He bit down on her neck and she shuddered as another spike of pleasure pulsed through her. Lifting from her, he shouted her name as he came, his cock thickening inside her as he rocked into her once more and held her tightly.
She went limp, resting her head on his shoulder. Her heart was racing, and her limbs felt like jelly. “I love what you do to me, how we are together.”
“Me too, sweetheart.”
Nuzzling her neck, he kissed the mark he’d made and then carried her to the shower. They were still locked together when he stepped under the spray, which had long since gone cold. She curled her toes with a gasp as the icy water hit her.
“Sorry baby,” he said with a chuckle as he eased her away from him and she put her feet on the ground. “We’ll have to shower fast.”
“And maybe invest in a bigger hot water tank.”
“If I’d had any blood left in my brain, I might have turned the shower off before we played.”
She ducked under the showerhead, biting back a squeal at the frigid water. After washing as quickly as she could, she hopped out and grabbed two towels.
“Brr,” Adam said as he shoved the faucet off with a little more force than necessary. Dani smiled, her teeth chattering as she handed him the other towel.
When they’d dried off, they dressed and walked into the family room. She prepared hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows while he made a fire in the fireplace. She carried the mugs over to the coffee table in front of the fireplace and set them down, settling onto the couch and watching him stare intently into the flames.
“Fire used to bother me,” he said. “For years, actually. Even the scent of burning wood would make me panic.”
He stood slowly and rubbed absently at his thigh. She recognized the motion as something he did when his leg hurt.
“What did you do?”
“I had a teacher in high school, her name was Mrs. Gracin. Her husband was a psychiatrist and she brought him to school to meet with me. The pack doesn’t like it when humans intervene in wolf affairs, so we kept the meetings a secret.”
He dropped heavily onto the couch next to Dani and put his arm around her. She wiggled close. “Why wouldn’t the pack want you to have help? You were very seriously injured because your father was an asshole.”
He kissed the top of her head. “It’s a wolf thing, I guess. I saw Doctor Gracin twice a week during my lunchtime for two years. In the summer, I would call him and we’d talk on the phone when my dad was gone. Without that help, I think I would have spent my whole life being afraid of being burned again.”
She kissed his cheek and hugged him. “I’m glad your teacher saw that you needed help.”
“You had the bears. Were you ever scared of losing them the way you’d lost your family and herd?”
She leaned back, resting her head on his arm. “For a while. The first time Alice shifted to go hunt with the other females, I panicked. I was so scared she was going to be killed. Fayar felt bad for me, and he sent some of his best guards to follow the females. The guards were in their human form and had rifles. He promised me that they wouldn’t let anyone hurt Alice or the other females. Row and I stayed in Fayar’s house with his sons and waited until the females came back. When they were home safe, Fayar said to me, ‘I told you I’d keep them safe, and I’ll keep you safe, too, little reindeer.’”
“I’m glad you found them.”
“Sometimes I think about how dangerous it was and how easily I could have died out in the woods all alone.” She looked at her mate for a long moment. “Even when I was living with the bears, I always figured I would someday mate with a reindeer and have kids, and I’d end up being nomadic like my herd had been.”
“I wish I could have met your family.”
“Me, too. I know they would have liked you.”
She leaned forward and picked up their mugs, handing one to him. The marshmallows had mostly melted, forming a glossy white surface on the top. “I have a lot of wishes about things that could have been different about my past and yours, but I feel like if anything was different we wouldn’t have met. I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t trade you either, Dani.”
They tipped their mugs together until the edges clinked. “To fireplaces and hot chocolate.”
“To us and the rest of our lives.”
She took a sip of the hot brew and sighed happily, leaning against him. It was her turn to stare into the fire, watching the orange and amber flames as they licked at the wood. A day earlier, they’d been getting ready for the full moon. It was hard to believe that so much could have changed in twenty-four hours. She was glad that some things had changed; she and Adam were still together, and their bond was even stronger than it had been before she’d been taken.
Being taken hadn’t made her fear being with Adam. She knew he cared about her safety. Something out of his control had happened, but she had no doubt he would make sure nothing of the sort ever occurred again.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN