Six months ago, that sort of intense admission from any man would have sent Devon into a panic. A PTSD reaction from having lived through a relationship with a man who’d disabled her car battery to keep her from leaving for the weekend because, “I have to be with you every second of every day.” Nate hadn’t wanted a relationship with her. He’d wanted to own her. And even after she’d managed to find a way out and file a restraining order, he’d tried to get her back. His relentless obsession had pushed Devon into the isolated Idaho wilderness where she’d assumed she’d never have a chance at a relationship again.
Guess that assumption turned out to be wrong.
Liam was the first man to ever make her feel safe. Which blew her mind since she’d known him for all of about a day. Wasn’t a moment all it took, though? A moment to connect with someone. A moment to feel a kinship. A moment of interest, a moment to fall in love.… Devon had no idea what the future would hold. Could she love Liam? Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing was certain: she was going to ride the wave and see where it took her.
The heat of his mouth met her throat once again and Devon’s bones went liquid. The glide of his fingertips against her skin, his grip on her hair, his lips on hers was an indulgence that only made her want more. Without a fire burning in the stove, it was cold enough to see her breath. Devon barely noticed the chill. Liam provided all the warmth she’d ever need.
She pulled away only long enough to shuck her puffy down coat. It fell to the floor somewhere behind her and she peeled off her T-shirt next. Liam’s eyes sparked bright gold as his gaze devoured her. Devon’s stomach did a backflip and floated down on a blissful cloud. Desire overwhelmed her. Her fingers shook as she reached back to unhook her bra. At this rate, she’d be lucky if she’d be able to get her own jeans unbuttoned.
Liam crossed his arms in front of him and stripped the shirt Devon had lent him from his chest. All thoughts of getting her bra the rest of the way off melted as her gaze met the bulging wall of muscle. She could safely say she now knew what zero percent body fat looked like. Her hands abandoned her bra as she reached out, desperate to press her palms against the definition of his pecs. Her hands hovered, unable to close the inch or so distance that separated their bare skin. Everything was happening so fast. Devon worried she’d get whiplash when the gravity of the situation finally hit her. Right now, she was too busy living in the moment. Would there be repercussions for her actions? Would she survive the emotional fallout?
“It’s okay, Devon.”
She cocked her head to one side as she studied the details of Liam’s face. She couldn’t hide anything from him, could she? There would never be an ounce of deception between them because the mystical biology of their relationship wouldn’t allow for it. She still didn’t understand any of it. Not really. She had to hope that somehow, everything would work out the way it was supposed to. Otherwise, she and Liam might both be ruined.
Her palms came down on his heated skin and she let out an indulgent sigh. “I still can’t get over how warm you are.”
“Werewolf metabolism,” Liam replied proudly. “It’s why we heal faster and are able to build the muscle mass necessary to withstand the stress that transitioning puts on our bodies.”
Liam Murphy was a goddamn medical miracle and the world didn’t even know he existed. Her hands moved over the hills of his pecs, across his wide collarbone and the strong curve of his shoulders. Every inch of him was chiseled from marble, smooth and unyielding. A fire burned beneath the surface of his skin and behind his eyes as she continued her exploration, letting her hands wander over his shoulders to his back, down around his biceps and powerful forearms, to his hands. Her fingers moved to the sheet that still circled his waist, skimming the edge of the fabric as she traced the skin below his belly button. His muscles flexed and tightened under her touch as she pushed her palms up the ridges of his abs and back to where she’d started.
“I don’t know if this is something men like to hear,” she said with a gentle laugh. “But you’re absolutely beautiful.”
His lips curved into a sardonic smile. “From you?” He traced her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “My mate? It’s the best compliment I could ever receive.”
Devon blew out a breath. A few hours with Liam had already surpassed each and every prior relationship she’d ever had. People talked about love at first sight, soul mates, and Devon had always turned her nose up at the notion. There was no such thing. You just muddled through it until you found someone you could tolerate on a daily basis. All of her bitter, cynical convictions had taken a permanent vacation the second she’d dragged Liam out of that snowy field. He was the game changer.
“Mate.” The word was as foreign to her as he was.
His hands began a wandering path along her bare skin. Devon’s lids drifted shut and her head rolled back on her shoulders as he began an unhurried exploration, his touch featherlight. Chills rose to the surface of her flesh. It was an indulgent moment. Luxurious. His hands found the straps of her bra and he dragged them down the length of her arms before he discarded the garment beside him.
“Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe you, Devon.” He cupped her breasts, brushed his thumbs over her taut nipples. The heat of his fingertips provided a sharp contrast to the chilly air that permeated her skin. Ripples of sensation danced through her nerve endings, racing down the length of her torso and settling as a deep thrum between her legs. An urgent need rose up inside of her and Devon stood. She missed the skin-to-skin contact immediately and hastily fumbled with the button of her jeans as she fought to free her feet from her boots.
Without a word, Liam reached for her. His hands gripped her hips, and in a movement so fast it made her head spin, repositioned her so that she lay on the couch. “You’re killing me.” His voice was a low growl that only intensified the slow pulse of blood that rushed to her clit. “If you get undressed any slower, I’m going to explode.”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I’ve never been wound up like this before.” Funny, she wasn’t a bit embarrassed by the admission. “I can’t get my brain to work right. It’s like I can’t remember how a damn button works.”
The feral gleam returned to Liam’s eyes. Hungry. Intense. It burned through her and made her breath come in quick, desperate pants. He jerked at the laces, pulling them loose before he slid her boots from her feet. Her socks were next—a quick tug and they joined her shirt on the floor. Her stomach twitched as his fingertips skimmed the waistband of her jeans. He plucked the button loose with no effort, worked the zipper down, and with a wide sweep of his arms, divested her of the denim and underwear in a single, artful swoop.
She grinned. “I take it you’ve done this in a hurry before?”
His gaze grew serious. “No. Make no mistake Devon, I’ve lived long enough to sow my oats and then some. But no woman, no female, will ever compare to you. You have no equal. I am yours and yours alone. I need you to understand that and know that these words are my vow. You are my mate. The finality of that is sacred. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” Fear vibrated through her. Not a fear of Liam, though. Not a fear of that intensity or the sanctity of the words he spoke to her. What she feared was her own reaction to that vow. A wave of relief that washed over her. A release. As though she’d waited her entire life to hear those words spoken specifically from him. A wish fulfilled. An odd and foreign sensation, but the rightness of it left her shaken. “I understand it completely,” she said with wonder. “And I feel the exact same way.” She couldn’t explain it, but there it was. She was Liam’s. He was hers.
It was a truth that she felt in the very pit of her soul.
Liam guided one leg over the back of the couch. Anticipation rippled through her as a rush of wetness spread between her thighs. He stood only long enough to kick off the black boots and remove the sheet. That he’d been willing to wear that ridiculous getup was proof enough that their bond was a serious thing to him. She couldn’t imagine any man agreeing to do that for her. Then again, Liam Murphy wasn’t a man, was he? He was something else entirely. And he’d pledged himself to her in the quiet dark.
Even in the low light, Devon could make out every inch of his naked body in glorious detail. His erection jutted proudly from his hips, complementing the strength of his powerful thighs and trim waist. He rested one knee on the couch cushion as he lowered himself to her. She expected him to settle his hips between her legs, but as his head dipped to her pussy, Devon sucked in a surprised breath. His tongue lashed out at her clit, searing like a brand. Blinding pleasure washed over her and she marveled that she hadn’t come from that very first contact.
“Oh my god, Liam. Don’t stop.” The words left her mouth in a desperate rush. She was already mindless with want, her control hanging on by a thread. Her hips thrust up to meet his mouth as he latched on and she cried out with the first earnest pass of his slippery tongue. Devon’s back arched off the couch, her eyes squeezed shut. His tongue swirled over her clit in a slow, deliberate circle. Tension built over every inch of her body, her stomach curled into a ball, and she felt as though her body shrunk inside of itself. The sensation of his hotter-than-normal mouth over her sensitive flesh was more than she could stand. And when he took her clit fully into his mouth and sucked gently, Devon came apart in an instant.
Deep vibrations spread outward from her convulsing sex, through her abdomen, and up her torso. Shock waves pulsed through her breasts, into her tight aching nipples, her arms and legs. Her fingertips tingled as did her toes, and her cries of passion echoed off the walls that closed them in.
Never in her entire life had she ever felt anything like this. Tears pricked at Devon’s eyes but she held them in. She’d never believed in magic until today. The truth of everything Liam had ever said to her, the truth of her own feelings and her body’s response to him, resonated through her. She was lost. Ruined. He’d staked a claim on her in that moment and she had become irrevocably his.
* * *
Liam’s wolf howled with satisfaction. His mate’s pleasure was his. Her desires were his to sate. The taste of her on his tongue drove him mad with want and his cock throbbed almost painfully as the desperate need to take her grew to the point that his mind gave way to the haze of lust that sought to master him.
The mating urge brought the two halves of Liam’s nature together in the same way that the full moon did. Reason gave way to instinct and his only thought was to take her, to join their bodies and solidify through that pairing the bond of the vows he’d spoken. Devon belonged to him. Mine. The wolf knew their mate and from this moment on, he’d decimate anything that sought to come between them. He would protect her with a ferocity that would incite fear. He would defend her with a tenacity that would weary even the most stubborn. Mine. The word resounded in Liam’s mind over and over again until it became a mantra. Mine. She was his world. His entire universe. His sustenance, the air he breathed. She was the moon and he would forever answer her call.
Mine.
He came up on his knees and grabbed her firmly by the hips. A desperate growl gathered in his throat as he lowered himself to her and her hips came up to meet his as he thrust home. The warm, silky glide of her sex against his rigid cock sent Liam’s head back on his shoulders as he let out a grunt of pleasure. She was so tight she squeezed him like a fist, her inner walls contracting greedily against his shaft as he buried himself as deep as he could go.
“Gods, Devon.” His words came between pants of breath as he put his mouth to her ear. It was damn near impossible to force himself to stillness but he gave her a moment to adjust to his girth. She was so tight. So gods-damn wet that it nearly stole his ability to form a coherent thought. A sense of urgency rose within him and his stomach twisted into an unyielding knot as he pulled out slowly to the tip and plunged back in.
Devon’s gasp ended on an indulgent moan that vibrated through him and settled in his sac. He pulled out again, slowly, and drove home with the same painful precision. It was a sweet torture to keep such an unhurried pace, but Liam wanted to draw out her pleasure, coax a second orgasm from her so he could feel the evidence of it around his shaft. He wanted her to bathe him in the wet rush of her pleasure. Fuck, he demanded it from her.
“Come for me.” His need to please her surpassed his own need for release. He couldn’t get enough of the sound of her voice, her sweet, mewling cries, the chills that broke out on her skin at the moment the orgasm swept her up in its storm. Wind and snow buffeted the house, but the blizzard’s intensity was nothing compared to the tempest that raged between them now. “I need to feel it. Need to feel you.” The rhythm of his thrusts increased in speed as he angled her hips up and ground against her. Every thrust coaxed a low moan from her lips that sent him closer to the edge. He refused to topple over until she did, though. “Let me feel you come, Devon.” He drew her earlobe into his mouth and sucked.
Her back came off the couch and she bit down on his shoulder as she came. The animal part of him reveled in the act and his own jaw longed to clamp down on tender flesh. The walls of her pussy squeezed him tight as her racking sobs filled his ears. A rush of wet warmth cascaded over his cock and Liam let out a violent shout as his own orgasm drew him into a swirling whirlwind of sensation that left him panting and shaken. He thrust hard and deep. His jaw clamped down and his muscles went rigid. He continued to pump his hips until she’d milked him dry then collapsed on top of her with a shuddering breath.
He’d never known such a sense of completion. His wolf purred with satisfaction. Power vibrated through him, an ancient magic that only a mate bond could evoke. It fortified his strength, nourished him mind, body, and soul. It grounded him and at the same time left him with a buzzing high that rushed through him like quicksilver. Liam thought he’d known magic. Thought he’d felt power. He knew the draw of the moon and the sway of its hold. None of it held a candle to what Devon did to him. The mate bond was truly extraordinary. The rarest of gifts. And he would be sure to nurture it until the day he drew his last breath.
The couch was impossibly small. It was a wonder they’d managed so well. Liam’s body was longer than the frame and his knees bunched up against the armrest as he laid his cheek against the perfect swells of Devon’s breasts. Her heartbeat rushed in his ears and his own matched its pace in perfect synchronicity. Long, silent moments passed, the only sounds that of the storm outside and their mingled breaths. Bliss. Peace. Home. Mine. The words played a loop in the primitive part of Liam’s mind. Complete. He was finally whole and he had this amazing, accepting, trusting woman to thank for it.
“I don’t even know how we’re still on this couch,” Devon said with a laugh. Her voice was low and husky. A breathy caress that coaxed chills to the surface of Liam’s skin. He brushed the hair away from her face and lost himself in the beautiful hazel depths of her eyes. “There’s no possible way you’re comfortable right now.”
“I could fit into a much smaller space if you needed me to,” Liam replied. He put his mouth to hers for a slow kiss. “Just say the word.”
Her answering laughter was like warm rain in the summer. “Honestly, it’s a wonder you even fit in this house.”
A chill shook her and Liam’s brow furrowed. “Are you cold?”
“Are you kidding?” Her lips twitched with amusement. “I meant what I said earlier. With you around, I don’t even need to build a fire. You’re like a personal electric blanket. What’s your average body temperature, anyway?”
Liam gave an unconcerned shrug. “Around one-ten, one-fifteen I think.”
“Good lord!” Devon’s head came up from the armrest. “Do doctors lose their shit when you go in for a checkup?”
Liam smiled. “Werewolf, love. We don’t generally have a need for doctors.”
He loved the way her gaze went liquid when he said “love.”
“Right.” She let out a chuff of laughter. “I forgot. I have so many questions. Like, how long do werewolves live? Do you seriously never get sick? And what about that whole silver bullet legend? Were you born? Made? And—oh my god!” Her eyes went wide as she came up off the couch. “We didn’t use a condom! What were we thinking?”
He smoothed her hair, letting his thumb brush against her temple. “It’s all right, Devon. Werewolves don’t contract human diseases.”
Her brows gathered over her eyes. “Yeah, well, what about little werewolf babies?”
“Only fertile the week before the full moon.”
Her expression turned dubious, but her lips curved into a smile. “That totally sounds like a line to me.”
“Ah, but I can’t lie to you, mate.” Her smile widened. “So you know it’s not a line.”
“Oh, you’re smooth,” she purred.
A very smug sense of male satisfaction swelled in Liam’s chest. “Only when it comes to you, love.”
“Sounds like another line,” she remarked playfully. “But I’ll take it.”
Mac gave a frightened bark followed by a whimper as he turned his attention to the living-room window.
A sense of worry crept up Liam’s spine and left him feeling chilled despite the warmth of his mate’s body. In the aftermath of their passion, the two parts of his nature had become one. And with that union, his memories of last night came back in a violent rush that compressed the air from his lungs. A dangerous predator stalked him, and by association now stalked Devon as well. Instinct scratched at the back of his mind and his wolf let out a disconcerted whine. Evil was coming for them, and it was close.