Page 26 of Season of the Wolf

Within seconds, I was warm and in my happy place—his arms. Solid, strong, they engulfed me. Breathing deep, the smell of him satisfied my senses—the combination of his skin’s earthy aroma, blended with soap and clean linen.

I remembered waking up in his bed after I first transitioned. That same intoxicating blend had been on his sheets, the shirt he loaned me after burning my own. I didn’t realize then that I’d always known it, but I did now.

We were more than a couple, more than bonded.

We were soul mates.

The vows we took centuries ago were merely a formality, I guessed, because although I had no memory of the promises exchanged, the connection was still present and strong.

Even in the absence of our tether.

“I could do this forever,” he uttered, the softly spoken words moving into my hair.

He trailed my skin, arousing goosebumps down my arm that met his fingertips on contact, and now our hearts thundered in sync. Mine desperately seeking his, nearly leaping from my chest as he drew me closer by the curve of my hip. I submitted, letting my figure fuse to his beneath the blanket.

A deep, quivering breath left his mouth and I shuttered, feeling the weight of his need—an unquenchable need that plagued us both. The desperation was nearly tangible, leaving no reason to acknowledge it aloud.

Let him rest.

I heard it … the warning … but was lulled into a daze by a kiss. One so deep, so mind-bendingly intimate, all sense of time and space melted away, leaving nothing behind but us.

Sharing this bed was once steeped in innocence, a means of solace we both sought. However, as the temperature beneath the comforter rose, our good intentions burned away until they no longer existed.

All that remained was temptation.

Heat from Liam’s lips triggered tiny explosions wherever they touched my skin—my mouth, the underside of my jaw, the hollow of my throat, my collar bone.

He was … everywhere.

His palm moved to my thigh, pulsing more heat through the limb as it was brought to his waist—a rough motion that shouldn’t have excited me so much, but it did.

The sound of wild, rapid breaths filled the space around us. We swallowed long drags of air as though we were drowning.

Maybe we were.

Drowning in this feeling, in each other.

My hands roamed his solid frame with the greed of a woman starved for the affection of her mate, somehow aching for physical contact I’d never even had the pleasure of knowing.

Or maybe I did.

Maybe some small part of me remembered what it was like to be with Liam. Which was why it seemed so natural to decide the wait was over.

Time seemed relative—one stretch passing in short, choppy bursts; the next, a series of slow, sensual moments that took my breath away.

I pulled away only long enough to snatch the t-shirt over my head. I didn’t care that the hasty maneuver told of my impatience. Liam shifted onto his back, bringing me to straddle the warmth of his smooth, toned waist between my thighs. The softness of my chest pressed against the unrelenting solidity of his. He released a breath at the feel of it, and that sound—his inability to contain himself—was intoxicating.

Centuries of bridled passion were mounting within him and I could hardly stand the tension.

His.

Mine.

The culmination of all the waiting, the careful steps we’d taken around one another … it was bubbling to the surface now as hands wandered greedily without restriction, as kisses deepened.

It was no secret I wanted him. No secret the feeling was mutual. But what Liam nor I could have known a short time ago, was that our words and feelings were on the verge of being brought to life.

Tonight was the night the past collided with the present. In one heart-pounding, soul-stirring crescendo, two worlds never meant to exist apart, returned to their rightful state.

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