In three long strides, Conall reached it and kicked it open. Once we reached the bed, he lowered me to my feet, both of us groaning as my body slid down the length of him, his hard length purgatory and paradise.

I gaped down at the cock that was moments away from being buried deep inside of me. It felt an eternity away, yet the anticipation left me in a state of perpetual fervor.

“Eyes are up here, sweetheart,” Conall said, same way he had in the cave, and I let loose a contented sigh as I continued to gape.

“I’m aware. But you’re not the only one I missed.”

He lunged for me, cupping my neck and yanking me closer so that our chests collided. He dragged his tongue across my lower lip, each swipe intensifying the lust overtaking my system.

Another emotion filtered through, one that scared me too much to name. I so desperately wanted to let go of my doubts and free-fall into the intoxicating sensations, but I was hardly in any state to logically consider the aftereffects.

The last time I dived in without thinking, it’d brought me to this town, to this place, to this man. At first, that might’ve been an argument to slow things down. But as I considered how muchI was enjoying the here and now, I understood being brave and taking risks more than I ever had before. Playing safe didn’t lead to regrets. Missed opportunities did.

With that in mind, I wound my arms around Conall’s neck, savoring his bare skin against mine and having my heart beating hard and fast enough to remind me that I was fully alive.

“I’m all in, babe,” Conall said with a low rumble. “I want to be with you, and as long as you’re onboard, I’ll never let anything rip us apart ever again.”

“Me, too. I mean, I’m onboard and yes to being with you—that’s what I want as well.”

Of all the grins he’d given me, this one was softer and more sincere, yet unyielding and filled with wicked intentions. “Then you should know that once I fuck you all out, the way I’m about to, we’ll pass the point of return. My ability to remain calm if any guy so much as looks at you will go from reasonable to remorseless. We’re talking barbaric.”

“Just to clarify, you’re implying that threatening to maim someone is reasonable?”

“As I keep telling you, I’ve never claimed to be reasonable. But that’s more or less it, yes. We’re not talking jealousy—that involves wanting something that’s not yours. I’m a territorial asshole, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to protect what’s already mine.

“And you, Kerrigan Ryan...” Using the iron grip he had on my neck, he guided my face to his. He nipped at my lower lip. “You’re mine.”

In a lust-filled trance, I nodded.

“Say it,” he demanded, all growly and possessive, and if my mind went any hazier, I’d never find my way out of the fog. Then again, clarity was overrated.

“I’m yours.”

He gave me a pleased expression that left me like a star student—only one in, like, BDSM class. “Good girl.”

His fingers encircled my hips, and suddenly I was airborne, for all of two seconds before I fell to the soft mattress. My werewolf knelt between my legs, hooked his fingers in the tiny string of elastic that held up my panties, and slid them off me.

Then he placed his hands on my inner thighs and spread them farther apart. He wrapped his fist around the base of his shaft and stroked himself as he studied me, completely bared to him and wetter than I’d ever been. “Now that’s a view I could stare at for the rest of my life.”

Using his teeth, he ripped open a foil wrapper. I watched, transfixed, as he rolled on the condom. At long last, he poised himself at my entrance. Anticipation swelled and swelled—and finally crested when he pushed inside.

“So wet, so perfect,” Conall muttered, and I brought up my knees, keeping them spread wide to accommodate his size. The shift caused the head of his penis to ram against the perfect spot, a keening noise erupting of its own accord.

With each thrust, each grunt, my muscles tightened, the pressure building and building to the point my body rocked with it. I clenched fistfuls of my sheets as I linked my ankles behind his lower back, eradicating the minimal space between our bodies. The stretch and the pressure as the head of his dick trailed across the most sensitive part of me elicited a charge so strong it left me a shuddering, panting puddle of bliss.

Tighter I gripped the sheets, “faster and harder” I encouraged his thrusts, and dizziness set in as I lost myself to the exquisite barrage of sensations.

Conall swiped the hair from my eyes and ran his thumb along my jaw. “Tell me again that you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I gasped through the whorl of ecstasy. “I’ll always be yours.”

My body arched off the bed, too impatient and needy to wait for his body to return, and the world around us spun as I circled higher and higher. I dug my nails into his biceps and lifted my head for a kiss.

One he freely gave, and then the tension burst. I cried out his name, allowing the sensations to envelop me. Floating and grounded, weightless and pinned down, taut yet pliant, famished yet sated.

Conall pumped into me, harder, faster, deeper. In awe I watched, relishing the moment he gave himself over to me, to us, to this profound moment...

Then he came with a roar, filling me and fulfilling me as he finished fully claiming me as his.