Page 7

Zara couldn’t believe how much had changed in such a short time. As Crew carried her upstairs to his bedroom, she said, “I keep thinking that I’m going to wake up and this will all have been a dream.”

He moved through the threshold of his bedroom and kicked the door shut.

He stared down at her, and she could see his eyes flashing in the darkness. “It’s not a dream, sweetheart. This is very real. You, me, both of us are exactly where we need to be.”

He set her on the bed and moved to the window, opening the blinds to let in the moonlight, casting the room in soft, pale light. When he’d returned to her, standing in front of her and gazing down, his voice was deep and husky when he said, “Tell me if we’re moving too fast.”

She shook her head and tucked her feet under her, rising up onto her knees. Planting her hands on his chest, she said, “We’re not. I want this, I want you.”

He leaned closer, his lips brushing hers. “I want you too. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life.”

Her stomach flipped and heat rushed through her. How could she feel so turned on by kisses and sweet words? But she was, and it was a phenomenal feeling.

The truth was she trusted Crew even though she didn’t know him well. They were soulmates and there was something emotionally charged about everything they did because they were meant to be together.

He slid his hands to her waist and drew her close, kissing her deeply. She melted against him, tangling her fingers in his hair.

He slid his hands down her sides and up underneath the sundress, lifting it slowly as he made his way up her body. Even though she didn’t want to stop the kiss that was driving her wild, she moved away and stretched her arms up so he could lift the dress over her head. She’d worn only panties under the dress, silky pale blue ones that had felt so good against her skin when she’d put them on.

She reached for his shirt and helped him take it off, and she was momentarily speechless at his muscular body, every inch of him chiseled to perfection.

“Come here,” she whispered, giving a tug to his shoulder. She pulled him down to the bed and straddled his waist, feeling the press of his erection through his pants and her panties, and for a brief moment, she felt a buzz of pleasure shoot through her.

She leaned down and kissed his chest, exploring his muscles with her fingers and lips, as he ran his fingers over her upper body and made her skin tingle. She kissed her way up to his lips and he let out a growling sigh at the contact.

He tugged on her hips and she broke the kiss with a groan and met his gaze.

“Come up here, let me taste you,” he said with a rough voice.

With his help, she leaned on the headboard, positioning herself over his head. He ran his hands over her bottom and thighs, then he pulled her panties to one side, and with his free hand, he pulled her to his mouth. She let out a low moan as his tongue slipped between her folds and lapped at her like she was the best thing he’d ever tasted. He flicked her clit, sending a riot of shivers through her, and then delved his tongue into her heat. He played with her, licking and sucking her, driving her right to the brink of pleasure as he found just the right way to touch her and lick her, until she was mindlessly moaning his name, her toes curled against his sides and her whole body trembling.

“Crew, Crew, please,” she whimpered, wiggling her hips and chasing his tongue to hit just the right place on her clit that he seemed to enjoy barely touching.

“Ready to fly, sweetheart?” he murmured against her heated flesh.

“Yes!”

He flicked his tongue over her clit and sank two fingers into her pussy, sending her soaring to the height of pleasure. As he found just the right spots to push her over the edge, she closed her eyes as pleasure poured over her and her climax struck, deep and reverberating and making every nerve ending in her body sing. She cried out his name as she came, twitching and writhing on him as he wrung out every last ounce of pleasure from her orgasm.

And then she was on her back on the bed, her panties airborne and the sound of his zipper lowering barely registering above the roar of blood in her ears. He grasped his cock and pressed it against her, covering her body with his own as he thrust in deeply, gritting his teeth with a groan.

“Fuck, you feel good, baby,” he said in her ear, biting gently on her neck and breathing hard.

She wrapped her arms around his chest and drew her legs up, hooking her ankles at his back and pulling him even deeper. They both groaned.

She tilted her head and kissed him, their tongues dancing together as he moved inside her, pulling out and pushing in, a hard rhythm that sent little waves of pleasure through her. She dug her nails into his back and held on as he fucked her hard and fast. Lowering her feet to the bed, she tilted her hips to meet his thrusts, the bed shaking every time they came together.

Heat built in her, a swirling mass of hot pleasure that wasn’t like anything she’d ever experienced before. Crew knew exactly how to touch her, how to hold her just right so every time he thrust forward, he hit her clit and made her pussy clench.

He moved faster and harder, and then he grabbed the flesh between her neck and shoulder in his teeth and bit, groaning loudly as he came inside her. His mark made her neck throb and she smiled at him as he sat up, still buried deep.

Placing his thumb on her clit, he said, “Come for me again, Zara. I want to feel it around my cock.”

She wasn’t sure she could come again, but he rubbed her clit and growled sweet encouraging words at her, his cock spasming inside her. He was thick and long and stretched her body in the best of ways. His thumb rubbing her clit fast felt so good, she wanted to come again but also never wanted it to stop.

He leaned forward a little and reached for her breasts, playing with her nipples and adding another layer of sensation. As heat bloomed inside her again, her stomach flipping like a pancake at breakfast and her vision blurring, she bit her lip as she came, her body locking up in a spiral of pleasure.

“Yes, hell yes, you’re so fucking sexy, Zara.” He leaned down and kissed her, cupping her face. “So very mine.”

“You’re mine too,” she said, her voice rough from shouting her pleasure.

Easing from her body, he slid next to her with a groan and held her close. He kissed the bruise he’d left on her neck and whispered, “Sweet soulmate, I’ll never get enough of you.”

She was certain she’d never get enough of him either.

* * *

Zara didn’t want to leave Crew’s arms after their night tumbling in the sheets, but she had to pee, so she extracted herself from his warm embrace and hurried to the attached bathroom.

When she’d used the toilet and washed her hands, she peeked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked happy. And it was all because of the sexy male in the bedroom.

He’d rocked her world so many times, proven that he’d take care of her in every way. Spectacular wasn’t a strong enough word for how it felt to be with him.

She walked back into the room and slipped back into his arms.

He cuddled her close, burying his face in her neck. “You smell amazing in the morning, love.” His voice was a low growl and a shiver wiggled down her spine.

He smelled good too. Like home. And great sex.

“We’ve gotta leave the bed, huh?”

“I’d rather not, but yeah.”

“Me too.”

He lifted from her neck and smiled at her, looking far too sexy with his tousled hair and stubble on his cheeks. “Shower?”

“For two?”

“You read my mind.”

After a quick bout of getting clean, then dirty, and then clean again, they dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

“It’s weird,” she said as she filled a plate with scrambled eggs from a bowl on the counter and waited for a bagel to toast.

“What’s weird?” he asked as he made up his plate.

“I’m used to being the one who handles the meals. Having Tris do it is very cool but makes me feel weird.”

“You shouldn’t feel weird. Tris is the caretaker and she’s really good at her job. Are you wondering what you would be doing when you join the herd?”

“A little.” She put cream cheese on her bagel and grabbed a few sausage links before joining him at the table with coffee and orange juice.

“You told me you were the main forager before everyone died, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there’s plenty to forage around here. I’m not even sure of all that’s around the territory, actually, but we can make any kind of garden you’d like or even put in a greenhouse. If you’d like to handle the foraging for the herd, you could work with Avi to plan and tend the gardens. Sometimes he can’t handle things because Dexter needs us for a job. There’s always plenty to do on the farm.”

“I’d love to explore the territory,” she said. “Wild blackberries for sure aren’t the only things growing; there might even be wild raspberries and grapes, plus mint and yarrow and even jewelweed. Oh, you know what I’ve always wanted to have? A tea garden, so I could really explore making my own teas.” Her mind spun as she thought about chamomile and rosemary and thyme.

Crew put his hand over hers and gave her a sweet smile. “You look so happy right now, love. You’re glowing.”

Her eyes pricked with tears. “I am happy.”

“Good, then I think you’ve got it figured out. We can build you whatever you need so you can have a tea garden. If you plan it out, I’ll talk to Dexter about working up plans for it, and we can do a greenhouse too. The more ways that we’re self-sustaining the better. You can be our forager and our Chief Tea Maker.”

“Sounds like a good title to me.”

“And that lemonade too. It was fantastic.”

“As long as there are fresh blackberries, I’ll happily make it.”

They talked about the day ahead, and even though she was excited to spend time with Crew while he went about his daily chores, she knew she needed to talk to Colton first.

“I can come with you,” Crew said as they stood on the front porch after breakfast.

“I need to do this on my own.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “I’ll catch up with you when I’m done.”

“Be careful,” he said, giving her a quick kiss.

“I will.”

She walked to the barn and opened the man-door, finding the herd seated on the cots and talking. Nerves skated through her as Colton made eye contact with her, a severe frown pulling down the corners of his mouth.

“Can I talk to you, Colton?”

He rose slowly from the cot and joined her, and they walked outside into the morning sunlight.

“I wanted to speak to you,” she said. Part of her wanted to run back into Crew’s arms and ask him to handle this for her, but the other part of her knew that she couldn’t back down and needed to handle this on her own. “I’m leaving the Valley Herd. Crew and I are mated now, and I want to join the Little River Herd.”

His face twisted into something ugly. “After all I’ve done for you, do you really think you can simply walk away?”

She stifled the smart retort on her tongue. “All you’ve done for me? You and your father never saw me as anything but a worker, never saw me as having any value except whatever I could provide for you and for the herd. I’ve never been free to live my own life. You’ve consistently stifled me, talked down to me, and belittled me. I don’t want to be part of the Valley Herd. Crew’s herd is different and I’m choosing them. I’m choosing him .”

Colton took a menacing step toward her and she nearly flinched, but managed to stand her ground. “I’m still your alpha, Zara. You can’t leave. It doesn’t work that way.”

Fear prickled at her like biting ants. “It absolutely does work that way. Our laws state a stallion can leave at any time and choose exile. You might be alpha, but you have no right to keep me in the herd. I’m Crew’s mate, and whether you like it or not, I’m technically part of his herd now.” She lifted her chin. “I don’t belong to you and I’m not yours to control.”

He chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

Turning on his heels, he walked back into the barn and left her behind, shaken and confused.

She blinked at the closed door, and then she went to find Crew.

She’d wanted to handle this on her own, and it hadn’t really crossed her mind that Colton would say no.

Could he actually keep her from leaving?

She didn’t think so, but she could admit that her knowledge of the laws wasn’t absolute.

When she told Crew about her interaction with Colton, he growled angrily.

“You’re my mate,” Crew said firmly. “Whether we’ve had the joining ceremony or not, you asked to leave his herd and he has no right to keep you in it. He can’t control you. He doesn’t have a say in this.”

“He’s dangerous,” she said.

“No one threatens you or questions your place here. You’re mine and you’re joining my herd, period. I’ll handle this.”

“Be careful,” she said.

“I will.” He looked at her, then pulled her close and kissed her. “Go to the farmhouse and wait for me. I’ll come find you when I’ve finished speaking with him.”

They parted ways, and a funny, uncomfortable knot formed in her gut.

Be careful, Crew .