He needed more.
He needed all of her.
On a low growl, he grabbed her right breast and pulled her up to him, bent his knees to keep himself inside her and stared at her nape, his rough breaths bouncing back at him as he thrust into her. She moaned and writhed, her keening cries gaining volume and pitch as he drove into her welcoming heat, as she tightened around him and he sensed how close she was.
She lifted her arms and draped them over his shoulders, and he groaned as she cupped his nape, as she held on to it as he took her. He savoured her sweet cries as he shifted his left hand to the apex of her thighs and stroked her between them, fondling her bundle of nerves.
Her body kicked forwards as she cried out and trembled around his length, milking it in a demanding way that had the need blazing within him growing stronger, had him pushing her through the haze of one release and towards another as he stared at her nape, as he lost himself in the moment. She moaned and clutched him, rotated her hips and drove him mad, pushing him to the very edge.
On a feral snarl, Knox angled his head and sank his fangs into her nape, gripped her hard and kept her in place with his bite as he drove into her, as he thrust harder and deeper, claiming all of her. The first drop of her blood on his tongue had fire raging through him, had the world dropping away as something altered inside him, as everything changed in a heartbeat.
Her feelings flooded him, her pleasure mingling with his, growing stronger by the second as the bond formed between them, linking them deeply, allowing her to feel everything he did too.
Sweet gods.
Stars winked across the darkness of his closed eyes as his release rolled up on him like a tidal wave, as it broke over him and almost broke him in the process. Every inch of him quivered in time with Skye, trembled as fiercely as her body was as she broke apart again, as his cock kicked and throbbed inside her. He released her nape, managed a single swipe of his tongue over the puncture wounds to steal the pain away.
And then collapsed to his knees.
“Knox!” Skye turned towards him in an instant, dropping to all fours, her beautiful flushed face awash with concern.
He swallowed hard and struggled to breathe as he continued to shake, as pleasure rocked him and refused to release him, was sure he looked like an idiot or weak to her.
She slipped from the bed onto his lap, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, lightly stroking her lips across his. Distracting him. Calming him. He sank into that kiss, drowned in the feelings it held, in the ones he could sense in their connection as it slowly finished forming.
A bond that was forever.
His beautiful mate continued to hold him, eased him down and pieced him back together, gazed at him with affection and not judgement in her eyes as she finally drew back to look at him. She feathered her fingers across his damp brow, down his cheek, her look one of concern now.
“That was intense.” She smiled for him, one that stole his heart.
“A little more than I was expecting.” But he should have known it would wreck him, that mating with her would do this to him, affecting him this deeply, because in his heart he had known that the love they shared was endless, deeper than normal love, the sort that led to a powerful mating.
A powerful bond.
She kissed him again and he took control this time, wanting her to see that he was strong, that his moment of weakness was over, even when he knew it wasn’t. She had a way of making him weak, and he loved it.
Time trickled past as he kissed her, as he savoured the connection between them, and slowly his thoughts turned to Black Ridge and how the planned get-together was looking more like a party now. A celebration.
Skye finally stood and he growled as he watched her walking into her bathroom, as he stared at the marks on the nape of her neck.
His marks.
His mate.
He stood on trembling legs and dressed, sank onto the edge of the mattress as Skye moved around the room. He tracked her with his gaze, enjoying the way she glanced at him from time to time as she dressed, a shy edge to her dark eyes.
He wasn’t sure there was a bear in all the world as happy as he was right now.
When she finished dressing, donning her blue jeans and a pretty black flowing camisole that had purple flowers stitched onto it, she came to him. Kissed him. He groaned and kissed her back, getting fired up again.
He tried to tug her onto the bed with him but she twirled out of his grip.
“Come on. I don’t want to be late.” She untied her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders, hiding his mark.
He huffed and stood, followed her back down the stairs and vowed that he would make love with her later, when they were alone in his cabin, assuaging his need to satisfy his mate.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she was quick to scurry towards the main door of the bar, keeping her head down. Knox strode through it with his shoulders tipped back and his head held high. A few of the males tossed him looks, some of them disgusted while others looked as if they wanted to congratulate him on a job well done.
He glared at those men, because he didn’t like the thought of them imagining his female naked, bucking against him, wild in the throes of passion.
He strode after Skye on legs that were still a little unsteady and caught up with her on the deck of the bar.
Paused and stared at her.
Still couldn’t believe she was his mate now even when he could feel it in every beat of his heart.
She looped her arm around his and smiled up at him, her eyes bright with the pleasure he could feel in her, the contentment. Those feelings ran through him too, had him smiling down at her as he lost himself in her eyes, in their bond.
“Looks like it’ll be another busy day at the bar.” He dragged his gaze away from hers and noted that more of the outside tables were occupied now.
“Thanks again for helping me out.” She tiptoed and he leaned towards her, wanting that kiss on his cheek.
“What’s mine is yours, Skye. All of it.” He glanced back at the bar as he led her towards his truck. “I love this place too and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it open. I know how important it is to you, so it’s important to me too.”
She smiled. “And that’s why I love you.”
Knox missed a step.
Grinned at her.
“You love me?”
That was the first time she had said it.
Before she could say a word, only blush, he said, “I love you too.”
He swept her up into his arms and kissed her, an all-too-brief one that only got him fired up again, and set her down. She seized his hand and led him along the street, past his truck.
“Where are we going?” He looked back at the pickup. “I’m parked right there.”
“I should bring something for the party tonight.” She glanced over her shoulder at him.
He figured she meant something like wine or a soda, a token gesture of thanks to the host of the get-together.
Only she led him to the store and ordered a lot of steaks.
When the cashier totalled it up, she looked at him. “What’s yours is mine, right?”
He chuckled and kissed her, slipped his arm around her waist and his other hand into his pocket for his wallet.
“Oh, and I’ll take that tray too.” She leaned right, away from him, and he tried to see what she was pointing at.
He wasn’t surprised when the woman behind the counter pulled a whole tray of brownies out and started boxing them up. Skye had discovered a dangerous way into the hearts of everyone at Black Ridge a few months back when she had brought brownies for everyone. It turned out that keeping the females happy with chocolate had made her very popular with Saint and Lowe.