Page 45 of Claws for Celebration (Hollow Oak Mates #3)

MOIRA

The apartment behind the bookstore had been transformed in their absence.

Candles flickered on every surface, casting dancing shadows across the walls and filling the space with warm, golden light.

Rose petals scattered across the floor created a path from the door to their bedroom, and the air carried the scent of jasmine and mountain laurel that spoke of Twyla's thoughtful preparations.

"Did you plan this?" Moira asked softly, her voice filled with wonder as she took in the romantic scene.

"Twyla," Lucien admitted, closing the door behind them and turning the lock with deliberate care. "She mentioned something about proper wedding night preparations while we were getting ready."

"Remind me to thank her," Moira said, then caught her breath as he moved toward her with the predatory grace that marked him as something more than human.

"My wife," he said, the words carrying wonder and possession in equal measure as his hands came up to frame her face. "My mate. Mine."

"Yours," she agreed, her voice breathless as she leaned into his touch. "Completely and forever yours."

The kiss that followed was different from all the others they'd shared. Deeper, more claiming, carrying the weight of promises made beneath the moon and sealed in magic that would last beyond their mortal lives.

"I need you," she whispered, her hands fisting in the leather of his ceremonial vest. "I need to feel you, all of you, the way we're meant to be together."

His panther seemed to approve of her words. "Then let me love you the way you deserve," he said, with barely contained hunger. "Let me show you what it means to be cherished."

His hands moved to the fastenings of her gown with reverent care, each button and tie an act of worship rather than simple undressing. The silk whispered against her skin as it fell away, revealing the woman beneath who had become his entire world.

"Beautiful," he breathed, his fingers tracing the silver mating mark that curved along her shoulder. "So incredibly beautiful."

She helped him out of his own ceremonial clothing with hands that trembled slightly, her touch sending fire through his veins as she explored the familiar territory of his chest and shoulders with new ownership.

When she pressed her lips to his neck, he groaned with the intensity of sensation that shot straight through their bond.

"I can feel what you're feeling," she marveled, her mouth moving against his throat in ways that made coherent thought difficult. "It's like experiencing pleasure twice."

"That's exactly what it is," he managed, lifting her into his arms and carrying her toward their bed with careful strength. "Everything I feel, you feel. Everything you experience flows through me."

He laid her down among the rose petals and flickering candlelight, taking a moment to memorize how she looked in the golden glow. Her mahogany hair spread across the pillows, her brown eyes dark with desire, her skin flushed with anticipation and love.

"Tell me what you want," he said, settling beside her with hands that mapped every curve and hollow with reverent attention.

"You," she said simply. "All of you. The gentle man who reads to me in the evenings and the predator who would tear the world apart to keep me safe."

The honesty in her voice, the complete acceptance of every aspect of his nature, made something fierce and tender bloom in his chest. "Then you'll have me," he promised, leaning down to press kisses along the line of her throat. "Every part of me, for the rest of our lives."

He slid in slowly, inch by inch, stretching her open with a delicious, aching fullness that stole the breath from her lungs.

Her body arched instinctively, spine bowing beneath him as his cock pressed deeper, claiming space inside her that felt untouched, sacred.

The stretch bordered on unbearable, and yet she needed more—craved it with every nerve-ending.

“Fuck,” he breathed, voice raw, braced above her on trembling arms. “So wet. So fucking tight.”

Moira gasped, her fingers digging into the hard muscles of his shoulders.

He felt impossibly big, every inch of him forging its place inside her as if he were carving himself into her very soul.

Her pussy fluttered around him, struggling to adjust to the girth, the depth, the heat of him. It was too much—and yet, not enough.

“Lucien… you’re—” The words shattered on her tongue, lost in the sensation. There was no vocabulary for this—no spell or incantation to explain the way he filled her, thick and hot and pulsing with restrained power.

He bottomed out with a low growl, his hips pressed flush to hers, the dark curls at his base brushing her slick folds. Her pussy clenched involuntarily, already fluttering around the sheer stretch of his cock.

“Fuck, Moira—you feel like home and fire and fucking destiny. ”

She moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist, heels digging into his lower back to hold him right there—deep, full, hers. “Because I was,” she gasped, eyes fluttering open, locking with his. “Because my magic knows you. It wants you.”

He didn’t speak. Not with words.

He began to move.

The first withdrawal dragged every ridge of his cock along her inner walls, slow and precise, until she felt like she was unraveling thread by thread. Then he pushed back in, deep and steady, making her feel the weight and length of him in a way that was almost reverent.

It was intimate. Soul-deep.

Each deliberate thrust lit her nerves on fire. She could feel him gliding along the slick, swollen channel of her pussy—stretching her, rubbing inside her like he belonged there. Like he had always belonged there.

Her body burned, sensitive and alive in a way she had never experienced before. Not like this. Not this.

"Gods, Moira," he groaned, mouth trailing kisses across her cheek, her jaw, her throat. His cock throbbed inside her, thick and hot, rubbing her in just the right places with every precise roll of his hips. "You feel like a fucking dream. Like I’ve been waiting a thousand lifetimes to be inside you.”

And she felt it too.

His cock filled her so completely it was as if she couldn’t remember what it felt like not to have him inside her.

Every time he sank in, it was deeper. Thicker.

Better. Her pussy squeezed him like she never wanted to let him go, golden magic coiling from her belly and out along her limbs in rhythmic pulses that danced across his skin.

Her nails scraped down his back, desperate, aching for more. He growled low in his chest and answered her with a deeper thrust, grinding in slow circles that made her cry out.

“You undo me,” he gasped, fucking her deeper now, his voice strained with reverence and restraint. “You break me apart and put me back together again.”

Moira’s back arched off the bed as he shifted his angle, the thick head of his cock pressing perfectly into that devastating spot inside her. Her entire body lit up, inner walls fluttering in reaction. The pressure coiled tight in her belly, pure sensation radiating through her limbs.

“Lucien—yes—right there—don’t stop?—”

He answered with a growl that vibrated in his chest and into hers, his hips snapping harder now. Her slick heat welcomed every thrust, her pussy sucking him deeper as if she wanted to brand him with her need.

“Never,” he grit out, voice wrecked, sweat slicking his brow. “Never fucking stopping. You’re mine. Mine. ”

He slammed into her, over and over, every stroke dragging her closer to a breaking point that felt seismic. And still, his gaze never left hers—deep forest shadows filled with possession and devotion and love. It made her feel laid bare and cherished in the same breath.

And she couldn’t take it. The fullness. The intensity. The way his cock dragged against every sensitive nerve inside her, deep and grinding and perfect.

“I feel you everywhere,” she sobbed, tears blurring her vision. “You’re in my bones , Lucien. In my blood. ”

“Together,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers as their bodies rocked together. “We cross this threshold together.”

And then her world shattered.

The pressure in her belly exploded into a release so raw, so blinding, she screamed.

Her pussy clamped down around his cock, milking him, magic bursting from her skin in golden waves that washed across the room.

Her orgasm came in crashing pulses—over and over—pleasure layered upon pleasure until she forgot how to breathe.

Lucien’s rhythm faltered. He gasped, then thrust deep—one final, claiming thrust—and roared against her throat as he came. His cock twitched violently inside her, thick spurts of heat spilling deep, coating her in the most primal kind of promise.

His claws pressed into her hips—not piercing, but possessive. Anchoring. His hips ground into hers as he emptied everything into her, her name spilling from his lips like a vow.

The magic that erupted from their union painted the walls with golden light, visible proof of the power they created together. But more than magic, more than passion, was the profound peace that settled over them both as they lay entwined in the aftermath.

Her magic hummed with perfect balance, no longer fighting for control but flowing in harmony with every breath she took.

"I love you," she whispered against his chest as dawn light began to creep through their windows.

"I love you too," he replied, pulling her closer as the reality of their new life settled around them like a blessing. "More than I ever thought possible."

Outside their window, Hollow Oak was waking to a new day.

But inside their sanctuary above the bookstore, wrapped in each other's arms and the magic they'd created together, Mr. and Mrs. Vale began the first day of the rest of their lives with hearts full of joy and a future bright with infinite possibility.