Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Raura

A week later

I stand with my back against the door, staring into my small apartment, where Riot is poised in the center of the living room, looking back at me. It’s hard to believe that it was just days ago that he’d made love to me on that very rug. And then left me, thinking he’d never return.

“So much has changed,” I say softly. His eyes meet mine, and I melt a little. I melt even more when he walks toward me, his steps slow and steady.

“All the right things have changed,” he says as he reaches me. Raising a hand, he traces his finger over my cheek, plucking out one of the blossoms that’s been threaded into my hair. He trails the soft petals over my skin and across my lips, then leans forward and kisses them.

It takes the breath from me. When he lifts his head, I’m still trying to breathe.

“You’re so goddamned lovely,” he murmurs, his eyes reverent.

“You’re not so bad yourself…mate.” I smile at him.

He lifts an eyebrow. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean, ‘not yet’?” I frown at him. “The ceremony…”

“The ceremony was beautiful.” He kisses me again, and my pulse pounds. “I thought they’d make us wait forever to have it.”

“A week is hardly forever.” I grin at him. “Besides, there’s been so much to do. The Consortium’s files had to be accessed…sorted… Plans made to rescue—”

He stops me with another kiss, and my knees go weak; they always do when he kisses me. “All very important details,” he says when he raises his head again, his eyes still fixed on my mouth. “But I would have announced our union the moment we got back to Steel Lakes.”

“Couldn’t do that, silly! Nobody even knew you then.”

“They know me now,” he emphasizes.

“Yes.” I cup his cheek. “You’re the one who’s going to make sure we save all the lost wolves.” I feel pride swell in my chest. It’s been like that ever since he volunteered to take on the assignment. “You’re going to see that we find them, Riot. Whoever’s still out there. I know you will.”

He nods solemnly, finally tearing his eyes from my mouth and gazing into mine. “But there’s something else I have to do that’s just as important.”

“There is?” I ask coyly.

“Mm-hmmm…” His lips are on mine again, and God, I could do this all day. “We need to seal this union, Raura,” he says against my mouth.

“But we just—” I stop short and gasp as he trails kisses along my jawline down my throat and then stops at the curve where my neck meets my shoulder. Gooseflesh shudders over me as his teeth graze my skin.

“Ohhh…” I sigh out, then gasp again as he bends slightly and scoops me up against him. Long strides eat up the short distance to my – our – bedroom, where he sets me down beside the bed.

“I need to see my mark here.” He strokes my throat. I swallow hard, nodding. It’s the next logical step, and I’ve been waiting for the moment, needing it.

“Yes,” I say hoarsely.

“You are beautiful.” His eyes are stormy as they rake over me, making my pulse hitched. “But you’re going to look even better when you’re marked as mine.” Before I can react, his hands are on my shoulders, quickly and expertly untying the straps that hold my dress up. It’s a frothy concoction of lace and floral chiffon that slides off me and pools at my feet, revealing my bare skin beneath, naked aside from a scrap of lace that passes as panties.

A shiver runs down my body, and his eyes flash dangerously as he takes in my reaction.

“God. Look at you,” he murmurs, stepping closer. His voice is deep and raw, every word a caress. His big hands come to my hips, leaving a trail of fire wherever he touches me.

I inhale sharply as he lowers his head and trails kisses down my throat, biting and sucking at the spot he touched earlier. My fingers stroke over his hair, pulling him closer. The moan that leaves my lips is a wanton sound that breaks free from deep within.

“That’s right, gorgeous… Let me hear it.” He nips at my ear, sending sparks scattering down my spine. “Tell me how much you want me.”

I gaze up at Riot, feeling the heat building between us. “I never thought I wanted a mate,” I confess breathlessly. “Not until the day I saw you.”

His eyes blaze into mine as he strokes a hand down my body possessively, palm caressing my naked curves. “I felt the same way, gorgeous. The moment our eyes met, it was like…I was yours.”

I shiver at the raw desire in his voice. My hands roam over the firm planes of his chest as I continue. “I’ve wanted you since then. Every moment. You’ve been all I could think of.” I trace the ridges of his abdomen, feeling the muscles tense beneath my fingertips.

Riot’s breath catches, his eyes darkening. His hands grip my waist, pulling me flush against him. Heat pools between my thighs as I feel the thick ridge of his cock pressing into me.

“You’re everything to me, Riot. My mate, my love, my life,” I whisper feverishly.

A low growl rumbles from his chest as he claims my lips in a toe-curling kiss. Our tongues duel frantically as my nails rake down his back. He walks me backward until the backs of my knees hit the bed. I sit down abruptly, leaning back on my palms and gazing up at him, lips parted.

He stands at my knees, tall and powerful, raw energy shimmering from him. It makes my thighs clench together. They clench tighter when he unbuttons his shirt and lets it drop from his shoulders.

My God…just look at him!

“You have no idea how much I want you.” His voice is husky as his eyes roam over me, devouring me as if he’s starving. My breath hitches as his fingers curl into the waistband of his jeans and slowly tug downward, revealing inches of skin, the tight flex of his abdomen. A hollow ache deep within me reverberates as he continues his slow, torturous movement.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” he murmurs, sliding the jeans over his hips. As he leans forward to remove them, his mouth presses to my neck, just below my earlobe. Then he straightens, allowing me a view of his sculpted belly and the patch of coarse hair that runs in a line from his navel downward.

I pull in a jagged breath, waiting as he drops his pants down his legs. Finally, his jeans join my discarded dress on the floor, followed shortly by his boxers, and he stands there, gloriously naked. I lick my lips.

He’s freaking magnificent!

My eyes shamelessly scan him from his broad shoulders to the hard lines of his chest down to the tightly defined muscles of his stomach and powerful thighs, where the thick length of his cock juts out proudly.

I bite my lip as I remember those thighs bracketing me, moving in a steady cadence. My core clenches at the memory of grinding down on that cock. I slide my hands over his hips, needing to touch him, to assure myself that he’s really here. Really mine.

Putting his hands over mine, he slows my movements. “I want to touch you,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine. I nod slowly.

His hands move to my hips, thumbs hooking beneath the elastic of my underwear and slowly dragging them downward. My breath hitches as the cool air touches my heated skin, and my thighs part in invitation. Wherever he touches me, my skin tingles.

“You’re so sensitive.” His fingers trail light, teasing patterns over my bare flesh, arousal slamming into me as he strokes between my legs, coating his fingers with my moisture. “So hot and wet for me.”

I can’t answer, only moan as he explores, teasing me until I’m writhing against him, desperate for more. Needing more. I buck my hips instinctively, silently pleading for him to take me, to fill me with his thick, hard length.

“Soon,” he promises, chuckling deep in his throat and sending vibrations through me. “I want you so much, Raura,” he says hoarsely, his fingers gliding through the curls over my mound and circling my clit.

My fingers dig into his shoulders, skin to skin, my breathing already shallow from the urgency building within me. I thrust my hips upward greedily. “Please…” I gasp, needing more friction. Needing him.

A low growl rumbles from his chest. “Not yet.”

I groan out a whine. “Why?” I ask raggedly.

“Because I want to remember every second of this.” His eyes glitter with desire, and my heart pounds as his fingertips graze the entrance of my pussy. My thighs slide wider apart.

“You’re exquisite.” His breath fans over my skin as he bends his head and his lips close over my nipple, teasing the rigid peak gently with his teeth. Fire sparks within as his fingers slip easily inside me, thrusting shallowly.

“Oh! God…Riot!” I cry out, moving with him.

“You make me crazy, gorgeous,” he pants, bending to latch onto my other nipple and sucking hard. Groaning, I throw my head back as his fingers delve deeper, stretching me, filling me, his thumb still stroking my clit in mind-blowing rhythm.

“R-Riot…” I pant. “Please…”

“Tell me.” His voice is low and ragged, eyes blazing as he watches his hand moving in and out of my body.

My muscles flutter around his fingers, and I cry out hoarsely, bucking my hips. “Please…I need you inside…”

“God, yes.” He slides his fingers from me, making me whimper. Riot’s eyes are slate-gray with desire as he guides me backward onto the bed. The mattress shifts as he climbs onto it, pulling me against him until I’m straddling him. Then his hands are on me, slowly lowering me onto his rock-hard length.

“Oh! Oh, God!” I choke out as he slides inside my body, making my eyes water with his sheer size. My fingers grasp his shoulders, holding him to me, moaning softly when his lips move to mine in a deep, mind-numbing kiss.

His hips begin to move, building a slow, powerful rhythm as he thrusts into me, filling me, completing me. I wrap my legs around his waist, holding him closer, needing him deeper.

The warmth between us grows, spiraling into a fierce flame that quickly becomes a firestorm. Our movements become frantic.

“You’re so tight, gorgeous. So perfect,” he groans, his voice raw. His hips grind up in a quick, hard, staccato rhythm, his fingers gripping my hips, guiding our movements.

Gasping, I fling my head backward, my chest heaving as my pussy clenches down on his cock. His teeth graze my throat, then his tongue soothes the sensitive skin his teeth have just touched. My body reacts instinctively, my core muscles spasming around his rigid flesh as a wave rushes through me.

“Now,” he pants, his hips pounding into me. “Mark me, my love.”

I don’t hesitate. Tilting my head, I settle my teeth over the spot where his pulse flutters wildly, feeling them extend just a little and then sink in.

“Raura!” he chokes out. His cock pushes deep inside me, locking in as my muscles clamp tight and a flood of pleasure crashes over me. The taste of him in my mouth makes it feel like he’s part of me. It’s too much, and it’s not enough and all at once.

“Oh fuck! Yes!” I moan out a climax against his skin, sobbing his name. He follows me over the edge, his lips closing over my throat as he bites down hard. Pain and pleasure mingle in a rush that sends me over again, winding my arms around his neck as I buck against him.

As our bodies flutter together, all I can hear is the ragged, desperate sound of our breathing. His heart pounds against my skin, and I lift a hand to touch his mark, watching a bead of blood well up around my fingers as I caress him.

He’s mine now, and I’m his.

The arm that’s been supporting him collapses, and we fall bonelessly to the mattress, tangled together and gasping. Riot rolls slightly, still inside me, holding me close; he settles like that, his lips pressed to my hair. I run a lazy hand up and down his back, content to just feel the rise and fall of his chest as he holds me.

“You’re mine,” he says, echoing my thoughts.

I nod, a satisfied smile curling my lips. “And you’re mine,” I tell him. A blissful languor descends on me as he tightens his arms around me, holding me to his chest. The burn on my throat becomes a warm tingle that floods me.

So this is what it’s like…

I sneak a small glance at him. The hard lines of his face are softer than I’ve ever seen them. The demons exorcised. The man who was lost a decade ago is beginning to live again. And he belongs to me now, not some sick psychopath.

“I love you,” I tell him. There’s a long pause. I see the line of his throat work as he swallows.

“I love you too,” he husks out, his voice tight.

I gaze up at Riot in wonder, tracing the contours of his face with my fingertips. The hard lines have softened, the tension eased from around his eyes and mouth. For the first time since I met him, he looks…at peace.

A lump forms in my throat as I think about everything he’s endured to get to this point. The years of torment, the loss of his pack, being torn from his sister and forced into a life of violence and brutality. He’s been so close to losing his humanity entirely.

But now, lying here with me, his body still joined with mine in the most intimate way, I can see the man he was always meant to be emerging.

Tears prick my eyes as I vow silently to do everything in my power to help him reclaim those lost years. To shower him with the love and tenderness he was so denied for all that time.

“Hey,” he murmurs, stroking the hair back from my face. “What’s wrong, gorgeous?”

I shake my head, blinking rapidly to clear the unexpected tears. “Nothing. Everything is…perfect.” I let my fingers trail down the line of his jaw. “I was just thinking how far you’ve come. How much you’ve overcome.”

His brow creases slightly as he studies my face. “It was worth it to find you,” he says. “All of it.”

A tremulous smile curves my lips. “I’m going to spend every day making up for those lost years, Riot. I promise you.”

He exhales a soft sigh, gathering me closer to his chest. His lips brush my forehead in the tenderest of kisses. “Just being here with you…that’s enough. More than I ever dreamed.”

I tilt my head back to gaze into his storm-colored eyes, so full of raw emotion. “We’re going to be so happy,” I whisper fervently. “Our lives are just beginning.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up in a small grin. “Our happy ever after, huh?”

Warmth blossoms in my chest at the certainty in his words. We’ve both been through hell to get here, but our journey is far from over. We have an entire future stretching out before us, ripe with endless possibilities.

“Yes,” I murmur, nestling closer. His arms around me feel so secure and protective. “Our happy ever after.”