Page 36

The moonlight casts Thomas in silver and shadow as he stands before me, eyes darkening with desire.

My fingers work the buttons of his ceremonial shirt, each one revealing another inch of skin I've relearned over these past weeks in careful, measured doses.

Tonight, there will be no holding back, no careful boundaries maintained.

Tonight, we are officially, irrevocably mates.

Thomas’ response to my words is immediate and consuming—strong hands framing my face as he claims my mouth with a hunger that steals my breath. This is different from our careful explorations in recent weeks.

The ceremonial dress slides from my shoulders with a whisper of fabric, pooling at my feet in the soft moss of our forest sanctuary. Thomas draws back just enough to look at me, his expression a mixture of awe and fierce possession that sends heat spiraling through my core.

"You're beautiful," he murmurs, voice rough with emotion. "Every day I wake up beside you, I can't believe you're real."

My heart swells as I push his shirt from his shoulders, revealing the body I've come to know again—strong and familiar and mine. The binding cord encircling his bicep catches the lantern light, a permanent reminder of the ceremony that officially united us hours ago.

"I'm real," I assure him, pressing a kiss to his chest, directly over his heart.

His hands trace reverent patterns down my sides, relearning curves that have changed subtly in the years apart— motherhood softening some edges while strengthening others.

When he lifts me into his arms and lays me gently on the blankets spread across the forest moss, I feel simultaneously powerful and yielding.

He hovers above me, his body a constellation of planes and angles silhouetted by moonlight filtering through the canopy.

The air between us charges with electricity as his mouth finds the sensitive hollow of my throat.

My breath catches as his lips trail downward, mapping a path of fire across my collarbone, lingering at the pulse point that betrays my racing heart.

His calloused hands slide beneath me, lifting my hips to meet his, our bodies finding that perfect alignment that speaks of memory carried in muscle and bone.

I arch against him, fingernails scoring light trails down his back as he claims another inch of skin with teeth and tongue.

The forest around us disappears—there is only Thomas, only this moment, only the intoxicating slide of skin against skin.

"Thomas," I gasp as his mouth descends to my breast, his tongue circling before capturing the sensitive peak between his teeth. The gentle scrape sends lightning through my veins, my body bowing upward instinctively.

He growls—a primal sound that vibrates against my skin—before his hand tangles in my hair, tugging just enough to expose my throat to his hungry mouth. Gone is the careful lover of recent weeks, replaced by something wilder, more desperate.

"Mine," he rasps against my ear, his body pressing me deeper into our forest bed. "Say it."

"Yours," I breathe, the word barely escaping before his mouth crashes down on mine, swallowing any further sound. His kiss is demanding, almost bruising, his tongue claiming mine with a ferocity that makes me dizzy with need.

His hands are everywhere at once—gripping my thighs, circling my waist, tracing the curve of my spine. When his mouth begins a deliberate journey down my torso, I watch through half-lidded eyes as he trails kisses across my stomach, his intention clear in the hungry glint of his eyes.

But something primal stirs within me—a need to claim as much as be claimed. With a sudden surge of strength, I push against his shoulders, catching him off guard. His eyes flash with surprise as I roll him onto his back, reversing our positions in one fluid motion.

"My turn," I whisper, relishing the way his breath catches when I straddle his thighs.

I slide down his body with deliberate slowness, savoring the flex of muscle beneath my palms, the quickening of his breath as I move lower.

When I kneel between his legs, the forest floor cool against my knees, Thomas props himself up on his elbows to watch me, anticipation tightening every line of his body.

His eyes never leave mine as I trace my tongue along the defined ridge of his hip bone, feeling him shudder beneath my touch.

"Fiona," he breathes, my name a prayer on his lips.

I take him in my hand first, feeling the velvet heat of him against my palm before lowering my head.

The first taste of him draws a moan from my own throat.

When I take him fully into my mouth, his reaction is immediate—a deep, guttural groan that reverberates through the clearing as his hands find my hair, fingers tangling in the strands.

His grip tightens, not controlling but anchoring himself as I establish a rhythm that has his hips rising to meet me.

"Gods," he gasps, his head falling back against the blankets. His chest heaves with ragged breaths, muscles tensing beneath his skin. I feel his thighs trembling under my palms, his control fraying with each movement of my lips and tongue. The power I hold over him in this moment is intoxicating.

I sense the telltale tightening of his body, the quickening of his pulse beneath my fingertips. His grip in my hair becomes almost painful as he approaches the edge. With deliberate cruelty, I pull away, looking up at him through my lashes as he groans in frustration.

Before I can draw another breath, Thomas moves with lightning speed.

His hands clamp around my wrists, flipping me onto my back with such force that the air rushes from my lungs.

His body pins mine to the forest floor, one hand capturing both of mine above my head while the other roughly grips my thigh, positioning himself between them.

His eyes are molten gold in the moonlight, savage with need as he stares down at me.

"You drive me crazy, Fi," he groans, his voice a dangerous rumble that sends shivers cascading down my spine.

Before I can respond, his mouth crashes against mine with bruising intensity.

There's nothing gentle in this kiss, his teeth catching my lower lip, tongue demanding entrance.

I meet his ferocity with my own, arching against the restraint of his hand at my wrists, my body surrendering even as my spirit challenges him.

He nudges my thighs wider with his knee, his free hand sliding between us, finding me slick and ready.

When his fingers thrust inside me without warning, I cry out against his mouth, the sudden invasion both shocking and exactly what I crave.

All too soon, his fingers withdraw, leaving me aching and empty for just a moment before he shifts his weight, positioning himself at my entrance.

Our eyes lock—a moment of perfect connection as he pushes forward, entering me in one powerful thrust that steals the breath from my lungs.

"Fiona," he groans, the sound torn from deep in his chest as he fills me completely.

I cry out, my body arching beneath him, trembling with the exquisite fullness. The sensation is overwhelming—familiar yet somehow entirely new, as though our bodies are remembering and discovering each other simultaneously. My legs wrap around his waist instinctively, drawing him deeper still.

"Thomas," I gasp, his name a broken prayer on my lips.

He begins to move, each powerful thrust driving me further into ecstasy. The moonlight catches the sweat on his brow, the intense concentration in his eyes as he watches me come undone beneath him. My back arches sharply as the pressure builds, coiling tighter with each thrust until suddenly—

"Oh god, Thomas!" I cry out as waves of pleasure crash through me, my body clenching around him in rhythmic pulses. My vision blurs, the forest canopy above spinning as every nerve ending ignites at once.

Thomas slows momentarily, his eyes locked on my face. "You okay?" he murmurs, his voice strained with the effort of restraint.

"Don't stop," I gasp, digging my fingernails into his shoulders. "Please don't stop."

His response is immediate—a renewed surge of his hips that sends aftershocks rippling through me. He maintains the perfect rhythm, drawing out my climax until I'm trembling and incoherent beneath him.

"More," I plead, my voice barely recognizable through ragged breath. My body still pulses with aftershocks, but already I feel the tension building again, a second wave gathering force.

Thomas shifts above me, changing the angle of his thrusts as his hand slides between our bodies. His thumb finds my sensitive center, circling with deliberate pressure that makes my hips buck involuntarily against him.

"Like this?" he asks, his voice a dark rumble against my ear as his thumb increases its pace, matching the relentless rhythm of his hips.

"Yes," I gasp, the word dissolving into a moan as he drives deeper, harder, the new angle hitting something exquisite inside me. His movements grow more urgent, more primal—gone is any pretense of gentleness. This is raw claiming, his body demanding everything mine has to give.

The forest blurs around us, the moonlight fragmenting through the leaves as my vision narrows to just his face above me, features taut with restraint that's about to break.

His rhythm falters, becomes erratic as he drives into me with desperate need.

I feel the coil inside me winding impossibly tight again, my body arching to meet each thrust.

"Let go," I whisper fiercely, my hands framing his face. "Come with me, Thomas."

Something primal flashes in his eyes. He buries himself deep inside me one final time as his control shatters completely.

The sensation of him pulsing within me triggers my own release, and we crash over the edge together, my cry mingling with his guttural groan.

His body shudders violently against mine, inside mine, as wave after wave of pleasure consumes us both.

For endless seconds, we exist in perfect union, neither knowing where one ends and the other begins—just as our bodies remain fused, trembling in the aftermath of shared ecstasy.

Thomas collapses against me, his weight a comforting anchor as our heartbeats gradually slow from their frantic pace. I run my fingers through his sweat-dampened hair, feeling the slight tremors still running through his powerful frame.

"I love you," he murmurs against my neck, his breath warm against my cooling skin.

I cradle him against me, savoring the weight of him, the scent of our lovemaking mingling with pine and moss. "I love you too."

For a long time after that, we lie tangled in the blankets beneath a canopy of stars, my head pillowed on Thomas's chest as our breathing gradually slows.

The forest breathes around us—rustling leaves, distant owl calls, the gentle symphony of night creatures acknowledging our presence without intrusion.

"That was..." I search for words and find none adequate.

"Yeah," Thomas agrees, understanding perfectly. His fingers trace lazy patterns along my spine, raising pleasant shivers despite the warmth of his body against mine.

We've been intimate in the weeks since our reunion, carefully rebuilding physical connection alongside emotional trust. But this—our first joining as official mates, beneath open sky with nothing held back—feels like a transformation, a completion.

"I can feel you thinking," Thomas murmurs, pressing a kiss to my temple.

I smile against his skin. "Good thoughts. Just... marveling at how we got here. All the pieces that had to fall into place."

"Fate," he suggests, only half-joking.

"Fate,” I agree, and I believe it. I believe it with all my heart.

*****

THE END