Page 60 of The Protector’s Heart

He carried her into the bedroom and set her on her feet. He wanted to kiss her. Devour her. But first he needed to brush his teeth. On the full moons, his wolf was always a little closer to the surface and he didn’t want to scare her if he became too aggressive.

“Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll be right back.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and then walked quickly to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and shut the door, then reached for his toothbrush on the counter. While he brushed and splashed cold water on his face, his wolf was panting to go into the room and make love to Nila, to claim her again and again.

He turned off the bathroom light and entered the bedroom, his eyes adjusting to the moonlight streaming through the window. Nila was naked, standing next to the bed and pulling the covers back. He moved behind her, fast enough that he clearly surprised her. She gasped softly and then moaned as he cupped her breasts and pressed himself against her back. Her nipples pebbled against his palms. He nuzzled her neck, stroking his tongue up the column of her throat. She shivered and turned her head, their lips meeting as the world dropped away and it was only them.

Their tongues touched and everything in him relaxed, the tension from being away from his mate during the hunt disappearing as the sweet taste of her and the heady scent of her arousal surrounded him. He pulled her close and slid one hand down the center of her body, his fingers making their way slowly toward the apex of her thighs. His shamelessly hard cock was pressed against her lower back and he knew he could just slide into her with a simple shift of his hips, but he wanted her to come first.

His fingers circled her hipbone and slid down the soft skin of her thigh. He bent slightly, hooking his hand around her knee and lifting it to the bed, spreading her lower body apart. She leaned into his hand, which was tucked between her breasts and he pulled her more firmly to his chest. He trailed invisible patterns up the inside of her leg and then cupped her pussy. She was hot and wet, the silky evidence of her arousal rubbing against his palm as she moved her hips.

Easing from their kiss, he watched her face as he curled his middle finger and slowly pushed inside, the hot walls of her pussy gripping his finger. Her eyes darkened and her mouth fell open. He felt her relax against him and she lifted her arms and locked her fingers behind his head, holding herself upright, her body on display for him.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered into her ear, letting his teeth sink into the lobe gently before licking away the slight pain.

“Malachi,” she moaned.

Rubbing her clit with his palm, he slipped another finger into her pussy, stroking her slowly. He closed his teeth on the side of her neck, pressing hard enough for her to feel them but not hard enough to break the skin. Her body began to tremble as she drew closer to climax; he could smell the heady sweetness of her body as it heated. He slipped his fingers from her pussy and rubbed the soaked tips around the tight bud of her clit. She trembled in his arms as he pushed her forward to bliss, and her nails sank into his neck as she came, a sharp cry of pleasure on her lips. Her body bowed, her breasts jutting up as her clit throbbed under his fingers and the sweet scent of her climax filled the air.

He unwound her hands from the back of his head and stretched her forward on the bed, one foot on the floor and one leg bent at the knee and resting on the mattress. She curled her arms under her head and smiled, wiggling a little on the bed.

His hands curled around her hips, and he watched as his cock pressed into the hot, wet heaven of her body. When their bodies met, they sighed at the same time, and he grinned. Gripping her hips, he watched her face as he pulled completely out of her body and then, waiting only a brief moment, plunged inside again. Her eyes shuttered and she sank her teeth into her lower lip. Pulling out and pressing in again, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging wolf inside him that wanted to fuck her hard and fast.

He released his grip on her hip and smoothed his hand over her back. She trembled under him, her pussy clenching his cock, and he tweaked her side until she giggled.

“Not sexy,” she groused, straightening on her arms and pushing back against him.

He growled. “Feels pretty sexy to me.”

Her hair slid off her shoulder as she peered at him. She slipped one hand underneath her and he was about to ask what she was up to when he felt her cup her pussy, her fingers separating so they framed his cock. “Oh, fuck, yes,” she moaned the words, her fingers massaging his shaft, the tips grazing his balls.

“I think I’m supposed to say that,” he chuckled. He pulled from her pussy, feeling her fingers on his dick the entire time. Splaying his hands on her hips, he tightened his grip and began to move, flexing his hips in time to the wild thrum of his heartbeat which pounded in his ears. Her fingers moved back and forth against him, and he knew she was rubbing her clit, too. He rode her hard, pushing himself to give her everything she needed. He wanted her to fall apart while he was inside her, to feel her clenching him again and again.

He thrust harder. Faster. Gripping her tighter, he shook the sweat from his eyes and pounded into her, until his vision began to blur and his heart threatened to pound out of his chest. Her fingers curled and she cried out, her body locking down on him like a vise. He came hard, his whole body shuddering as he filled her.

Slumping over her, he pressed a kiss between her shoulders and waited for his bones to resolidify. She wiggled away from him, rolling to her back and scooting up the bed until her head rested on a pillow. She beckoned him, and he joined her. She curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest. He stroked her back and cuddled her closer. This was his heaven. There wasn’t anything better than being with Nila. They’d been through hell to get here, but the thorn-filled journey was over and their new journey—their life together—was just beginning.

“Sweetheart?”

She didn’t answer, and he realized she’d fallen asleep. He smiled. He’d loved her that well. Reaching for the covers, he pulled them up and closed his eyes.

He’d never been happier.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Four Weeks Later

Nila sat at a large table at Luna’s and watched Brynn open another bridal shower gift. Inside the pretty silver and white paper was a set of pots and pans. Everyone oohed and ahhed over them as Brynn thanked the three she-wolves who had gone in together on the gift.

Eveny sat next to Nila, her hand resting on her swollen stomach. As Mia handed Brynn the next gift, Eveny said in a low voice, “When are you and Mal tying the knot?”

Nila’s thumb rubbed the underside of the engagement ring that Malachi had given her a week earlier. The simple but stunning diamond solitaire winked in the overhead lights as it wiggled back and forth on her finger.

“Not until after Acksel and Brynn are married. Mal was threatened.”

Eveny laughed and Brynn threw a wad of silver wrapping paper at Nila. “He was not.”

Mia snorted and said, “Oh yes he was. I heard that Acksel said you’d skin Mal alive and leave him for dead if they got married first.”

“Oh, now you’re exaggerating,” Brynn complained. Then she grinned. “I wouldn’t leave him for dead.”

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