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Gwynn kept still in an instinctive effort to keep the beast in Aaron’s eyes at bay. She was sure he could hear every frantic beat as she stood up to him and fought for her heart.
“I can’t do this, Gwynn. The fever’s gone too far.” The cords in his neck stood out and he shook with a monumental effort.
“I don’t understand.” Was this it? Was this the thing they’d warned her about?
Aaron took a deep shuddering breath. “I either claim you, now or I leave the pack and go wild.” He knelt at her feet, his hands outstretched. “You’re my fated mate, Gwynn. I can’t live without you.”
This was it, her moment of truth. Wolves mated for life, was she ready for this?
This man wasn’t what she’d thought she wanted—a normal, geeky guy—but Aaron had kept her safe. He would put her before his pack, fight off the mob, protect her from her father. Her heart was already his, what she risked now was her inner self. Her lifelong beliefs built on the idea that a man like Aaron would be undependable like her dad. But he wasn’t her dad.
If she said yes to him, he would stick around for a lifetime. This man wasn’t going anywhere. He’d proved he’d risk everything for her—even her love.
“Gwynn.” His ragged voice cracked.
If she didn’t take this risk, she would lose him.
She pictured going home to her empty apartment. Pictured years of empty, safe relationships with no risks, no love, no passion. And no Aaron.
A lump formed fast and hard in her chest, stealing her breath. She closed her eyes.
It wasn’t safe to love. He might hurt her again. And there was so much more to this choice. She might become a shifter. Or something else, something she still didn’t completely understand. But losing him and living on her own would leave her life a wasteland.
He was right, it was fate. Her fate. And he was her mate.
She opened her eyes and took a freeing breath. “Yes, do it.”
His nostrils flared, but he stayed put, kneeling at her feet. “There’s no going back, Gwynn. Tell me you love me. Tell me you’ll be my mate. Forever.”
“I’ll be your mate.” She reached out, and he tangled his fingers in hers.
“And the rest? Please don’t say you’re doing this just to save me. Do you love me, Gwynn?”
“I—” She could do this. She could say it and he wouldn’t break her. She trusted him. “I love you. My mate. Forever.”
Her words set him loose. Aaron pulled her over to his side of the bed and ravaged her mouth, took everything she had to give. He tore their clothes off, using his powerful arms to rip and shred. She kept up with him every step of the way, licking and nipping and plundering his mouth for every drop of ecstasy.
“I love you. Love you.” Hot kisses punctuated every sentence.
“I love you too.” She could barely get the words out. She ran her hands down and gripped his firm cock in her hand. He was hot and hard, and the feel of him in her palm sent pulses of need into her body. “Aaron, I’m ready, now.”
He groaned and pulled her on top of him. She was wet and ready. She slid onto his erection, encasing him inside.
“Too... soon.” He panted in her ear. “I can’t stop.”
She moved up and down, tightening her muscles, knowing she pushed him past his limit with each pleasurable pulse. He gripped her hips and moved her faster. She’d never come like this before, with no foreplay but his cock inside her driving her closer and closer to a frenzied edge.
His moves were desperate and hard. His face pressed into her neck and his teeth sank in, biting her at the same moment as her climax, sending her into spasms of pleasure twined with pain.
Psychedelic oranges, reds, and purples pulsed behind her eyelids. She screamed, heat and electricity blinding her to everything but the fantastic colors blotting out her vision.
Aaron’s orgasm inside her brought her over the edge again, and again in shades of pomegranate, writhing and screaming, climaxing hard around his cock, her fingers digging in to his shoulders.
Gwynn didn’t know how long it took to come down. Slowly, the electric pulses disappeared into tiny tingles and the colors faded. She opened her eyes and the world swam.
“What’s happening?” She was nestled snug against Aaron, held in his familiar vise-like grip. “My skin, it’s burning up.”
“Sh, my love. It’s the Fever.” Aaron’s voice was low and calm. Gwynn lifted a hand to her bruised neck and it came away red with blood.
“Aaron, what did you do?”
“I claimed you,” he said, his voice filled with smug satisfaction.
“You bit me? You said I wouldn’t become a wolf.”
“You shouldn’t.”
The world slowed its spinning. Gwynn looked at Aaron. His face was calm. “You seem better.”
“I’m better. How are you?”
“Weird. My vision is blurry, and I’m hot. Is there any water?”
He got her a glass, and stroked sweat-sticky hair back from her forehead. “The lore says you’ll be sick, fevered. And then a little off for a day or two if you don’t become a shifter. If you do, then we have a whole other issue.”
“I should have asked. Are we still mated if I don’t change?”
Aaron’s face stretched into a smug smile. “You’re mine, all mine, honey. No one will stand between us.” His expression got serious. “I will always be here for you. I love you, Gwynn.”
Joy swelled inside her. “I love you too.” She snuggled into his arms, warm and secure in his love.
She’d made the choice to stay with Aaron and be his partner. Be his mate. And best of all, he wasn’t leaving. Ever. The future was an open book for her to write her own story, but for the first time, she wouldn’t be writing it alone. Was he perfect?
The thought made her smile. Absolutely not. But in Aaron, she’d finally found a man she could trust with her heart.