More than ready, I hoped.
18
Rourke and I were allowed to enter our bedroom only after Marcy had gone over everything with a fine-toothed spell, opening all the drawers, all the doors, including going out on the terrace, and hitting under the bed. “This is as clean as this room has ever been,” she declared twenty minutes later. “But just to be safe, I’m putting you in a private bubble and adding a few alarms. If anybody comes within ten feet of this room, we’ll all know it. The shrieks will be loud enough to wake the dead.”
I chuckled. “It’s nice to have you around in a pinch. Your witchy skills can save lives.”
She snorted. “Please, anyone stupid enough to approach you unannounced will be thankful for a quick death. I’m just making any interlopers known a bit sooner. That, and so I can sleep without worrying about your big, beautiful head being split open.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I told her. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to my big head either.”
She chortled as she walked out the door. “I can’t help it if you’re beefier than I am. It’s purely genetics. I just call it like I see it.”
I was exhausted.
Once Marcy shut the door, I sat on the edge of the bed and glanced over at my mate. “Do we really get to sleep through the night? I feel like that hasn’t happened in such a long time.”
He sat next to me, tugging me close. I rested my head on his shoulder. “Yes, but it’s only eight p.m.” He chuckled. “I plan to have you well rested, but not before we have some quality time together.” He said the last bit on a rough whisper that sent shivers racing down my spine.
I craved him, my body desperate with need to have him.
The adrenaline of the day was still coiled tightly inside me, ready for some kind of release. I tilted my face up toward his lips, the heat of them searing me before contact.
His mouth was hot, his lips firm.
My hand dove into his hair, holding on. Needing to feel him, forcing him closer, wanting as much as I could get.
He would give everything, like he always did. It was mine for the taking.
I took greedily.
Fire roiled under the surface.
“Mine,” he groaned as he stripped us down and pulled the covers back, each of us mindless, our tongues intertwining. “I need you.”
“Need you more.” I moaned into his mouth as he thrust himself into me in one sure motion. I took him deeply.
The pace was frantic, both of us holding on, never wanting to let go.
This wasn’t about the act.
It was about our love, our passion, and the fear of the unknown.
It was about the two of us and no one else.
My hands gripped his shoulders as he rocked faster. His fullness filling me with each thrust. I wondered if there had ever been another time when I felt so safe and free. My thoughts ran to his cabin in the woods. The place where we had mated and discovered our bond. I yearned to go back, to have a normal life.
“Jessica…” Rourke arched up, his hands racing to my hips, seating me firmly to him.
“I’m there,” I said.
One last thrust, and I broke.
Rourke followed, holding me tightly, his head angled toward the ceiling as he called my name.
Afterward, his lips found mine in a sweet kiss, his hands stroking the sides of my face. “I love you,” he whispered. “Now and forever.”
I pressed my forehead against his, loving his scent. “Now and forever.”