Page 128 of A Wolf in the Garden

I sigh into his open arms, and his skin is blazing warm against mine, though I squeak at the surprisingly cool touch of his hands. "I just washed them at the tap, sorry. I wanted to be able to touch you," he murmurs, doing just that, his hands roaming everywhere over my thin silk robe.

His heartbeat is slow and steady under my palm. I press a kiss to his chest, relishing the smell of his skin, male musk and sweet spice filling my nose. I know he’s doing the same, scenting me, his nose and lips in my hair, his hands running under my robe now, a deep rumble of amusement reverberating in his chest when he realises I’m completely naked underneath the thin fabric.

I hum with pleasure as he presses a kiss to my neck, his fingers working the tie around my waist, unwrapping me like an early Christmas gift, the robe falling at my feet. I glance around, but the vines are at their peak growth right now, green and lush, creating a sense of privacy here within the field.

“This seems like an appropriate way to worship you,” he murmurs against my collar bone, fingers circling my nipples until I'm moaning. “It’s midsummer, the summer solstice,” he adds as he kneels before me in the damp grass, pressing kisses to my breasts, my fingers scoring paths across his scalp as he sucks a nipple into his mouth. The sun is rising now, bright light kissing the tops of the vines, making drops of dew glimmer like crystals. His hand dances around my lower belly, and I buck my hips, desperate for him to touch my clit.

“Oh,yes,it’sTe Maruaroa o te Raumati,that’s the Maori name for it. Today the sun sits with his summer wife.”

Thick fingers drag through the slick folds of my cunt, spreading moisture to my clit, making me jolt. Maybe it's the cool air, or the fact that we've never done this in such a public place, but I'm so sensitive right now, my thighs trembling as I rock against the meat of his palm.

His long tongue licks a stripe between my breasts as his fingers circle my entrance, pushing two inside me as he speaks. “The way you say that makes me wonder if there’s a winter wife.”

I suck in a shaky breath as his fingers press repeatedly within me, curling rhythmically, my clit trapped under his thumb. “Ah,” I gasp, “there is. Don’t go getting any ideas.”

His laugh is quiet, breath feathering across my skin. “Never. You are my wife in all seasons, baby.” His hand stills as the words fall between us, our eyes meeting, his shy smile a mirror of my own.

I shrug. “Well, you are on your knees.”

There’s humour in his gaze as he moves his right leg, planting his foot flat on the ground. “Down on one knee, isn’t it? This wasn’t the proposal I had planned, but since we’re here now… will you? Will you be my wife?”

I couldn’t smile any wider if I tried, my chest aching with how full my heart feels. “Of course.Yes.I already am,” I add, feeling the bond between us caress my mating scar as it sometimes does, the ghost of Van’s touch circling the outline of it. “Though we’re going to have to make up some sort of G-rated story when we tell people how you proposed, or is this sort of thing on-brand for wolves?”

He snorts against my stomach, pulling his fingers free from within me with a shake of his head. “I can’t blame you for thinking that,” he murmurs, gold eyes hooded with lust as he sucks his fingers clean. “But no, I think we’ll keep this version of events to ourselves. I don’t even have the ring yet.”

“I don’t need a ring, babe,” I tell him, running my hands back through his hair. “Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn one down,” I laugh as he rolls his eyes. “But all I want is you. I want to call you my husband, that’s the fun part for me.”

“I know. You have me.” His voice is thick with emotion, and though we’ve gotten better at guarding our respective sides of the bond, he lets all his walls down now, nine years of longing hitting me, an ache I feel deep in my soul. I knowexactlyhow he feels. “I…” he begins, but we’re both tearing up, lumps in our throats, words escaping us. I fall into his arms, our foreheads pressed together, our souls intertwined. He kisses away the tears that run down my cheeks, and I do the same to him, fingers tracing his strong jaw, listening to the rasp of his stubble under my nails, feeling the strength of his arms around me.

“You’ve always reminded me of the sun goddess, did you know that?” he says low in my ear as he slides inside me, my pussy clenching around his cock, my ankles digging into his back. With every thrust, he names me. “My sun goddess.”Thrust.“My sun wife.” He groans as I tighten around him again. “Mywahine Maori.My high-fae lady. Let me see you in all your glory.”

Letting my form change, letting the antlers out and my eyes glow, feels like a deep exhale, a relaxation into my whole self. The pupils of Van’s eyes shine with the reflection of my magic, and around us the grass thickens, the grapevines moving like sentient beings, their tendrils waving back and forth as they grow at a rapid rate.

Van kisses me deeply, his fingers digging into the flesh of my ass, hips moving deliberately slow, every upwards thrust ending with his swollen knot kissing the lips of my pussy. I tip my head back as his teeth catch my throat, a growl rumbling through him that speaks of domination and worship in equal measure. I don’t think this is what Lylia meant when she told me that “witches establish rituals around the solstices and equinoxes,” but this feels pretty fitting, a tribute to the vineyard, like some sort of pagan fertility rite… or really, just the two of usliving, seizing the day, enjoying the life we are building here together.

“I want you to ride me," Van murmurs in my ear, and I nod, gripping his shoulders. It takes some manoeuvring, his big hands lifting me off him momentarily, but then I am lowering myself back onto his thick cock with a moan, my knees in the grass and Van flat on his back beneath me. His thumb works my clit as I ride him at an increasingly frantic pace, on the cusp of an orgasm, white petals from my antlers raining down around us. When his hips snap upwards, his hand on my ass gripping tight enough to leave fingerprints, I throw my head back with the guttural groan, my pussy pulsing around him as I come. Van follows a moment later, one final upwards thrust locking us together with his knot. He bares his teeth, growling as he comes hard, spurts of liquid heat filling me as he continues to work my clit, drawing out my orgasm until it bleeds into another, my cry loud in the morning air.

In the aftermath I sag against him, breathing heavily, the beads of sweat on my back cooling as the gentle breeze touches them.

“Happy midsummer,” I whisper against his chest, breathing in the smell of crushed grass, fresh air, andhim.

“Happy midsummer, my mate. My wife.”

I hum, lifting my head to look into his gold eyes, the colour so beautiful in the morning light. “My wolf in all seasons.”

“In all seasons," he agrees, a hand brushing through my hair. "Forever.”

Epilogue

VAN

The following October

My dick is so fucking hard right now.

That’s not really a surprise, since it always is when I wake in the morning. I turn my head, pressing my lips against the top of Ellie’s head, contemplating whether to wake her as her scent fills my nose. She sighs softly, peaceful in her deep sleep, and I grab my cock instead, dragging my foreskin back slowly as her breath feathers across my bare chest.Let her have five more minutes.My wolves disagree, prowling, demanding, wanting nothing more than the taste of her on my tongue, but I ignore them.

I look out at the horizon where the moon — so close to being full — hangs low and magnified, the bottom edge of it disappearing behind the New Zealand mainland that sits across the expanse of calm ocean. Staring at it makes my wolves writhe within me, both restless and desperate to be free, and yet I can’t look away, my hand slowly working my cock as I watch it descend until the final orange sliver slips out of sight.

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