Page 65 of Hunter Moon

I sat back on his shin and dragged my hand up his strong thigh, kneading flesh that was way too hot and firm and enticing. “And this one.” There was a circle on his thigh, broken up by a squiggle through the middle, a moth fluttering on one side to mimic the moths on his forearm. “This is about your love of kayaking, right?”

I grinned down at him, but he didn’t return my smile. His hazel eyes were subdued and serious as he stared up at me.

He took one long, deep breath before he answered. “I was away a year when my wolf decided we needed a connection to home.”

I didn’t get it. “So, not, like, an apple tree or something?”

Sure, he didn’t like apples that much, but I didn’t get this. He’d taken me around to all the creeks and rivers within driving distance of Grovetown, but I didn’t know that any of them had been all that special to him—not in more than a passing way.

Aspen just shook his head. “That’s not home.”

I stared down at him, watched his throat move as he swallowed.

“It’s a brook,” he said finally.

My heart gave a lurch in my chest. My stomach flipped completely over. And it still took a few seconds after that for the words to settle.

When Aspen thought of home, the thing he’d wanted impressed into his skin was—was me. Not my face, sure, and it wasn’t like he’d carried my mating mark away with him when he’d gone. But there, on his skin, that was me. He had my mark.

I must’ve gone quiet for too long. Aspen’s eyes shifted away. His lips pressed firmly together.

But I surged forward, my fingers straining for his face, drawing him back to me. Held halfway over his body, I kissed him soundly, my tongue piercing the soft split of his lips and tasting inside.

Then, his hands were on me again, pulling me against him from the small of my back. My cock ground against his thigh, and a devious bend of his leg had me riding it. The heat haze blasted away all thought of sore muscles or spent bodies as I reached between us to grip his shaft.

Already, he was swelling under my touch, big and firm and so fucking gorgeous.

“So glad you’re back,” I panted against his lips. “I love that you’re here with me.”

Loved a lot else too, but—but that was for later.

Now, I held him steady and swung my leg over his hip. With a sway of hips, I rocked him into place, the blunt head of his dick edging between my cheeks and there—there.

I sank back, moaning as he filled me again. There was no way I’d make it through without him.

Once I had what I needed, his throbbing width spreading me open, my strength threatened to give out, but my wolf wasn’t having it. Needed Aspen. Needed my—my—

Mate, it growled in my head, the word bouncing around in my skull as I tipped back and braced my hands on his thighs. There, I could move, swaying my hips, feeling him shift inside me.

Like this, Aspen had his hands free to drag over my skin. He scraped blunt nails over my torso, leaving soft pink marks on my pale skin where my blood rose to the surface.

This far into my heat, I didn’t have it in me to go hard and fast, but everything was slick, hot pleasure, and it was more than enough.

Aspen grabbed my cock, stroking expertly and—and I’d doubted I could come again so soon, but there I was, spurting on his hand, my body convulsing around him as he wrung wave after wave of pleasure out of me.

That seemed to do it for him, because while my hips made little aborted rocking motions, just wanting more, his knot swelled inside me.

I trembled, the strength in my arms threatening to give out, but Aspen was right there. He sat up, gathering me in his arms, taking all my weight. His lips grazed my own, passed like silk over my temple. “I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered.

Nodding, I buried my head against his shoulder, content to stay with him like this forever.

“I...” As soon as I started talking, I lost the train of my thoughts, but Aspen was patient, kissing my ear and nuzzling my neck.

“What is it?” he asked when I lost myself to that tingling joy and forgot to go on.

“I think I want a tattoo. Do you—does it hurt much? Do you think I could stand it?”

Aspen’s laugh was more of a rumbling feeling against my chest than a real sound. “Yeah, baby. I think you could handle anything.”

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