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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Allen’s heart drummed in his ears like the roar of a jet’s engine, almost drowning out the wild yapping of his wolf. That green spark had felt like a jolt of static electricity, but instead of hurting him, it had awakened something dormant within him. He felt light on his feet, straining towards something he knew he wanted but couldn’t name.

And then there was what Lilac had revealed. His Lilac, he dared to think.

The witch was fumbling with her dress pocket, extracting a tiny leather-bound book. She thumbed it open, slapping aside pages as her breath came in shorter and shallower with excitement. “The green spark is lost magic, more legend than anything else. But it marks a point in time, in destiny.”

She flipped around the book and held up an illustration to him: two characters touching hands and a green spark rising above them.

“It says at their first touch, ‘Two paths can become one, though the road narrows. For the strong of heart, the love outweighs all sorrow,’” she quoted. She flushed almost immediately after, realizing the implication .

Allen hardly dared to breathe. He had come to Annesley Valley to prove himself to the Coalition, to belong to a cause and a new brotherhood, and now an ancient piece of magic seemed to be offering what he’d truly wanted all along. A loophole around the “curse” on the Nemean wolf bloodline. If he was understanding Lilac’s blush and the book correctly, fate had just revealed to him his soulmate.

If he wanted her.

It wasn’t even a question. Though he had been born a Nemean wolf, the endless days of wandering and adventure promised them had never been his desire. What he’d wanted had always been out of reach—a home. Not one built of wood and mortar, but the kind made of flesh and blood. The kind whose heart beat in time with his, whose soul echoed his own.

He’d sought for a substitute of that love in closer familial ties to his brothers and sisters, only to be rebuked. He’d joined the military, seeking the fraternity it promised, and had found it. For a time. Until he’d been forced to reveal his true nature.

And now he was being offered his heart’s desire in the form of a beautiful, clever, misunderstood, and compassionate witch. A witch whose family would skin him alive if they ever found out what he was. He could kiss his ticket into the Coalition goodbye, too, for they would never ally with the Hawthornes or any of their supporters. And yet, the promise of Lilac was intoxicating. She was intoxicating. No wonder he had been drawn to her, that his wolf sang at the mere thought of her. He had known, on an instinctual level, that she belonged to him, and that he was lost to her.

For the strong of heart, the love outweighs all sorrow.

He fought to remain still instead of vibrating out of his skin. He had to be sure. “But I’ve touched you before. Why now?”

She thought for a long time, the flush fading as she concentrated. “Because . . . we’ve never truly touched. Not skin to skin. There’s always been clothing in the way.”

“Clothing’s been in the way, has it?” The words were teasing, but his tone was not.

He heard her heart pounding, skipping over its beats in wild hope. She was flushed in anticipation, her ivy-green eyes glassy with a mixture of hope and fear. She wanted him, and not just his body. Him , Allen Chase. The green spark was only secondary confirmation, an external cue to seize the singular opportunity before him.

“Lilac.” His voice was so quiet, as if the sound itself would shatter this precipitous moment. “Someone like me does want you. And has . . . for as long as I can remember.”

A tremulous smile wavered on her full lips. “You do?”

Allen lunged for her.

The distance between them disappeared, swallowed up in two thundering strides. Allen caught his woman around the waist, drawing her close as he bent down and crushed his mouth against hers. Her body molded so eagerly, so perfectly against his own that his heart thumped painfully in his chest in gratitude. Ripples of bone-deep pleasure coursed through his entire being. His wolf rumbled in delight as Lilac raked her fingernails across his scalp, tangling in his blond hair. She rose up on tiptoe, pressing her breasts against his chest and driving him wild with her tongue tangling against his own. She wasn’t meek, wasn’t shy. She claimed her desire and drove it into him.

Spirits above, this must be what it was like to be chosen. To be loved.

Allen groaned when her hands left his hair and slid to his neck. To his shoulders. His chest. His woman was learning the feel of him, the swells and ridges of muscle that were all hers now. Grabbing her butt, he hoisted her onto his hips so she could feel something else. Lilac moaned against his mouth, dragging her lips away for a shuddering gasp. Then her thighs tightened around his hips. He splayed his fingers wide, dragging them up her back until he could knot her long brown hair in his fist. A tug to the side and her beautiful neck was exposed for his teeth.

His wolf begged him to bite her. To claim her. To leave the little silver scar of their mating on that tender flesh between neck and shoulder so that any other beast would know she was spoken for. That she was his. He hadn’t believed he was even capable of leaving that tell-tale mark until the green spark.

But he wouldn’t, not until she knew the full truth of him. Soon. Now was not the time to do anything else but convince her he was completely under her spell.

Allen bent his head and only dragged his teeth against her flesh, relishing the moan she released. Her hips bucked instinctually against his, desperate for more. He obeyed, laying her back against the cushions of the bay window and digging his hard cock against her softer flesh. Lilac was surprisingly quick to sit up, and for a moment he thought he’d misunderstood her intentions, and then her mouth was fused against his. Spirits above, what she could do with her tongue—

He yanked on her hair again, always gently, and his lips roved down her neck to the collar of her dress. She laughed, a breathless sound, until his hand glided up over her ribs. Her sudden inhale made him freeze, a memory of what she’d said about Ethan not respecting her wishes flitting across his mind. Was this a boundary he was approaching? He controlled his desire, rasping, “Can I—”

“Yes,” she whispered.

His hand molded tenderly, reverently, against her breast.

“Allen.” Lilac arched into his touch.

He kissed her neck again, loving the way she lifted her chin to grant him access, and gently squeezed the soft, firm mound of flesh in his hand. Her nipple pearled against his palm seconds later, her breath shallow and inconsistent. Her fingers found his hair again, dragging him lower. Grinning, he obeyed, kissing until his teeth teased the erect peak shielded by her dress with a gentle nip.

Then he nearly jumped out of his skin as her hand shot out and palmed the iron-hard bulge in his pants.

“Oh,” she exclaimed, pulling her hand away. Her cheeks turned from carnation pink to pomegranate red. “I’m so sorry. I-I–”

He grabbed her wrist and jammed her hand back onto his cock, groaning as her fingers tightened around him. Stroked. Allen hadn’t realized his eyes had fluttered shut, but when he opened them, he found his woman’s face lit with excitement, wonder, and a little pride. She clearly enjoyed seeing him unravel and knowing she was the cause of it.

But a wolf never came before his mate. Allen dragged his hand down her ribs, over her hip, and paused on her thigh, fingers indenting. He sought her ivy-green eyes, so vivid a green they reminded him of the forests he used to find solace in, and breathed her name in question. Permission. She granted it with a nod, pinching her lower lip between her teeth in anticipation.

With one hand braced on the wall beside her shoulder, one knee bent on the bay window seat, he slipped his other hand under the hem of her dress.

Spirits above, his woman’s skin was softer than satin. Warm and smooth like fresh cream. He could barely concentrate on the feel of her from what she was doing with his cock, but he fought back his own pleasure to focus on hers. When he reached the soaked silk of her panties, his pulse jumped with elation. Hooking them with his fingers, he tore them aside. Then, with a firm yet gentle push, his slipped his fingers into the damp cleft between her thighs. Lilac shuddered .

“Allen.” His name was a prayer on her lips.

“Yes, sweet girl,” he murmured, sliding his fingers over and over her clit. “Tell me what you want.”

“That,” she answered immediately, eyes fluttering shut. She forgot all about what her hand had been doing to him, and he didn’t mind in the least. He wanted to see his woman come apart above anything else. “Faster, please.”

He picked up the pace.

Her breath became little yips and moans. Her hands dug into him, one on his forearm, the other his shoulder, fighting for the leverage to arch her hips into his hand. Her arousal was the most wondrous scent he’d ever smelled.

“You feel incredible, Lilac,” he told her, his own voice a ragged whisper. Spirits above, he was nearing orgasm himself and she wasn’t even touching his cock anymore. Just watching her, feeling her respond to his every caress, was exhilarating. His curled his fingers, delving deep inside her. Lilac arched her spine with a muted cry. “I’ve got you, sweet girl. Now shatter for me.”

Her eyes flew open, her luscious mouth gulping for breath. She looked wild, perhaps a little scared, and Allen pressed a fierce kiss against her lips. “Fall into me, Lilac. Let me make you scream.” She felt gloriously hot against his pumping fingers, her muscles clenching as she raced towards the edge.

“Oh, Allen.” Her voice was a hiss of pleasure. She was so deliciously close. “I’m, I’m—”

Then came a sound that threatened to ruin everything. A protest of a faraway hinge, a scuff of a boot against a worn floorboard, then a questing voice, “Lilac? Are you up here?”

“Rose,” Lilac squeaked in panic.

“Stay with me,” he growled, his voice brooking no argument. “You are mine, Lilac, and I’m not sharing you.”

The meaning of those words thundered through him, convincing him that what he’d only hoped for was actually true. Watching her respond effortlessly to his every touch, the sight of the trust and love in her eyes, sealed the truth in his heart that she was his soulmate, unmarked or not.

But to stay in Annesley Valley was a death sentence. To leave would destroy his soul. And yet, to protect her, to love her, he would gladly accept any fate.

But what would she think when he finally revealed to her that he was a wolf? Despite the green spark, would she reject him like everyone else had?

He could stop everything right now, before any more damage could occur, before—

His woman rasped his name, her spine arching. It was all the reassurance he needed.

I’m not going anywhere, sweet girl, whatever the cost.

Allen redoubled his efforts, his fingers rubbing and stroking and kneading at double time.

It was too much for her to resist. Lilac clenched, her ecstasy flooding against his hand. Her knees snapped shut, brushing against his cock in a control-shattering caress and trapping his fingers inside her as her head pitched back to scream his name.

Allen slammed his hand over her mouth, not hard, but it stifled the sound. Her ivy-green eyes were ringed with white as she sucked in a breath through her nose. Her fingers dug into his flesh, anchoring her to this world even as she rocketed heavenward. Again and again, the waves of her pleasure ebbed and flowed around him. Her eyelids fluttered as her body sagged against the cushions.

“Lilac?” Rose tried again. “Is that you?”

Allen had almost forgotten about her. He smiled mischievously down at the sister Rose sought and started moving his trapped hand again. His touch was lazy and entirely motivated by the pleasure he got when she squirmed with delight under him.

“I don’t feel like hunting through all these boxes to find you,” Rose shouted, “so if you’re up here, Boar wants you down in an hour to hang the garlands and whatnot. And if you find Allen, bring him, too. He’s run off somewhere.”

The attic door shut with an echoing thud , and Allen lifted his hand from Lilac’s mouth, the one between her legs continuing to stroke. “I’m right where I need to be.”

When she came for him a second time, this one less violent than the first, Allen dragged his hand away. She half lay, half sprawled in the corner of the bay window, deliciously disheveled. Her chest heaved with long, shuddering gasps, and Allen eased the sweaty locks away from her face. “Good girl,” he murmured.

“What about you?” Her voice was delightfully dreamy, and Allen swelled with pride that he had so thoroughly pleasured her. It was only right for a male to make his mate utterly boneless.

He caught her hand as she reached for his belt and guided it to his mouth for a kiss. “Don’t worry about me.”

There was no way he was going to tell her that he’d ejaculated in his pants like a pubescent boy after only her knee had grazed against him. He’d been celibate for years, never finding anyone he could risk being vulnerable with, and she’d set him off like a hair trigger.

“Next time,” he said, withdrawing his cliché handkerchief.

“You think that was good enough to merit you a next time?” she challenged. Spirits above, he loved how proud and feisty she could be. She gave him that imperious arch of her eyebrow, the effect somewhat lessened from the absolute and delicious wreck she looked .

“Oh my sweet girl,” he replied. “The moment you screamed my name, you guaranteed it.”

She reddened, quivering when he slipped his handkerchief under her dress to dry her off. And perhaps once or twice forget his task so he could make her squeal again.

She swatted him in the arm on the second teasing pass, wiggling upright. He folded the handkerchief around her ruined panties and slipped both into his pocket. “And next time, you might want to bring extra underwear with you,” he said.

His woman held her head up high. “Yes, well, I wouldn’t need extra if you didn’t tear them off like an animal.”

“I’m more a beast than you think,” he said, planting another branding kiss on her mouth.

She kissed him back hard, the whole strength of her heart behind it. “I like it.”

He broke away from her. “You do?”

She nodded, smiling shyly. “There’s something wild about you, Allen. And I want that. You make me feel like when I was a girl running barefoot through the wide-open fields of the estate chasing after the endless blue of the sky. Free. Before I was . . . you know.” Her hands flew to her mouth. “By the Green Mother. What are we going to do? With the others, I mean. This is—”

“None of their business.” He took her hands and kissed her knuckles. “That is a discussion for another day. Didn’t you hear Rose? We have garland to hang. Tinsel, too.”

Lilac giggled.

“And all those huge glass ornaments Rose will break and Boar will yell at her for.”

“You know them so well.”

He shrugged, helping her rise. “They’re almost like family now.”

His woman reached up and cupped his cheek. The intimate gesture felt more wonderful than he was prepared to admit. “Is that what you’d like, Allen? To be part of this family, however crazy and messed-up and neurotic it is?”

Allen gazed down at Lilac, moving her hand to his heart and trapping it there. It would beat only for her now. “Yes, sweet girl. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”