Chapter 6

CRESSIDA

6

My mom had told me that my inner animal would know when the time was right to claim a mate, but I hadn't understood how that was possible when there wasn't a man out there who was fated for me. The last thing I ever wanted to do was steal someone from another woman by making them mine, but an instinct deep inside me had somehow known that Aaron belonged to me before I even learned that he'd been rejected by the woman who was supposed to have been his.

With his dark hair and eyes, tall body bulging with muscles, strong jawline, and plump lips, there was no denying that Aaron was hot enough to turn human female's heads. But it was the pain in those brown eyes of his that called to me.

I made the choice to claim Aaron as my fated mate before I even realized what was happening. My heart and soul knew that he was meant to be mine.

"Nope, this is very real," I said, my hand trailing down his arm, his biceps flexing as my fingers ran over each rope of muscle. Then I pinched him so he'd know that he wasn't dreaming. The slight sting was enough to ease his fears, and his lips crashed to mine as he took me in his strong arms.

I gasped into his mouth, and my whole body shivered against his.

I was warm. Protected.

I had found my fated mate. My forever. Finally.

Aaron's lips didn't even break from mine as he lifted me off my feet as though I weighed no more than a feather, carrying me out of Keane and Laina's kitchen.

I didn't even know where he planned to take me. Nor did I care. I was drunk on his touch as I let my body float against his. Feeling every part of the hard lines of his muscular frame against mine.

Then his lips quickly pulled from my mouth, and I immediately missed his touch.

"Can't take you here in the alpha's house, sweetness. We've gotta get to my cabin," he growled, adjusting my body so I was pressed against the wall as he quickly opened the front door.

"Yes, please. But you know I can walk," I protested as he scooped me up again, already trudging forward.

"Not when I can take care of you," he grunted, still going forward.

Twining my arms around his neck, I etched the moment into my memory. The feel of his arms cradling me against his chest. The sun shining down on us as my lips grazed Aaron's cheek. The snow crunching under his boots as he carried me to his home. Our home now.

He groaned, shifting me against him so my legs wrapped around his upper thighs and his bulge pressed against my belly button. "You're making me want to take you right here."

He felt so big against me. I wasn't sure how I would ever even fit his hard length inside me. I was more than willing to find out, though.

"Why don't you?" I whispered, running my tongue down his earlobe, desire coursing through my veins for the first time in my life.

He shivered but kept going, already at the front porch of his cabin. "Because this moment deserves a bed."

As soon as Aaron pushed the door open, his lips were back on mine, sucking the air from my lungs and my soul.

This was really happening.

I'd dreamed about finding the perfect man to claim as my mate for so long, and now this was it. Aaron was mine.

I barely noticed that I was tipping backward until my knees hit the soft comforter, and the rest of my body was enveloped in the softest mattress I'd ever laid my head on.

Aaron's lips trailed from my lips and down my neck before he whispered, "I want to feel more of you, sweetness. Can I touch you?"

"Yes, please," I murmured, already gripping the soft sheets with my fingertips.

His hands slowly trailed down my sweater, pulling it off as if it were delicate tissue paper and not some random thing I'd tossed on before hitting the road this morning.

His heated gaze met mine as he slowly hovered his lips over the lace of my bra, his warm breath covering my already hardened nipples. Then his large hands grasped my chest and pulled down the lacy fabric. Before my body could adjust, his mouth was on my nipple, swirling the hardened bud in his mouth.

An electric zing shot through me, and I ached for more of him. As I ran my fingers through his thick hair, little whimpers escaped my mouth while I pushed my chest toward his mouth.

"Do you like that, sweetness?" he said through a deep chuckle, running his tongue along my exposed breast and trailing it toward the other.

"Yes," I managed to breathe.

"I love your sweet scent. Can I taste more of it?" he asked, peppering me with a trail of kisses down my stomach, stopping right above the waistband of my jeans.

He inhaled deeply. "You smell like heaven, sweetness. Need to taste you."

"Yes. Please taste me," I murmured, unable to hold back my panting.

He pulled down my jeans and panties, tossing them aside somewhere with my sweater.

It was the first time I'd been naked and so exposed in front of someone.

But the way Aaron looked at me—worshipped me with just a hungry stare—had my body shivering before he even touched me. It was everything I had ever hoped for with my mate.

Slowly, he ran his finger down the center of my sex and parted my thighs. Leaning over, he slowly ran his tongue down my slit before moaning. "You taste like fucking heaven."

I gripped the sheets hard as he feasted on my quivering pussy, each part of my body humming with the new sensation.

When he added in a finger, I cried out as he moaned inside me, my body convulsing as he licked up every last drop. Then he kept going. His tongue picked up the pace as he lapped up my sex.

"Please, Aaron, I need to feel you," I murmured, reaching down and gripping his hair.

He laughed against my skin, kissing from my pussy to my thighs. "You are feeling me, sweetness."

I shook my head as I sat up, pulling off my bra while keeping my eyes on his. "No. I want you to claim me. To make me yours."

He swallowed hard. "Are you sure, Cressida? Because once we do, there's no going back. You're mine."

"I've already made my choice. I'm yours." I leaned forward, framing his face with my hands. "And you're mine."

I crushed my lips to his, pouring everything words couldn't say into the kiss. My hands went between us, fumbling to get his clothes off as we kissed and kissed.

When he was finally naked, I leaned back, letting my eyes roam over the hard plains of his body. And his giant dick, already primed, ready, and leaking at the tip for me.

"Are you sure you're ready for me, sweetness?" he rasped, dragging his fingers through my wet slit.

"Uh-huh," I gasped, my hips lifting off the mattress, chasing his touch.

He moaned, bringing his wet digits to his lips and licking them clean. "So fucking sweet."

Without a word, I spread my legs before gripping his shoulders and pulling him closer.

His eyes never left mine as, inch by exquisite inch, he filled me to the hilt. The slight pain from his possession as he tore through my innocence didn't stop me from enjoying every second of our first time. My hips met his, thrust for thrust, as he drove me closer to the edge.

"Fuck, sweetness. You feel so good," he murmured into my neck as he pumped inside me.

"Aaron, I want you to mark me," I breathed hard, clawing at his back.

"Gotta make you come first." He wedged his arms between us and circled his thumb around my clit, making fireworks explode behind my eyelids as I called out his name.

"Aaron, yes! Oh yes!"

He rode me through my very first orgasm, not stopping until I was close to the edge again. Only then did he allow himself his own pleasure. The splash of his hot seed against my inner walls sent me spiraling into an even stronger orgasm.

As we both came down from the high, he leaned back to meet my gaze. "Are you sure?"

"Do it, Aaron. I want you to complete the bond. Mark me so every shifter knows that I belong to you."

His canines extended as he plunged them hard into my shoulder. Sparks flew behind my eyes as an even more intense orgasm floated through my body.

Then my canines extended as I bit into the flesh of his shoulder. He howled, his rhythm faster as his body burst into mine, another round of zinging electricity pulsing through me.

I collapsed onto the pillow, my eyes fluttering closed as I tried to control my breathing.

I whimpered as Aaron slowly left my body, and a part of me already felt like something was missing. A part of me was gone.

But he quickly returned with a warm washcloth, cleaning between my legs before tossing it aside.

My eyes kept drifting closed as I felt him hover beside me, then pull my back to his warm chest.

"My beautiful mate," he whispered in my ear before I finally fell asleep in his warm embrace.