5. Grace

Present

Just knowing he's looking for me has my heart racing. We split up at the street, and he told me I had a one-minute head start. I love it when he chases me, but tonight, after finally getting to punch asshole Greg in the face, my body is a live wire, and the anticipation is humming across my flesh.

I continue deeper into the trees, circling the trunks occasionally before doubling back. He may be faster and stronger, but I'm smart, and I use what I can to my advantage—scraping my shoulder onto the right side of an oversized pine tree to leave some fur in my wake.

Rustling from behind me tells me he is hunting, and my time for games is up. Taking off in the opposite direction, I sprint at full speed, narrowly avoiding an upended trunk, roots dangling in odd directions. I chance a look over my shoulder as I steer right, making a large oval pattern, hoping to make it back to his motorcycle first.

Or maybe, hoping I don't.

Only twice have I been able to make it back before him, and if I was guessing, those times were only a way to keep me playing the game.

I'd play it anyway.

The best part is always when he catches me. The tension from hiding, sneaking, and working to win always fills my body with need. The number of leaves I've had to pull from my hair after a run could fill a forest.

Not that I'm complaining.

Movement off to my left pulls my attention, and I dart behind a large rock, curling in place to hide my tail beneath me and attempting to make my frame as small as possible. Fighting to remain still, I lift my nose, scenting the air for any trace of him. The silence in the air is eerie and highlights the danger he presents. Insects, small animals, and even the wind cease making noise as he stalks after his prey.

After me.

The waiting is the hardest part. I want to run, but I know it will all be over if I move too soon.

Instead, I focus on my hearing, closing my eyes to give all my attention to the sounds of the forest surrounding me. To my left, off in the distance, I can hear car engines on the highway, a stream to my right barely moving with the subtle splash, and what sounds like faint crunching, but I can't tell which direction it's coming from because it's subtle.

Deacon: Boo.

My eyes open.

Fuck!

I jump three feet in the air at the word whispered through the mind-link, and the sight of Deacon's wolf crouched inches from me. A chuff escapes his lips as if he is laughing at me, and he lunges for my throat, which I have just exposed by rising over his head in my surprise. His eyes flare, showing off the orange flecks hidden in their dark irises as his teeth dig slightly into the scruff of my neck.

Grace: Cheater! You aren't supposed to mind-link!

Deacon: I think when my nose touched yours, you were caught.

He sends back, humor in his voice as he releases my throat from his jaws. He shifts back to his human form, amusement dancing in his eyes as he waits for me to shift as well.

I wait.

Stubbornness may not be a very becoming trait in a young lady, at least that"s what my mother always says, but it's one that I have in spades, and if he wants me back as a human, he will have to try harder than that. The right side of his mouth tips up, and his expression turns mischievous.

"Shift," he commands, pushing his power at me. "Now."

The electricity that skims over my body as I give in to his request is liberating. It's as if his hands were peeling off my clothes with his words, and my wolf relinquishes control, causing me to shift back to my human form.

It's intoxicating.

The feel of his strength has heat pooling between my thighs. I know he feels it, too. Our connection is on fire, and desire rolls off me in waves.

He closes the distance between us with a single stride, lifting my body as he captures my mouth. My legs wrap around him, placing my already wet center against the planes of his abs. His hard cock sits under my ass, begging for a better angle.

Teeth scrape my bottom lip as he presses my back into the closest tree trunk, adjusting his grip and position so that he can enter me, but his tip stops right at my entrance, teasing as he waits.

His hand glides to the front of my neck, circling my throat like my very own necklace. He's firm in his grip as he pulls me even deeper into the kiss, eliciting a moan I can't hold back.

Breaking the connection, he rests his forehead on mine.

"Who do you belong to, Tails? Say it," he commands, pulling the words from my panting lips.

"You. I belong to y…" Before I can finish the phrase, he's inside me in a single thrust that has me gasping.

He stays there, giving me a minute to adjust to his size as he peppers light kisses across my jaw and bites at my earlobe.

"That's right. You're mine. My girl. My future. My Mate," he whispers before starting to slide in and out of me. My nipples tingle as my body rubs against his chest, sending jolts straight to my core.

Pressure builds within me, and I teeter on the edge. Deacon squeezes his hand, cutting off my breathing, causing my eyes to flutter closed and forcing me to fall head first into my orgasm.

He holds his grip, allowing me to ride out my pleasure, only releasing his hand once he knows I've fallen, and I gasp for air, relishing in the way it feels to breathe. Before I can come down from the high, he increases his pace and drops his hand down, using his thumb to rub my swollen clit.

Jesus.

My arms claw into his back as I struggle to hang on to him. Bark digs into my shoulder blades, adding some pain to my pleasure as I build back to that precipice. I tip my head back, close my eyes, and revel in the overwhelming sensations coursing through me.

Deacon pinches down on my clit, making me snap my head back up and cry out at the pain.

"Eyes on me, Tails. I wanna see that face when I make you cum," he says before picking up his pace, his eyes locked on mine. My heart jumps into my throat as I stare at him, reading his expression and knowing I love him with every piece of my soul. He's my armor, my best friend, and the man who gave me hope for a better future. Clinging to him, I know that, in this moment, I'm whole.

"I can't… I can't." My words fall away as I succumb to my second orgasm, pulling him with me.

When we both have had a moment to come down, Deacon buries his face in my neck, catching his breath while still holding me against him. I drop my head to his shoulder, exhaustion overtaking me.

As I feel him begin to carry me to our tree house, I think about how I can't imagine a better match than the one The Fates picked for me.

I"m forever grateful.

With that final show of thanks, I drift to sleep, wrapped in his strong arms.