Page 65 of Fate Promised

A nip along her lower back and his fingers danced between her legs. She moaned and spread her thighs, giving him better access.

He growled, and the primal sound filled the room. If she was out in the woods and heard that sound, she’d know exactly what it was. A vulk, claiming his mate. Coming for her.

His fingers moved faster, toying with her how she liked. She shuddered and arched against him. His tongue replaced his fingers, and that was all it took.

She cried out as she shattered under him. Only Juri’s arm wrapped around her, kept her up on all fours as he wrung every last bit of pleasure from her.

He kept her in place as he settled above her, his chest brushing against her back. His thick cock slid along her inner thigh as he found the place she needed him to go, but he didn’t enter.

He needed to hurry and get inside. His teeth skimmed the nape of her neck as he brushed against her in teasing glides. “Please!” But he only stroked against her as she circled her hips, urging him for more.

Finally, he thrust inside.

“Juri!” She fluttered around him, already close to the edge again. He held her in place under him, growling low, as he slid all the way in.

He pumped hard, demanding she take more. She snapped her hips to welcome it. She put her hand over the one he had planted on the bed and wove her fingers in his. “More,” she whispered.

“Hold on.” His words were feral. They might have been on a bed, but it felt much wilder than that. Like what they were doing was a part of nature itself. An answer to his kind of call of the wild.

And his warning was right—she did need to hold on.

He thrust hard, the bed hitting the wall with each lunge of his hips. Their joining was all heat and fire. Unleashed frustration after a week of being apart. Her hands dug into the blankets, and she cried out.

She barely noticed when he tugged her to the edge of the bed, bending her over it and standing behind her. She mewled and writhed. “Deeper. Please.” All she knew was how thick he was. How he filled every inch inside.

He held her in that position until she came again. Then again. Then he settled them both on the bed, laying her down on her stomach as he spread on top of her. He still didn’t find his own release. He kept working her, and she was glad she was lying under him now because she was a puddle, her limbs unable to hold her.

Finally, his strokes shortened. He swelled, his thickening base pushing against her. In one lunge, he sank his knot deep inside her. A stretch, a brief burning flare, then it notched into place behind her pubic bone. Exactly as she needed.

This was everything. This was bliss. Her vulk, sealed inside her.

His head landed near hers as his first release flooded her with warmth. “You’re mine.” He wrapped his arms around her as he settled on top of her.

She wrapped her arms over his, pressing him as close as possible. “Yes.” Her lids fluttered closed, and behind them, sparks of gold appeared, swirling until they made the symbol of the rune. She clutched Juri tighter as a wave of pleasure washed her away.

It took a long time for her heart rate to slow. Even longer for their bodies to separate.

He shifted to his side, and she rolled to her back to see him. His gaze dropped to her neck, where her necklace lay against her chest. He thumbed the ring. His voice rolled out as a husky, low murmur. “I know I don’t have a soul, but if I did …” his gaze locked with hers, “it was made the same moment as yours so they could entwine together for eternity.”

She couldn’t respond. Her throat wouldn’t work. All she could do was nod.

He trailed a finger down her neck, and when he brushed over the juncture of her neck and shoulder, she shivered. A zing shot through her veins, and her breath hitched. Awareness grew between them like an inhaled breath neither was sure they wanted to let out.

He was supposed to mark her there. Supposed to make her his for eternity. Then his fingers trailed down to the slight divot between her breasts, and he froze. “Your scar from where Hoyt attacked you hasn’t faded.” His expression turned to stone. “I almost got you killed.” He stood up and put his trousers back on. “I need to go back outside and patrol.”

“No Juri, Hoyt—”

“The only reason Hoyt is interested in you is because he wants to kill me and the rune connects us. The rune showed up because of me, too.”

She sat up, any lingering pleasure from their coupling disintegrating. “The rune showed up because of us. We’re …” Words failed. What could she say?

He shook his head. “I’ll always be pursuing the evil from Peklo, and when I get you back to Ulterra, you’ll live the safe, happy life you’ve always had. All those around me who aren’t vulk suffer.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“No?” His eyes flashed red. “Have you ever seen my mother’s right arm?”

Triska jolted. Juri’s mom wore long-sleeved shirts all year, even in the summer, but she had seen her hike her sleeves up to her elbows while baking and seen the shiny marks marring the skin along her forearm. She’d asked her once about it, and Mrs. Doubek changed the subject.

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