Looking into her eyes, I roll my hips up against her, and with my hand low on her side, I encourage her to do the same. Her eyelids flutter closed, and her hands crawl up my chest. Immense pleasure bounces between us, feeding and growing on each other, and builds to a fevered height as she rides me through the friction of fabric. We’re sloppy and desperate, her moans of “Yes” interrupted by my strings of Spanish curses. We kiss and bite and scratch our fingers down each other’s bodies, enjoying the feeling of the sharp bite of pain mixed with our frenzied pleasure.
My mind is lost to the sensations of joy and fulfilled desire. All I can do is feel, and I don’t know who it’s coming from anymore, nor do I care. It’s an intense experience that I don’t have the words for. Only now do I fully understand what it means to have a mate, to be mates—one soul woven together within two bodies.
Together, we reach the limits our bodies can bear, and with a chorus of moans, we climax as one. Like a firework exploding in the sky, my flesh tingles as I come back down to earth. Panting, I rest my forehead against hers, my body more relaxed than I have ever been before. Content and sleepy, I fall back on the bed and drag her up onto my chest. She snuggles into me, her legs bracketing my stomach and her arms tucked against my sides, and drops sweet kisses against my neck. I run my fingers up and down her exposed spine, and a smile tugs at my lips when she shivers.
“Was it okay?” she asks nervously, her fingers tapping along my ribs. “I know it wasn’t sex, and you might have expected—”
“Callie, I’m a virgin,” I inform her, leaning my head up to look at her. “This is the farthest I’ve ever gone, and it was perfect.”
She peeks up at me through her curtain of hair and offers up a small smile. “It was perfect for me too.”
“Good.” I flop back onto the pillow, tired but also aware that I should probably move to clean us up. The wet spot along my thigh is sticky.
While I’m trying to will my limbs to move, Callie blurts, “Oh wow. I didn’t notice before, but the bed is amazing. What beautiful carvings.”
“It was designed for you,” I inform her, cracking open one eye that I hadn’t realized I closed to examine the pack’s handiwork.
The headboard is carved with wolves running along the sides of the board, and my wolf is crouched in a protective stance at the top. Within the bounds of the running wolves, the four elements are represented by a dancing fire, a rushing river, leaves floating on a breeze, and great trees with knotted roots digging into the dirt. In the very center is a field of orchids. Each post of the bed has a wolf at the base howling up at the sky, singing the song of each element.
She sits up, her eyes caressing every lovingly crafted portion. “Designed for me?”
Sitting up on my elbows, I release a deep breath and hope she is happy with what I’m about to tell her. “This is the alpha’s mate’s room. Your room, if you wish to claim it. The pack thought you might not be staying on our lands because the room wasn’t properly prepared for you. I actually got quite an earful about it.”
Touching her fingers to her lips, she whispers, “They want me here?”
“Yes,” I answer simply, not wanting to go into the convoluted reasons around the Call and the politics of the alpha not having his mate near and protected.
“But they hate witches,” she argues, a small light of hope blooming within her.
I reach up to cup her face. Running my thumb along her cheek, I murmur, “You are pack. You are my mate. That’s what matters the most. Your magic is a gift, and they know it.” At least most of them do.
“Can you let them know that I don’t live on pack grounds because I’m seventeen and still living with my nan? It’s not really appropriate for me to be moving in with my boyfriend, mate or not.” She crosses her arms, and I’m so distracted by the way her exposed chest is cradled between her arms that I nearly miss what she says.
“Boyfriend?” I question. My spark of hope is scared to grow.
Callie rolls her eyes. “You said you’re mine, didn’t you?”
“Said that before,” I counter cautiously, not really knowing why I’m pushing back other than needing her to confirm it’s different this time.
“Yeah, well, you also made me your mate before I was ready.” She huffs, her knees digging into my sides to highlight her annoyance. “But tonight made me realize that I don’t want to lose you, and I don’t like being in an ambiguous middle ground. We are either dating and act like it, or we’re not and I sever our connection. I can’t live in the gray anymore. So what’s it going to be? Are you willing to be my boyfriend knowing how I feel about the others, or is this going to be the most awkward moment of my life?”
My heart stops when she mentions the possibility of severing our bond. Even if I had anything that resembled reservations before, the fact that she wants to stay my mate makes dealing with the others worth it.
“Yes,” I answer emphatically. “I will be your boyfriend.”
“Good,” she comments then pokes me in the chest. “That means actual dates. I know we’ve pretty much done everything backward, but damn it, I deserve wooing.”
“Yes you do,mi reina,” I assure her, grabbing her finger and placing a kiss on the tip. “I will do my best to woo you properly.”
Before she can say anything more, I drag her back down to my chest and commence wooing her with kisses. It’s another hour before we come up for air, finally get cleaned up, and I get to experience the happiest night of my life curled up with Callie in my arms in a bed made with love.
Chapter 9
Callie
Donovan drives toward Nolan’s house after picking me up from pack grounds in his and Kaleb’s black truck. Today is a training day to work on my hand-to-hand combat skills while the other guys work out. When he turns onto the main two-lane highway that leads back into town, he glances at me before looking back out onto the road.
“Are you going to tell me what happened last night or am I supposed to guess?” he questions, frustration infusing his gravelly voice.
