Chapter 72

Neither of us knew what to expect from the consummation of the mate bond. Fated mates were extremely rare and the ones that we did know about kept their sex lives to themselves. All we did know was that it was going to be intense.

After we had given each other our marks, we’d both gotten pretty nervous. The mate bond was thrumming with power, enticing us to complete it. But we had agreed to slow down, to enjoy the night. Once the bond was consummated, nothing would be the same.

I traced my fingers over the mark I had given Arthur. I had never given one before, not even with Robert. It had never seemed like the right time. I had always found an excuse not to do it. I guess even my subconscious didn’t want to be connected to him in that way forever.

A wave of possession washed over me. The man positioned above me was mine. Mine. And if anyone tried to take him from me again, I would rip out their throats. I wouldn’t sit idly by anymore.

Just as fast as it came, it was gone, replaced by shame. I had never once been possessive, much to Lily’s annoyance. I wasn’t sure where that had come from. Was it because I had give him the mark?

“What were those looks? What are you thinking?” Arthur asked as he created a blazing trail from my hip all the way to just below my breast with his fingertips. I squirmed underneath him. The feeling was almost maddening.

“Just about how perfect today was,” I told him, too embarrassed to admit what I had really been thinking. I didn’t want him to think that I had suddenly become a clingy and jealous wife just because we had the official wedding. I had never been that type of person before.

Arthur raised his eyebrows, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t lie to me, little wolf. What were you really thinking?”

I covered my face with my hands, hiding like a coward as I whispered, “I was thinking that you’re mine.”

Arthur chuckled softly before gently pulling my hands down and resting his forehead against mine. “That’s right. I’m yours.”

I gaped up at him from inches away. I had never expected him to say that. He was an alpha. Alphas didn’t belong to anyone, much less their lunas. I mean, if a luna didn’t produce an heir, alphas were well within their rights to take another lover.

“Don’t look so surprised. I’ve been yours ever since that night on the cruise ship. Just like you’ve been mine,” Arthur said, nibbling on my earlobe as he stroked along the mate bond. I arched into him, nearly coming undone from just that small gesture.

“I want to hear you say it,” Arthur demanded as he grazed his teeth against the mark he had just given me. It sent tingles like little bolts of lightning throughout my entire body.

“Say what?” I asked in a moan, my hands going into his black hair and holding it in a death grip.

“That you’re mine,” Arthur answered and bit down on the mark hard. Not enough to draw blood, but just enough to walk that fine line between pleasure and pain.

“I’m yours,” I cried out and whimpered as his hand stroked between my folds, a finger dipping into my entrance before pulling it out. He held it up so that I could see it. It was completely coated in my juices.

Arthur groaned at the sight. “Damn right you’re mine.”

He traced my lips with that same finger and then kissed me roughly. I could taste myself as he parted my lips with his tongue. He kissed me like he’d been in the desert for years and I was the first source of water he had come across.

When he pulled back, there was a feral gleam in his eye. On hand cupped my breast, forefinger and thumb twirling the sensitive bud between them. I moaned, throwing my head back into the pillow.

Seconds later, his mouth descended on the other breast and I could practically feel the wetness between my thighs. If he kept this up, I wasn’t going to last for much longer.

Arthur gently pulled on the mate bond and my hips slammed into him. Just that amount of friction was enough to send me over the edge. I screamed his name as I came, the orgasm more intense than I had ever felt.

I was panting hard as I recovered and Arthur looked at me through half-hooded eyes. “I felt that. I felt your orgasm.”

It took me a while to understand what he was saying. If he had felt it, then surely I would feel his too. My body shook with nervous energy. What would happen if we came together?

“I want to feel it again,” Arthur growled and moved down my body until his mouth hovered over my center. He gave a delicate flick of his tongue against my clit and I saw stars. I offered myself up to him and he gladly accepted.

His tongue made quick work as he lapped at it with languid strokes. The pressure was already building again before I could even catch my breath. With one more stroke, I was screaming his name again.

Arthur let out a shuddering breath. “I’m not going to last much longer like this, little wolf. I need to be inside you. Now.”

He crawled back up my body, lining himself up at my entrance. I was so slick at this point that he had no trouble sliding right in. The feeling of him filling me up nearly ended me completely.

As he moved in and out of me, he stroked the mate bond, feeding the flames as we rose to spectacular heights. Brief flashes of his thoughts and the way he was feeling zipped through my mind, but I was too lost in the ecstasy of it all to really focus on it.

Arthur came on a shout and he buried his head into my neck. His orgasm rushed through me, spearing on my own. I could tell when my own orgasm hit him because he jerked while still inside me.

Pure waves of pleasure coursed through my body. The mate bond snapped firmly into place and when I looked at it, a golden thread of protection was wrapped securely around it. The threads were all glowing and the power I felt from it was beyond comprehension.

“That was…” Arthur trailed off and I understood what he meant. There were no words to describe what we had just experienced. Now we knew why fated mates never talked about it. They literally couldn’t. No one else would ever be able to understand anyway.

“I love you,” I told him and tried to put every emotion that I had felt into those three little words. We had been through so much together in such a short amount of time. There was so much else that I wanted to say, but that would have to do for now.

Arthur smiled at me, green eyes full of understanding. “I love you, too. For now and for always.”