Page 29 of Snared (The Legion: Savage Lands Sector #8)
This time when we entered her dwelling, there was no hesitation, no weapons raised in defense. Just Miri, backing toward her bedroom with her eyes locked on mine, a silent invitation I had no intention of refusing.
I deactivated the camo-tech with a thought, my true form shimmering into visibility—tawny spotted skin, extended height, the tail that curled with anticipation behind me. Relief flooded through me at being free of the restrictive disguise, at being able to present my true self to my mate.
“There you are,” she breathed, her gaze trailing over me with open appreciation.
“You don’t prefer the human disguise?” I asked, genuinely curious. Most Terrans found our natural form intimidating at best, terrifying at worst.
“No, he was weird,” she said with a wrinkle of her nose. “Too smooth. Too conventional. I like you—the real you.”
Something unfamiliar expanded in my chest at her words—a warmth that had nothing to do with physical desire and everything to do with acceptance. She wanted me as I was, not as what her world might find more palatable.
I crossed to her in two strides, lifting her with ease and carrying her to the bed. “Then you shall have me,” I promised, laying her down with deliberate care. “All of me.”
What followed was a careful undressing—my claws slicing through her clothing with surgical precision, never once grazing her skin. Her smaller hands working at the fastenings of my tactical gear until we were both bare, skin to skin in the soft glow of her bedroom lights.
I positioned myself against her headboard, back supported, and pulled her onto my lap to straddle me. “I want to watch you,” I explained, hands spanning her waist. “Want to see every expression as you take me.”
She settled over me, thighs spread wide to accommodate my larger frame, her heat hovering just above where I needed her most. “Wait,” she said suddenly. “I have something.”
She ran out of the bedroom and came back a moment later with a ripe fruit in a bowl. Cubes of a vibrant orange color, with a subtle scent that reminded me of the jungle’s sweetest offerings. “Mangoes,” she explained. “I thought since you liked feeding me fruit in the jungle...”
The thoughtfulness of the gesture struck me deeply. She remembered.
I took the fruit, spearing a cube with a careful claw. “Perfect,” I murmured, bringing the small piece to her lips.
She accepted the offering, juice glistening on her lips as she chewed. I leaned forward to taste the sweetness directly from her mouth, kissing her deeply as I positioned her more firmly above me.
“Now,” I growled against her lips. “Take me inside you.”
She sank down slowly, her body stretching to accommodate my size, her breath hitching as I filled her completely. The tight heat of her engulfed me, drawing a rumbling groan from deep in my chest.
“So full,” she gasped, adjusting to the intrusion. “You feel so good.”
I held her still for a moment, allowing her body to accept me, feeding her another piece of mango to distract from any discomfort. The sight of her—flushed, eyes half-closed in pleasure, juice running down her chin as she straddled me—nearly undid my control.
“Move,” I urged, gripping her hips to guide her. “Ride me, kassari.”
She began a slow rhythm, rising and falling on my length with increasing confidence. I continued feeding her small bites of the fruit, the combination of watching her eat from my hand while taking me inside her body creating a powerful sense of possession.
“Mine,” I growled, unable to stop the declaration as her pace quickened.
“Yours,” she agreed, her inner walls clenching around me with each downward motion. “Only yours, Lor.”
I thrust up to meet her movements, driving deeper with each stroke. My hands roamed her body, memorizing every curve, every response. When I felt her beginning to tire, I took control, gripping her hips firmly and setting a more demanding pace.
“Yes,” she moaned, head falling back, exposing the junction of her neck and shoulder where my mark belonged. “Please, Lor. Harder.”
I complied, driving into her with controlled force, watching her come apart above me.
When her first climax hit—her body shuddering, inner walls pulsing around me—I nearly followed her over the edge.
But I held back, determined to bring her higher, to ensure she was beyond thought before completing our bond.
“More,” I demanded, rolling her beneath me without breaking our connection. “I need more of you.”
In this new position, I could thrust deeper, harder, watching her face as pleasure overwhelmed her again and again. Her nails raked down my back, her legs wrapped around my waist, her body offering everything I’d craved during our separation.
When I felt my own release approaching, the base of my cock beginning to swell with the knot that would seal us together, I slowed my pace, looking directly into her eyes.
“Miri,” I said, my voice rough with restraint. “I need to know you’re certain. Once I mark you, once we complete this bond, there is no undoing it. You will be mine, as I will be yours, until death separates us.”
Her eyes, dark with desire but clear with certainty, met mine without hesitation. “I’ve never been more certain of anything,” she said, one hand coming up to cup my face. “Mark me, Lor. Make me yours completely.”
Those words, spoken with such conviction, broke the last of my restraint. I lowered my head to the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent, feeling the pulse of blood beneath the delicate skin.
“Now,” she begged, her body tightening around me as another wave of pleasure crested. “Please, now.”
My teeth sank into the soft flesh where her neck met her shoulder, piercing the skin with precise pressure. The taste of her blood exploded across my tongue—copper and salt and something uniquely Miri. The bond flared to life between us, a rush of sensation that transcended physical pleasure.
To my surprise and fierce joy, she turned her head and bit me in return—her blunter human teeth breaking the skin at the base of my throat. The reciprocal mark completed the circuit, the bond flowing between us like lightning.
The feedback loop of pleasure was beyond anything I could have imagined.
I felt what she felt—the stretch of my cock inside her, the sharp-sweet pain of my bite, the building pressure of approaching orgasm.
And she felt what I experienced—the tight heat of her body gripping me, the primal satisfaction of claiming my mate, the intense pressure building at the base of my cock.
With a roar that would have terrified her neighbors if her walls weren’t sound-insulated, I drove into her one final time.
My knot swelled fully, locking us together as my release pulsed inside her in endless waves.
Ropes of seed spurted from me, filling her so completely that excess spilled from where we were joined, soaking the sheets beneath us.
She came with me, her cry of pleasure muffled against my shoulder, her body convulsing around my knotted length. The bond between us amplified every sensation, creating a feedback loop of pleasure that seemed to go on forever.
When the most intense waves finally subsided, I carefully rolled us to our sides, my knot still firmly locking us together.
She lay draped across my chest, her breathing gradually slowing, her body occasionally shuddering with aftershocks that triggered answering pulses from my still-sensitive cock.
“That was...” she began, then stopped, apparently at a loss for words.
I stroked her hair, a deep, rumbling sound of contentment emanating from my chest. Her face pressed against me, I felt her smile.
“You do purr,” she murmured, sounding delighted and exhausted in equal measure.
“Only for you, my kassari,” I replied, my arms tightening around her. “Only for you.”
She hummed contentedly, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on my skin.
The bond between us hummed with shared satisfaction, a living connection that would only strengthen with time.
I felt her presence in my mind now. Not thoughts, exactly, but emotions, impressions, a sense of her that would never fade regardless of physical distance.
“How long?” she asked, gesturing vaguely to where we remained joined.
“At least an hour,” I told her, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Perhaps longer. Our bond is intense.”
“Good,” she sighed, snuggling closer. “Because I’m not letting you go anytime soon. Not again.”
I purred louder in agreement, my tail curling possessively around her thigh. Mine. At last, completely mine, as I was completely hers.
Phil would be insufferably smug when he learned the bond was complete. The jungle would celebrate. Legion would note it in their diplomatic records.
But none of that mattered compared to the simple perfection of this moment. My mate in my arms, our scents mingled, our bodies joined, our futures irrevocably intertwined.
Home, at last, was not a place. It was her.