by Lexi C. Foss
Shifters were born with a mark on them that represented their animal, and depending on the breed or bloodline, they could change when you joined a pack. Though she didn’t know it, as my mate, hers would always match mine.
“Do you know what this is, Rowan?” I asked softly as my finger traced the shape.
“My birthmark?” She looked at me over her shoulder with disbelief in her eyes. “You want to discuss my birthmark, right now?
Amusement rumbled in my chest. “This isn’t just a birthmark, baby. This is the mark that brands us as true mates. Once we are fully bonded, they will both change. Become darker, sometimes colorful, it’s different for everyone. But they will match, and it will always mean that I am yours and you are mine.”
Rowan blinked a few times, her eyes looking suspiciously glassy. Then they narrowed and she sassed, “I still think this is a conversation we should have when I’m not waiting around for an orgasm.”
A wicked smile stole across my face. “Maybe I should keep talking—"
Rowan wiggled her cute little ass and I slapped it, my devilish smile growing when she gasped. The little minx knew that’s what I would do, and I almost laughed when she wiggled it again. “Naughty little witch,” I taunted. “You’re going to have to wait for your punishment. I’ll decide when and where that happens.” She made an adorable, frustrated little sound. I knew it would drive her crazy and I was perversely amused by that fact.
I slipped a hand between her legs and felt her wetness there, grunting in approval. Then I inserted two fingers into her channel and damn… “Slick. You’re snug as fuck, but I’m going to slide right in.”
Removing the digits, I sucked them clean before gently pushing her shoulders until her head and breasts rested on the bed. My gaze roved over her beautiful body and my wolf, while appreciative of the sight, snarled. He was done waiting. He lunged at me, trying to surface, and my claws ripped from my fingertips as fur rippled beneath my skin. His savage need was hitting me hard and filling me with the same feral urges.
Despite how close he was, I managed to retract my claws so I wouldn’t slice open my mate’s flawless skin when I held her. My animal was gaining strength in his attempt to take over and my shaft was painfully hard, warning me that if I wanted to have even a sliver of control while mating Rowan, I needed to do it now.
I grabbed hold of my heavy cock and lined it up, then eased it in, hissing in pain and pleasure when her muscles clenched sharply. My vision blurred and, suddenly, I was staring at Rowan through my wolf’s eyes. I didn’t shift, but we were so close that our minds were blending together.
A ferocious growl ripped from my lips when I held Rowan firmly by the hips and slammed into her, fully seating myself.
“Jax!” Rowan cried out.
My wolf howled at the sound of her desire and I nearly did the same as I began to move in and out with vigorous thrusts.
“Mine!” I snapped. My wolf didn’t listen and only pushed me with more force. Bite. Claim. Bite. The words pounded in my head—a demand and a desperate plea.
Rowan was shaking, her cries becoming louder and more guttural as she neared completion. My hands unclenched from her hips and I skated them up her torso to cup her breasts, using the position to pull her up so her back was flush against my front.
I fondled her globes and their stiff, sensitive peaks as I rhythmically pumped my steel shaft into her sheath. “Mine,” I snarled.
“Yours,” Rowan choked out through rapid, ragged breaths.
“Bite. Claim.” I pushed harder, wanting more from her. Wanting it all.
“Yesss,” she sibilated.
“Come,” I ordered. I dropped a hand down to rub her bundle of nerves and she threw her head back against me as she screamed in ecstasy. My wolf lunged again and this time, we struck.
Rowan froze from the initial pain of my teeth breaking her skin, but as I knew it would, after a second, the pleasure that spread through her was so acute, so intense, she exploded all over again.
The taste of her blood calmed my beast. He was content now that he knew she was claimed. It gave me back the opportunity to take control, but I was too far gone for it anyway. My hips punched forcefully while I clamped my mouth hard, making sure that mark was fucking obvious to anyone who looked at her. As I neared my own climax, I finally unclenched my jaw and pulled my head back. I licked around the wound, soothing and sealing it.
Then I raised my head and my eyes dropped to the spot. Seeing my claim there was the push that sent me tumbling into the hardest orgasm I’d ever experienced. Blood rushed to my head and roared in my ears while black spots began to dance in front of my eyes.
I wrapped my arms around Rowan and held on, knowing she would keep me from losing myself. For whatever reason, that was the moment I was struck by the realization that Rowan would be all the things I wanted to be for her. I’d been so busy convincing her to trust me, to let me support her, and protect her, that I forgot that she would do all of those things for me. She was so energetic and constantly pulling me from my quiet comfort zone that I’d missed the fact that she also grounded me. For the rest of our lives, we could hold onto each other just as we were, giving each other our strength and riding the storms out together.
I wasn’t convinced our climaxes would ever end and the thought that it was a fantastic way to go flashed in my mind. However, eventually, the sensations and emotions began to ebb. My body was weak, and I started to fall, but I managed to hold Rowan tightly to me and roll as I fell so that I landed on my back with her safely on top of me.
My breathing was still erratic, and my heart was thumping so hard I wondered if it was audible. Our bodies were glistening with sweat, and the air smelled of sex. It was perfect and I never wanted to leave this room, or this bed, ever again.
Rowan’s stomach chose that moment to grumble and I couldn’t help laughing, though it was a pathetic sound since I was so weak. I kissed her temple and loosened my hold on her, but she grasped my arms tightly and wagged her head.
“It can wait. I want to stay like this a little longer.”
“Sure, baby. Let’s get a little more comfortable though,” I suggested quietly. Her beautiful mouth curved up, so I shifted her body as I rolled to my side and wrapped myself around her, snuggling as close as possible. My eyes strayed to her neck, which was now covered with her slivery purple waves and I brushed it over her shoulder, exposing my mark. “Mine,” I rumbled softly as I pressed my lips against it.
“Yup,” she agreed with a smile in her voice. “You’re stuck with me now, wolf.”
“Hmmm,” I hummed. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
Rowan snickered and patted the arm I had curled around her stomach. “I’m a naughty witch, remember?”
A sudden surge of energy filled me as blood rushed to my groin. “Yes, you are, baby. So, about that punishment…”
35
Rowan
Little paws stepped on my face, stretching the skin uncomfortably and pinching it with tiny claws, before hopping off and curling up with what I was pretty sure was a kitty’s ass on my forehead.
“Idi na khui!” I groaned as I shifted to push the warm little furball higher up on my pillow. I was sore in places I hadn’t known existed. That wasn’t a bad thing considering how I got that way but waking up with a cat walking across your face did nothing to enhance the post coital bliss I should have been feeling right about then. My magic danced, laughing at my grumpiness.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
My head fell to the side and my eyelids fluttered, trying to adjust to the brightness of the room as I opened them. The cause of all my pain was lying on his side, head propped in his hand, sexy man chest on display and an adorable, lopsided smile on his handsome face.
“Worth it,” I murmured, making Jax smile. Damn his Vulcan hearing.
His words penetrated my sleepy fog and I scrunched my nose as I eyed him curiously. I’d spoken Russian, and as he repeatedly remi
nded me to speak in English so he could understand, I was naturally suspicious of him all the sudden understanding my mutterings. “How do you know what I said?”
Jax laughed, making his face light up. He looked so happy and carefree, it made me warm all over to know I was the reason.
“Nathan.”
“Ah, yes.” The alpha who spoke Russian. Something about that didn’t sit well with me, but it wasn’t a puzzle to decipher today. I narrowed my eyes playfully and poked him in the chest. “The only thing you learned from him was ‘fuck off’?”
“Of course not,” he assured me. “However, Nathan doesn’t speak Russian often. But when he is really and truly pissed, that one slips out more frequently. Like when he’s shouting at the ump during a Yankees game. Or when the Eagles score a touchdown against the Giants.”
Jax quirked an eyebrow and a teasing smile hovered on his lips. “It’s all I’ve learned from you, isn’t it? You speak fluent Russian and I’ve only ever heard you swear.”
Bozhye moi. I was stunned when my cheeks heated, and I felt the blush spreading over my face and down my neck.
His eyes widened and his jaw went slightly lax when he noticed the color of my face, which I imagined resembled a tomato. I tried to roll over onto my stomach and shove my head into my pillow, but he caught my chin and kept me on my side, with my face toward him. Then he used one finger to trace the apple of my cheek as a half smile curved his mouth.
“With all the dirty things I said to you last night—and this morning—not once did I see you blush. Then you turn pink over a little teasing at your habit of cursing in Russian?” He shook his head and the smile expanded. “Adorable. No, don’t argue with me because you’ll never change my mind.”
I mashed my lips together to avoid laughing. He was exactly right; I’d definitely been about to argue. I shrugged, “I’ve been called worse.”
He winked at me and chuckled before adding, “Admittedly, I’ve been impressed with your creativity when cursing.”
Laughter bubbled up and I couldn’t keep it in this time.
Jax’s expression went soft. “I love your laugh. It’s as beautiful as you.”
I went all mushy inside before scooting over and snuggling up to his warm chest, sighing when he curled his arm around me and brought me in even closer. “Can we just have today?” I asked softly.
“For what?”
“To forget about all the shit that’s waiting for us outside and just bask in the after sex and after claiming glow.”
“Are you asking me to make you glow again, baby?” Jax purred as he ran the palm of his hand down my ribcage, over the swell of my hip, and around to my ass.
“I’m not opposed to it,” I quipped cheekily.
He was silent and still for a while and eventually I tipped my head back to look up at him. Evidently, that was what he’d been waiting for because a bright smile stretched across his face and he stared down at me as though I was the most important thing in all the worlds.
“Of course, we can have today, baby. But when tomorrow comes, just remember that you belong to me, and I belong to you. There isn’t anything we can’t face together. We’ll track down Dorian and introduce him to the sharp end of your stake.”
I had no doubt that what he said was true; we would take that jackass down together. But that wasn’t the only problem we’d be facing. “What happens after that?”
He shrugged and kissed my forehead. “We live the rest of our lives together.”
And therein lay another problem. Jax’s breed of wolf shifter could live to be several hundred years old. Which meant that even though it was far, far in the future, he would one day die. As far as I could tell, my options were to remove my amulet at some point and age with him—figuring that timing out would probably cause a migraine or two—or to make an amulet for Jax. After the last time…
“One problem at a time, Ro,” I told myself quietly.
“That’s some good advice you gave yourself, baby,” Jax razzed.
I huffed and he chuckled before giving me a quick kiss. “I like it when your crazy shows.”
I rolled my eyes playfully as I bit back a smile. How a mammoth like him—who was deadly in his own right—could be so cute was a mystery to me.
His hand lightly squeezed my ass before he encouraged, “What’s the first hurdle?”
I voiced the one that had been nagging at me since even before I came to believe I was his mate. “How can we make a life together when you have your business and family here, while I have my life and job in an entirely different reality?”
Jax rolled us over so I was on my back and he was hovering over me. His expression had lost all mirth and become resolute while his hand cupped my hip, directly over my birthmark. “Rowan, you come before everyone and everything. You’re mine and I’d move heaven and earth for you if you needed it. The mating bond fuels that desire, but even if it didn’t, I care about you and all I want is to see you happy. I will follow you anywhere, Rowan. Just don’t make me chase you, because I’ll catch you and you’ll find yourself tied to the bed at home.”
I smirked, making future plans to lead him on a merry chase.
“But that home is wherever you are.”
He must have seen the guilt creeping onto my face because he cupped my cheek and stared at me with tenderness. “You can have those same emotions for me, and still want to live our lives somewhere else, baby.”
“I can do it,” I insisted. “We can stay here.”
Jax’s whole demeanor softened and he kissed me sweetly. “I know you would, baby. But you’d be unhappy and even worse, scared. That won’t work for me. It’s not as if we can’t come back for visits, and I can rebuild my business in the other realm.” He winked. “I’m that good.”
I laughed as I felt the pressure easing off of my chest. “You’d be okay living in the city? Wolfgang— “
“There are plenty of shifters who live in cities. We’ll make it work, or we’ll buy a place outside the city to visit so my wolf can run free.”
With each word, the worry and fear slipped further and further away.
Jax kissed me again and lowered down until his body was pressing me into the mattress, though he used his elbows to keep it from being too much weight. “One day at a time,” he mumbled against my lips. “One problem at a time.”
He pushed his hardness into the apex of my thighs, and I gasped at the streaks of pleasure that went straight to my core. “The first problem to tackle is really hard.”
I burst out laughing and Jax smiled as he stared at my lips. “That’s one sound that I love, but I’m craving the other one.”
Cupping his face with my palms, I gazed up at him with a sweet expression, then I licked my lips and taunted, “Seems like a personal problem.”
Jax growled and practically attacked my mouth.
He got what he wanted.
And so did I. I finally had a place where I felt safe. And it was in the arms of my wolf.
The End
For Now
Continue on Jax and Rowan’s adventure, by preordering books 2 and 3 now!
The Wolf, the Witch and The Slayer – Preorder now!
A Witch in Wolf’s Clothing – Preorder Now!
For Violet’s story, keep reading!!
Preorder Nathan’s book, An Unexpected Claim! – Preorder Now!
I have two more books in this universe that are up for preorder as well! Both written with Lexi C. Foss!
Crossed Fates (Kingdom of Wolves) – Preorder it now!
First Kiss of Revenge (Vampire Dynasty Trilogy Book 1) - Preorder Now!
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