Page 26 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
“No.”His response was immediate and fierce.“What’s between us is real.The pull merely recognizes compatibility that already exists.It doesn’t create feelings that aren’t there.”
I set down my food, suddenly not hungry despite the primal satisfaction of eating what we’d hunted.“So this attraction has been driving you crazy since we met?”
A rueful smile curved his lips.“From the moment you snarked at me on the plane.My wolf recognized something in you that I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.”
“That’s why you were so determined to hate me,” I realized.“You were fighting the attraction.”
“Trying and failing.”His admission carried the weight of surrender.
The intensity of his gaze made my breath catch.“And what happens if we give in to it?”
Tanner moved closer, the heat of his body radiating outward, surrounding me in his scent, wild and masculine.“For shifters, physical intimacy can trigger a mating claim,” he explained, voice dropping to a low rumble that vibrated through me.“It’s permanent, Felicity.A lifetime bond that goes beyond anything humans experience in marriage.My claim would mark you as mine in ways visible to other shifters.”
“A claim,” I repeated, testing the word that should have sounded possessive and archaic but instead sent heat spiraling through my core.“Like a bite?”
His eyes flashed amber at my words.“Yes.During the height of passion, the claim manifests physically.The mark never fades.”
I should have been repulsed.Or at minimum, concerned about the implications of supernatural bondage to a man I’d only known for mere days.Instead, I felt a surge of longing so powerful it stole my breath.
“And if I wanted that?”The question emerged as barely a whisper, yet his enhanced hearing caught it easily.
His hand rose to cup my cheek, thumb tracing my lower lip with exquisite gentleness that belied the predator I knew lived beneath his skin.“Then you need to be absolutely certain.Because once done, it can never be undone.You would be bound to me, as I would be to you, for all our days.”
“Would it change me?”I asked, practical even in this most impractical of moments.“Make me like you?”
He shook his head.“The claim doesn’t transform humans into shifters.But it would bind our lives together.Our emotions would become entangled.You would feel my presence even when we’re apart.”
“And if I said no?If I wasn’t ready for something so permanent?”
Pain flashed briefly in his eyes, but his voice remained steady.“Then we continue as we are.I would never force a claim on an unwilling mate.Never.”
The fierce sincerity in his voice settled something within me.Whatever else Tanner Roberts might be, he was a man of honor.A man who had risked his life to protect me.A man whose kiss had ignited something I’d never felt before.
“I don’t know if I believe in fate,” I said slowly, holding his gaze.“Or destiny, or supernatural bonds.But I do know that I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.Human or shifter, CEO or wolf, I want all of you, Tanner.”
A shudder ran through his powerful frame at my words.“Are you certain, Felicity?Once claimed, there’s no going back.”
In answer, I closed the distance between us, pressing my lips to his in a kiss that contained no hesitation, only certainty.His response was immediate and overwhelming, his arms wrapping around me as he deepened the kiss.
When we broke apart, both breathing heavily, I whispered against his lips, “I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
That was all the permission he needed.With a growl that was more wolf than man, he pulled me onto his lap, lips claiming mine with a hunger that matched the wild setting of our shelter.His hands moved with reverent possession over my body, stripping away layers of clothing as if they offended him, revealing my skin to the firelight and his burning gaze.And then, I returned the favor, removing every last barrier between our bodies.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, lips trailing down my neck to the sensitive junction of shoulder and throat.“Mine.”
The possessive declaration should have sparked my independence, triggered my lifelong resistance to being owned or controlled.Instead, it ignited something ancient and feminine within me, a desire to be claimed by this magnificent creature who had chosen me.
“Yours,” I whispered back, my fingers tangling in his hair as his mouth explored newly exposed skin.“And you’re mine.”
Tanner loomed over me, his massive frame blocking out everything but the heat in his gaze.My pulse pounded in my throat, not just from desire, but from the weight of what we were about to do.A lifetime bond.Forever.The word should have terrified me, but all I felt was a deep, aching rightness.
His hands were gentle as they framed my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones.“You’re shaking,” he murmured, his voice rough but soft.“Tell me you’re sure.”
I swallowed hard.“What if it’s too much?”His size terrified me.My fingers trembled against his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heart beneath my palm.This wasn’t just sex.This was surrender.And yet, as his hands traced my skin, leaving trails of fire in their wake, I realized something terrifying.I wanted to surrender to this man.To this beast.My wolf.
His lips curled into something almost tender.“Then we stop.Always.”His fingers traced down my throat, over my collarbone, each touch deliberate, worshipful.
A shiver ran through me as his hands slid lower.The cool cave air hit my skin, but his heat followed, his palms smoothing over my ribs, my waist, like he was memorizing every inch.When his mouth found my nipple, I arched into him with a gasp.
