Page 23 of Unbelievable Faith
Chapter 11
Michael forcedhimself to go slowly and be patient even as his wolf growled at him to simply shove Luna against the nearest hard surface and get inside her. He refused to act like an animal. Not with her. Never with her. She deserved his best and he was going to see to it that this first time, their first time, was something beautiful that would help rid her of any badmemories.
After making her come in the shower, he’d made quick work of washing them and then helped her out. He toweled her off with teasing caresses and squeezes. She wiggled against him and shook out her hair when he tried to dry it as well. And then she was there, pressing kisses to his chest, lapping at the water droplets and then his nipples, driving him out of his mind as he rushed through dryinghimself.
“Enough.” He growled, throwing the towel aside and scooping her into hisarms.
Luna giggled when he tossed her over his shoulder and the sound was absolute perfection to his ears. Sweet and slightly husky, happy and full of joy, it was everything he wanted for her, everything he wanted to giveher.
He dropped her to his bed with one simple move and then stared at her for a long moment. He couldn’t get over how good she looked there. Her dark skin against his pale sheets was sexy as hell. Her hair beginning to curl into a wild mess that he couldn’t wait to tangle his fingers in. Her eyes were bright and her full lips were smiling. Naked and unabashed, she stretched out and then crooked a finger at himenticingly.
“Come here,mate.”
He groaned, his mind battling with his body’s desire, “Be sure, Luna. Be completely sure you’re ready forme.”
Her smile softened and her body arched. He watched, fascinated, as she slid a hand down her slim body, over the flat plane of her belly and between her legs. His knees turned to jelly when she widened her thighs so he couldsee.
“I’m ready.” Her voice hitched and his wolf growled as he launched himself onto thebed.
That wasn’t what he’d meant. She knew it. But she didn’t want to have a serious talk right now. She wanted him. She’d made that clear. And since he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath, he gave up fighting his instincts and simply let himself feel the bond that surged betweenthem.
“Mine.” He snarled, pulling her hand away and bringing it to his lips. He sucked her fingers, licking each one and tasting her special brand of sweetness. His wolf all but howled and the man growled possessively. “This ismine.”
Luna leaned up and licked at his tongue as he traced one of her digits. He released her hand and took her mouth. He devoured her, inhaled her, kissed her until there was no more air left in his lungs or even in the room. Still, when he broke the kiss, she whined and twined her arms around him, trying to pull him back formore.
“Michael.”
“Slow.” He groaned, kissing and sucking his way to her ear, “I want to make it good for you. The first time…” He paused, realizing what he’d said and felt Luna tense beneathhim.
She nudged his head back up until they were eye to eye and shook her head seriously, “He didn’t touch me like that. He… He wanted… He wanted us mated but he wasn’t my mate. You’re my mate and you’ll be my first, my last and my only,Michael.”
His heart all but shattered in his chest and he drew in a deep lungful of her scent. The bond surged again as that truth was laid bare between them. Only him, her mate. She would be his in every way. Just as he would behers.
“I waited for you too,baby.”
Her answering smile was sweet as honey, “There’s been no oneelse?”
“Never.” He dropped his forehead to hers, “I’ve waited for you forever,Luna.”
She tilted her chin up and pressed their lips together. She let him kiss her softly this time. Sweetness and purity in the touch that filled him with a hope like he had never known. This was what he’d been waiting for all his life. She was who he’d been made for and now she was here, naked and in his bed, ready for him to take her and claim her, to mark her and mateher.
They kissed for a long time. Hands slowly stroking over each other as their tongues learned every inch of one another. Her skin was hot to the touch, electric, as the bond poured between them, the heat ratcheting up with each moment they put off the claiming. But he didn’t rush and she didn’t try to force him, not even when his wolf brushed against his skin, wanting to rub himself against her and he felt her wolf answer inresponse.
Relief flooded him as he felt her make her presence known. He’d worried. God how he’d worried when she didn’t respond to him immediately. But she was here, with them, now and that was all that mattered. He could feel her there, just beneath the surface, but he couldn’t quite see her. She was playing hide and seek and his wolf bounded inside of him, wanting to catch her and claim her the same way his human half was readying to claimLuna.
“Michael, ” She arched beneath him as he closed his teeth around her earlobe, biting but still not breaking the skin, “Please.”
“Please what?” He kissed herteasingly.
“Make me yours. Please. I feel like… I feellike…”
“Like what?” He looped an arm around her thigh, lifting and widening her so he could notch himself against the warm, wet heat between them. “You feel likewhat?”
“Like I’ll just spin off the planet if you don’t anchor me here to you. Please.” Luna’s nails scored his back as she clutched at him and he groaned, knowing her wolf was as close to the surface as his own. “Please.”
“You’re mine, Luna.” He growled against her neck as he moved, aligning his hips and giving a small thrust that didn’t quite penetrate, “Say it. Say you’re mine and I swear on my life that I’ll honor and protect you, cherish and love you every moment until I leave thisearth.”
It was a lot to ask. He knew that. Reciting vows from a ceremony they hadn’t even discussed. A ceremony that, if he hadn’t found her when he did she might have been forced into by another male. But it was the idea of that, of her not being his, that made the words fall from his lips now soeasily.
