.Epilogue .

Deven hadn't planned on making such a romantic gesture, but by the time they reached the hotel, got checked in and reached the fancy top floor honeymoon suite… Tessa was about to drop from exhaustion.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?"

She stood up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss over his lips. "I'm good."

"Right…"

She sagged in his arms. "Carry me."

He swept her up and carried her across the threshold like a princess. After kicking the door shut behind him, he headed straight for the bed. "Here Tess, you need to rest." He was more concerned than he let on, fully planning to call Quinn and see if Harley was up to helping with a patient.

He started stripping away her clothing looking for a wound. It would be just like her to hide her injuries.

All the way down to her underwear and he found nothing despite a very thorough search. She hadn't complained even once, staying fast asleep during the whole process.

"La-Rin, can you hear me?" It was his last idea. Maybe the dagger would know what was draining Tessa. "Lar-Rin, I'm worried about Tessa. She's too weak. Can you tell what is happening?"

"Family…?"

He was shocked by the answer. Sure, he'd talked to the thing a couple times now, but he hadn't really expected an answer in words. "Yes, La-Rin, Tessa is family."

"Protect family."

He thought about that for a moment. The dagger did have a way to protect Tessa. "What the shit…" Did it mean what he thought it meant? He jumped up and ran to the window. As far as he could see the weather looked calm and clear. And it had a very slight bluish tint. He'd been happy to see the weather improve but now he had to wonder, had La-Rin been projecting this barrier over them through the whole journey back to San Antonio?

"Is that a barrier?"If this was the size of a barrier that Tess and La-Rin could create without any practice… Shit. This was a skill she really needed to explore and train up.

"Protect."

For now, though, it was too dangerous. Especially since La-Rin didn't seem to understand how to use it without harming Tess. "You have to stop. A barrier that large is draining too much magic from Tessa."

"No protect?" The soft mental tone sounded a bit timid for a dangerously powerful magic weapon.

"We're safe here, La-Rin. There is no need for the barrier."

Like a sigh the air shifted around them. It made him wonder exactly what the barrier was and how it worked. But more importantly, Tessa blinked up at him.

"Hello there."

Had it really been that simple? Turn off the barrier and get an instant cure? "Back at you, my sexy wife."

"Sexy?" She looked down and must have noticed how she was almost naked. "I dreamed you carried me in here. I didn't dream about you starting to be naughty without me."

"I did carry you in and strip off your dirty clothes. But no naughtiness yet. It's bound to be more fun with you awake."

"And I slept through it."

"You did." He couldn't quite tell what she was thinking. But the way she pinched her brows together was very adorable.

"I'm sorry."

He reached out and tucked some of her loose hair back from her slightly bewildered face. "I'm not. You were very cute, sleeping like a kitten in my arms."

"I'm not sure a werewolf should think a kitten is cute."

He slipped out of his own dirty clothes and laid down beside her on the bed. Then he grabbed a blanket folded across the bottom of the bed and pulled it up over them both. "And yet I did." He drew her close inside his embrace.

"Are we going to waste the first night of our honeymoon?"

"Not at all. After a nap I'm planning to rock your world." He'd been too worried about her to start anything now.

"Sure, you will…" She mumbled against his chest. She snuggled in closer to him and drifted off to sleep again.

Sometime later…. Deven came awake to the amazing feel of his wife caressing his cock. He let that thought echo a little inside his head. His wife was teasing him in such a…. wonderful way. If he continued to pretend to sleep, how far would she take her exploration?

She was fully under the blankets, her long legs wrapped around his left calf. While her full attention focused on his aching dick. Her hands moved up and down the length, stroking, petting in a steady pattern that built up the pleasure a little at a time.

Then she shifted closer, and the heat of her breath hit him. And then the light, barely-there touch of her tongue. She moved up and down his length exploring every inch of him.

It was the most exquisite gift of torment she could offer. The sensations were driving him wild, but he didn't dare move.

And when she took him in her mouth… self-control was a thing of the past. So many desires warred within him. To accept her play, or take control? To enjoy the languid pace or grab her hair and use her wildly. No, he might want that someday, but this moment was too precious to spoil for either of them.

He gasped loudly. "Tessa…"

She stilled for the space of one heartbeat. Then she redoubled her efforts.

This woman… meeting her was a miraculous kind of natural disaster. Looking back now, he knew he'd never stood a chance. He would drown in her without uttering a complaint. She was his riptide, the one that would take him places he'd never be brave enough to go alone.

"Tess…" He threw back the blanket.

She pulled back enough to look at him over his twitching cock. "Yes, my husband?"

A thousand answers stalled out on his lips when she licked him from hilt to tip. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? He was already at the brink of completion and nowhere near satisfaction. Torn between wanting her to continue and wanting to take control and fuck her.

"Did you want something, dear?"

Finally, his mind cleared. Why was he trying to make a decision when he could trust her completely? He folded his hands behind his head. "Not at all dear. I am entirely at your mercy."

"From the very beginning."

"And for as long as you wish."

Tessa was entranced by his happy relaxed smile. She had one handsome husband. And he was willing to give up control to her. Not that she'd ever really given him a choice.

She'd enjoyed his every reaction while he pretended to sleep. But she was getting greedy and wanted more than just to tease. If he'd asked her to continue, she'd have been happy to do so. She gave his shaft a final nibble before rising up and kneeling before him.

She was still in her underwear, but that seemed kind of pointless. She reached out for his Valàfrn magic and used it to dissolve the cloth.

He gasped. "I didn't know you could do that."

"I couldn't until you accepted me." Her fingers danced up over his hard abdomen. "I can sense your wolf within me. Once I understood your magic, I knew how you felt, even if you never said the words. Of course, I still hope you say them to me."

"What words do you want to hear?"

"I love you." She slid astride him, leaning forward until her lips were a breath away from his. "Although I do want to hear you say the words, it's far more important that I feel them in your heart."

"And do you feel it?"

"Oh yeah." Her hand moved between them to capture his shaft. "I do feel it."

"What do you know, so do I." His fingers sank into her hair and cupped her head, pulling her close enough to whisper a kiss across her lips. "I love you. I will love you forever."

"Deven." She shifted her weight and sank down over him, bringing them together in a rush of magic. This was a kind of spark that she understood. He was hers and she was his. They were destined to be two parts of one whole.

"You know I'm not human."

"I do."

"When I say forever, I mean for-fuckin-ever." He dragged her close long enough to roll them over and take the top. "Is it still what you want?"

"Forever has never sounded so wonderful."

He drove deep into her over and over.

Until thought was impossible. There was plenty more to say but it could wait. After all, they had forever. She gave into the sensation, letting the pleasure crash through her in one wave after another, each wilder than the last. She crested time and again.

And then he was there at the brink with her and together they plunged over the edge.

While they slowly came back to earth, she found her thoughts drifting again. How lucky was she that she'd found the man she wanted and was actually able to be with him? All her life she'd hoped to find a partner who could accept and love her for who she was. She'd believed that particular future would always be just beyond her reach.

She snuggled closer to his chest and caught his hand in hers.

After meeting Deven she'd known he would be that man. That her love story was going to have the perfect fairytale ending. All she had to do was keep fighting for that happiness.

Deven pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He was more than half asleep. His arms tightened slightly, and he whispered sleepily, "Love you, Tess."

It really was a dream. Almost too good to be true. Like she was the princess in a fairytale and tomorrow would be the first day of their very own happy ever after.

The End