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My heart squeezes at his words, and he threads his fingers through my hair. His kiss is scorching hot on my lips, burning with the fierceness of his need.

He reaches between us to pull off the used condom, but I stop him as he moves to get another.

“Can you . . .” My skin tingles uncomfortably at what I’m about to ask. “Can you tell if I’m fertile from my scent?”

Back in high school, Carmen told me shifters could detect subtle changes in a woman’s scent depending on where she was in her cycle. Asking the question out loud, though, I worry she might have been pulling my leg.

Jake’s nod is so small that I almost miss it. “You aren’t. You’ll start to bleed in three or four days.”

I blink. He’s right. My period is due in three days exactly. It’s both impressive and disconcerting.

“Then I want to feel you inside me,” I whisper, shocked by my own admission. “Just you.”

Jake’s eyes smolder at my request, and I catch the flash of a grin before he kisses me again.

Shifters are immune to human viruses and infections, so there’s no reason to use a condom if I can’t get pregnant.

Jake wastes no time after that. His head dips down to kiss my neck as his hand finds my breast. He tweaks my nipple between his skillful fingers, and I arch into his touch.

His mouth lingers in the soft valley where my neck meets my shoulder. Then I feel him nudging at my entrance.

There’s the briefest twinge of pain as he enters me, followed by a delicious fullness. I groan against his neck, squeezing him with my channel.

Jake’s massive body trembles over mine as he slides back out, almost to the tip. I whimper in protest and grip his shoulders, needing all of him inside me. Jake complies with one hard thrust, and I dig my nails into his skin.

Jake takes his time with me, but I can feel his restraint waning. The tension in his body ratchets up my own desire.

I want him to mark me. Claim me. Fill me with his cum. It’s as though I’ve been starving for him my entire life, and now that I’ve had a taste, my desire is insatiable.

Jake seems just as ravenous as I am, though, and that makes me feel better. I can feel his hot breath on my neck as he rams inside me. I shudder at the task of taking all of his length, but I want him to fill me again and again.

I bite down on the thick muscle of his shoulder, egginghim on, and Jake’s moan gives me a wild surge of satisfaction.Mybite may heal in a matter of seconds, but I’ve marked him, too.

That simple act seems to cause the careful wall he’s built around himself to crack, and I feel it when his wolf takes over. Jake’s movements become jerkier as he slams into me, his balls slapping between my ass cheeks.

I hold on for dear life, moaning his name as he fills some space inside me I didn’t know was empty.

When he slows his pace, I know it’s time. Jake’s whole body is shaking as he plants a soft kiss at the base of my neck.

“Lena?” His voice is hoarse, ragged and worried.

“It’s okay,” I whisper. “Mark me. I’m ready.”

His only reply is a pained groan of release as he sinks his fangs into me. My body jerks at the sharp pinch, but the pain is tempered by Jake’s quiver of pleasure. He’s still rock hard inside me, and I give his member a reassuring squeeze.

Jake grips the back of my neck as he moves in and out of me, and soon the pain ebbs away. I can feel the pressure building deep inside me, revved up by Jake’s own level of need. It’s the most intimate act I’ve ever experienced, and I never want it to end.

When Jake withdraws his fangs and captures my mouth, his kiss is bruising and tastes of my blood. He wants to claim me, body and soul. And I want to let him.

I scream his name as my orgasm rips through me, my hands clawing at his hair and scratching his neck as they try to find something to hold on to. I feel a warm gush as he fills me with his seed, and the release overtakes us both.

Jake’s tongue makes slow circles over my wound,cleaning it with his healing saliva. Then he collapses over top of me, and I feel his heart hammering against my abdomen.

For several minutes, we just lie there in silence — Jake’s body a comforting weight. When he finally lifts his head to look at me, his eyes are wary with concern. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” I say, my mouth stretching in a sleepy grin.

Jake exhales and rolls off of me, tugging me against his chest. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this. Lena, I . . . I love you.”