Page 51 of Lucius

She and Lucius knelt on the fur and faced each other.

Caesar picked up the bracelets.

“The impala lilies come from Africa, the place of our shifter ancestors. Some of us will never go there, spending the entire span of our lives in places like this—veiled in secrecy from humans. It’s important that we hold tight to the traditions so that we never forget what we are or where we came from. The fierce beasts that prowled in the darkest nights cherished their mates above all else. It is because of these fierce protectiveinstincts, that our beasts must mark our mates, a visible claim that not only permanently imprints the male’s scent on his mate, but also scars the skin.

“Sidney, do you accept your place at Lucius’s side as his beloved mate? Do you welcome the marking that his beast will give to you tonight, knowing in your heart that this is the first night of the rest of your mated life?”

As Lucius had told her to do, she lifted her hands to his dad and said, “I accept Lucius, his beast, and his marks.”

His dad settled the bracelets on her wrists, and she pushed them up past her elbows, trailing the lilies’ essence on her skin.

Lucius opened the container of prickly pear that had been cut into bite-sized pieces. “Lucius,” his dad said, “do you swear yourself and your lion to Sidney? Do you promise to be with only her for as long as your heart beats? Do you promise to make her life as sweet as the prickly pear fruit, as lovely as the lilies, and to protect her with claw and fang as long as you live?”

“I swear,” Lucius said, feeding a bite of prickly pear to Sidney.

She fed him a piece of the sweet fruit, and then they took turns feeding each other until it was gone. Lucius set the empty bowl aside.

Caesar rested his hands on each of their heads and the pride drew closer to them.

“I welcome you, Sidney, to the pride, and I declare this night that when Lucius has marked and mated you, you will be as a lioness in the pride, honored and adored. The pride will stand with you and for you against any who would harm you. May the cubs you bear grow up to be as strong and fierce as their parents.”

The lions all roared in approval and Sidney smiled. The pride filed by them one by one, each dropping a lily on the ground next to the rug, a token of their approval and a blessing on themating. They disappeared quickly into the darkness until it was only her and Lucius.

“We’re alone now, sweetheart,” he said gruffly.

Her heart started to beat faster and she bit her bottom lip as his eyes flashed to the amber of his lion.

There was no going back after this. She and Lucius were going to be fully mated after he marked her and that was like marriage for shifters.

She couldn’t wait.

Lucius hadto rein his cat in because he wanted to mark her immediately, to know that she’d wear his marks on her neck forever and bind them together in a way that was stronger than a marriage.

Above them, the stars were shining in the dark sky and the moon was partially hidden behind clouds, but they had plenty of light from the fire, and he thought she’d never looked more beautiful as they stripped each other on the fur in front of the fire and drove each other wild.

Her pleasure came first and it always would, because nothing made him happier than hearing her cry out his name and shudder in his arms.

When she’d crested her first climax, he slipped from between her thighs and gently rolled her to her stomach and pulled her hips up. She spread her knees apart and groaned as he thrust into her. He froze for a moment at this most perfect moment, with her pussy clutching him as she rolled through her climax. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at him, and then she wiggled her hips a little and he lost every ounce of self-control he had.

He only had one thought: make her come again.

He tilted her hips and pulled from her, then slammed back in again, gritting his teeth and pushing away his desire to come himself until she’d had one more amazing climax.

As he thrust into her hard and fast, he reached for her shoulders and pulled her up to cradle her against him, slamming his hips to hers and holding her with his arm banded under her breasts. She gripped his arms and tilted her head to the side, exposing the length of her neck.

He slid his free hand down her sweat-slicked stomach and touched her clit. She jolted in his arms as he played with her. She moaned as he rubbed her clit, and he felt the moment that she tipped over the edge into pleasure. When she was at the height of her climax, her nails digging into his arm as she cried out his name, he let his fangs out and sank them into her neck.

The connection that bloomed between them was nothing short of miraculous and he felt so close to her, so deeply bonded, that he couldn’t stop himself from following her into bliss.

Drawing his fangs from her neck, he scored his tongue and gently wiped his blood in the wound to ensure it would scar permanently. He growled happily as wave after wave of pleasure poured over him like hot water and he was overwhelmed by the smell of the impala lilies and her sweet scent, and how crazy he was for her that he could have shifted right at that moment and roared his happiness.

But he didn’t want to shift right now, he wanted to hold his sweetheart and tell her how much he loved her.

So he did.

He eased them both down to the fur and tucked her against him, gently kissing her forehead.

“Sidney, I love you so much, you’re so special to me. I feel like I’m seeing in colors now, when everything was gray before.”

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