Page 127 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

I was Darcy, two-souled, wolf and woman and mate of Gael and, at that, I threw myself forward.

“I should run,” he told me as I grabbed a hold of him. “I should make you chase me hard.”

“Yes…” I purred, driving my nose into his neck and breathing in his scent. I could use that to track him anywhere, now I had a fresh sample of it.

“But I can’t. I don’t want to run, Darcy, anywhere but towards you.”

He was doing this wrong, I knew that, as he drove his hands into my braids, loosening their tight weave and then raking his fingers across my scalp.

“I’m yours and you’re mine.”

“Yes.”

I took his mouth then, feeling the rough scrape of his stubble, the frantic press of his lips, and him.

“Gael…”

“Yes, my love,” he said between kisses.

“My Gael.”

And that stopped him. His eyes flashed bright blue as he stared at me.

“Always, Darcy.”

“No,” I said, tearing at the buttons of his shirt and then pushing my hands against the hot silk of his skin. “My Gael.”

“In every way you want me,” he replied. “Everything, everything is yours. I can’t hold anything back, not one thing. I’m just waiting for you to decide what you want me to give.”

My eyes swivelled then to the impressive gate and when I moved against it, it pushed open, making me frown for a second.

“Weyland gave me the key,” he explained, dangling it before me. “They’re out there trying to make sure everything goes to plan, but we’re all supposed to meet back here in the end. We can wait for them, or go find them. Whatever you want.”

I grabbed his arm then, pulling him inside and then pushing the gate closed behind us.

I kissed my mate as we reached the door, leaning against its stout wooden surface before devouring each other’s mouths. We kissed again once we finally went inside, our passion illuminated by hundreds of votive candles flickering on every shelf. We kissed as we went upstairs at a ponderously slow rate, only stopping when Gael gripped the bedroom door frame, not letting me go any further.

“You need to decide what you want, what you need,” he told me, even as my hands roamed across his chest, tugging his shirt free and then, when I couldn’t get it off, it was left hanging in shreds as I tore it apart. “The Maiden is riding you but—”

“No one rides me,” I replied, knowing somehow that was absolutely true. “You are my mate. The other part of my soul.”

He broke then, a frown forming, his fractured eye flashing brighter and brighter until he let go of the door frame and stumbled in.

“I am. I just wasn’t sure if you were ever going to feel that too. I feel you inside me, Darcy. Your pain and your need, your fascination, and even when you sink so far into things that I’m not sure you’ll come out. I feel it all. And right now, it feels like you really fucking need me.”

I nodded at that, tracking him backwards until his legs reached the edge of the bed. I dispensed with the wispy costume I’d been given, letting the fabric fall to the floor, just leaving me.

“I’m not sure I ever really believed in the goddess…” he whispered as he slotted his body against mine. “Not until now.” His hand slid up under my hair, the other going to my hip as he pressed his mouth to mine. “I need all of you tonight, Darcy. Every little scrap. Before the others come, before I’m forced to share. Give me this.”

I jerked the laces of his trews open and then let them fall to his feet.

“Give me everything you have, Gael.”

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