Page 39 of The Wolf King's Demand

Tyler took her hands in his and gazed deeply into her eyes. She seemed to understand he was about to say something serious, and her laughter subsided.

He smiled at her lovingly and then kissed her hands.

“I want to bond with you. Here and now.”

TWENTY-THREE

ADDISON

For a moment, all she felt was shock.

The mating bond? Here? Now? In her childhood treehouse?

She had been told about the mating bond when she was just a young girl. It was the piece of being a shifter that she was allowed to take part in. A shifter and their partner would have sex, and at the moment of climax, the shifter would bite their partner. The mark from the bite was permanent, and more than that, it would leave a scent that any other shifter would smell and recognize.

But that wasn’t Addison’s favorite part. What had thrilled her was that the bite left a piece of the shifter with the partner. Using the mark, someone who was mate bonded with a shifter could communicate thoughts to them across a distance, and the shifter could send their own thoughts back. Some people even said that the partner could call on the strength of the shifter through their mark.

The mating bond was a choice made for life. Once that connection was formed, it could never be broken. And Tyler was proposing to do it with no forethought, totally spontaneously.

It was only after she had run through all the reasons it was a bad idea that she realized just how much she wanted it.

“Are you serious?” she asked. “Like, do you actually mean it?”

“I’ve never been more serious,” he said.

This was entirely against Tyler’s nature. He was used to being cautious and careful. He never made a decision for the kingdom without consulting its history. He surrounded himself with people he trusted totally, and he never took half-measures when it came to security.

Addison knew how startling it was for him to say this. They both knew the elaborate courtly ritual he was supposed to go through to woo her in a way that would satisfy both custom and his people.

But there was a cozy little bed in the corner, suggesting maybe this was the right time after all.

“I want to,” she said finally. “But it’s not just about us, is it? There’s the whole kingdom to be thought of.”

“What about them?” Tyler returned. “They like me. They’ll learn to like you.”

“That doesn’t sound like you.” Addison was clearly hesitant, but the desire was rising in her. She was trying to come up with a reason to say no, and he refused to give her one.

“You’re right, it doesn’t,” he said, stepping closer and setting his hand on her waist. “That’s part of what I love about you. You bring out sides of me I don’t even recognize.”

“I like this side of you,” Addison whispered, leaning against his chest. Tyler stroked her hair with his other hand.

“Then, is that a yes?”

Addison paused, thinking about everything the mating bond implied. And then she thought about all the things she had experienced with Tyler. She thought about him saving her from the killer, about Cassia, and about all the small, quiet moments that they had spent together.

There was only one answer.

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

Without a moment’s pause, Tyler tossed her onto the bed. Barely a moment after she landed, he was on top of her. He fondled her breasts through her shirt and bit her gently, then less gently on the neck. None of these were the mating bond, but they were in preparation.

Both of them pulled their clothes off and threw them away carelessly. The mating urge rose in both of them. Addison sensed the power of his wolf form running through his body. He was strong and assertive as he practically ravaged her.

That was the nature of the mating urge. It was the one moment when their bestial, wolf side could join with their thinking, human one. They could give in to an animalistic passion because that hunger was also full of human love and connection.

“I love you,” she said. “I love you forever.”

Tyler ran his nails over Addison’s skin, careful not to scrape or draw blood. Addison shivered at the sensation.

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