Chapter 11

It's the best kind of surprise finding Natalie in my backyard when I get home from putting in a few hours' work at the brewery. The urge to head out there directly so I can soak up every possible minute with her is strong. But when I see what she's doing under the cover of a broadleaf maple tree, I pause with my hand on the sliding glass door.

She's drawing. Legs crossed on a canvas lounge chair, back hunched, left hand holding a large tablet in place on her lap, right hand moving quickly across the screen. And her face—gods, her face. Rosy cheeks, pink lips parted, eyes wide open and focused on whatever she's drawing.

She mentioned having to work on commission pieces while she's here. More than once, she also said creativity hasn't been coming easily.

Watching her now, she seems completely engrossed. I should leave her alone to continue, not disturb her groove, but I can't help myself. The next thing I know, the house is behind me and I'm crossing the flagstone patio, my mate in my sights.

Her head rises and turns, an instant, beautiful smile curving her soft mouth. "Hi."

Unable to resist, I dip down for a taste of her lips. An assumption, yes, but she responds by opening for me, not only inviting my tongue into her mouth but also sliding hers into mine. She hums as I thread my fingers through her hair. Softly moans when I cup the back of her head firmly and deepen the kiss. I'm tempted to scoop her into my arms and take her to bed right now, in the middle of the afternoon, and never let her leave.

"Your way of saying hi is much better," she says, when I force myself to break away.

"Think you could get used to it?" I'm pushing, something I keep saying I won't do. I'm beginning to think it's impossible not to push. I want her to be mine, and I know she wants to be.

"I don't want it to stop. Can that be enough for now?" Reaching up, she traces my features, leaving sparks in the wake of her touch, then strokes my hair where it lies in front of my shoulder. "I'm not saying I've decided to leave after the wedding. There's just so much for me to digest before I make a decision that changes both our lives. But I'm really thinking about everything, I want you to know that. When I decide, it won't be impulsive. I'll be sure."

"I couldn't ask for more than that." I curl my fingers around hers and bring them to my lips, pressing my lips to the soft skin on the back of her hand. "I thought you'd be gone most of the day with Rosetta and Dela, checking out the town."

"Dela bailed before we left the coffee shop. Ro's X-rated talk scared her off."

Settling on the end of lounger, I make a show of covering my ears. "Remember—no details about Dakgorim."

Laughing lightly, she leans over her tablet—which powered off sometime during our kiss—and pulls my hands from my head. "Actually, she started talking about you and me. Asking pointed questions. Making guesses based on my face's various shades of pink. Dela and Shay both said they'd rather not know those kinds of details about their boss's personal life."

"Good." The image of them scurrying makes me chuckle. "I'd rather they don't know, too." But I'm damn curious to know how much Natalie shared with her cousin. "What did you and Rosetta do after that?"

"She took me in a few shops, then out to her place to show me her workshop and the baby's room. The workshop is amazing, the best space she's ever had to do her metalworking. And the nursery Dak built is stunning, though I'm still in shock that Ro's pregnant. That she's in love and getting married. I never in a million years thought she'd want those things in her life."

"She found her mate. That changes everything." It needs saying, as many times as it takes. Greeted by silence, it's clear I pushed too much. "Did you get a pretty new notebook at Fae-vorite Things?"

Her expression lightens at the subject change. "We didn't get there. I'll go by myself. Maybe tomorrow."

That's a good sign. I want her to feel comfortable here. Like part of the community. But I also won't sacrifice an opportunity to spend time with her. "I'll join you, unless you'd prefer I didn't."

"I'd like it very much if you joined me," she says, sliding her hand across the chair toward mine. "Not just for shopping."

"Whatever and wherever you want, I'm in."

"About being in…" The roses in her cheeks are in full bloom now, her irises blown wide, despite the bright afternoon sunlight. "One of the places Ro took me was a shop called Every Witch Way."

There's no containing the chuckle that scene inspires. "You met Lexi."

The highlights in Natalie's auburn hair shine with her nod. "She seems like she'd be a fun person to hang out with." No mention of Lexi being a witch, or having green skin. Natalie's initial surprise at the reality of monsters seems to be fully behind her. Behind us.

"Lexi definitely favors fun," I say, stroking Natalie's small, soft hand. "I've always known Lexi to be friendly, easygoing, and good-natured. She's smart, too."

"So, I could trust the information she gave me to be accurate?" That's a loaded question if ever there was one.

"I don't know her on a level where I feel comfortable giving a blanket yes or no answer. But I'd believe anything Lexi says about her products or business. She's very passionate about them, and thorough."

"Then I think you should clear your calendar." Moving her drawing tablet to a side table, Natalie smiles, then climbs onto my lap. "Because she told me that Minotaur semen is an extremely potent aphrodisiac, and that if you massage enough of it into my pussy, I'll be able to take your cock."

My bullish huff is strong enough to ruffle her hair, which makes her laugh and snuggle closer. "Consider my calendar clear until you beg me to stop making you come."

Her arms wrap behind my neck as I push up from the chair. "Apparently, if I swallow enough of your cum, that might be never."

"You probably shouldn't have told me that, my sweet little mate. Not when you know how much I want to make you mine forever."

She doesn't answer. Not with words. But the way she clings to me, nuzzling my neck and stroking my hair while I carry her into the house… those actions speak volumes. She may not be consciously ready to commit to being my mate, but the desire is there.

"We're going to your room?" she asks when I turn down the hall opposite the guest bedrooms.

Our room. One day, that's how she will describe it. Until then… "Larger bed. More room to spread you out and pleasure you."

"I really can't argue with that." She smiles up at me as I lay her on the bed, my kneeling position spreading her thighs.

The flowy dress she's wearing pools just below her waist, the material thin enough to see her bra beneath, and my mouth waters at the sight of her breasts rapidly rising and falling. I didn't worship them as I should have last night. Time to change that.

"Having trouble?" She gives me a playful, coy look as I struggle to manipulate the tiny pearl buttons running down the front of her sundress.

"There are far too many of these," I say when even the first one proves too challenging for my big hands.

"Then take it off another way, however you need to. I have other dresses."

She doesn't realize the instincts her suggestion provokes—an uncivilized desire to ravage her, to breed her. This isn't the time, but maybe one day, after she has claimed me for her mate, I will let the bullish part of me have his way.

For now, I skim my fingertips along the neckline of the pretty blue dress she won't get to wear again, then curl my hands around the front edges and rip it open in one swift motion. The sound of buttons bouncing across the hardwood floor seems distant compared to the rumble rolling up from my chest.

"Natalie."I trace the top edge of a pale-blue lace bra, then drag my finger down the middle of her body, to the front of her matching panties. "You're so beautiful. I want to look at you forever."

With one hand, she opens the front clasp of the bra. The material falls away and her breasts spill free. I cup them, one in each hand, learning their weight, stroking the deep-rose nipples with my thumbs until both are tall, hard peaks.

"God, yes," she says when I take the first one into my mouth. "Your tongue feels so good. And your teeth scraping my skin when you suck… and your fur…"

I give the other breast the same treatment, going back and forth between them until her skin is red and slick with my saliva. I would spend hours teasing her breasts, but the scent of her arousal is irresistible. I lick and kiss my way down her body, tugging her panties out of the way when I reach her hips.

She wiggles to help me get rid of them, placing one delicate foot in the middle of my chest as soon as the scrap of material clears her toes. "Now you. I want you naked."

Shirt, pants, and the rest hit the floor in under ten seconds. My cock is hard as a tree trunk, and when she licks her lips while staring at it, every bullish instinct kicks in simultaneously. Rough huffing of breath, stomping of hooves, my tail swishing wildly. Physiological responses I wasn't sure a human mate would be able to get past, but Natalie doesn't just accept them, they arouse her. I see it in her glassy eyes. Her parted lips and shallow breathing. But mostly, in her scent. I could come just from the scent of her pussy.

Cupping her feet, I open her wide, drape her legs over my shoulders, then kneel between her spread legs. "Gods, Natalie. Your pussy is the only thing I want to eat for the rest of my life." I mean to go slow. To tease and draw out her pleasure. But the instant I taste her on my tongue, have my nose pressed tight against her slick, silky folds, there is no slow. No teasing. No control. Just my ravenous hunger for my mate's heat.

Her soft moans and twitching hips spur my need for her to come on my face. I reach down, stroke myself until my fingers are coated in precum, then spread it over her entrance. Her back arches as I burrow my tongue inside her, fucking her with it while I nudge and rock my wide nose against her clit.

I gather more precum, withdraw my tongue and replace it with two well-coated fingers. Her walls squeeze them, resisting, then relax.

"I want some," she says, holding her mouth open while her hips rock against my face, my fingers.

And I want to feed it to her. All day and night long. Feasting on her pussy, I look up at her, press my precum-covered fingers between her parted lips, growling when she moans. My cock is too big to experience the sensation of her sucking it, but I swear I feel it between my legs when she sucks my fingers deeper into her mouth.

I slip my fingers from her pussy, coat them in precum, then slide three inside her while licking and flicking her clit. The air is thick with her scent, her breathy moans. She's ready to come. Desperate for it. But my mate also wants my cock, and I need to ready her. To stretch her for what's next.

I'm already throbbing for her. Leaking a steady stream. I dribble more into her mouth, then cover my hand with it and ease all my fingers between her swollen pink pussy lips.

"Oh god," she pants, as I push deeper. Deeper. Until the base of my fingers sit at her entrance. She moans low and long as I begin to fuck her with my whole hand while doubling-down on her clit. A sharp, high-pitched cry replaces the moan as she tangles her fingers in my hair. Grabs my horns. Bucks against my face, panting and babbling as she rides my mouth, my fingers, my nose.

Even when her grinding stops and her body goes flaccid, I keep devouring her. Twisting my fingers inside her, I find that spot that drove her to orgasm last night, and press on it while rolling my tongue fast and hard over her clit.

Her body arches like a taut bow, then she cries out my name, rocking against my face until her panting turns to soft, breathy laughter. "Tell me I'm ready," she says when I rise between her thighs. "Because I want to be ready."

If I could look at every part of her at once, I would. In this moment, I can't look away from her pussy, stretched and glistening. I guide my cock to her entrance, using the fat tip to spread precum all over her.

She's so small. Even with the stretching, the head of my cock is wider than her opening. But she'll take me. We'll fit. She'll come with my cock buried inside her, and I'll coat her walls with my cum.

She tenses as I press in, rocking forward, forward, trying to push past her body's defenses. Beneath me, her hair moves against the blanket as she shakes her head. "You're too big."

Pulling back may be the most difficult thing I've ever done. For her, I'd do anything. Including not give up.

I lean in and kiss her. Softly at first, then deeper, sliding my shaft over her clit in a matching rhythm, until her legs wrap around my back and her hips is rock upward to meet my thrusts.

Her body twitches and tenses, jerking beneath me as she comes again, moaning my name against my lips. "Try again, please, I want you inside me."

"You'll have me there, my sweet one. I promise you." I ease out of her hold. Kneeling before her creamy thighs again, I stroke myself hard and fast, until my balls are hot and tight, my cock throbbing with the need for release. "Taste me."

She reaches down, catching the first small surge of cum, her eyes closing as she licks her fingers clean.

"Again, Natalie." I growl as she happily, greedily, swallows another mouthful. "Watch me fuck you," I command, looking into her lust-drunk eyes when she stares up at me. "Watch us mate." My tail whips as the last trace of control snaps.

She catches it, brings the tip to her breasts, tickling her nipples with the fur. Lips parted, eyes wide, she watches cum spurt from my cock.

I paint her pussy with it, drenching her folds, her entrance, then grip her hips and push inside. No resistance this time; her pussy is ready, pliant. But still so tight. So perfectly godsdamned tight.

Holding anything back is impossible now. My head tips back, a long, loud low leaving my mouth as I sink deeper inside her body.

She cries out, panting, grabbing my hips, her nails digging in. "Yes, ohh…"

Buried as deep as her body can take me, I lean forward, rocking, pressing against her clit until her walls squeeze me while she comes. "Gods, Natalie, you feel so good. So fucking good, my mate." Growling, I kiss her as deeply and thoroughly as I'm fucking her, getting lost in the taste of her, the feel of her, the lines between us blurring, meshing.

My mate.Her voice is crystal clear in my mind. The words unmistakable. Her arms wind behind my neck, her fingers thread through my hair, and her gentle sigh fills my mouth.

Breaking the kiss only because I want to look in her eyes, I ease back that small bit, fighting the words that are desperate to leave my mouth. The questions. The declarations. The promise to love her for eternity.

"Did you hear me?" Her cheeks tint with an adorable blush. "In your head, I mean. I'm sure you heard all the other things."

"I heard it all. Your beautiful, sexy sounds and your words through our bond. I loved all of it."

"I did too. And I meant it, meant those words. I know you're my mate, just as much as I'm yours." Emotions swirl in her eyes as she pulls her bottom lip, still puffy from everything we shared, between her teeth.

"But you still haven't decided what the future holds for us."

"I need more time. To sort through things. Not things about us. I know how I feel, just not what I'm going to do with those feelings. And until I do…" Her soft fingers trail along my face, my nose, my lips. "It wouldn't be fair for me to commit yet, to claim you as my mate."

Whether she formalizes it or not, verbalizes it or doesn't, I am hers already. I always will be. Telling her that would seem like pressure. So, in this moment, I do what's right for her. I kiss her. And I wait.