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RILEY

Damn, it was hot to be chased in the woods at sunset by my boyfriend. My wolf boyfriend. My mate. So delicious.

So primal.

The exhilaration of being hunted, being Cody’s prey, was heady foreplay. Especially after the orgasm he gave me on top of his Jeep. My pulse raced. My inner thighs were wet with my juices. A broad grin stretched my face as I sprinted as best I could in my flip-flops through the woods. Pine needles softened the earthen floor, and the smell of sun-warmed Ponderosa sap gave the air a faint vanilla scent .

Laughter crawled up my throat as I dodged between trees and behind boulders, putting distance between me and the wolf stalking me.

Cody gave me a head start. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t playing along, but then he was right there, prowling behind me, the deep rumble of his voice just a few feet behind. “Run, little human. What I catch, I’ll claim.” He didn’t even sound winded.

I laughed and ran faster, but he stayed right behind me, his fingertips grazing my bare hip, teasing my nerve endings with electricity.

“Catch me if you can!” I darted to the side, around a tree.

“You can run, sugar, but you’ll never escape. You belong to me.”

Of course, I didn’t want to get away. I wanted to know he’d always give chase. Always follow. Always catch and claim me.

I wanted him to prove it in this animalistic way.

He took the other way around the tree and then suddenly was right in front of me, blocking my path. I crashed into his arms with a gasp.

His eyes glowed amber, and his canines gleamed in the sunlight. My pussy clenched at the sight of his animal side coming out.

“Careful, sugar. You’re getting my wolf riled up. ”

I changed directions to flee, but he caught me around the waist and flipped me upside down over his shoulder. I shrieked when his hand clapped down my bare ass. “Eek!”

My flip-flops fell off.

“Do you know what happens when you run from a wolf?” He slapped my ass again, harder.

I laughed and kicked my legs. My pussy was unbelievably wet, squeezing on air, wanting him to fill it. “I get caught?”

“You get claimed.” He spanked me again. His voice didn’t sound like his own. It was deeper. Had more of a growl to it. “I’m trying to hold back, sugar. But I want to throw you down, fuck you hard in the dirt, and sink my teeth into the back of your neck.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at the scorching visual.

“You’re making it hard for me to keep a leash on my wolf.”

“So do it,” I dared him.

He went still. Now he sounded out of breath. Like the run had been nothing, but the exertion of holding back from claiming me was a strain.

“I…I need you, Riley.” His voice was rough. “The full moon is on the rise.” His sanity clearly slipping. We were spinning in a circle. Was he looking for a place to put me down ?

“Take me,” I urged. God, I wanted it.

He groaned. “Not here.” He seemed to speak the words with effort, and then suddenly sprinted in the direction of the cabin.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, clinging to him for stability. I was upside down, my only view was of his back. I heard the door being thrown open, and then he dropped me on my feet. “Run, little human.”

I gave a shriek of laughter and took off through the small cabin, running for the bedroom where he’d tied me up.

Of course, he caught me as I reached the door, lifting me off my feet and throwing me to the bed. I bounced and landed all helter skelter, still bare from the waist down.

Hell, yes.

This was what I wanted. What I craved. To feel his strength. His power over me. For me to resist and be overpowered. Knowing I was perfectly safe with a man who would do anything for me, including take a bullet.

I rolled to my back and spread my legs, but Cody pounced. “Nope. You got gentle already. Now you’re getting it rough.” He flipped me to my belly. “Bad girls run from their mates.” He spanked me–not too hard, but fast. Enough to heat my skin and make me squirm with pleasure.

I moaned my agreement. “I was a bad, bad girl.” I definitely needed to be spanked and taken roughly.

He stopped and rubbed his fingers between my legs. “You’re so wet, sugar.” I heard the sound of him licking his fingers. “All that juice is for me, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I breathed, rubbing my cheek on the soft bedding.

He delivered another light flurry of spanks. “Spread your legs, baby. Show me that pretty pussy of yours.”

I obeyed, parting for him and lifting my ass. He growled, and I heard the tearing of fabric–he must’ve torn his sweats off instead of stepping out of them. The mattress dipped when he knelt behind me, shoving my thighs wider with his knees.

Cody caught my hips with a hard grip–like he didn’t know his own strength–and lifted them up until I rested on my knees with my chest still down on the bed.

His breath rasped in and out across his teeth. I peeked over my shoulder at him and nearly orgasmed at the sight. His eyes glowed wildly. His teeth were bared, his expression contorted into one of agony .

“I’ll try to go slowly,” he gritted, right before he impaled me with his cock in a swift thrust.

I cried out, reaching out and bracing my hands against the headboard.

Cody went still. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Sorry, sweet girl. Was that too hard?”

I could tell he was losing control. It was beyond sexy to have a man so in the throes of passion for me.

He held my waist and slid in and out of me, gliding smoothly. His groan filled the room.

I groaned with him. It felt so right to be filled by him. For his self-imposed restriction, all his gentleness and gentlemanliness, to fall away.

This was the raw version of Cody. The man-wolf who seemed like he couldn’t live without me. Who needed to claim me so desperately it was driving him mad.

His fingers tightened on my waist, and he started to pound harder. God, he was big! He stretched me, his length bottomed out against my insides. For a moment, it felt like too much, but then he reached around and lightly stroked my clit.

“Oh, God,” I moaned. Stars started to dance before my eyes.

“That’s right, sugar. I’m your god now.” Cody slammed in harder, shaking the bed, so it banged against the wall. “I’m gonna break this bed fucking you.”

“Oh, God,” I whimpered again. I was so close to coming, my inner thighs trembling, my channel squeezing around his dick.

“Riley…” Cody’s voice sounded choked. “Fuck, Riley. You’re so hot. You’re so…Fuck!” He roared and shoved deep into me, driving my hips back down to the bed, with his body covering mine as he came. He continued to rub my clit, making me come harder and harder, my juices drenching his cock.

My muscles spasmed around him, my hips bucked against the mattress.

I felt the prick of one of his canine teeth at my shoulder. Cody sucked in a sharp breath and drew back. “Not there,” he muttered. “I don’t want to leave a visible scar.”

He groan-growled–an animal-like sound that made my entire body shiver with pleasure–as he pulled out. “Are you ready, Riley?”

“I’m ready.” I was.

“Are you sure?”

I was so sure. “Do it.”

Cody walked backward on his knees, his large hands trailing down my sides as he went. “Here?” His breath feathered across my ass.

“ Yes .”

His teeth punctured my skin there.

I cried out. There was sharp pain at first, but he immediately released his grip, withdrawing his teeth from my flesh.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, sugar. Are you all right?” He licked the wounds. “The serum on my teeth should provide pain-relief in a few moments, and my saliva will promote healing.”

“I’m okay,” I promised. It had been so quick. Endorphins must already be rushing in because all around the pain was the shimmer of pleasure.

Of satisfaction.

Of fuck-yes.

“What do you need, sugar? Some ice?”

“It’s already better,” I promised, shaking my head. “I just need you.”

Cody’s exhale came out in a gust, and he immediately settled behind me, his strong arm wrapped around my waist. He pulled me snugly against him. “I love you, Riley Abbott.”

Euphoria poured through me. I didn’t know if it was from the serum on his teeth or the pain endorphins or just from love .

“Am I yours now?” I murmured, drugged with bliss.

“You’re marked as mine.” Cody’s fingertip circled my areola. “Every shifter will know you’ve been claimed by me. My scent has been permanently embedded in your flesh.”

“You’ll wear my ring,” I told him. “So every human will know you’ve been claimed by me.”

Cody chuckled. “Are you proposing to me, Riley Abbott?”

I smiled as he kissed behind my ear. “I am.”

“Aren’t you supposed to get down on one knee or something?” he teased.

“Mmm. That’ll be later. Both knees. When I return the favor you gave me on the Jeep.”

Cody’s cock surged between my legs. Apparently, his age wasn’t going to make multiple orgasms a problem.

“Well, then the answer’s yes. But I’m not taking your last name or anything,” he joked.

I laughed. “Do you want me to take yours?”

“Sugar, you’re a modern woman. You can do whatever suits you–take my name, hyphenate, or keep yours. It doesn’t change anything for me. My species’ traditions have been satisfied.”

I turned my head and leaned it back, so it nested against his neck. “I want everything. The whole fairytale with the white dress, and my dad giving me away at the altar. And maybe a hyphenated name to make it easier for the kids. Someday.”

Cody cupped my breast in his hand and squeezed. “You get everything you want. You name it, I’ll provide.”