Page 92 of Mortal Shift
“I’ll teach you to burn the whole fucking world down,” he vowed, biting at my lip.
He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist, my need for him burning through me like phoenix fire, transforming me into something stronger, hungrier. More.
The fabric separating me from his touch suddenly chafed too much, and I broke contact with his mouth for just long enough to yank my shirt over my head and toss it aside before my lips claimed his again.
He carried me to the bed and tossed me down, and fervor burned in his eyes as they raked over my body, taking in every inch of me with the rapture of a man gazing upon a goddess. A shiver ran through me and I reached for him, pulling him down on top of me. He came willingly, readily, and his lips worshiped my throat, planting a soft nip there before trailing a river of kisses between my breasts. My breathing hitched and I squirmed to his touch, my hips thrusting up of their own accord.
I tugged at his shirt, frustrated by yet more fabric keeping him from me. Obligingly, he flexed his shoulders, letting me pull the white t-shirt free. I glanced at it for only a split second before tossing it aside and turning my attention to my prize. I’d seen him naked before, of course, but now I allowed myself to enjoy him, to drink in his sculpted chest and taut abs, his broad shoulders and powerful arms that were supporting his weight above me. And then my eyes drifted to the ugly scar marring his utter perfection—the one he’d taken for me.
“No regrets,” he murmured, following the direction of my thoughts. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
I growled at that, because I didn’twanthim being hurt for me. I didn’t want anyone to lay a claw or fang on him, and I would gladly destroy anyone who tried.
Cole chuckled at my ferocity, which seemed a little disrespectful of my righteous rage, so I tilted my hips a little and rubbed against him. He let out a ragged gasp and I felt him growing harder still through his pants…which, now that I thought about it, should most definitely not still be in our way.
He seemed to reach the same conclusion as me because he rolled aside and started to shed them. We worked quickly through our clothes, stripping them in a near-frenzy and tossing them aside until it was just me and him on the bed, very naked.
He made to cover me with himself again but I moved faster, planting a hand on his chest and pushing him onto his back. He tensed but went with it, and I rewarded him with a kiss before I straddled him, reaching down to caress his magnificent cock. He sucked in a sharp breath and jerked in my hands, and with a mischievous grin, I brushed my thumb over his tip.
“Fuck,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Yes, that’s the idea,” I said, then leaned forward to capture his mouth. He didn’t let me have my own way this time, challenging me for control of the kiss, our tongues locked in a silent duel for dominance that held me enthralled.
But I wouldn’t yield. I nipped at his lips and he nipped at mine, and then his hands were on my breasts, teasing my nipples, each touch sending an electric spark through me. I groaned low and loud, and vowed revenge on him even as he took control. My lips swore that I would always challenge him, in this and everything else, and his lips welcomed me to try.
So try I did.
My hands slipped between our legs and I teased him with feather-light touches. His hands jerked to my hips, guiding me to him.
I locked eyes with him, and slowly, with delicious deliberation, took him inside me.
Stars exploded behind my eyes and for a second I couldn’t remember how to breathe. Couldn’t remember my own name. Couldn’t remember anything but this utter fucking perfection.
Then we were rolling, and I didn’t know which of us had done it but he was on top of me, demanding control again, seizing control, dominating me as he met my every need. Rolling my head back, I gave myself over to him, meeting each thrust of the brutal pace he set.
He thumbed my nipple again, sending heat spiraling from my core, and bent his head to my neck, nipping at the tender flesh and drawing another ragged gasp from my throat. His tongue lathed me and I could feel my release racing toward me, I just needed…needed…
“Cole,” I gasped, mindless with desire, unable to voice what I needed but he seemed to know anyway. His mouth closed over mine and he buried himself to the hilt one final time, sending me spiraling into the abyss with a scream. He followed me over the edge and then collapsed beside me, and we both sank back to the bed, utterly spent.
Chapter Thirty-One
I felt better than I had in months—ever, maybe. Last night’s activities had left me with a delicious ache, but there was something else, too. Something that couldn’t be as easily identified. I felt…lighter, somehow. Like some insurmountable weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The weight of fighting whatever had been going on between Cole and I, maybe. Whatever it was, it feltgood.
Not that I was going to admit that to Cole, of course. I didn’t want him getting too full of himself…though I was fairly certain that ship had already sailed. Neither of us mentioned what had happened between us when we headed down to breakfast the following morning, but I was pretty sure the other shifters noticed something was up. For one thing, we never actually ate together. Having a knife when I was next to Cole was far too big a temptation when he was dedicating his life to being an asshole. Still, I sent him a couple of dirty looks to throw them off the scent.
He stuck by my side as we headed down to our shifting lesson, a possessive energy rolling off him when anyone looked my way. We were halfway to the meadow when I grabbed his sleeve and tugged him into a cluster of trees.
“You need to knock that off,” I told him.
“What?” He seemed genuinely confused, a small V forming in his forehead.
“The whole possessive attitude. You need to knock it off if you don’t want everyone to know something happened between us.”
“Who says I don’t want everyone to know?”
“You…do?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
