Page 48

Chapter

Forty-Seven

K NOX

“Would you prefer to strip or keep your clothes on?” I asked, aware of the bitterly cold wind blowing around us and the blanket of snow on the ground.

He shivered. “Keep them on. But can you help me out if I get stuck?”

“Of course, baby.” I’d do anything for him. Didn’t he know that by now?

I lowered him to the ground and supported his weight until I was sure he wouldn’t fall. Blood plastered the side of his head, and I almost growled. If not for how vulnerable Danny was, I probably would have, but I didn’t want to scare him.

Rex was lucky that Zander and Everett had gotten to him while I’d been distracted. If I’d gotten my hands on him, I would have painted the snow with his blood.

I put my hands on Danny’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes, allowing my wolf to surface. Gold flickered in Danny’s eyes, but his bear was still suppressed. According to the Red Moon Pack’s medic, the drug essentially put a shifter’s animal side to sleep, but Danny’s bear should react to the presence of his mate.

“Show me,” I murmured. “Come out, beautiful. Let me see you.”

He held my gaze. For a long moment, nothing happened, but then his eyes flashed gold.

“I feel him,” he said shakily.

“Hold onto the thread connecting you.” I inhaled, scenting him. “Come on, baby. You can do it. Come and play with me.”

The gold returned, and Danny’s features scrunched.

“Don’t try so hard.” I kissed him. “Just let it come naturally. As easily as breathing.”

He relaxed, and after a few seconds, the change began to roll over him. It took longer than usual. His bones reformed slowly, and I could tell from his expression that it hurt, but he didn’t complain. Eventually, the human was gone and he was all bear.

“Good job.” My hands twitched. I wanted to bury them in his fur, but until he was healed, I’d have to handle him carefully.

I stripped off my clothes and tossed them to Zander. “I’ve got it from here.”

I shifted and padded over the snow, allowing my nose to guide me home. Danny sidled along with me, moving slowly at first, but gradually picking up speed as his mind started to clear and his aches and pains faded.

By the time we arrived at his place, I was almost shaking from the force of my relief. I shifted and used his spare key to unlock the door. Danny hesitated to shift back, and I paused to wait. I should have considered that he might be anxious about reversing the change, but it hadn’t crossed my mind .

“Come on, mate.” My fangs lengthened and I bared them at him. “Don’t you want me to claim you?”

Immediately, he took a step forward, his fur receding and his body shrinking inward, becoming human.

“That was a dirty tactic,” he said once he was able to speak. “Teasing me with your knot and your bite.”

I went to him and smoothed his hair back from his face. The cut had knitted itself back together, although it wasn’t fully healed.

“Are you sure you want that now?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Knox.” His expression softened. “I can feel our connection again. The warlock’s magic must have worn off when the drug did.”

I glanced at the door. “You wouldn’t rather go and visit your mom? I’m sure she’s worried about you.”

He stalked toward me. “She can wait for a while longer. My brothers will let her know that I’m safe. Right now, I need you.”

My cock filled. If my omega needed me, I couldn’t leave him unsatisfied.

I made one last effort to be honorable. “We can leave the mating bite until later, when you’ve calmed down a bit.”

Danny’s lips pressed together and his eyes narrowed. “Mate. Me. Now.”

I gulped. “Okay.”

I wasn’t stupid enough to deny him. I scooped him up and carried him to his bedroom, greedily dragging gulps of his syrupy sweet scent into my lungs. His skin felt hot against mine, almost feverish, and the heady musk of his arousal made it difficult for me to think.

I placed him gently on the bed and he immediately grabbed his cock and started tugging it. My claws pricked my palms and I clenched my hands, resisting the urge to growl at him that no one was allowed to touch his cock other than me.

He needed me to be gentle. Gentle, and tender, and—

“Hurry up and fuck me.” He rolled over, baring his hole. “Please, alpha. I need you.”

Oh, fuck.

I grabbed his ass. It was a perky, bouncy peach, full and delicious and already leaking slick.

“Gotta be careful.” The words were hard to get out. “Can’t hurt you.”

He made a sound somewhere between frustration and anguish. “Need your knot, Knox. Fucking need you. Please.”

Ah, shit. My omega needed me, and I couldn’t let him down. Now wasn’t the time for taking it slow. We could enjoy each other properly later. For now, it seemed as if all of the self-control Danny had been exercising for months had finally collapsed and he’d been bowled over by a tsunami of desperate need and desire.

I was happy to be washed away with him.

I knelt on the end of the bed and buried my face in his ass, stiffening my tongue and stabbing his hole with it. He wailed and arched his back, rubbing himself against me. I lapped at him, groaning at the taste of how badly he wanted me.

I worked him open quickly and efficiently. It didn’t take long. His body knew what it wanted, even if his mind had taken longer to come around.

“You taste so good.” I reached around, knocked his hand off his dick and replaced it with my own. He pulsed in my grip and a shudder ran through him.

“Fill me,” he panted. “Stuff me with your cock, alpha. Show me I’m yours.”

Every atom in my body vibrated with months of repressed desire as I lined myself up and pushed inside his hole. His channel sucked me in, squeezing around me, hot and tight and…

Gods. This wouldn’t even last two minutes.

Danny fisted the bed covers and thrust back, taking me deeper. A litany of pleas spilled from his mouth as I began to move.

I rode him like a beast.

It wasn’t soft or easy, as I’d intended. It was passionate, almost feral, driven by our most basic instincts. I pounded into his spot with every thrust and kept a hold of his cock, pumping it in the same rhythm.

He moaned louder, and my chest puffed out. My wolf was pleased that we were satisfying our mate.

Finally, Danny screamed and shot all over the bed. His ass clenched around me, forcing my orgasm. I roared as I poured into him, and I latched my teeth onto his shoulder and bit, the coppery tang of his blood filling my mouth.

His cock twitched, emptying more cum onto the bed, and he reared back onto his knees and twisted toward me. Our eyes locked and he bared his fangs, then sank them into the crook of my shoulder.

I hardly noticed the brief sting of pain, too entranced by the way his presence wrapped around me like a comforting blanket. Foreign emotions flickered through me. Disbelief, wonderment, joy.

He retracted his fangs and licked the wound. I did the same to his, watching it heal before my eyes, leaving a pink mark that would show anyone who cared to look that he was mine.

Mine, mine, mine.

My eyes widened. Those hadn’t been my thoughts, but his.

Carefully, I maneuvered us onto our sides and wrapped my arms around him, my cock still deep inside him. I closed my eyes and sensed his bear twining around my wolf, both animal sides ecstatic about their new connection.

Mate.

Ours.

Protect.

Love.

“I love you,” I whispered out loud, so he’d know that the human part of me cared for him as deeply as the wolf did.

“I love you too,” he murmured, his voice sleepy and sated.

I nuzzled the back of his neck, running my nose over the mating mark. “How long do you think we have before your family turns up?”