Page 112 of The Gamma's Second Chance

“Nolan…” she says, music filling her voice. “Nolan…” she murmurs, her fingers trailing up my spine and around to my marking spot. “Nolan…”

Over and over she repeats it, washing away all memory of any other vocalizations of my name. There is only her, and her voice, and her sincere, sparkling eyes holding mine as she lays claim to my soul with my whispered name on her lips.

Higher and higher we climb. Straight into the heavens themselves, our hearts open to each other as our souls merge.

“Cassandra…” I echo back to her, sitting back on my heels and lifting her with me so she straddles my thighs.

She gasps at the sudden change of position, her mouth falling open. Her arms clasp around my shoulders, pressing her perfect breasts against my torso. Their pillowy softness beckons me, and I pepper kisses across the curve of them as I wrap one arm around her waist and the other around her upper back, pinning her to me as our bodies slide against each other.

“I’m yours, Nolan,” she says as I kiss up her body to her face. “My heart has always been and will always be yours.”

Her chin lifts to the sky, her neck bared to me, and my wolf howls in delight in my mind. The cresting waves of pleasure grow inside me, building up behind the wall I create to hold them back. My gums itch as my canines descend, and I make my way to her neck, to where I’ll deepen my mark on her.

She angles her head too, meeting my neck with her mouth. Sharp teeth scrape the skin, and the groan I make is deep andfilled with desire. My heart swells, and we clutch each other tighter, our teeth piercing each other’s necks in unison.

Pleasure rushes through me as we forge our connection—our bond. Our bodies writhe and we move as one, riding each wave of euphoria together, our moans, sighs, and gasps in perfect harmony. Starlight bursts to life behind my eyelids, and the bliss grows, blooming like a flower in the sun, until it doubles, echoing through me and into her and back again. I fall to the cushions with her in my arms, curling around her and holding her to me through the ebbing flow of pleasure, both of us sealing our marks with a swipe of our tongue.

Cassandra’s hands skim over my skin, and happiness overtakes me, along with wonder, love, and a hint of confusion and shock. She continues touching me, and I gaze at her, watching her face as the emotions I feel play across her features.

“I don’t understand,” she murmurs, staring hard at her hand, her eyes following its path over my chest. “Is this supposed to happen?” she asks, pressing her palm hard against my skin.

It isn’t until then that I break out of my orgasmic haze as a tingling shock of dazzling excitement skitters across my skin from where she touches me. I gasp and cover her hand with mine, squeezing it as fireworks dance between our fingers and up and around my arm to my heart.

I lift our hands between us, staring at them in amazement as earth-shattering sparks stronger than those I felt with Kimberly erupt from every point of contact between us. “How is this possible?” I whisper, sliding my fingertips down her forearm, marveling at the way it feels under my touch with the added pleasure from the fireworks.

Cassandra’s eyes flick to my mark and mine to hers, her lip trembling, and then she covers her mouth, a shuddering sob shaking her body. She hides her face in my chest, her fingers curling and scraping on my skin, and I cup the back of her head,shielding her from the world with my arms and my body. The mate bond—I hesitate to call it that, but that’s the only thing it can be—explodes between us, and I grit my teeth against the overwhelming intensity of it so I can focus on her emotional needs.

“Oh, Goddess.” She cries into my chest, the tears flowing freely from her eyes. “I canfeelyou,” she says, pressing her palm against her chest. “I can feel you here. Like you’re a part of me. Like your emotions are mine.” She switches her hand to my chest, stroking over my heart and then up to my neck, staring at her hand as it moves. “And this… this sensation when we touch…” She shakes her head. “I never imagined… it’s so…”

“Intense? Powerful?”

She nods. “It’s beautiful,” she adds, lifting her gaze to meet mine.

I exhale and lean forward, pressing my lips to her forehead. “It is,” I agree.

“But how?” she asks. “How do we have a mate bond now when we didn’t before? It doesn’t make sense.”

I breathe in her scent—daisies and pears—and tears fall from my eyes as well as I realize I can identify the rest of her scent now, that the sweetness I detected beneath the daisies is no longer just a hint. “I don’t know, Daisy,” I say, my voice cracking with the weight of my emotions and hers. I caress her back, my throat tightening with a groan at the delicious warmth and love blossoming beneath my touch. “But it is a gift. A wonderful, unexpected gift that I will forever cherish.”

She wraps her arms around me, and we kiss—a beautiful, decadent kiss that tastes of wine and tears and laughter, pushing aside our questions and confusion so we can enjoy the rest of our night together. Peace settles within me; our bond is a gift, just like her, and I will never take either for granted.

Chapter 39

HAVEN

A warm breeze carryingthe scent of jasmine and vanilla… soft grass underneath my hands and my cheek… the rippling of water and the rustling of fabric in the wind…

I sit up, curling my legs and resting my hand on my belly as I blink myself awake. A moonless sky with endless, uncountablestars stretches above me, and in front of me is a circular, open-air building held up by white columns, with gauzy, sheer fabric hanging between them and blocking the view of the building’s interior.

It’s Selene’s temple in her realm on the moon.

I inhale sharply, and Wesley sits ramrod straight, jerking himself from a deep sleep, his hand on my stomach immediately and his deep chocolate brown eyes worried as he scans my body. “Haven? Is everything okay? Is it the baby? It’s too early, isn’t it?” He frowns at the white dress I’m wearing, then lifts his eyes to our surroundings, his frown deepening. “This is unexpected.”

He rises to his feet, then helps me to mine, keeping my hand enclosed in his and his other hand on the small of my back. He stares at the temple, his jaw set, before his eyes meet mine, softening as he gazes down at me. “Shall we see what your mom wants?”

I grimace and nod, following him with reluctance as we tread through the soft green grass towards my mother’s temple. Everything is the same as the first two times she brought me here—the lush flora, the vibrant colors, the perfect temperature of the air. The only thing changed is the temple. It seems… bigger. Grander.

Wesley brushes aside the wispy fabric, and we enter the temple together, our eyes scanning the circular building. Just as before, the paintings on each column to my left all show Asteria—Selene’s first daughter and my sister—as she aged. Twenty-one columns and twenty-one paintings, one for each year of her life.

---