of the same rights as humans.”

Chelsey stroked the left side of his face with her palm. His stormy, blue eyes met hers and suddenly she remembered what had drawn her to him that night at the bar.

“You’re just as human to me as any man I’ve ever met,” she said.

He grinned. “That’s because you haven’t seen my animal yet.”

“I felt him the other night. When we were…together.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’m sure you did. And now you’re wearing my mark as a result of that.”

“Who gave you permission to mark me anyway?” she asked, running her finger down his chest and reminiscing on the hardness of his flesh against her hands.

He gripped her hips and brought her closer. She made no moves to shy away when he dragged his lips along the outer edge of her ears. She trembled within his embrace, heat rising up her spine with every stroke of his nose against the most sensitive area on her neck.

“I would ask your forgiveness, but I find satisfaction in knowing that you’ll be mine to please forever,” he told her.

“I…” She sighed.

She’d never been one to tell a man how much she needed him even if it was just for sex. For fuck sakes, she was supposed to be the independent, don’t need handouts or a man type of woman that her mother raised her to be. But she also went out and got what she wanted, even if it involved doing something out of the norm. Like going to a bar seeking out a one night stand. Her one night stand had turned into a serious revelation. One she didn’t quite understand yet. A revelation that would take her some getting used to. The one truth that she did understand was that she wanted Brock.

“What is it? What are you thinking about?” he asked, kissing her skin softly.

“About how my life literally changed overnight.”

“This changes things for both of us, Princess.”

“I’ve just never had anyone like you, and I’m not saying that just because you’re a shifter. Maybe it’s because you’re older, mature, and you know how to treat women. I don’t know. I feel like this is all too good to be true.”

He pulled back and found her gaze. “You’re correct in that I’ll always treat you the way a woman should be treated. With love. Respect. Like she’s the only person on this planet that matters. But you’re different, Chelsey. To me, you are my true mate. The only woman that will satisfy my wolf. The only woman that I’ll always run to no matter what or who tries to separate us. It doesn’t make sense now, but what does make sense is that you’re wearing my birthmark. That’s not by accident. That’s fate.”

“So what do we do?”

“You do want this, don’t you?” he asked, confusion flashing across his face for a brief second. “You do want me, right?

“If I told you how much, would you use that against me?”

“Not against you. However, I would use it to your advantage,” he said, pressing his lips to hers, letting his words brush against them. “I’ve been wanting to get you alone for hours now.” He nipped the column of her throat. “I couldn’t wait until the Alpha was done going over our plans. My mind should be focused on our objective, but instead, all I can think about is you.”

She gasped when his lips molded against the underside of her chin.

“It’s funny because I wanted to go back to that nightclub so many times. I kept telling myself you weren’t going to be there and that I was just being too greedy and that was all the sex I was going to get.”

“Things would’ve been different,” he replied. “I was concerned when you didn’t show up.”

“Show up where?” she asked. “You mean you went back to the nightclub?”

“I did,” he said, sheepishly. “I was banking on seeing you. I left thinking that I hadn’t lived up to your expectations.”

“You exceeded them.” She chuckled. “If you were worried about your ability to deliver, you shouldn’t be. I left right away because I was a little overwhelmed. I just didn’t think a man like you would want to be bothered with me. You’ve got your life figured out, yet I haven’t even decided where I’m going to live once I graduate in December and I have less than four months to choose. I even have intern offers I haven’t even entertained.”

He took her hands in his and gave them a reassuring squeeze. “You just take things one day at a time. No need to rush anything.”

“That’s what my dad has been trying to tell me,” she said before she could stop herself. “Oh…I guess you don’t want to hear about my dad right now.”

“No, it’s okay. People disagree all the time. We’re just trying to get your dad as the governor and the people behind this issue to listen to us and understand why their plans won’t be beneficial to the environment as a whole.”

“He’s a good person,” she said. “It can be a little difficult to change his mind once he’s made it up. He’s set in his ways most of the time. He spent twenty-five years as an attorney and prosecutor before he got into politics.”

“Hmmm, he’s a smart man then?”

She nodded.

“Chelsey, I’m not asking you to stand against your dad, but what I am asking is for you to stay with me. Don’t leave me because of this.”

“You have nothing to worry about, Brock, because I don’t want to leave you,” she said.

Chelsey closed the short distance between them and kissed him. He felt like hot, hardened granite stone against her. Her knees grew weak as Brock took her lips over and over again. If it wasn’t for his strong, thick arms holding her securely she would have collapsed right before him. Actually, she wouldn’t have minded being on her knees with his rock hard length against her tongue. She needed to feel him, more of him. She broke the kiss to lift up the tail-end of his shirt to reveal the hard planes of his chest. He took the hint and pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it out of their way.

She pressed her lips to his chest, tracing her fingers along the hardened lines. Before she could go any lower, he slipped his fingers under her chin and lifted her upward, capturing her mouth again. They kissed with urgency and desire. The emotions flowed from her to him and back again as they shared this intimate moment alone. Her sex heated between her legs and her clit pulsed excitedly in anticipation of the pleasure he could give her.

His cock had hardened so much that it felt like a rock pressed firmly against her belly.

“I can’t wait any longer,” she mumbled against his lips. “Take me again, Brock.”

“That’s always been the plan,” he murmured against her neck, his tongue leaving a hot trail along her throat.

His hands slid up under her top and he pulled it over her head. He took his time disrobing her until only her panties remained. Her heart pounded impatiently, but it seemed that he couldn’t get enough of kissing her. He worked his lips and tongue expertly across her neck, her shoulders, and her breasts. She tucked her fingers down into his waistband, unable to resist the lure of taking his thick shaft within her grip and doing with it what she wanted. The thought of having Brock when she wanted and where she wanted excited her. She’d never had a man that was so eager to please her before. It was a good thing that she visited the nightclub on the night she did. She would have never found Brock and would have been lost in a sea of men who left her unsatisfied. With Brock, she felt safe and secure, and almost like a piece of her was restored each time she thought of him.

Chelsey undid his fly, eliciting a deep groan from his throat, and then wrapped her hand around him. Her fingertips almost touched as they curled around the thick meaty base. Her pussy clenched as the memories from their first night when his thick cock pushed into her for the first time. She ached just thinking about Brock filling her up completely.

She dropped to her knees and covered his cockhead with her hungry mouth, flicking the seam with her tongue and drawing slow, deliberate circles under the crease.

“Chelsey,” he groaned and grabbed a fistful of her hair into his palm.

He thrust his hips forward, pushing at the back of her throat. Just as she was enjoying being on his knees and being the ultimate source of his pleasure, his shaft tightened against her palm and against her tongue. She tried to anticipate the moment of his orgasm but then she became more focused on an ulterior objective: giving him as much pleasure as he could take. The streams of molten liquid that pulsed from his cock took her by surprise. His cum felt like honey against her tongue. She milked him, enjoying every last drop. He remained perched on the edge of the sofa, panting and looking under his dark, hooded eyes in disbelief as she pleased him. After only a few moments, the veins on his shaft began to fill with rabid desire again and his cock lengthened. All she wanted to do was please Brock, but he had other plans.

In one effortless motion, he rose from the chair lifting her with him. He carried her in his arms to the next room and then dropped her on the edge of the bed. He kissed her momentarily before standing back and admiring her body, his gaze landing on the mark more than a few times. He removed the rest of his clothing as he studied her. He was a masterpiece…and the most perfect man she’d ever been with.

Once he was naked, he bent down and hooked his thumbs around the waistband of her panties and removed the final garment from her, baring everything to his inspection.

“Is this what you’ve been craving, Princess?” he asked, grasping his cock in his palm and stroking slowly. His gaze was firmly planted on her body.

“Yes.” She licked her lips, giving him a come hither stare.

This time, when he approached, he sat on the bed next to her and pulled her leg across him.

“Then take what you need.”

She straddled him, propping herself up on her knees. Pushing him back down onto the bed, she positioned herself and effortlessly slid down the length of him one inch at a time. He grabbed her hips, assisting her in taking him deep and to the hilt. Her pussy adjusted to his big size and the more she stayed connected with him, the better she felt. She ground her hips sensuously back and forth until he was coated with her arousal.

She rocked into him, riding him into ecstasy. He groaned aloud as she set the tone and rhythm. She felt a sense of ownership as he relinquished control which was something he hadn’t done on the first night. His mark heated and tingled under her skin, as though it was further ensuring that the emblem was permanent. Soon she came undone, coming with so much force that it surprised her.

After her climax, he picked her up and laid her out on the floor on a soft plush carpet. He lifted both of her legs up and propped them onto his shoulders and then dove into her again without missing a beat. Pain and pleasure roared through her as he pumped into her with vigor. She couldn’t remember the number of times he brought her to climax over and over again in that position, but by the time his hot seed flooded her she was completely spent. And only then did he cradle her gently in his arms and place her in the middle of his bed where he joined her. She remained in his arms all night long, clinging to him. This time, she wouldn’t leave his side. Something had definitely changed between them. As she drifted off to sleep, her head on his chest, the mark on her arm continued to blaze hotly under her skin.