Rikki stood in the shower, letting the water cascade over her as tears ran down her cheeks. Her emotions were in an upheaval, and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing she could do about it. She couldn’t blame it on her wolf this time, though. No, this time it was all her. The female who didn’t want to send her male back into hell, knowing he may not come out again. She had agreed that Jeremiah needed to go to Virginia, had even encouraged it, but her heart was breaking at the thought of what could happen when he got there. Even knowing she and the team would be right outside the facility, waiting for his command to infiltrate, didn’t make it better. Anything could happen. She could lose her mate before she even had a chance to claim him.
“Baby, you have to stop. Your tears are killing me.”
Rikki was aware of the shower curtain being pulled back, and then the water was shut off. A large towel was wrapped around her, and then she was being lifted very gently into a pair of strong arms. Jeremiah’s arms. Laying her head against his thick chest, she inhaled deeply, taking his scent deep inside her.
“I won’t go,” he muttered, rubbing his cheek against hers as he walked into the bedroom at Angel’s farm that she was using for now. “We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way,” she whispered, her tears falling on his skin. “We both know that.”
“There’s always another way. We just have to find it.”
Raising her head, she looked into his dark eyes. Eyes full of compassion, and something else that made her breath catch. For her. Laying a hand on his cheek, she forced herself to give him a small smile. “It will be too late for Jasmine by then, and you know it. This is the only way to get in quickly enough to free her and the others. She has a mate, a child. I can’t let myself be selfish, no matter how much I may want to.”
Jeremiah’s deep brown eyes darkened even more, and he slowly lowered her to her feet. “My Rikki,” he said, as he began to gently run the towel over her body. “Always worried about others, never putting herself first.” The towel glided over her chest, and then his mouth was following behind it. Rikki cried out at the sensations rushing through her as he licked over the curve of her breast, and then around her nipple, teasing it lightly before sucking it into the hot recesses of his mouth.
“Jeremiah!”
“My sweet mate,” he rasped, moving the towel around to slide it over her back while his lips whispered across her skin to her other breast.
Rikki felt a small laugh slip free. “I don’t think anyone has ever called me sweet before.”
“Then, they don’t know you very well.” Jeremiah knelt in front of her, and she shuddered when she felt the rasp of the towel over her buttocks. Gently, he kissed around the cut on her side that was already healing. “I should have hurt him, just a little.”
“It’s just a scratch,” she breathed, her body trembling as he moved lower.
“Should have gutted him.”
“You can’t gut the alpha.”
“Watch me.” Rikki’s laughter turned into a moan when his tongue swirled around her navel. “So sweet,” he groaned, as he moved lower. “And all mine.”
When his tongue stroked over her clit, Rikki cried out, pleasure swamping her. No one had ever touched her like this, kissed her the way he was. Jeremiah growled, sliding his tongue lower, over her wet folds, and she moaned his name as the sound vibrated through her. Sliding her hands into his thick hair, she fought to stay on her feet as her thighs began to shake uncontrollably. “Jeremiah! I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, moaning again when his tongue entered her. “It feels so good!”
Pulling back, he looked up at her, his eyes glowing bright as he licked his lips. “You taste so fucking good, baby.”
Tightening her hands in his hair, she gasped when she felt him slide a finger deep inside her. “Jeremiah! I…” She didn’t know what to say. Sensations were running wild within her, her body taut and alive, waiting for something.
“Just feel, Rikki,” he said, as he added another finger, stretching her.
“Oh, God!”
“That’s it,” he growled, lowering his head and finding her clit again with his tongue. “All you need to do is feel.”
The flick of his tongue against the small ball of nerves had her going crazy. Clutching at his head, she arched into him, screaming his name when it felt as if something exploded inside of her. It rushed through her, tearing down her defenses, leaving her weak against the onslaught of emotion surrounding her. The anger she held against him for staying away so long, the fear she felt that he wouldn’t make it out of Virginia alive, the desire that consumed her when he touched her, the love she’d tried to hold back for so long. It all slammed into her as she exploded on his tongue, and she couldn’t stop what happened next.
Her vision changed, and Rikki knew she was seeing through the eyes of her wolf. Her fangs dropped, and a deep growl emerged. “Mine,” she snarled. Her hands dropped to Jeremiah’s shoulders, her claws digging in deep.
“Rikki,” he groaned, lifting his head to look at her. “Oh, fuck.”
His eyes widened slightly, and then she was looking at his bear. His own fangs emerged, his breathing becoming labored as he rose quickly, sweeping her up into his arms and depositing her on the bed.
“Mine,” she snarled again, watching as he slid out of the jogging pants he had on. Then he was on the bed with her, lying between her legs, his mouth on hers. Arching her hips up to meet his, she moaned when she felt the hardness of his cock between her thighs.
“Baby, are you sure? I don’t think I can stop my bear from taking you. It’s been so long. Too long.”
Rikki felt the tension strumming through his body, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Low growls emitted from deep in his chest as he struggled to hold himself back. His forearms shook with the effort to hold himself above her. His fangs were large and long, and his eyes were glued to her shoulder, where she knew he wanted to leave his mark. Was she sure? She had wanted him for so long. She’d been angry at him for not claiming her long ago. For leaving her when she needed him most. For not being there when she woke up after the terror of being locked in darkness for months. But through it all, there was one thing she’d always known. He was hers, as she was his. That wasn’t going to change no matter what else happened.
Slipping a hand down between them, she wrapped her fingers around his cock, reveling in the velvety soft skin that covered the rock hardness of him.
“Rikki.”
Her name was a deep growl, and she could tell he was at the end of his control. Good, so was she. Guiding him to her entrance, she wrapped her legs around him, arching into him, pushing his cock inside. He was big, so long and thick, she had to take him slowly. Soon, he was filling her, snarling above her as he held himself in check. She didn’t want him in control. She wanted him wild. She wanted so much.
Baring her teeth, she snarled, “Mine,” once more before raising up and sinking her fangs deep into his shoulder. He was hers, dammit. Now and always. They would live together and die together. She was never letting him go again.
“Rikki!” She felt the moment when Jeremiah’s control snapped. One second he had a tight reign over it, and then it was just gone. Grasping one of her hips tightly, he shoved deep inside her, withdrew, and slammed in again. “Tell me I’m not hurting you,” he groaned, his hips pistoning as he thrust deep inside her again and again. “Please, baby, I can’t stop.”
She growled against his shoulder, lifting her hips to meet him, thrust for thrust. He would never hurt her. “More!” she snarled, raking her claws down his back.
“Fuck!”
Jeremiah paused, lifting one of her legs to reposition them, and then began to move again. He was getting even deeper now, moving even faster, and she loved it. Letting go of his shoulder, she threw her head back and gave herself over to just feeling. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. The sensations running through her, the way her body hummed with excitement, it all swamped her, and soon she was going over the edge again, coming around his cock.
His eyes glowing brighter, Jeremiah bared his fangs. “Mine,” he growled, his eyes locked to her shoulder.
“Do it,” she snarled, arching her neck back. “Fucking do it!”
He struck, his fangs digging deep into her shoulder, and a loud roar filled the room as he came inside her. His body went taut, and he snarled and growled around his teeth.
“Yes!” Rikki cried out as she came again, pulsing around his cock. She felt the bond snap into place, one that could never be broken, not even in death. She was his, as he was hers. Their souls merged together. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before.
It was several minutes later before Jeremiah finally slid his teeth from Rikki’s shoulder, licking at the mark as he slipped from inside her. Raising his head, he looked down at her, love shining from his eyes. “I think it’s time we talked, little one.”
Rikki raised her head and captured his mouth with hers before pulling back to whisper, “Yes, it is.”