Page 57 of Lycans & Lattes

Wyatt’s sounds of pleasure turned monstrous as he picked up the pace. His haggard panting mixed with my needy whimpers. I was his mate. He was mine. And we were both giving each other what we’d needed for so long.

His hand took hold of my hip, mud smearing over my skin and giving him a better grip. Bringing my dirty hands up to cup his cheeks, I pulled his eyes to mine. “Is that all you’ve got?”

The unholy sound that came from him rattled the half-frozen branches overhead.

I locked my ankles around his back, and he drove into me over and over. The bulbous feeling grew until I was certain we were locked together in his rutting. The world faded away, and all that was left was our bodies and souls converging in passion hot enough to scorch the earth.

“Come, Willow.” His gritty voice sounded inhuman. “Come for your mate.”

The orgasm building in my core took hold, blurring the line between pleasure and pain until I was calling out his name. He bottomed out, fucking me with such vigor that I had to dig my nails into his back, hard enough to mark.

I moaned into his ear. He was so close. I could feel him straining to reach his climax.

“That’s right,” I crooned. “You’re my mate. So fuck me like I’m yours.” He quickened, and shocks of euphoria shot through me, filling my head with power. “Claim me.”

He thrust into me, harder and harder, before finally taking us both over the edge and plummeting into a shared orgasm that felt cosmic.

Galaxies burst. Suns exploded. Stars collided.

And everything was built anew in the wake of our shared ecstasy.

We’d just had mind-altering sex—without a condom. I supposed I could add “breeding kink” to my list of things I’d read in romance books that I never thought I’d try. I wanted to do that again and again.

We stayed there for a long time while we waited for his swelling to release us. All the while, I held him close to my chest, stroking his hair and basking in the afterglow.

Everything was perfect.

“I have to tell you something,” he said, and I knew I had jinxed myself by thinking about how perfect everything was. “By pack law, I have to be married under the next full moon to take my place as alpha.”

Yup. That was the cold plunge that took us out of our romantic fantasy and threw us back to reality.

He lifted his head, meeting my gaze. “And I gave them my word that I would.”

I was speechless . . . or so I thought. All the beautiful sentiments I could have given this man who had just ruined me for any other person on the planet. His soul had just fused with my own in a display of raw and unhinged passion.

And all I could say was, “Shut the fuck up.”

27

Wyatt

The conversation about getting married had been rapidly and unceremoniously interrupted by another round of lovemaking. And then another . . . and one more for good measure. Just the thought of Willow being my wife had turned me on so much that I couldn’t contain myself. And she seemed just as happy to abandon her crusade for answers in favor of moaning my name.

With a sleepy, sated smile, I carried Willow back to my place, grateful to find all the lights off. Willow nestled into my arms, hair disheveled, clothing torn, but my mate’s boneless, happy expression matched my own.

Every time we’d had sex had always amazing, but this had been something else entirely. I’d been holding myself back before, afraid I’d scare her, afraid I’d push her too far . . . Now I knew she not only could take on my wolf, but she enjoyed it.

She was mine. Of course she could handle all of me.

The tight muscles in my body eased at the thought. Finally, for the first time, I felt like everything would be okay. So many of the obstacles before us seemed to instantly clear with that one binding, and I knew there would never be anyone else for me. Even if I had to fight my entire pack, she would be my wife. My mate.

Breaking the news to her about needing to be married in a few weeks hadn’t gone as planned. But judging by the bouts of laughter and whispers of “yes” in the panted breaths between rounds of sex, we were final. We’d be married under the moon, and I would take my place as alpha with her on my arm.

Still, it felt like we were doing everything backward. After years of push and pull, it felt like we were skipping a lot of steps before we got to the finish line. The first sparks of our relationship had been unconventional, to say the least, but what in this town wasn’t a little kooky?

My main fear was that I wouldn’t find the asshole threatening her before I could watch her walk down the aisle. If I had to, I wouldn’t sleep or rest until I found them. My future queen would be safe, no matter what.

With determined steps, I walked us across the threshold of Full Moon Bakery before setting Willow on a cool countertop. I tossed my keys down and wandered toward the wall and flicked on the lights.