Page 92 of Brody
I wondered if he could sense my thoughts too.
“I can feel you,” he murmured against my hair, answering my unspoken question.“Not words exactly, but… impressions.Emotions.”His lips curved against my skin.“Your mind feels like… lightning contained in crystal.Precise.Beautiful.”
I smiled, exploring the new sense that extended beyond my physical boundaries.“Yours feels like a forest at night.Deep.Watchful.Alive with hidden movement.”
Outside, dawn had arrived in full glory, sunlight streaming through the windows to paint everything in warm gold.Through our connection, I could feel his satisfaction at seeing me bathed in morning light, his contentment at having me in his arms, and beneath it all, a lingering amazement that this was real, that we had found each other again after so long apart.
“I think the first wave has passed,” Brody said after a while, stroking my back in lazy circles.
I raised an eyebrow.“That was just the first wave?”
His smile was both apologetic and anticipatory.“They’ll come faster and more intensely as the day progresses.By tonight…”
“We’ll be insatiable,” I finished for him, feeling a mixture of trepidation and excitement at the prospect.
“Exactly.”He brushed a kiss against my forehead.“We should eat something while we can.Replenish our energy.”
I nodded, though neither of us made any move to leave the bed.“So the mating heat lasts for three days?”
“Give or take,” he said.“The length varies from couple to couple.”
“And what happens after?”I asked, curious about the biology and practical implications alike.
“We return to normal, for the most part,” he said.“Though the mate bond remains stronger than before, and there might be… echoes of the heat during significant events.”
“Significant events?”
His smile turned slightly shy, an expression I found endearing on his usually confident face.“Major life changes.Celebrations.Times of stress or danger.”
“So basically anytime life gets interesting,” I summarized with a wry smile.
“More or less,” he agreed, laughter dancing in his eyes.“Is that a problem, Dr.Dhahabu?”
I pretended to consider the question seriously.“I suppose I can make adjustments to my research schedule to accommodate periodic bouts of uncontrollable mating frenzy.Though I may need to add a footnote to my papers: Research delayed due to primal shifter instincts.Funding agencies, please adjust timelines accordingly.”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest and into mine.“I can just imagine the grant proposals.Subject requires three-day sabbatical for mate-bond maintenance.”
“Don’t forget the section on equipment needed: one alpha wolf-shifter, with stamina to be determined,” I added, trailing my fingers down his chest with deliberate intent.
His eyes flashed gold at my touch.“I believe that falls under ongoing experimental trials, Professor.”
“How very scientific of you.”I grinned, pressing a kiss to the claiming mark on his neck, feeling his immediate physical response.My inner cheetah stretched languidly, purring with smug satisfaction at having such an effect on the powerful predator beneath me.
“I am, above all things, adaptable,” I replied primly, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that I was completely naked and still draped half across his body.
His expression softened, thumb brushing my cheekbone with infinite tenderness.“You’re extraordinary, is what you are.Stubborn, passionate, and entirely mine.”
“Entirely yours,” I agreed, my heart full, bursting with emotions I’d never expected to feel.“Just as you are entirely mine.”
The mating heat might have been nature’s design, but what had grown between us—the trust, the friendship, the deepening love—that was a choice we made with every touch, every word, every moment shared.And as the sunlight painted his features in gold, I silently thanked whatever cosmic force had given us this second chance.
Because some bonds, as Brody had said, couldn’t be broken.And some journeys, no matter how long or winding, were destined to lead home.
CHAPTER22
ROZI
The Brewstillery lab hummed with activity as I carefully measured the final compound for our serum.Seven days had passed since our return from the COL, three days spent in the Fae cabin riding out the intense mating heat that had consumed us completely followed by four days of relentless work transforming our discoveries into something that could save lives.Behind me, Brody checked the calibration on our testing equipment, his movements precise and efficient.Despite the exhaustion pulling at my muscles, excitement buzzed through my veins like electricity.
