Page 53 of Wolf Marked

Astrid pushed her lips into a pout but crawled back up his body slowly. She straddled his hips again, this time, lowering herself directly onto his rigid heat. He slid right in, her warmth encasing him like a perfect fit, and then that same devious smirk appeared on her lips.

Damn, she felt good. No, more than good. Erec searched for the right word but came up empty. Maybe there wasn’t a way to describe the sensation of the two of them together yet. It was still beyond language, beyond comprehension.

“It’s still my turn,” she whispered as her nails dug into his chest and she began to move on him.

Pleasure rippled through every fiber. She pushed him deeper, her head falling back, and she moaned. Erec marveled at the sight of her. The way the moon illuminated her skin and highlighted the coppery strands of her hair made her appear ethereal. And the freckles dusting her cheeks and shoulders were one of his favorite features of her; their pattern was unique to her, and he loved that. This was his Astrid, the one his star would burn for if he ever died. His love.

Her creamy breasts bounced as she rode him, begging to be touched. He reached up and palmed them in his hands, squeezing lightly. Astrid rocked, speeding up her tempo, taking him deep. Eventually the pressure began to build low in his stomach, slow at first, until it was a force he couldn’t contain anymore. Astrid’s sheath tightened around him as he spilled warmth into her and her own orgasm hit. Her body shuddered under his fingers, and after what seemed like hours, everything calmed again.

She fell onto his torso with her ear pressed close to his heart. Breathing hard, Erec waited for the rest of the spasms to leave his body before kissing the top of Astrid’s head.

“I love you.” The words spilled out without thought. He was too entranced by what they had just shared, in the sweet pressure of her on top of him and the burning heat stillemanating from her aura, to be afraid of rejection this time.

Astrid jerked upward, supporting her weight on her arms. “What?”

He blinked a few times, wondering if he should have said it. Too late. He had. And he couldn’t retract it now. Besides, it was the truth.

“I love you,” he repeated. And she loved him, too. She had to. But then, why did she seem surprised by his words?

She was quiet for a long moment. Just stared at him with the same confused shock on her face. Worry seeped into her aura, sliding across the bond and cooling the sunny warmth there. Erec frowned.

What was wrong? Why wasn’t she saying it? What was holding her back?

Fear clenched his chest. “Astrid?”

She leaped to her feet, crossed her arms about her chest, and started walking back into the woods, toward Svanna Rock.

Erec jumped up and followed her. “Astrid…” he called when he caught up with her. He didn’t know why she was being so reserved still. He knew what he sensed across the pack tie.

She continued to trudge through the forest, not looking at him or responding. Even though their spirits had seemed to accept each other, maybe she still wasn’t ready to confess her heart. Maybe she needed more time.

Although Erec wanted to hear her say those three words, he couldn’t pry. He’d let her tell him when she was ready. He had felt her love for him and that was enough for now.

They walked in silence all the way back to the pine tree where they had discarded their clothes. A passing lumibird tweeted its winter song from a low branch, and Erec whistled back, mimicking the high-pitched tune. The brightly colored animal hopped along its perch and answered with another flurry of chirps.

“How can you do that?” Astrid asked as she dressed. “You sound just like him.”

Erec tugged on his pants and slung his cape over his shoulder, then slipped into his boots. “I taught myself.” He shrugged. “It’s come in handy over the years. Allows me to give direction or a location without words.”

“It certainly helped when we were saving Henrick and the others,” she said. “Are there any other tricks you know? Ones that may be useful later?”

Of course. He had learned many skills while living on his own. How to treat a bad wound with nothing other than moss and water. How to repurpose fish bones into just about anything. How to track prey when everything was too wet to hold a scent, like in the rain. Some of those lessons he’d discovered by mistake, and some had beenbecauseof mistakes. Dangerous ones.

A memory resurfaced, making him smirk. “I remember the first time I left Mikel’s pack and was alone, I ran into another rogue. He convinced me he was harmless, and I was still young, so I believed him. That night, while I slept, he stole from me. Stole the only weapon I had and the rest of the food and clothing I had packed.”

Astrid’s eyes widened. “He could have killed you,” she said. They began walking back to Svanna Rock, their pace slower this time.

“He could have,” Erec agreed. “I was so angry, I tracked him for days, and for all that time, it rained and rained. I would catch his scent and then lose it. Catch it, lose it. Then I got lucky. The bastard had cut himself somehow. I found his blood caught on the leaves of a bush.”

Astrid glanced at him, urging him to go on.

He did. “Blood is easier to track. It seeps into the ground, or in this case, the pores of a leaf, and stays there. Even with the rain. I had him.”

Then icy dread slithered down Erec’s spine as his words jerked something else forward. It was recognition, and it seized him in a tight, suffocating grip.

He halted, his heart in his throat. Flashes of the past tumbled forward like rapid fire—Claus’s missing ear continuing to bleed, even when their kind’s speedy healing should have at least clotted the wound; his constant stumbling; the trail of crimson in the white snow; the smear of blood across the bark of the tree.

“You’re. Going. To. Die.”Claus’s threat shot through Erec’s head loud and clear.

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