Page 13 of Emberly

He eased from her lips and let out a growl, sliding one hand under her hips and lifting her lower body from the couch.

"Ah, fuck!" she cried out as he pounded into her.

She kissed and nipped his jaw and throat, panting for breath as they moved together, bodies straining, hearts aligning.

Her pussy fisted his cock like a vise as she came a second time. He wouldn't have been able to stop coming if the world was ending. Gritting his teeth to stifle his roar of happiness so he didn't deafen her, he dropped his head to her shoulder, breathing hard as his cock spasmed and twitched within her heated walls.

"So good," she whispered, stroking up and down his back.

"The best," he said. He kissed her throat and sucked a bit of flesh into his mouth, biting gently. She shivered and he smiled, kissing the light bruise he'd made.

His gums ached as his body soared from the heavens, his mind spinning with bliss and his chest heaving. His fangs, which had descended several times during their lovemaking, re-emerged when they’d made love a second time after moving to the bedroom. Emberly was sprawled over him like a blanket, her head on his chest.

She lifted her head slowly and pushed her hair from her eyes. Then she reached for his mouth, her finger grazing the tip of his fang.

“I thought you might bite me.”

He closed his eyes for a moment until he was sure that his lion wasn’t going to just pounce on her. When he was sure he was fully in control of his beast, he looked at her and said, “I wouldn’t do that without making sure you understood what it meant.”

“You told me it’s like marriage.”

“Yeah, but you can’t divorce a mate, sweetness. Once I mark you as mine, that’s it for me. You might be able to walk away from me, but my heart would be yours forever.”

“That’s a bad thing?” She arched an eyebrow and wiggled on him, his cock springing to life.

He groaned. “Not remotely. But there’s stuff we should talk about.”

She gave him a long look, seeming to see right through him. Finally, she said softly, “Like the reason you didn’t take your pants off?”

Chapter Six

Em didn’t like putting Diesel on the spot, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that she was entirely naked, and he was only undressed from the waist up. The first time they’d made love on the couch, he’d pushed his jeans down far enough to free his cock and that was it. She’d thought at the time that it might be because of where they were, and he was just too hurried. But then he’d carried her to the bedroom, and they’d made love a second time, and it hadn’t escaped her notice that nothing about his clothing had changed.

Which reminded her of the twinge of pain she’d witnessed.

He opened his mouth but didn’t say anything, his eyes shadowing and his mouth drawing into a frown. She put her fingertip on his lips and said, “I know something’s wrong with one or both of your legs. I can’t imagine that you think I’m your forever girl but you don’t want to let me see what’s up with your body. I brought you home with me, Diesel. I might not entirely understand this whole heart-match thing, but I get it enough to know that I want to be with you. And not just because you sexed me up so good.”

She stopped speaking and waited for him to say something.

He cast his gaze to the ceiling and let out a gruff sigh.

“I fell out of a tree when I was younger. Shifters have a higher rate of healing than humans, but it gets stronger once we’re able to shift. I was too young to shift. The break was so bad that I needed multiple surgeries. By the time I could shift, the damage was permanent and no amount of shifting made it better. And trust me, I tried.”

He went quiet again. She rested her head on her upturned hand and laid her free hand over his heart. She could feel the steadythump-thumpunder her palm, and a part of her felt grounded to it and even more connected to him.

“I’m not high ranked in the pride. My leg makes me a liability in just about every aspect of being a male of worth.”

Em frowned. “I didn’t understand half of what you just said.”

He rolled to his side taking her with him, their bodies separating. She rested her head on his biceps and he placed his hand on the curve of her waist.

“The pride males are ranked by strength and ability. When we’re teens and can shift, we start rank fights. Every male starts at the bottom, which we call an omega position – the lowest in rank. My leg aches because the muscles are screwed up from the injury and the surgeries. Even in my shift, I can’t run as fast as other males. So while I’m a good fighter in both forms, I can’t keep up with fast game and that means I can only rise so high in the ranks.”

She ran her thumb along the swell of his bottom lip and rubbed her cheek on his biceps. “Lions are pretty wrapped up in rank?”

He nodded. “There are females who only care about a male’s rank. If he’s not whole in some way, if he’s low ranked because of it, then they won’t consider him for a mate.”

She stared at him for a long moment, sorting through what he’d said. It was far and away from anything she’d ever heard, but since she knew jack squat about shifters, she had no idea if it was the same for every type. Not that it mattered. Diesel was a lion and she was already crazy about him. Already half in love. Already entirely ready to spend the rest of her life with him.

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