Her lips found his again. Soft strokes of tingling delight that made her stomach knot into ecstatic bunches and her heart to dance.
She turned in her seat, chest to chest, and lifted her legs over his while wrapping her arms around his neck. The thought of pushing him backward and straddling his torso flashed in her mind. How easy it could be done and she was certain he'd let her.
For now, she was content to kiss him. To savor this moment and the tenderness of his touch.
There was no rush. No surge of lustful primal heat in the way he kissed her. He was almost chaste, as if applying too much pressure would cause her to bruise or break. He cradled her face in the palms of his hands, easing back every minute to gaze into her eyes, as if he couldn't believe what was happening. Whom he was holding and kissing. The mixture of emotions pooled in those brown depths, full of longing, disbelief, and love.
Gradually, his kisses grew stronger and the disbelief vanished from his eyes. They smiled back, studying the littlest nooks and crannies of her face. The freckles that spread out over her nose and cheeks. The lines and crevices of her lips before pressing his own to hers again. Likewise, her eyes traced over the new and unfamiliar markings on his face. Small and narrow scars cut along his lips, jawline, cheeks, and eyebrows. His nose looked a little different than she remembered, as though he had received multiple blows to it that it failed to heal properly after a while.
Best of all was when his eyes searched hers and she could see her reflection in them. Warmth brewed within her stomach and spread up and outward to her arms. She felt beautiful in his eyes. Cherished. Loved.
The shadows in the clearing were lengthening as the fireflies came out to dance and the crickets began to chirp. The heat of the day ebbed as a cool night breeze ruffled the sleeves of the T-shirt he gave her. His T-shirt. His scent lingered faintly on it, mixing with her own. She liked the smell of him on her. She liked the smell of him now, with his arms around her, and his lips continuing their soft caresses.
Despite the tenderness of his touch, the air around them was shifting, whispering their innermost desires and drawing them closer. The need to be near him, to touch, taste, and inhale his ever-increasing intoxicating musk that seeped from his pores. A growing need and ache for more consumed her.
Could he feel it too? It was as though the energy in the earth and the forest around them was humming in approval and celebration of their union.
Drawing him closer, she pressed herself flush against his chest, eliciting a growl to rumble up his throat. Moisture pooled beneath her at the sound of it, as the bulge in his pants grew bigger against her mound. His excitement fueled her own as she pressed herself against him.
She murmured his name as his kisses intensified. His tongue met hers as she raked her fingers over his back.
He growled her name into her mouth as she tugged on the back of his shirt. "I should stop. We should stop."
A faint sound like a whine escaped her as her hands drifted lower, tugging more earnestly on his shirt. Skin. She wanted to touch his flesh. Feel the bend and flex of his muscles under the palms of her hands.
"No," she let out in a breathy whisper. "I don't want to stop. I want this. I want to be yours."
Finally, her fingers had pulled up enough of his shirt to brush against his skin underneath, eliciting a groan of pleasure in their wake.
He broke away from her lips to yank his shirt off before returning, his mouth hungrier than before. He pulled her tightly against him, urging her to shift the placement of her legs and put her weight on her knees. His hands explored along her back, molding into her curves and muscle. His heady musk seeping from his exposed flesh, growing hotter under her touch, was intoxicating, like a drug she wanted to indulge in no matter the consequences of taking it.
His hands slid lower, squeezing her butt with a groan. A sharp electrical current snapped up her spine. Gasping, she arched her back and rose up a few inches on her knees. Her breasts brushed against his chin as a deep primal growl rose up his throat.
"I've wanted you for so long, Chloe."
She shivered at the rumbling of his voice, deep from his chest as he buried his face in her chest. His hands slid under her shirt to grope her bare bottom. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he nipped gently at her nipples through her shirt.
She inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly as another spark of electricity shot through her.
How much greater would his mouth feel on her breasts without the shirt? She wasted no time in yanking it off to find out. Arching her back, she gave Animkii full access to her best assets.
A guttural growl reverberated within him as his mouth took hold of her breasts, sucking on them, nibbling the pebble-hardened tips, and swirling his tongue around them as his hands continued to squeeze her ass.
She couldn't believe how good this felt. How much greater it was going to feel to fully connect with him physically. To be able to connect with him intimately like this every day for the rest of their lives.
The entrance to her core throbbed, aching in wanton anticipation. Her hips began to move on their own in a forward and backward motion, hovering above the bulge in his shorts.
"Anim," she uttered in a breathy whisper, tangling her fingers in his hair and tugging. Angling his face up to meet hers, she bent down to kiss him. She moaned into his mouth as his tongue swiped over hers. She eased down on her legs as her fingers trailed down his chest to the buckle of his shorts.
He growled into her mouth as she fumbled to pop open the button and unzip his fly. Slightly trembling, she snaked her hand down his boxers to wrap her fingers around his hardened length.
Gasping, he released her lips and rested his head on her shoulder as she withdrew him from his pants, stroking him with her fingers, feeling the size of him from base to tip. He cupped her ass in his hands, inhaling and exhaling in short, shaky breaths. The hairs on her nape and down her spine stood on end with each exhalation.
"Goddess..." he uttered in a breathy whisper as she continued to stroke him up and down, familiarizing herself with him. Imagining the feel of him inside her as she closed her eyes. "I won't last long if you keep touching me like that."
"I want to feel you," she asserted
"Me too..." he murmured, pressing his lips to her neck.
His fingers reached between her legs and found her little pleasure nub. Stroking it gently, fireworks exploded up her spine and she straightened up as a sharp shiver quaked through her. Her fingers wrapped around his male member as a noise she'd never made before escaped her quivering breath.
He teased her lower lips, rubbing his finger up and down them slowly. It took a few moments for her to adjust to the sensations he was inflicting upon her before she resumed stroking him—until he slipped a finger inside her.
A shudder seized her. She stilled, raking her teeth over her bottom lip as she focused on the slight movements of his finger sliding in and out slowly, deeper each time. The need to buck her hips against him grew as she murmured his name again.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice low and husky. His eyes met hers, his pupils so full and large that she could not make out even a sliver of his brown irises.
"Put your hands on my ass," she commanded, rising up higher on her knees and dipping her head to capture his lips again.
When he withdrew and groped her butt cheeks, she stroked his long, strong length and shifted her weight to brush the tip of his head over her slick folds. Beads of milky-white leaked from the tip of him as she mixed his essence with hers.
Their mouths parted, hovering over each other's as their breaths labored in their aching lungs.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too."
He kissed her softly as she pressed the head of his swollen member to the opening between her dripping wet folds. Her breath caught in her throat as she eased down on him, taking him in bit by bit.
She squeezed her eyes shut and drew away from his lips as the pain of her virtue broke. Holding tight to him, he pressed his lips along her jaw, down her neck, and along her shoulders as she adjusted to the size of him. It was greater than she anticipated, filling her completely and she had only taken in half of him before she had stopped.
His kisses continued as her muscles relaxed from the intrusion. No matter how much she desired him, he was still a foreign entity that her body wasn't trained to anticipate.
Gradually, she relaxed enough to take him in a little more and she started kissing his shoulder before finding his mouth again. The pain and discomfort passed and she rocked her hips slowly as she settled herself deeper onto his lap.
He felt good, really good, inside her. So much so that a growl of desire rumbled from her chest. He met hers with his own, biting down on her lip and making her gasp as she rocked her hips harder, needing more but not achieving the desired effect.
She moaned his name as she raked her nailed over his back.
Taking control, he eased her back onto the blanket and slid out to remove his shorts and boxers before uniting with her again. She wrapped her legs around his hips, listening to their bodies and meeting his thrusts as his mouth hungrily devoured hers.
He began slow, propping himself up with one hand while the other groped her breasts, her hips, and her ass. Exploring her body as he enabled her to do the same and adjust to his movements.
With her legs wrapped around his torso, she urged him faster as her pleasure mounted. Her muscles clenched around him as he pulled away from her mouth, panting. The tips of his descended canines glinted in the diminishing light as his flesh shimmered in a thin coat of sweat. She devoured him with her eyes, the vast expanse of muscle across his torso, arms, and shoulders. His eyes likewise drank in the sight of her as his nostrils flared. The smell of their lovemaking was a dizzying concoction of pheromones, desire, and oxytocin that grew stronger and stronger as he carried her higher and higher.
Animalistic noises coupled with the sounds of the pleasure she was experiencing escaped her as his thrusts grew harder, faster, and deeper. She gripped him tightly, her nails biting into his flesh as she neared her peak.
He was close, she could tell by the way he gritted his teeth with feral sounds, half snarls, breaking through the growls and grunts of effort. He was holding himself back, trying to bring her to orgasm before releasing himself.
Two more hard, deep thrusts had her peaking and crying out in ecstasy as he came and sank his canines into her shoulder.
The earth-shattering pleasure was broken by the pain of him marking her, his hips still thrusting as every last drop of his essence spilled into her before he stilled. He shuddered once, twice, and then released his hold on her shoulder and lapped up the wound with his tongue.
Her shoulder ached and after licking her wounds numerous times, he withdrew and applied pressure with his hand.
His shoulders heaved with each gulp of air he drew in, his brows knotted, as he remained focused on her shoulder.
"Why isn't this stopping? It should have healed immediately after I marked you," he uttered between pants.
"What do you mean?" She didn't understand. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but it's not healing like it should. And I didn't see your memories. Why didn't you mark me too?" Confusion and hurt flashed in his eyes as he glanced at her and then back on her shoulder.
"I don't know," she admitted in a small voice. "Was I supposed to?"
"Didn't you have an overwhelming desire to?"
She shook her head, no. "My canines didn't even descend."
He hung his head as sadness overtook his features. "I want to be yours too."
She reached up and coaxed him down, tangling her fingers in his hair as she pulled him in for a kiss before pressing her forehead to his. "Maybe next time?"
He closed his eyes and nodded but he didn't seem convinced.
He helped her sit up and tended to her still bleeding mark, cleaning it and applying a bandage before cleaning themselves, dressing, and packing everything up. She felt a little dizzy at first, but once he was done packing everything, the dizziness had passed. Silence gripped him until he was done and offered to carry her to his truck but she declined, assuring him that she was okay. He pulled her close and nuzzled the side of her head with his nose.
He didn't have to say it, but his silence spoke volumes as they walked to his truck.
Even though they were second-chance mates, her true mate was still out there.
No matter how much they loved each other, he would always be second-best.
---- Author's Note ----
Sorry for the wait! Time flies when you're having fun with a sweet little boy! One of my books was also stolen (word for word) and published to Amazon, so I've been dealing with that this past week.
Not sure when the next chapter will be up but you can get the next 8 installments now on Inkitt! Link is in my profile.
Copyright Jo Lee Hunt ( Joflower ) 2020-2022