Giuliana would be the only woman in the world who could ever take him.
Pride and possessiveness swelled in her chest.
Mine!
Yes, yours.
A twist of gut-wrenching need echoed through their mental bond. Her toes tingled, and it snaked its way up over her calves and around her thighs. Warmth spread through her stomach, and she could just handle it, she could take one deep breath.
He pressed closer to her, his punishing thrusts battering her as his fingers begged for acceptance. And she was lost, torn between opposing sides. He was sweet and bitter, the knife plunging in and the safety shield of a bodyguard all wrapped into one.
Her clit throbbed with agony, but it sang with pleasure. Her nipples were tight with pinched pleasure, pulsing with each heartbeat. It sent his possession deeper into her skin. Too much. Everything about Pasquale was too much—from his touch to the remembered impressions on her skin.
The old her would have wanted to run away, to deny his possession, but he blasted her into new life, ripping from her any chances to hide.
Giuliana swallowed, and his vicious thrusts took her under. She was floundering, the softness of the cover underneath her a counterpoint to his burning haven.
Pasquale was an undertow, and she was drowning, exhilarated and terrified as she was battered under the water, a current pulling her to certain doom. His world would obliterate her old one. Remove any chance she’d ever be able to behave like she had before.
She didn’t know which she was more afraid of: taking a leap of faith with him, or fighting to stay as she was.
His fingers dug into her thighs, pushing them as wide apart as they could go as he powered between her legs.
And her body crashed against the sharp rocks, breaking into little pieces. She’d had pleasure, those late nights with her hand working furiously under the covers. If she’d flown into the sky then, now she felt the weight of the earth press her toward the molten core.
Her chest seized, her throat worked, and she was breathless.
One false step and she’d die from it all.
Muscles locked, toes curled until they cramped, and her mouth open on a silent scream, she gave in to his ecstasy.
“Yes. You feel it. Right fucking there.”
Giuliana followed him. His hips rolled against her, his cock thickening, and it only sent powerful vibrations over her ragged nerves. They melted, soldered together in this explosive destruction. And then he yelled, his cock jerking inside her and his seed branding her.
It tossed her, broke her to pieces and put them back together. The pleasure was blistering, rocking her core and forcing her body to curl up against him.
He held her through it, his teeth at her shoulder.
He didn’t bite down enough to mark her, to complete what they’d begun, but the whispered promise was enough to soothe her wolf.
I will claim you when you aren’t pushed by instinctual urges.
And he’d done what he’d promised—cared for her and showed her he was strong enough to do it.
This man, this wolf, had denied the call of the wild to mark her permanently as his even when she wouldn’t have been able to stop it.
Mate.
Yes, in any way you need.
Chapter Thirteen
Kalinda hovered in magical quicksand. The murky gold slush allowed her to breathe, thank gods, but she couldn’t do much but hover around it. No matter how much she tried to get to her feet, she only succeeded in twisting her dress around her legs and risking having an exposé moment for all to see.
Not her thing, and if her mate saw anyone checking her out there would be hell to pay.
Though, she should be grateful she was alive.
