Page 61 of Broken Forced Mate
Raegan stands and moves around the desk until she's standing right in front of me. "We're both adults, Wyn. We can stop pretending what happened in the armory was just physical when we both know there's more to it."
"Can we?" I ask, meeting her eyes. "Because I'm not sure I can be around you without wanting things I shouldn't."
“And what do we both want?”
“To not be alone. To feel something other than fear and responsibility for a few hours. To stop pretending that whathappened in the armory was a mistake when we both know it wasn’t.”
“Raegan—”
“I’m not asking for declarations of love or promises about the future,” she interrupts. “I’m asking for one night where we stop fighting what’s between us and see what happens.”
Before I can overthink it, before the rational part of my brain can list all the reasons this is a bad idea, I lean down and kiss her.
Her lips are soft under mine, and she tastes like the coffee we’ve been drinking all evening. When she slips her tongue between my lips, I suck on her tongue for a moment before meeting it with mine. I stand and lift her, carrying her toward the door.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“Somewhere with an actual bed. Somewhere I can take my time with you.”
My house is only a short walk from where we’ve been working, but it feels like miles with Raegan’s weight in my arms and her scent filling my head. By the time I set her down beside my bed, my wolf is practically vibrating with need.
But I meant what I said. I want to take this slow.
I start with her hands, lifting each one to my lips and pressing soft kisses to her palms, her wrists, and the sensitive skin of her inner arms. She shivers at the contact, and I feel her response through our bond—surprise mixed with pleasure, the way her wolf recognizes mine even when her human side fights against it.
I move my lips up her arms to her shoulders, where I push the fabric of her shirt aside to access more skin. She tasteslike salt, and it makes my wolf growl with possession deep in my chest.
The sound makes her breath catch, and I feel the way her body responds to the evidence of my wolf’s desire for her. Her scent changes, becomes richer, more intoxicating.
“Wyn,” she breathes.
“Tell me what you want,” I request as my hands find the hem of her shirt, but don’t move to remove it yet.
“Everything. I want all of you, not just the parts you think are safe to share.”
I pull her shirt over her head slowly, giving her time to change her mind, to pull away if she wants. But she doesn’t. Instead, she reaches for my shirt, and she starts to work at the buttons.
When we’re both bare from the waist up, I take a moment to really look at her. She’s not the uncertain girl from three years ago or even the angry woman from our wedding night.
This is my mate, my partner, strong and beautiful, and willing to fight beside me instead of just letting me fight for her.
“You’re perfect,” I tell her, meaning every word.
“No, I’m not. But maybe that’s okay.”
Her hands explore the planes of my chest, and her fingers run over old scars and newer wounds from recent conflicts. When she touches a particularly sensitive spot near my collarbone, I hiss softly at the sensation.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. Feels good. Everything you do feels good.”
That earns me a smile, the first genuinely happy smile I’ve seen from her in years. It makes something tight loosen in my chest, some knot of worry I didn’t even realize I was carrying.
I guide her backward until her legs hit the edge of the bed, then help her lie down while I work at the fastenings of her pants. She lifts her hips to help me slide them down her legs along with her underwear, and then she’s completely naked.
The sight steals my breath. Her skin looks silver in the moonlight streaming through the window, highlighting every curve on her body. My wolf wants to claim, to mark, to make sure everyone knows she belongs to me. But the human part of me wants to worship, to show her with touch and taste exactly how much she means to me.
“You’re staring,” she teases, but there’s no self-consciousness in her voice.
