Page 11 of Mated By Moonlight

Maize’s breath hitched, her defensive posture wavering under the sincerity of his gaze. “You can’t just decide?—”

“I didn’t decide.” Gideon came to stand before her. “I knew. Just as you knew you loved your sister the moment you knew of her existence. It’s an instinct, deeper than thought, stronger than reason. I felt it in every part of me, Maize. And so do you.”

He reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away, but she didn’t. His hand brushed her cheek lightly, a touch as soft as moonlight.

“All I know,” he continued, his thumb gently caressing her skin, “is that I’ll fight for you and this bond until my last breath. If you don’t want it, I’ll respect that. But know this”—his voice dropped to a husky whisper—“I will take care of you, guard you, and cherish you for the rest of my life, because even if you deny the bond, I cannot deny what you mean to me.”

8

The forest heldits breath as Maize absorbed Gideon's words. The gentle rustle of leaves underfoot was a subtle soundtrack to their intimate tête-à-tête. The insects and night crawlers acted as witnesses. Moonlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting fragmented shadows that danced like wraiths around them. The air was cool and crisp, tinged with the salt of Gideon's sweat from chasing.

Gideon stood before her, naked as the day he was born. Maize was having trouble not dipping her gaze to the impressive manhood between his thighs. Her first glance had made her mouth water and scrambled her brain. She needed those brain cells to keep her wits. She needed her mouth to make… what were those things called that happened when people spoke?

It didn't matter. Her emotions were in charge now. All she could feel was that magical warmth spreading through her. The sensation of the bond between them unfurled within Maize like a nightshade reaching for the moon, instinctual and undeniable. It was as though a dormant seed within her had suddenly sprouted under the unexpected shower of his revelations, the warmth of his sincerity nurturing something she didn’t evenknow was there. The growing feeling of connection was a melody whispered on the wind, a song she knew the words to without ever having heard it before.

The rational part of her mind grappled with the more ancient understanding that seemed to weave through her very soul. It was fighting a losing battle. She didn't understand how it could feel so right when it was so sudden. She didn't even sleep with guys until the fourth date—at the earliest. And that usually took a month. She hadn't even known this guy for a full twenty-four hours, but she knew they would be sleeping together tonight.

"I didn’t choose this any more than you did, but here we are. Here I am, and I'm not leaving you."

"Do you want it?" Maize didn't ask,Do you want me?

"I've wanted to bond since I understood what it meant. To have someone connected to me on a soul deep level. Someone who will understand me in a way no one else does. Someone who will accept me and be my champion. Yes, I want it. I want to have it. I want to be it."

Maize took a tentative step forward, drawn by the sincerity of his words. The distance between them closed, the magnetic pull of his presence enveloping her in its magic. It was as if a sun had risen within her, banishing the chill of the night with its gentle, insistent heat.

"As a wolf, I'm a slave to what's between us. You get to choose, because without your consent, it means nothing. This bond, if you choose to accept it, is a partnership. I want you by my side. As an equal. As my mate. Not because fate dictates it. Because we choose it—every day."

The conviction in Gideon's words acted like a balm to her disappearing doubts, soothing the chaotic edges of her fears. Maize exhaled a shaky breath, feeling the weight of her next words, knowing they might just change her life forever. "And if I choose this... what happens next?"

Gideon’s smile was the dawn itself, bright and promising. "Well, first I'm going to fuck you until you pass out. Then when you wake up, we can decide where to go from there."

Tongue-tied was not a situation Maize typically found herself in. She always knew what to say. Not this time. So she did what any intelligent, independent woman would do. She kissed the man.

Gideon stepped into her, the heat radiating from his body kindling a fire in her own. He cupped her face gently in his hands, reverence etched in his fingertips as he returned the kiss.

Maize's heart thrummed like the wings of a lightning bug. Her actual heart felt like it was lighting up with each thrust of Gideon's tongue, each nip of his teeth at her upper lip, each suckle at the corner of her mouth. His kiss was wild and untamed. However, the fear she'd felt about what was possibly between them fled now that she was inside his embrace.

Her fingers trembled with eagerness as they ran over the muscles of his chest, his abdomen, then around to that firm ass of his. Gideon's hands reached under the fabric of her dress, seeking her bare flesh. He was being a gentleman by not tearing the garment from her body. Maize had no such qualms.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

The fabric whispered upwards as she peeled it away from her skin. The dress came off in one move, revealing her bare skin like the petals of a night-blooming flower unveiling its secrets to the moon. She was left only in her panties since the sundress had had a built-in bra.

Gideon broke the kiss to stare. He gulped a few times. There was that hunger she'd seen earlier. This man did not look at her like he wanted to be friends. He was going to gobble her up like the big bad wolf, and she was going to let him. She might even take a bite out of him herself.

They reached for each other at the same time. Gideon's touch was a language of its own. Every caress a word, every kiss a sentence of their eternal bond. Maize understood him perfectly. It should scare her, but her desire washed out any fear.

He knelt before her. It was a heady feeling, bringing this strong man to his knees. The brush of his fingers against her thighs as he stripped her panties from her was electric, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

Now naked under the celestial glow, she stood before Gideon, bared and vulnerable, yet empowered by the bond that pulsed between them—a bond that claimed her as much as she claimed it.

Gideon's head dipped with the grace of a worshipper approaching a sacred altar. His breath was hot against the inner silk of her thighs. When the tip of his tongue touched her core to part the seam he found there, a jolt of pleasure shot through Maize. Her knees wobbled, but Gideon held her firm.

He could've used his fingers to part her folds. Instead, he used his tongue, then his nose, and finally his chin to slip into the center of her. Over and over again, his nose pushed her apart so that his tongue could lave at the treasure he found between her thighs. He licked from the root of her perineum to the hood of her clit. His chin dragged up behind, catching the juices dripping from her core. They were making a mess, and she was loving every minute of it. Then he added his fingers to the mix.

The first tentative touch of his finger sent ripples of longing coursing through her, and when a second joined, the rhythm he set was relentless and knowing. Her hands found purchase in his thick hair, urging him closer, deeper. The woods around them blurred into obscurity, the world narrowing to the point of his tongue and the steady thrust of his fingers.

Maize was already a mess of clenching inner muscles and gasping moans, Those sensations built higher and higherwithin her, coiling tighter and tighter with each of Gideon's ministrations until, with a cry that mingled with the nocturnal symphony of the forest, Maize shattered. She sank to the ground, cradled in his arms as waves of ecstasy broke over her. She clung to him as he continued to lavish attention upon her trembling form, riding out the aftershocks of her climax under the approving gaze of the moon above.

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