And he does, he holds me, and I have a strange thought, I never want him to let me go, right before the exhaustion of my magic use claims me once again.
Slate
I stare down at Alejandra in my arms. She is more beautiful with my human eyes. Flawless, perfect, and so selfless. Her first thought is always to heal with no concern for how it affects her. I stand on my wobbly human legs and head back to the den. I have to crouch to get inside, and once I’m there, I wrap her in my arms and watch her as she recovers from magic use again.
It had been stronger than the last time and felt like I was being ripped apart and put back together, but when it was over…the shift came. The fur melted from me and revealed my human half. I don’t know if I can change back to my wolf form. I can feel him, but I don’t want to shift just yet and chance it. Instead, I stare at the little healer in my arms.
The woman who gave me my humanity back.
The woman who already has a grip on my heart—my mate.
I can still taste her on my lips and feel her curves pressed against every inch of me, and with my humanity comes fresh emotions. They are different than my wolf’s urge to claim and bite. Lust clouds my vision, my cock jerking and leaking as I ache to bury myself inside her and make her mine forever.
I want to hear her screams, to see that glittering perfection come apart in my arms and reveal the incredible woman underneath. But I have to go slow. I felt her shock when I kissed her and saw the shyness in her eyes before she passed out.
Maybe she is innocent?
Why does the thought make my wolf roar with approval? To be the first to have her, taste her, fuck her, and watch her come. To taste her sweet virgin cream dripping for me—fuck, I need to stop. I’m almost coming from the image in my head like a dirty bastard.
It’s been too long. Years before I even met Gabriel and his sadistic experiments, I had grown tired of random, meaningless sex. It was mainly my wolf that needed to settle those urges in my human form to control it in his wolf form…but then one day, it just stopped. My wolf didn’t care about anyone. Hell, when a woman came close, he went berserk.
Now I know why. It was because of her, the female in my arms.
How did he sense her all the way back then? I don’t know, but he must have. Once mated, wolves mate for life. I just didn’t know I would ever have a mate. Never mind one so perfect, beautiful, and kind as the woman in my arms.
I can’t drag my eyes away, even to blink. They ache, but I fear that if I do, she will disappear into smoke. Because no one is this perfect, no one helps someone for no reason, no one could love me…
Or want me.
But Alejandra seems drawn to me like I am her, and I’m a possessive bastard. I’m not letting her go now that she is here. She swept into my life, literally, and now she will never be free of me.
My wolf would stalk her across this world, and so would I. My hands aren’t clean, I’m not innocent like her. I’m not a fucking gentleman like she deserves, either, I’m a cruel fucking man. Always have been, always will be. I have more blood on my hands than I can remember, and I will never be rid of the stains. I have done things that would disgust her. My past and the intensity of my dark desires for this glittering fae would scare her.
It doesn’t stop me from pulling her closer and kissing her head though. She is bound to me forever now. She is mine, and when she wakes up, I plan on proving it.
Settling down to watch and protect her while she rests, I feel my mind brushing against hers, seeking entrance. I have always been good at telepathy, not as good as my brother, but still okay, and the ability seems enhanced with my mate.
Her magic is concealing her a little, so it’s harder in human form, but as she falls into a deeper sleep, it opens up, permitting me into her mind and dreams. She would probably hate that I can see it and hear her thoughts, but I don’t care. I want to know everything about this woman. When our minds connect, I am yanked into the turbulent, dark, clinging dream she is fighting against…
The same woman is here again. She is almost blurry, but I know it’s her. She is trekking through what looks like a rainforest with those rotting people following her, but so is a man with a goatee and dark red eyes. Horns protrude from his head, and he has a chain around his neck which is connected to her, like he’s a dog.
Why am I here? What’s happening? This time it feels different. This doesn’t feel old… This feels real, like it is happening right now, but that can’t be, can it? It has been a few months since my last solid dream of her, yet here she is. Again.
Who is she?
It’s the question that’s haunted me ever since I started seeing her. I have wondered if it means more. My mother always said they are nightmares, but as an adult, I know they are not. I have seen her through my eighty years, always in different places, and each time she seems…stronger, more alive, and she has more of those rotting people around her, and now this creature is chained to her.
Where is she going?
I focus on the surroundings, the trees brushing by us as the decaying corpses wrench them out of her way like she’s a queen. She moves easily over the rough terrain, but when she breaks into a clearing to see a collapsed stone ruin, her head drops back with a scream.
She turns and yells at the horned man. “You told me it was here! You are a liar! You betray our dark mother!”
He roars at her, the leash stopping him from getting to her, and she laughs. “Try it, demon. I will rip out your beating heart and feast on it, and then I will bring you back to life. Where is the temple?”
I’m thrown from the dream, snapping back into my own body. I’m still wrapped around Alejandra as her eyes flicker open in panic, but when they settle on me, she relaxes. A soft smile starts curving those lips before she blinks and stiffens in my arms, realising just how close we are.
I want to explain that I have walked this world as a lone wolf for hundreds of years, and now that I have found the one person meant to walk with me, I will never let her go. But that may scare her, so I simply lean down and brush her hair from her face. “How are you feeling, darling?”
What was that dream? I want to ask, but she doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I file that away for later as well. This woman sure is a mystery. I can’t wait to explore her and find out everything. “Okay, I think,” she murmurs, still half asleep and adorable, so adorable I want to kiss her.
So I do.
Leaning down, I cover those beckoning lips with mine. She gasps, so I sweep my tongue in, tangling it with hers. She is rigid at first before she melts into me. Groaning at her taste, I thread my fingers into her hair and roll us so I am above her. Her legs part, and I wedge my hips between her thighs. She can no doubt feel my hardness pressing against her center through the thin barrier of her dress, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
She kisses me harder, almost biting at my lips. The unrestrained, wild kiss is nothing like her perfect noble fae exterior, and I find myself craving this side of her, the lack of finesse and thought as she gives herself over to me.
Willingly.
Happily.
Pulling away, I dig my teeth into her lip and pull it, making her moan as I release it before kissing the sting away. “You taste better than I imagined, like magic itself… So sweet,” I murmur against her lips, and she trembles beneath me, her hands delicately, shyly, coming up and resting on my shoulders before tugging me closer.