Page 40 of Spellbound & Speechless (Witches of Starbrook #2)

Aspen

We spend the day strategizing and collecting ingredients, but I’m still on edge when night falls. Every second we delay is a moment the witch can appear, but it’s not as if we can start the plan without her. We need her to appear.

All we can do is wait. How am I supposed to sleep tonight?

Mac is still here. He’s the only comfort I have. Seeing him act like a part of the family and win over the wolves makes me swell with pride. There’s still a wall between us, but I know it will be gone soon.

Or perhaps this is our last night alive. Juniper would call me melodramatic, but it feels like the world ends when we return to our bedroom.

Mac has been focused all day, able to talk about nothing other than the corrupt witch and our plan, but all I want is a night with him . One night without the corrupt witch. I want to be who we were during the brief time of peace. Why can’t we go back to that?

I slip into bed, but Mac doesn’t join me. He roams around the room as if on patrol. I let it go for a few minutes, swiping mindlessly on my phone. Eventually, his constant movements finally get to me.

“Mac!” I glare at him.

“Yes?” He continues pacing.

“Please. Tell me what you’re thinking about. You’re driving me batty.”

His eyes flash red. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s nothing good.”

“Then it sounds like we’re on the same page. Come on.” I move onto my side and pat my bed. “Let’s forget about this. Just for a night.”

“I can’t.” He sits on the edge of the bed and hangs his head in his hands, hiding his face. “You don’t know how much I want to… and how hard it is to be close to you right now.”

“It doesn’t have to be hard.” I sit up and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “I love you. You love me. Why are you making things so complicated?”

He lifts his head. His eyes are still red and pained. “Because I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.”

“Promise. I need you to promise you’ll still be here tomorrow and the day after. Promise you’ll still be you .”

It’s a vow I can’t make, and we both know it. Lying is bad for a relationship, but it’s what he needs in this case. I need it, too.

“I promise,” I whisper. “I’m not going anywhere. One witch can’t take me down.”

Neither of us believes me, however confident I sound, but it doesn’t matter. It’s enough for him to close the space between us. I hold his face as his mouth searches for mine.

It’s our first real, good kiss since before the wedding. He kisses me with fierce hunger, his claws grazing against my cheeks, and pushes his tongue into my mouth. I let him in, gripping his shirt, desperate to be close again.

If this is my last night, it must be with him. He seems to agree, though neither of us is strong enough to say it aloud. He pushes me onto the bed. When his body presses between my legs, his need is evident—it still exists, no matter how much he’s been trying to push me away.

I suppose it’s only been two days of him keeping me at arm’s length, but two days is too long when my life is flashing before my eyes. I’m an important part of the plan, after all, and it won’t be easy.

The thought disappears when he uses his thigh to nudge my legs apart, spreading me wider and grinding against my core.

“Do you know how your scent taunts me?” He growls, biting my lip hard enough to make me bruise.

The only response I share is a moan of approval, my eyes rolling up until they flicker shut.

“I can’t be around you, can’t hold you, can’t think about you without getting hard.” As if to make his point, he thrusts into me, letting me feel evidence of his words. He’s already aroused.

Pride and desire swell together. It isn’t challenging to make a man want me, but making Mac desire me when his resolve is otherwise so firm is another story. He’s stubborn, but not stubborn enough to deny our love.

“Need to taste you again.” He lowers between my legs and presses his face into my silk underwear, inhaling deeply. “Fuck. My mate.”

Mac nuzzles his face against my core and ruts into the bed, already primal with need. He brings out that side of me, too. My hand slips over my mouth to hide my desperate pleas.

“That’s right,” he grunts. “Stay quiet. No one needs to know I’m breeding you tonight—that I’m leaving you dripping with my seed. My mate.”

He hasn’t even filled me yet, but I tremble at the thought. His words are a taunt, pushing me closer.

His tongue probes me through the fabric, and even though it’s not the touch I’m hoping for, it’s enough to make my toes curl. He’s ravenous, tongue and teeth scraping against my heat as he devours my arousal. Soft whines and whimpers fall from his wet lips.

When he sits up, it’s too soon. I’m seconds from coming, writhing beneath him, reaching out with flexing fingers.

“Please,” I breathe. “Don’t stop.”

His features melt. Mac rarely looks at me so softly when we’re intimate, but he does now, his chest heaving as he gazes down. He slips off my underwear and pushes his sweatpants down, and then he’s close again, his forehead pressing to mine.

Mac was feral moments before, but the tension between us slows. It’s intimate; he beholds me as he runs the head of his cock through my drenched folds.

“I love you,” he whispers. I know the man, not the wolf, speaks to me. Or perhaps it’s both. “I’ll do anything to protect you.”

His cock rubs against my clit. Electricity races through me. Even though he’s not yet inside, our bond feels stronger than ever.

“I know.” I brush my lips against his, and he groans. “I love you, too. I’ll protect you .”

He thrusts into me slowly, letting me feel his length filling me… taking me .

“My wife.” He kisses me softly as he pushes in, giving me each inch so slowly.

Mac gobbles up my moans with his mouth, swallowing each one with another soft peck against my lips.

“Mine,” he whispers. “All mine.”

“Yours.” I arch against him, my nails dragging along his muscular back. “Claim me.”

He bites into my neck, his teeth scraping hard, and I cry out. His hips move slowly, his soft moans becoming primal growls. I press my nails harder, enough to make him feel it, enough that his sounds grow louder. Mine do, too.

He flips me over, shoving my face into the bed. I arch my back and take it all, pleasure shaking through me as his hips smack into my ass, claiming me from behind.

His… I am his.

His fingers weave into my hair and pull me up. I find his wild eyes staring intensely into mine.

“You look so pretty right now. Look at that perfect face.” His tongue darts out, wetting my earlobe. “Your hair. Love it.”

He’s already losing his mind, losing himself in me. This is why he needed space to focus on protecting me. Try as we might, when our bodies mesh, we’re gone.

I’m shaking beneath him, always so close to the edge, but I don’t want to finish so quickly. This can’t end already. He knows just how to get me there, his fingers rubbing against my clit, prepared to force me to come.

“My mate,” I whine, going limp beneath him.

“No.” His eyes flash red. “What else am I? Tell me.”

He thrusts into me harder, his fingers tightening in my hair, and I can barely speak.

“Husband.” The word comes out mangled, but it’s enough for him .

His mouth meets mine, devouring me as he spills his seed. His growls become soft whimpers. His hips slow, no longer jerking, but circles—letting me feel him everywhere.

“My wife.” He presses soft pecks to my lips. His body collapses on top of mine, his weight pushing me into the bed. “I love you. I’m yours.”

No one can take that away. She can take my magic and my goddess, but she cannot take him … and our love.

“I love you, too.”