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Yes, I thought.

Mine. All mine.

We didn’t need words. Not this time. We became one again, our stuttered breaths mingling.

Perfect.

His hands wrapped around my wrists, bringing my arms over my head. He held me in place, his body fully pressed against me as he moved with long thrusts that pushed me up the makeshift bed each time.

Mine.

He whispered soothing words into my ear, and I relinquished everything.

The world fell away. All that existed was pleasure.

I was safe and satiated, and yet I wanted—needed—more. I let my body take what it craved, and even with Sylvan pinning me in place, I knew it was because I wanted him to. It was oddly freeing to let go of the control I’d tried so hard to hold on to.

So, I let go. To gain control.

Safe. Perfect. Mine.

36

HERS

SYLVAN

Another wild blackberry disappeared past Aura’s delectable lips. Lips I’d kissed so many times that they’d become addictive. Even then, I couldn’t stop staring at her. I was sitting in the living room, watching her just paces away in the kitchen, yet she felt so far away.

Three days had passed, and something had changed. Our entire world had shifted.

I knew she felt it too, but it was temporary.

Whenever I’d been close to coming, her scent intoxicating, I wanted to sink my teeth into her. I wanted to bite, to claim, and as disorienting and exhilarating as that felt, it was absolutely terrifying. I controlled myself. Even when she’d driven me into a rut. When I’d fucked her against the wall, the counter, the floor. When I could barely stop myself from knotting her.

I’d almost done it a few times.

Gods only knew how I managed to resist.

Perhaps it was the fear of her regretting everything.

She still could. I knew she likely would. But this was one thing I could do for her. I could not put her in a compromising situation without her understanding or being aware of it first. It had to be her decision. Just as a bite had to be her decision.

But, gods, I couldn’t get enough of her.

Heat cycles were odd. It wasn’t just the lycan going through the process who was affected, but her partner, too. I felt the haze. And I begged all the gods I would remember every little moan, every movement of her glorious body, every expression that crossed her face. She wasn’t quiet by any means. Part of me hoped that the entire Unclaimed Territory heard when she called out my name.

It had been a while since I saw the gulch between her eyes, the downward tug of displeasure on her lips. She seemed comfortable in her skin for the first time since I’d met her—confident, even. There was no shame or self-loathing. There was just Aura.

I grinned, and she narrowed her eyes at me from the kitchen.

“What are you grinning at?” she asked around a mouthful of berries.

She was slowly becoming less hazy as her Heat was coming to an end.

As we were coming to an end. A sharp pain struck me, but I shoved it away. “You,” I said. “I’m grinning at you.”

Another berry disappeared into her mouth before she plucked one from the plate. She strutted over to me, and I stared at her perky tits. I wanted to taste those pink nipples again. To draw that little gasp of ecstasy from her.