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He breaks the trance after a moment, hustling me inside and closing the door behind us. The first thing he does after that is swing me up in his brawny arms, giving me one hell of a kiss ‘hello’ before setting me back on my bare feet.
I grin up at him. “Well, that’s definitely a way to greet your female, isn’t it?”
His cheeks turn a little ruddy as a hint of a blush colors them. “Sorry. I guess I just missed you more than I thought.”
Wrapping my arms around his middle, giving Duke a greeting of my own, I tell him, “Never apologize for missing me. Especially since I probably missed you more.” I lay my head against his chest, squeezing him in a hug, then ask, “What happened at the meeting? Is everything okay?”
Duke’s hand is laying on the back of my head. With a gentle stroke, he runs his fingers through my styled curls. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I might. Try me.”
His hand lands on the small of my back. It’s so nice to stay in this embrace, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him get out of answering my question. He’s got me curious now, and though this position makes it obvious that he’s as ready to mate as I am, I waited three hours for him. I can wait three minutes more to find out what was so important.
Tapping him on his back—and, okay, putting a little pressure on his hard-on to catch his attention, I say, “Well?”
Duke sucked in a breath when I first made purposeful contact with his cock. Since he can tell that that’s all the action he’s going to get for now, he caves. Of course he does. This male will never me anything. “Okay. I’ll tell you, but don’t get mad.”
My brow furrows. “Why would I get mad?”
“Because I spent the last hour listening to the other guys complain that their mates were going to go for their aching balls when we finally left. Turns out, the Alpha can be a bit of a prick. Gemma had to head into Muncie to take care of something, and since his mate wasn’t going to be back until dark, he decided to distract himself by hosting a pack council meeting.”
I shouldn’t laugh. I was rubbing my pussy against the edge of my kitchen chair, I needed some kind of stimulation so badly, so Duke’s right. I should be mad at Ryker for keeping my intended mate away from me for such a ridiculous reason. He had to wait to fuck his mate, so he made his right-hand wolves suffer, too.
I shouldn’t laugh, but I can’t help it. “Oh, Luna. I guess she made it back since you’re here now?”
“Yup. As soon as he caught scent of her approaching Accalia, he kicked us all out.” Duke finally joins me and chuckles, a husky sound that ruffles the top of my hair. “Good thing, too, because he was about to have a mutiny on his claws. Chains were the least of some of the suggestions the other guys were coming up with.”
Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for a second. Moon fever or not, Every shifter on the council is one hundred percent devoted to the Alpha. There might’ve been eight cases of blue balls going on in the den, but I don’t doubt that the seven males on the council would cut off their own dicks before they challenged Ryker. He’s earned their loyalty. Mine, too. If I had to spend my night crossing my legs tightly, trying to ignore my own need, I would’ve.
I’m just glad I don’t have to.
With my hands pressed against his chest, I push far enough away from him that I can tilt my head back and meet his gaze without leaving the warm embrace of his arms. “You were that desperate to get to me?”
He presses a kiss to my lips. “Nothing will ever stop me from getting to you,” he vows solemnly.
I believe him, too. Even when he was still part of Gem’s guard, a trusted enforcer for the pack, he found his way to me in California. Following the side of a bond I never even knew existed, Duke tracked me to the cage they kept me in, then insisted on staying with me. He’s been by my side ever since, and almost nine months from that moment, we’re about to make it so that he’ll never have to leave it again.
Luna willing, of course.
Standing up on my tippy-toes, I nip at his strong jaw, then dance out of his hold. Not because I want to put any distance between us. The opposite, actually. There’s just something I want to see first, and I start for the other side of the room.
He can’t help himself. Like a puppy on a leash, Duke is inches behind me, trotting after me as I dash over to the window. I swallow my laugh of delight. When the only thing I’ve ever really wanted was to be theoneto someone else, it still amazes me that—after all I’ve done—the Luna gave this male to me.
Or, I think as he settles his big paws on my hips, she will.
His warmth makes me shiver. His innate scent, swirling with notes of mine, has me almost whining with desire. My wolf is happy for me to take the lead in this, but she’s growing impatient. She wants her mate, and she wants him now.
So do I, girl. So do I.
Duke bows his head, trailing his nose along the column of my throat. I’m not even a little surprised when he stops at the white bite mark that stands out against my tanned skin. Since the night he gave it to me, he seems drawn to it. Nibbling that spot, lapping at it with his tongue… it’s all the proof he needs that I’m proud to be his.
After he presses an open-mouthed kiss to that very spot, he nuzzles his cheek against my hair while I angle my head up, glancing up at the night’s sky.
There. Completely round and glowing brightly on Accalia down below, I see the moon in all her glory.
It’s time. I knew it; as a shifter, I can sense the Luna all the way down to my bones. Still, with my entire forever on the line, it doesn’t hurt to double-check.
“You see that?” I whisper. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
