Catherine drifted through time and space. She caught glimpses of previous lives with Marco. He didn’t always look the way he did in the present, but she knew it was him. She remembered when in her dreams she knew he needed her and had found her way to his side. Now, she saw that he had been tortured and on the brink of death. She understood that it was her presence that had allowed him to escape the pain and focus on surviving. She saw Griffin burst into the room to save his friend and then a rather debauched night in Germany after Marco had recovered.

Catherine was also able to see the night Marco had first caught scent of her. She vowed to try to remember to tease him unmercifully about the little waitress he had planned to bed that evening as well as the degenerate night he and Griffin had spent after Marco had been captured, tortured, and almost killed.

When the memories, for she knew that’s what they were, were unsettling or disturbing, she could feel Marco beside her and hear him whispering to her in Italian. She found his presence, even in the abstract, to be comforting.

Right before she began to ascend to a level of consciousness she saw a loop of all of their lives and in each herself being spanked and fucked by Marco. The memories made her giggle. She realized somewhat later that it was her own giggle that woke her.

* * *

Marco watched over Catherine for three days. The doctor had tried to get him to rest or even eat, but the alpha of the DeMedici pack had been unrelenting. He would remain at his mate’s side. The doctor was able to observe that even when she rested comfortably she seemed to take solace from him. When the virus racked her body or she seemed in pain, Marco was able to soothe her discomfort by whispering in her ear and nuzzling her. The doctor felt he would always remember the devotion that Marco had shown to his Catherine.

* * *

Catherine opened her eyes. “Marco?” she said, reaching for him.

“I am here, my Catherine. Don’t try to move. Let the doctor examine you first.”

“Is it over? Jesus, my head hurts. I want two bottles of water, a regular painkiller, and a banana. Then I want another shower.”

Marco looked at the doctor, who nodded. Marco helped her sit up but kept her cradled against his powerful torso.

The doctor took her vital signs and checked her eyes and her lymph glands and pronounced her through the change.

“But you must rest for a few days, Mistress, nothing too stressful or that causes your body to exert itself. While you are through the change, your body is weak and needs to recuperate before...”

“Before what?” asked Marco, who seemed overly concerned.

The doctor looked decidedly uncomfortable. Catherine giggled again.

“I believe he’s trying to tell you that you can’t consummate our pairing and that I have a free pass on getting spanked for a few days.”

“I wasn’t going to say quite that,” stammered the doctor, glancing furtively at Marco.

Catherine began laughing. “Jesus, don’t make me laugh. It hurts my head.” She elbowed Marco in the ribs. “Worst two hangovers in my life and you are responsible for both of them.” She reached next to her and picked up the house phone. “Prego—can you get me Valentina? Thank you.”

“And how am I responsible for both? Arguably this one because I marked you as mine, but the other?”

“Was from drinking way too much DeMedici wine with Sera. By the way, can you send her another case of our best? She loves it but it’s much too expensive for her.”

He chuckled. “Of course, my Catherine. I will have it delivered and let her know she is to phone when she is low and another will be delivered. And why did you send for Valentina?”

There was a knock on the door and the subject of Marco’s question popped her head in.

“You are awake? That’s wonderful news. It’s spreading throughout the villa and you can’t hear it, but your people are very happy. What can I do?”

“Two things. First get me a couple of bottles of water, some non-prescription painkillers, and a banana.”

“Done!” said Valentina cheerfully. “And two?”

“Start thinking of things that I can do to drive Marco nuts for the next few days; apparently I have a doctor’s excuse to avoid spankings!”

Valentina laughed with her mistress, Marco shook his head and rolled his eyes and the doctor tried to make himself as small as possible.

Within a few minutes, Valentina had reappeared with the requested items and Giovanni in tow. Catherine sat up, taking one of the bottles of water, taking the pills and draining the water.

She giggled and looking at Marco, peeled the banana in a most provocative manner, causing Marco to growl, the two women to burst out laughing, and Giovanni to invite the doctor to leave the room and make himself comfortable downstairs where lunch was being served.

“Valentina,” Giovanni called. “Unlike your mistress, you do not have a free pass on getting your pretty bottom spanked and my palm is beginning to itch like it does when it has been too long since it got to do just that.”

Valentina looked at Catherine, who indicated she should leave with Giovanni and calling after them, “Killjoy!” She turned to Marco. “You won’t let him spank her, will you?”

He kissed her and chuckled. “I think because she came when he called he will not get after her. But let that be a lesson to you before leading your ladies into waywardness. It will most likely end up that all who participated are sitting on extra cushions the following day.”

Catherine pulled down the last side of the banana and then licked back up it to the top before putting it in her mouth and running her tongue all around it. Marco’s eyes were riveted to her display. She nibbled and licked the banana in the same way he had felt her suck his cock the few times he had allowed it. He felt his cock quickly becoming uncomfortably hard.

“Catherine, quit playing with your food.”

Her eyes danced with merriment. “What would you rather I played with?” she asked lustily as she placed her hand on his growing erection.

“You heard the doctor,” growled Marco.

“I barely mind you, and you spank me when I don’t. What do you think I’ll do if it’s someone who doesn’t have the ability to do that?”

Marco drew her to him and pulled her atop his body so his length was pressed against her.

“He may not, my beloved, but I will enforce his orders. While I am glad to see you rapidly recovering, you will do as he says. Know this, if you are well enough to misbehave, I will deem you well enough to be spanked for doing so.”

“As I said... killjoy.”

Marco leaned down and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss. Her surrender to him made him groan with pleasure and frustration.

“I missed you, my beloved.”

“I didn’t miss you at all.” She kissed him and nipped his lower lip. “For I was never alone. It’s not just that I could feel you physically here with me, but we have spent many lifetimes together and I got to see glimpses of most if not all of them.”

“So you know you truly are my fated mate.”

“Yes,” she purred, “but we need to have a little chat about that waitress in Florence.”

He laughed. “Once I caught your scent, I thought no more of her. I wanted only you and will only want you to the end of my days.”

“And I mean to have a little chat with Griffin to thank him for saving your life and to find out more about one steamy night in Germany.”

“He will never betray me. For his mate awaits him as well. Know this, my Catherine, it is the way of alpha males to enjoy women until they find their fated mate. From that point forward they see and want no one else.”

While the banter between them had been teasing, she could see he was serious.

“But what if something were to happen to me?”

“The mates of fallen alpha males are forever protected by their pack. They are given the same honor as a dowager empress.”

“But what about the men...”

“I fear they rarely last more than a year without their mates. So have a care with your safety, my Catherine.”

“I don’t intend to live without you either, so no more going off to war without me.”

He smiled. “I will do my best to honor your request, but you will never be allowed to go to war.”

Catherine popped the last of the banana into her mouth, chewed and swallowed it.

“Not as good as what I would rather have had my mouth around, but between it, the painkillers and the first bottle of water, I’m feeling better. I do want to take a shower. Want to join me?”

Marco laughed. “You are determined not to mind the doctor. But I am just as determined you will. I will come with you to make sure you don’t get lightheaded in the bath, but your libido will have to wait a while before it is satisfied.”

Marco got up and helped her to her feet.

“We’ll see about that,” she whispered as they headed for the bath.

Once inside, Marco set her on the vanity bench. Catherine briefly wondered how many other DeMedici mistresses had sat there over the centuries deciding how best to entice their mates. Catherine discarded the nightgown, crossed to Marco, and wrapped her arms around him, rubbing her body along his back and finding her own ability to growl seductively.

He turned around, smiling. “Behave yourself. Do you feel you can be safe in the shower?”

Thinking quickly, she said, “I am feeling a little unsteady, can you get in the shower with me?”

“I can, but you will not have your way.”

Marco removed his own clothes and then helped her into the steam shower. Catherine purred as his hands ran down her wet body possessively. He had been right when he’d said her libido would increase. She wanted him; no, that wasn’t right... she needed him. She turned in his arms, rubbing herself along his body, this time his front, and giggling as his cock started poking insistently at the juncture of her thighs.

“Enough, my Catherine. Not until the doctor says it is safe for you to exert yourself.”

Catherine jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and rubbing her hardened nipples on his chest then leaning back to offer them to him for suckling.

“Then don’t fuck me hard, just make love to me where you stroke me past the point of being able to think. You were right, Marco, as the hangover is quickly fading, I feel more alive than ever before and I need desperately to feel your cock deep inside me. Please?”

* * *

Marco looked down at his mate. She was never more alluring that when she was offering herself to him flushed with desire. Her nipples grazed his chest like sharpened daggers. He could feel each ridge and whorl on their surface as they skimmed over him. He could feel her sweet essence leaking out of her slit and reaching the head of his rampant cock that seemed to have developed a mind of its own and was determined to bury itself in her wet, wanting sheath.

Knowing he should not give in to her wanton entreaties, his lust overrode his good sense and he leaned down to take her nipple in his mouth. Her sigh of exultation and rapture was his undoing. He latched on to her and began to greedily suck and nip at her nipples, locking his hands under her ass to keep her in place and nibbling between her breasts as he hungrily took her into his mouth and pleasured her.

He felt her arms wrap around his head, encouraging him to continue what he was doing. He nipped and kissed his way up the column of her throat and along her jawline, going up one side and then down the other. Reverently he kissed her quickly healing mark. His cock was becoming increasingly engorged and he was finding it difficult to focus in order that the knot would not form. It was a battle he was fast losing as he listened to her sighs and growls of pleasure.

If she wanted him buried in her, there was no better way to accomplish that than sinking his knot into her and tying her to him. The initial breach was always painful for the woman, but the actual rocking motion of being knotted and then being tied to one’s mate was peaceful and deeply satisfying.

He forced her legs from around his waist but swung her up in his arms before she could protest too loudly. He thought about drying her off, but decided the knot that had now begun to rapidly form was not something he wanted to explain. She would resist the initial breach, but once accomplished he knew Catherine would quickly accommodate it and then would glory in the ecstasy that came with it.

He plundered her mouth as he carried her to their bed. He knelt down with her, laying her gently on her back and slipping in next to her. His cock twitched and trembled, seeking its targeted destination. He rolled her over onto her back and nibbled his way down her body. She writhed and moaned as he seduced her into a place he had yet to take her.

She climaxed for the first time as he wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked hard.

“Oh, God, Marco,” she cried, lost in her own pleasure.

He continued to suckle and nip her pleasure bud until he felt her body getting close to the edge of a second orgasm, then he removed his mouth, nuzzled the engorged nub with his nose, and plunged his tongue into her dripping slit. Again he felt her body arch upward, seeking even closer and more intimate contact. His cock now throbbed with necessity and ached in a way it never had. Knotting this woman, his mate, was all his cock or he had ever wanted.

She exploded again, screaming his name as he continued to tongue her. Without giving her any respite, he began to lick and nibble his way back up her body. He quickly replaced his tongue with his fingers and stroked her. She moved her hips in nature’s oldest rhythm to match his stroking. He continued to finger her until yet again she was on the cusp of coming.

Once he had settled himself between her thighs, he cupped her ass, whispered his love for her in her ears. Her body once more came apart and he surged forward, forcing the large knot past the entrance to her sheath and burying himself within her. This time the scream was part pleasure and part pain.

He stilled himself inside her.

“Shh, my Catherine, I know the breach was painful, but be still, my love, and let yourself grow used to the fullness you feel.”

Marco remained motionless as her body accommodated him and his knot was pulled forward and down, making her sigh with immense satisfaction. He caught his breath as he began to swell within her, tying her to him. As the knot formed the perfect seal, Catherine’s eyes rolled back in her head and she orgasmed yet again.

“What the hell,” she said with a mixture of lust and wonder.

Marco noted there was no rancor in her voice. Her legs came up to intertwine with his and she nuzzled and kissed him.

“That, my beloved, is the knot.”

He began to roll his hips forward—in essence rocking within her. She came again for him, sighing his name. He rocked her repeatedly as he brought her to orgasm after orgasm. Each time she clung to him and called his name. Never did she try to retreat from him or dislodge the knot. Finally he felt his cum start to rush up from his balls, through the knot and start to gush within her. He had never climaxed as hard, as long, or as much as he did as he continued to bathe her pussy with his seed. Her sheath continued to contract around him, ensuring it got all he had to offer.

When at last he had finished, he raised his head to see her beautiful face reflecting back to him all the love he felt for her.

“Are you all right?” he said softly, brushing the hair from her face.

“All right? All right doesn’t even begin to cover it. That was... I don’t even have words for it and I don’t want you to uncouple from me. I love feeling your power and strength. My pussy is going to hurt like hell when you do, but I can deal with that.”

He chuckled. “It’s good you don’t want me to withdraw, for I couldn’t without badly injuring both of us.”

“Does it always hurt like that when you enter me with the knot?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but...”

“I can deal with that too. It was pretty brief but oh, my God, when it got even bigger once it was inside, I thought I would pass out from the pleasure. How often do you get those?”

Marco nuzzled her. “In the presence of my willing mate, it is more that I have to suppress them than encourage them to form.”

“Have you been doing that up until now?”

“Yes. I have wanted to knot and tie you to me from the first moment I caught your scent.”

“You talked about tying and just now about not being able to disengage without hurting both of us... does that last long?”

“Usually at least an hour but more often than not two to three hours. I can roll over so that you are on top.”

“No. I quite like having you on top in general and especially this. This is amazing. I think I should get at least ten free passes on misbehaving because you made me wait for this.”

He laughed. “I take it then, my most beautiful mate, that you will not object to taking your alpha’s knot on a regular basis.”

“It had better be on a frequent basis. Oh, my God, it still feels... blissful. Do all male wolves get knots?”

“In wolf form, yes. In human form, only the alphas.”

“Good thing you’re an alpha then. I’m telling you if I found out about this and you couldn’t do it, I’d leave you for the first alpha I could find with a good-sized knot.”

Her eyes danced with mischief, merriment, and love.

“Seriously, Marco, I’ve never felt anything that even compares to this. Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?”

“Only one.”

“As good as this?”

“Better.”

“Doesn’t exist,” she said with confidence.

“Knotting you from behind. It’s deeper, the rocking more pronounced and longer, and my release even larger and more forceful. And the tie itself can last up to eight hours. Most couples who engage in rear knots sleep spooned and tied together.”

Catherine purred in a pleasured and predatory way. “You’ll have to show me that as well.”

“I will, my Catherine. You are sure I did not hurt you too badly?”

She giggled. “Let me put it this way, can you do it again in the morning?”

“Yes, mate, I can knot you again come morning, although I’m not sure this is what the doctor had in mind when he told you to rest.”

“Why ever not? I’m lying in bed, I’m not moving around, and I’m quite sure when you finally move away from me, I will fall asleep completely sated and happy. Although that’s always how I sleep with you—safe, secure, sated, and loved. I think I have become very used to that.”

“Then I shall endeavor to ensure that is how you sleep for the rest of your life.”

They spent the rest of the time talking with Marco explaining the ins and outs of their vineyards and other businesses and what he would expect from her as his mate. When he finally was able to withdraw from her, she was understandably upset and uncomfortable when her pussy was no longer stretched by him.

“I think my mate dislikes having an empty pussy,” he whispered, allowing her to roll to her side and spooning around her.

She giggled. “I’m afraid, my mate, you are correct. I find I have become somewhat addicted to having you inside me and my pussy is bereft at your leaving.”

“Tell your pussy that my cock will knot her again in the morning and once more breach her core to tie her to me.”

“Promise?” she said languidly, barely suppressing a yawn.

“I promise, my Catherine,” he answered, kissing her shoulder before he too gave in to sleep.