Page 117 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
A moment later, the pressure exploded into relief, and a soul-deep love flooded into every cell in my body.
“Knox,” I breathed, joy rushing up inside me to match his love. “Knox is back.”
Zavier frowned. “He told you?”
“No.” I turned to see his enormous black wolf mostly hidden in the shadows of an alley between the neighboring buildings. I doubted I’d have been able to see him if I hadn’t just known exactly where to look.
Audrey, he rumbled in my head, and before I realized what I was doing, I raced across the courtyard and threw myself at him.
He shifted into his human form in the blink of an eye and caught me mid-leap in a crushing embrace.
Our mouths crashed together in a hungry kiss, igniting our desires since our desires fed off each other in a never-ending loop. An emptiness in my soul that I hadn’t fully realized was there but had sunk into my essence the moment I’d stopped feeling Knox’s emotions melted away.
“I missed you,” he said, his voice low as he pulled me up, clutching me tighter.
Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hot core pressed against his hardening cock. With a groan, he pinned me against the alley wall. His fingers tangled into my hair and he jerked my head back and deepened our kiss with a ferocity that matched my dream-Knox.
“Sisters, I missed you,” he gasped, suddenly breaking the kiss and pressing his forehead against mine.
Our breathing had turned ragged and desire zinged through our bond, but I could also feel him trying to get a hold of himself. He’d made a promise to not have sex with me until I’d forgiven him for hurting me when he’d refused our bond.
But for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why I’d been so determined to put off our fate. I wanted him more than I wanted my next breath, and I’d been numb and aching without even realizing it while he’d been gone.
“I missed you, too,” I replied, sliding my hands down his naked, sculpted chest to his cock trapped between us. It was already thick and hard and leaking precum, and I wanted nothing more than to have him buried inside me.
Someone cleared his throat and I jerked my gaze to Bishop and the others at the table. They were watching us with a mix of emotions. Bishop had a wicked grin as if he were getting pleasure out of Knox working me up, the thought sending more desire spiraling to my core, and Nova looked happy while Quinn and Zavier were in complete shock.
“Well, if there was any doubt about them being mated…” Zavier said. “I’d say that clears that up.”
Quinn slapped him on the arm. “There never was any doubt and you should be happy for them.”
A flicker of unease seeped through my mating bond and Knox’s gaze darted around the courtyard as if he suddenly realized we were out in public. When he saw the only people were us — the other couple having left a while ago — the unease vanished even though his grip on me tightened.
“We’re leaving,” he announced, quickly turning on his heel and carrying me down the alley, before I had a chance to say goodbye.
But in that moment, I didn’t care. I felt the same urgency he did, the need to re-consummate our bond again and again.
At the end of the alley, Knox shifted back to his wolf and I climbed on top and clung to him as he raced along mostly deserted back streets and alleys back to the Residence. Without slowing, he rushed through the open gate and skirted the Residence’s tall wall, heading away from the castle and deep into the grounds.
He bounded over flowerbeds and bushes and leaped up hills, his powerful muscles bunching beneath me, his soft fur caressing my neck and chin as I clung to him, and his seductive wood smoke scent wrapping around me.
The air rushed through my hair and swept cool over my face, easing the summer heat as we ran. Joy surged through our bond, Knox’s feeling of freedom and power flowing into me and filling me up with sensations I’d never felt before.
I whooped with joy, feeling wild as if the world was filled with amazing sights and sounds and opportunities and they were all at my fingertips.
The wildness flooded my body and my next whoop turned into a human howl of thanks to the moons, the Two Sisters of the Night.
Knox joined my howl and we bounded up a narrow path cut into a stony ridge at the back of the Residence’s grounds up to a wide ledge that overlooked the town.
I slid off his back, awed at the view. Warm, inviting lights shone through the windows and in what I could only assume were public gathering areas since I hadn’t been in that part of the city after dark. From this distance, they sparkled like stars, a property of the magic that made them glow.
Beyond, to my left and past another part of town I’d yet to see, stood a vast forest that climbed up into the mountains. That had to be where the pack’s sacred grove was since the small one on the Residence’s grounds was only big enough for a handful of people, not the whole town. Above me, stars filled the night sky, bright against the darkness even though the Sisters looked almost full.
Behind me, Knox shifted and drew me down to the ground so we could cuddle together while stargazing.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered as if speaking too loudly would shatter the magical stillness enveloping us.
“This is my favorite spot on the grounds,” Knox replied. “When the weather’s good, I sleep up here. Not that I expect you to— I mean, I wouldn’t?—”
I nuzzled closer to him, taking in deep breaths of his scent, and placed my palm over his heart hyperaware that he was completely naked and I was still a little worked up. “I know what you mean. You wanted to share this with me.”
“I’ve been thinking about bringing you here since the night I left.”
Contentment and peace radiated through our bond, and a giggle bubbled up inside me from the joy and awe and love, things I’d never expected to feel. Everything in my being said this was where I was supposed to be, and tonight I wasn’t going to question it or fight it. I’d never seen Knox so calm before, so at ease, but he was finally in his element with just the two of us in nature, and he’d fully accepted our bond.
“I couldn’t stop thinking of you and I felt so empty,” he said, tightening his grip around me and pressing his lips to my forehead. “Will you let me hold you?”
I raised my head until our lips met. Knox hadn’t outwardly begged a whole lot, but I could feel it through our bond how truly sorry he was for hurting me, which was all I really needed to know. “I’d like it if you did more than hold me.”
“But I promised—” I brushed my lips against his and his breath hitched. “I haven’t begged enough. You swore?—”
“And I’ve changed my mind. I missed you, too.” I slid my hand over the sculpted contours of his chest. “I need you, Knox,”
Without hesitation, he captured my lips in a hungry kiss, surprise and awe rushing through the bond before being consumed with desire.
I kissed him back, just as hungry. I hadn’t thought I’d give in so easily, but the mating bond was a powerful magic and connected us in a way we’d never been connected before.
I knew he didn’t want to hold back or deny me, and I knew he wouldn’t use this moment to hurt me.
It seemed foolish to change my mind so quickly, but the bond reassured me. Now that we’d sealed it and Knox had accepted it, I was safe with him, body, heart, and soul.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, holding him close, never wanting to let him go. With a groan, he ground his cock into the crux of my leg between my thigh and mound.
Anticipation shivered down my spine. I felt as if I’d been waiting for this all my life. I didn’t fully remember the first time we’d joined. I’d been partially delirious from the heat fever. But this time would be seared into my memory. And if intercourse with Knox was anything like when he went down on me, it was going to be amazing.
He groaned again and shoved one hand under my shirt and roughly palmed my breasts. I arched into his touch, my body begging for more, knowing this wasn’t going to be a gentle lovemaking. I could already feel the frenzy building inside him and his struggle to hold himself back.
“Knox, it’s?—”
A flash of brilliant light lit up the night sky followed by an explosive clap of thunder.
“Fu—” Knox snarled.
But before he could even finish the word, rain crashed over us in a warm torrential downpour.
I gasped at the sudden assault, my hair and clothes instantly soaked by the storm that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Knox pulled me into his arms and stood.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to wipe water from my eyes, disappointment that we’d been interrupted souring my desire. I’d been more than ready to be with him, to join our bodies like our souls were joined, and now the moment was gone.
“It’s the rainy season.” He hurried off the ledge and down the uneven path to the ground. “In the summer the wind changes and the storms that roll off two of the storm gods’ resting places in the south are more likely to hit us. That’s why they come out of nowhere and are so powerful.”
He reached the bottom and sprinted across the Residence’s ground, his wolf rising to the surface and a wildness rushing through our bond.
It was the same wildness I’d felt when riding him, primal, fierce, joyful. It didn’t matter that it was raining and we could barely see more than a few feet away from us. The power in the storm called to the beast within him.
And through him, I could almost imagine my own wolf rising up, riding on the energy sparking and flashing in the force of nature pouring down on us.
Thunder clapped again, sharp and explosive, rattling my bones and filling me up. With Knox’s emotions riding me, I felt powerful, unstoppable. I wanted to run, too. But in reality, I’d just slow him down.
“Run with me,” he— no his wolf said as if he could read my mind — and with our emotions so strongly connected maybe he could. “I know you can feel it. The power crackling all around us.”
As if to punctuate his words, lightning flashed and thunder clapped again.
“Run, Audrey. Run with me.”
He set me on the ground, grabbed my hand, and I had no choice but to run or be dragged behind him.
I raced as fast as I could with Knox keeping pace at my side, sprinting around trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds, the wind whipping warm rain in my face.
Exhilaration welled up inside me fed by Knox’s wild joy, and once again, I howled, letting the storm devour my voice.
I hadn’t liked running before, but then I’d been running to escape and stay safe. This was completely different. Just like when I’d ridden Knox, I felt free. I felt like a part of me did contain a wild wolf and by running for joy, I was letting a little piece of her out.
We rounded a small copse of trees and there in the distance through the downpour was the soft warm glow of shelter.
The light wasn’t very bright, perhaps just a lamp in someone’s window. Whatever it was, it only made Knox happier, which confused me. If I went inside, this amazing moment would end, and I never wanted it to end.
But a few seconds later, I realized the light wasn’t coming from the Residence. It came from Whil’s cottage greenhouse, the shimmering glass orb by her front door that I’d originally assumed was a whimsical decoration but was actually a light.
“In here,” Knox said, guiding me to the greenhouse door.
Gasping, I hurried inside, water rushing off me into a large puddle on the uneven flagstone floor.
“That was—” I sucked in rapid breaths filled with the sweet scent of Whil’s flowers and the rich wood smoke that was all Knox.
Exhilaration still raced through my veins, even though I was out of breath, more powerful than our run to the ledge. And mixed within it, was Knox’s joy.
I met his wild grin, his canines extended and his eyes dark, and the exhilaration turned hot. His gaze raked down my body with so much heat my whole body was aching and strung tight with desire by the time he looked back up again.
“Mine,” he snarled.
“Yes,” I gasped back and we crashed together, our lips meeting in a frenzied kiss.