Page 20 of Mated By Midnight

His playboy lifestyle, the ambitions he had clung to for so long—they all were meaningless without her. He had been chasing status, recognition, believing that’s what would make him worthy of her. But the truth was staring him in the face now, clearer than ever. It wasn’t about the pack. It wasn’t about proving himself to the world. It was about her. The bond they shared, the love that would grow between them, even when they didn’t fully understand it.

She was all that mattered.

He dodged around a tree. His wolf’s instincts were sharp as he tried to outpace her. Celine was faster than he anticipated. Her wolf was relentless, determined.

Elijah admired the fire in his mate. She wasn’t just chasing him for the thrill. She was chasing him because she wasn’t going to let him go.

A flash of movement to his right, and suddenly she was there, closing in. He barely had time to react before her weight crashed into him, knocking them both to the ground in a tangle of fur and limbs. They rolled through the underbrush, and as they came to a stop, the shift back into their human forms happened almost instinctively.

Elijah lay on his back, his chest heaving, his skin tingling from the shift. The cool night air brushed against his bare skin, but all he felt was the warmth of Celine’s body pressed against his. Her hair was wild and tangled. Her eyes were bright with determination and something deeper—something that mirrored the emotions raging inside him.

The forest was still around them. The only sound was their ragged breaths mingling the quiet calls of night prowlers. Finally, Celine broke the silence.

“I understand now,” she said, her eyes searching his. “I’ve been running too. Running from the fear that I’m not enough. That I’m not what you need.”

Elijah reached up, his hand trembling slightly as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

She shook her head, her gaze intense, her emotions raw and exposed. “I deserve to be loved for who I am. This is who I am, Elijah. I’m messy, I’m vulnerable, and sometimes I change my mind. I’m wounded from rejection, and it might take a lot of time and patience to believe that what we have is real. But I want this. I want us.”

Her words cut through him, raw and honest. She was baring herself to him, in all her complexity, and it hit him just how much he had been holding back. How much he had been trying to fix himself, trying to be perfect, when all she wanted was for him to stay. To be there with her as they figured it out together.

“I’m not asking you to give up your dreams,” she continued, her voice steady even though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’m asking you to include me in them. Can you do that? Can you handle this?”

Elijah felt the bond between them pulse stronger than it had ever been. He understood her perfectly. She wasn’t asking for perfection. She wasn’t asking for him to be someone he wasn’t. She was asking for him. All of him, flaws and all.

His chest swelled with the weight of his feelings, with the realization that he didn’t have to run anymore. He didn’t have to leave to prove anything. What he wanted, what he needed, was right here, in front of him.

“I can handle it.” He reached up, cupping her face in his hands, his thumb brushing across her cheek. “I want this, Celine. I want you. I’m not running anymore.”

Before she could respond, he pulled her down, capturing her lips in a kiss that was filled with everything he had been holding back. The tension, the fear, the desire—it all melted away as their lips moved together, soft and slow at first, then more urgent, more desperate. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, pulling him closer. Elijah kissed her like it was the only thing that mattered in the world.

Because it was. She was.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads resting together, their breath mingling in the cool night air, Elijah felt a sense of peace settle over him for the first time in what felt like forever.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said against her lips. “We’re going to figure this out. Together.”

Celine smiled, her eyes bright with hope, and in that moment, Elijah knew they had taken the first step toward something real. Something lasting. And this time, they wouldn’t run from it.

16

Celine's gaze traced the contours of Elijah's naked form. He was magnificent, bathed in the silvery glow of the moonlight. The wildness of their first encounter had left clothes strewn and bodies half-covered; a fervent rush that now seemed a distant memory as she took in the sight of him fully unveiled. Every muscle in his body paid homage to the powerful shifter he was—taut and ready. His manhood stood proud and inviting, its length and girth a vivid reminder of the exquisite fullness she had felt when he was inside her.

She swallowed hard, the anticipation building within her like a tidal wave pulling back from the shore before crashing down with irresistible force. Her heart raced with the desire to feel him again, the eagerness to be claimed by this creature of seductive strength and sensual prowess. Yet tonight, she longed for something more lingering, an exploration of senses, a slow dance of flesh against flesh. She wanted to savor each touch, each kiss, each gasp of pleasure that passed between them.

Elijah drew near, his heated gaze igniting a fire within her. At his first touch, Celine's resolve melted away. The moment his fingers grazed her skin, a wave of need surged through her, sweeping away any thoughts of restraint. The hunger in his eyesreflected her own. A mirror of carnal need that could not be denied.

His mouth descended upon her with a tenderness that belied the intensity behind it. As his tongue ensnared her nipple, coaxing it into a taut peak, a sharp pang of sensation radiated from the bud, intertwining pain with pleasure. A gasp escaped her parted lips, and she arched into the warmth of his mouth, seeking more of that exquisite torment.

Could such a simple act unravel her completely? Could the persistent flick and swirl of his tongue drive her to the edge of ecstasy? Her body answered before her mind could fathom the possibility.

Yes. Yeah. Yup. Most definitely.

The rhythmic pulsing at her core grew stronger. It became insistent, as if echoing the movement of Elijah's relentless tongue.

With the precision of a maestro conducting the final note, Elijah's fingers delved into her core. All it took was one touch. Her climax unfurled in harmony with Elijah's suckling. The earth beneath her swayed and dipped as waves of release shuddered through her trembling form. Held securely in Elijah's embrace, they sank to the soft earth together.

The cool grass was forgiving against her fevered skin. But her lover was relentless. Elijah removed his fingers and positioned himself at Celine’s entrance. With one slick movement, he claimed her, driving deep into her, filling her so completely it bordered on overwhelming. Celine gasped, not just from the sudden fullness but from the lingering tremors that still danced across her flesh from the orgasm that had shaken her moments before.

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