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Chosen? I tilted my head. I felt that same ache in my sternum that had so plagued me outside the ruins.

I watched him silently, then looked around to see what he saw.

Finn lying half-asleep on the bed, his eyes heavily lidded as he observed us, like a lion surveying his pride.

Aaron and Brandon were getting hotter and hotter, kissing and clawing each other with everything they had, until Brandon broke away, pushing Aaron down on the bed as he retrieved the lube from one of the bags, then made a big show of popping the lid and working the contents along his dick.

Slade held me, and Jack watched the proceedings, the grand ringmaster surveying the chaos he’d stirred.

Where was Hawk in all of this? The easiest thing for him would have been to throw himself into Jack’s arms, but he didn’t.

It was then that I think I understood Jack’s actions.

As uncomfortable as this was for Hawk, he was stepping back, letting his lover step forward.

Slade smiled when I sat up and kissed him, then both of us turned to look at Hawk. “You gonna take a new courtier, princess?”

“Yeah. That OK?”

He looked inordinately pleased to be asked, which made me scratch my fingers through his beard, rub my thumb against his bottom lip. He sucked it in, then released it, shooting me a wicked smile.

“You go where you need to, as long as you come back to me.”

I dropped another kiss on his lips and then got to my feet.

“Hawk.”

I said his name quietly, but his eyes darted to me in an instant, so quickly, I wondered if he had been waiting.

I padded across the floor towards him, feeling the light and the air caress my skin as I went.

My neck stung, blood crusted the bites I wore, but I felt strong as I walked towards him.

As I reached out, he stood, moving closer until he loomed above me.

I placed a hand on his chest and then felt it.

Not the great torrent of emotion my mates gave me, rather it was a subtle thing, a thin thread of longing shot through with fear. I didn’t like either much, so I wrapped my hand around his neck and pulled his head down.

The first brush of his lips was like the falling of snow—soft, silent, and carrying with it a weight that shut out everything else.

There was only the whistle of his breath, the sound of our lips moving, the faint wetness that came from inside our mouths as the kiss deepened.

I drew back finally after who knows how long, placing my head on his chest and listened to the rapid beat of his heart.

“This is it,” I said. “Unless you tell me otherwise, I’m marking you and you’ll mark me. You OK with that?”

He tilted my head back, so I looked into his eyes, and he held my gaze for a moment before stroking my cheek.

“Don’t worry for me, Jules. I’ve been waiting my whole bloody life for this.”

“But we’ll… We’ll be able to touch you and tap into the way you feel. It won’t be just you and Jack anymore. You’ll have to let all of us in. We’ll?—”

“Jules.” He waited until I fell silent, then continued.

“You make it sound like a bad thing. Maybe people will stop projecting shit onto me. Half the time, I’m just zoning out, or thinking about what I’m gonna do about the clutch that keeps slipping in the ute, and people are rushing in thinking I’m crying my heart out or some shit.

” He stroked my hair, then rubbed his thumb over my cheek.

“You know I’ve wanted a woman for a mate for a long time, but the thing that’s gotten missed in Jack’s version of the story is that I’ve never met anyone I wanted to take that step with.

Mating hunts? Sure, but that’s just instinct.

Fucking? Plenty I would have given a go if they could cope with me and Jack.

But tying myself to someone for the rest of my life?

Hoping we’d set up a home together, being a part of a pack, maybe having some kids someday?

Never. Not for one second have I felt there was someone I could do that with until I met you.

Mark me, don’t mark me, I’m tracking you until the end of days, Jules.

Unless you kick me to the curb, I’m here, with you and the pack forever. ”

Then he just looked into my eyes and waited for my response.

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as my brain processed what he had to say.

He didn’t fidget or look away, though I felt the thread of fear inside him grow stronger.

I moved automatically as soon as I felt that, my instincts knowing what to do even as my mind fought to catch up.

I herded him back against the bed, forced him to sit down on the edge when the backs of his legs hit it, and climbed astride when he was settled.

I followed his lead, maintaining eye contact as my hands roamed his chest. I watched his lips drop open as I pinched one nipple, then the other, before sliding my hand down.

But he caught it, holding it where it was just over his heart.

“No, Jules,” he said when my other went to grab his hard cock. “Like yes, afterwards. If you want to. Fuck. I didn’t think I’d ever knock back sex from you, but…” He took a deep breath and pulled my hand up and laid the sweetest kiss on my palm. “I want to feel it.”

“It’s going to hurt.”

“It already hurts,” he said. “The waiting, the wondering, the feeling of separation. When I saw you join with the others, that was fucking beautiful. I don’t want to be thinking about my dick or your cunt gripping it tight. I just want you.”

Tears pricked at my eyes as that bald honesty hit me. Hawk was such a fucking enigma, floating under the radar and then saying shit like this that tore my heart in two.

“Of course, love.”

The endearment felt a little stiff and odd in my mouth, but with practise, I was sure that would change.

I felt almost shy pulling his hair to one side, the brown skin bare and vulnerable, but the venom pooled on my tongue, more than ready to do this.

He shivered when I licked the skin, coating it with the burn, testing his reaction. I pulled back at his hiss.

“I can take you into the psychic space or?—”

“No.” He yanked my head back down, pressing my head down into the curve of his neck. “Do it, Jules, please.”

It was a curious thing, to mark someone without being swept away by sex or metaphysical bullshit.

Instead, my focus became crystal clear. I could feel the hard weight of his thighs pressing against mine, heard the rhythmic hiss of his breath, smelt that musky piney scent of his, and felt the anticipation.

I could feel the need throbbing through him, waiting for me to strike.

I put my hands on his shoulders and leant in, taking a chunk of his skin between my teeth. His arms wrapped around me, as if to stop me from pulling away, but that was never going to happen. I shut my eyes, told him I loved him inside my mind, and bit down.

“Unh!”

His grunt didn’t tell me if it was from pleasure or pain, but he dragged me down on him as my teeth pierced his flesh. Blood and venom ran like fire across his skin, and then it came. Throbbing, relentless, endless, Hawk came tumbling down the link.

It was like seeing colour for the first time.

Still waters had always run deep here, but I was about to find out how much.

Exhilaration, pain, exultation, satisfaction, and love, so much love.

I’d had all of my other mates’ lavish attention on me, show me their love, bring me into them, and even then, I was not prepared for Hawk.

His similarity to Jack became immediately apparent as all he was slammed into me, filling me up in ways I hadn’t known I needed.

We were spiralling up. He could feel my reaction to him, which just brought a smug sense of gratification, but it wasn’t a selfish thing.

He wasn’t congratulating himself—he congratulated us.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my new mate.

I felt like an explorer who’d discovered a whole new continent that had previously been hidden.

There was an excitement, a wonder, but mostly just straight up fucking awe.

I could spend the rest of my days trying to get to know more about Hawk, and I’d probably never plumb those depths.

“Is this the way it’s always been?” I asked after opening my eyes. Blood trickled down his neck, his face was pale, but I’d never seen him look more beautiful. I stroked him because I needed to touch him like I needed to take a breath. “Hawk?”

“Now you know,” he said, taking my hand. “I love you, Jules. There are no other women for me. Just you.”

“So, make me yours,” I said.

He knew what was happening today, but I could see the conflict in his eyes as he considered the idea.

“You don’t?—”

He pulled me forward, just wrapping his arms around me and holding me for a moment. Then his hand slipped down between my legs. I frowned for a second, unsure of what he was doing, until I felt the rapid flick of my clit.

“Hawk…” I tried to protest, but the pleasure began to twist inside me. “You don’t have to.”

“But I want to,” he said, moving in close until his lips almost touched mine. “You want me to. Man, you really like my dick.”

Fucking psychic bonds. I could have lived without him picking that up.

“I thought you guys only got emotions down the bond,” I said.

“Yeah, and the emotion I’m getting right now is you loving my dick. It’s OK, baby…” He was teasing me, placing little kisses on my lips until I relented and kissed him back. “I love giving it to you.”

I intended to say something brutal, but that was shoved to one side as he did just that, dragging my hips down as his thrust up.

“Oh,” was all I managed to get out instead.

“That’s it, baby,” he said as I began to move of my accord, wanting more of that thick length inside me.