Page 16 of The Wolf Prince’s Mate (Marked Beneath the Moon #2)

sixteen

NOVA

Clay was sitting on the couch with his laptop when I eventually emerged. His hair was wet from his shower, and all he had on was a pair of sweats. I could see a strip of the band of his boxer-briefs too.

He was probably working.

I eyed him, but I wasn’t sure I should just walk over and sit next to him. Would I have done that before I decided to accept his wolf’s claim?

I wasn’t sure.

Now that I needed to play along, I wasn’t confident how to do that.

Which was a problem.

“Come here.” He waved me over, and I tried to hide my relief.

I padded across the room in the clean t-shirt I’d put on after drying off. My hair was still dripping, and I hadn’t bothered with any of the other clothes he’d loaned me.

I sat down next to him, leaving a small gap between us. He turned his laptop screen so I could see it.

“You’re looking at expensive coffee machines? Since when do you drink coffee?” I checked.

“Since never. I need one for both houses, for you. Friend.”

I bit back a snort.

Because shopping for coffee machines to keep in both his house and vacation home for me was something a friend would do.

“I can buy a lot of coffee in a shop for that much money,” I said.

“Mine will taste better.”

“If you spend that much, sure.” I gestured at the screen. “It’ll take a lot more time, though.”

“I’d rather you drink my coffee than the store’s, and I don’t mind the time.” Clay looked back at the screen. “What do you think the difference is between these?”

“I have no idea.” I scooted a little closer, and he slid the laptop toward me.

When I clicked on one of the options to read to description, he draped an arm over my shoulder.

I bit back a grin.

So friend ly.

He played with a few wet strands of my hair while I checked a few of the machines out.

“The differences are so small, I don’t think it matters,” I said, handing the laptop back.

“Then pick two, and we can try them both.”

“I’m not the one spending a fortune on a coffee maker. You pick them.”

He chose two of them, still playing with my hair. I looked away when he went through the checkout, not wanting to see the final price.

“Alright, Gorgeous. I’m still dying to see the tattoo on your ass. What’s it going to take to get you naked?”

I fought another grin.

He was going to make my plan really easy.

“What do you have to offer?”

Truthfully, I wanted to bargain for the story about how his wolf had gone “insane”. But considering he’d just opened up to me over breakfast, the timing seemed wrong.

“Homemade coffee ice cream.” He tugged on a few strands of my hair playfully. “I don’t have the ingredients here, but I’ll test a few recipes until we find your favorite when we get back to the Lodge.”

“You make ice cream?” I shot him a surprised look.

“My brothers and I make everything .”

“Damn. Alright, deal.” I leaned forward and tugged his t-shirt over my head, exposing my bare body.

His chest rumbled, and his wolf flashed in his eyes.

I’d never seen him lose control of the wolf so much—and his lack of acknowledgement made me think he hadn’t even realized that he was.

“On second thought, I want a closer look at all of your ink.” He turned toward me, grabbing me by the waist and lowering my back to the couch. He leaned over me, the nearness of his massive body making me wet between my thighs.

“The price will have to go up, then.”

“Alright. Ice cream and… orgasms.” The look he flashed me was wicked. “I’ll get you off a couple of times while I look at you.”

My entire body flushed at his words. “I don’t think sexual favors are a reasonable payment.”

“Tell me what you want, then.”

“A massage. I’ve been tight since the bush.”

“I don’t know anything about a bush, but you’ve got a deal.” He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me lightly.

I tilted my head back, slipping my tongue into his mouth, and he rumbled as he kissed me deeper.

After a minute, he pulled away. The wolf was in his eyes again, and he looked more satisfied than I’d ever seen him.

Clay lifted himself off of me, pulling my arms above my head. “Leave these here so I can get a good look.”

“Alright.” I let him pin them where he wanted, trying not to feel self-conscious as his attention turned to my bare chest.

My tits were pretty small, and I didn’t have any ink over my collarbone or breasts. Though, one of my rib pieces curled over the side of one of my boobs.

His eyes were hot as he followed the shape of my tattoo down my side. The flowers, leaves, and vines curved from my ribcage down my hip, and continued over the side of my ass. They wrapped around my thigh too, spreading down my leg and creating the floral leg sleeve I absolutely loved.

Clay’s fingers joined his gaze, and I sucked in a breath as he touched the ink on my ribs slowly.

“This is hot,” he rumbled, tracing the lines over the side of my tit before following them down the curve of my hip. Rather than stopping his fingers where my side met the couch, he rolled me halfway.

I let out a noise of surprise as my tits met the couch’s back cushions, and Clay chuckled. “Keep your hands up, Gorgeous. I want the full view.”

“Whatever you say.”

He continued tracing some of the lines down my waist and over the curve of my ass. Though I was getting wetter between my thighs by the moment, and he had to have smelled it, his attention stayed on my ink.

“The world’s most perfect ass, in the flesh,” he murmured, following the flowers down my leg. He finally lowered me to the couch again after he traced the lines on the back of my thigh, and opened my legs wider so he saw them around the inside.

He had to have seen the slickness on my center as he spread my thighs, but he didn’t comment on it.

“You might not have realized it at the time, but you got these tattoos just for me, Gorgeous.”

My body clenched as he followed the line closest to my clit, his fingers so close to where I wanted them.

He rumbled again, but that was his only acknowledgement of my obvious desire.

Clay continued touching me, following the tattoos down to my ankle and foot before moving to the next one and following the ink back up my body.

I clenched.

Arched.

Rocked a little.

I even moaned, once.

He rumbled when I did, but just kept tracing the ink.

I was breathing shallowly when he flipped me to my stomach and started tracing the tattoos on my back—and seriously considering putting my hand between my thighs and taking care of my needs myself.

But something told me Clay was going to get to that.

And I wanted him too badly to stop him.

“Don’t move those hands, Gorgeous.” His fingers stroked my back, following the lines of my ink that he’d missed on his exploration.

There weren’t many left.

My entire body clenched as he reached my lower back, then stopped.

He lifted his hands to my shoulders, and I groaned as his strong thumbs pressed into my tight muscles.

“Is this where you need me or are you tense somewhere else?” His voice was low.

Gravelly.

Sexy.

Part of me wanted to tell him to fuck me already… but the other part wanted to play along.

“Try going a little lower,” I whispered.

“Like this?” He moved his hands, and my body arched as he worked my back perfectly.

“Lower,” I repeated.

He did the same.

“Lower.”

His fingers pressed into the sides of my breasts as he massaged me.

The game continued until he was kneading my ass slowly, making me feel so good that I didn’t even have the words to describe it.

“Lower?” he asked me, and I moaned a yes.

He parted my legs wider, and his thumb dragged over my back entrance.

I swore, jerking my hips, and he chuckled. His finger slid through my slickness, and he dragged it over my back entrance again, just to make me curse and buck.

“Savage,” I warned, and he finally gave me what I wanted.

His hand finally brushed my clit, and I cried out.

He filled me with three of his fingers, and I gasped out another curse.

Clay worked my clit slowly until I was groaning through my climax, tightening around his fingers. He growled as I came, and as soon as my climax ended, he lifted me onto my hands and knees.

When I felt the head of his cock against my slit, I moaned again.

“This tight little body belongs to me, gorgeous. You understand?” Clay growled, his hands on my ass and the head of his cock still just outside me.

I made a noise of agreement.

“If anyone else ever touches you again, they die. Brutally.”

The growl in his voice told me the wolf was with us.

My lips parted as he spread my cheeks and fingered my asshole.

He might not have been a manwhore, but apparently he was kinky.

I was here for it.

And fuck, I wanted to know how far he’d go.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he ordered, releasing my ass so he could wrap a hand around me and play with my clit.

“I’m yours,” I breathed.

“Louder.”

“I’m yours, Savage!” I raised my voice, and he snarled his approval before he thrust into me—hard.

Our bodies moved together until we both shattered, finding our release together.

He pulled me on top of him while we recovered, his eyes molten as he took me in.

I was still catching my breath when his lips caught mine, and he kissed me slowly.

Leisurely.

I kissed him back for what felt like ages.

We kept kissing while we eventually screwed again—and were in the middle of it when heat blazed to life, locking us together as we found our release.

Our bodies were tangled for hours before heat finally abated, and Clay carried my boneless body into his room, collapsing in bed with me.

I didn’t try to put a pillow wall between us this time.

He didn’t either.

He just held me—and we slept.

Clay woke me up the next morning with his face between my thighs. We were both sticky with our combined release, but he didn’t care. After I came on his tongue, he carried me into the shower and screwed me beneath the water, pinning me between him and the wall.

After we were clean, we grabbed some breakfast and headed back to the Lodge. I was so out of it after the day before that the car didn’t even bother me.

Clay took a twenty-minute detour in Crimson River just to grab me a cup of fancy coffee on the way back.

Just friends, my ass.

When we got back to the Lodge, he surprised me by driving right past the parking lot.

“Where are we going?” I checked, still sipping my coffee.

“We’re picking out a house for you, remember? We’ll grab your stuff from Hunter’s while we’re out.”

Right.

His possessiveness.

We ended up spending the morning looking at all the available houses. I could tell he was partial to some of them, and decided that the new house was a perfect opportunity to design a place that was ours. Though I loved his cabin, if we really did end up sealing a mate bond, I wanted to have a say in what everything looked like.

So, we debated the pros and cons of all the open houses until we settled on one together. After that, we headed into the city and spent the rest of the day shopping for a few necessary pieces of furniture. Though I wasn’t settling on a couch that wasn’t pink—we special-ordered it while we were out—we were able to get a bed frame, mattress, and some barstools along with a bunch of other random stuff I’d need like blankets and hangers and whatnot. The furniture would be delivered the next day, but Clay offered to let me stay in his cabin, which fit my plan perfectly.

When the shopping trip was over and the SUV was packed full, Clay took me back to his place. We made dinner together and watched a movie after we ate—which led to making out.

And screwing.

When I went to sleep in his arms again, I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

He had no idea what was coming.