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  “Not like that,” he growled.

  She blinked up at him as her heart pounded at the sudden heat in his eyes. “Hayes?”

  “I’m going to fuck you, Emma, and I’m going to put my mark over his.”

  His words sent a thrill tearing through her, straight to her womb. Unsure how to respond, she didn’t. Hayes didn’t move, he just kept staring down at her with her wrists captured. She assumed he wanted some sort of response, and she wanted it too. She wanted his mark over Edric’s. She didn’t want to think of that vampire every time she looked in the mirror. No, if she had to look at a bite, she’d rather look at one from Hayes. She nodded.

  “Say it,” he commanded.

  “You’re…you’re going to mark me.”

  “What else?”

  Heat flooded her face and pooled in her cheeks. This time she spoke more quietly. “And you’re going to fuck me.”

  The corner of his mouth ticked up a fraction in an almost satisfied smirk. “Do you know why?”

  Emma shook her head but said, “To keep me safe from other vampires. You’re gonna change me so that…”

  His hands tightened on her wrists and he pulled her harder into him. “I’m not gonna change you, Em. This bite’ll be different. This will be a claiming mark.”

  Her lips formed a silent ‘O’ as she stared up at him in shock. Suddenly, her already racing heart seized. “Cl-claiming?” Jaxon’s words from the forest when they’d found her finally registered. ‘She’s yours, which makes her one of us.’

  “I’m going to make you mine, Emma. Do you know what that means?”

  And she did. Jaxon had told her. It was different than marriage, it was so much more. But why? Why now? She frowned. “If you want to do this because you feel bad, then don’t.”

  “I feel something, Em, but it ain’t bad. I’ve been feeling it since the first second I laid eyes on you hauling your ass up my side of the mountain to ask for help. You’re mine. You always have been. I tried to fight it because I was a fucking coward, but I’m not running from you anymore. I’m not running from us!”

  Tears blurred her vision. “What?”

  “And you know it too, don’t you?” he released one wrist and used a finger to force her eyes back to his when she looked down. “Don’t try to deny it. I can see it in the way you look at me. I can smell it in the way your body emits its sweet perfume when I come close to you.” His hand slid down her throat to collar her as he canted his head. “The way it’s doing now.”

  And she blushed again because the only thing he could be talking about was the way she was wet for him already. He hadn’t done much more then say the words and press his big body into hers and already her body was ready to take him into her.

  “But you’re gonna show me something first.”

  That had her blinking rapidly.

  “You’re gonna show me all of you.” His eyes dipped to her chest and she lifted her released hand to the towel between them as she tried to take a step back, shaking her head furiously.

  “You’re going to show me all of you because there’s only one way for me to love all of you. I need to see all the parts of you that you think are broken before I can love them back to life, Em.”

  She was still shaking her head though, so Hayes released her other hand, keeping his eyes pinned on her as he began to strip.

  When he was naked, Emma’s eyes drank him in and her mouth fell open when her eyes settled on his fully erect cock. It took a few moments for her to drag her eyes back up his lithe frame and when she did, they focused on the words written all along his chest, abdomen, and arms.

  “What do they say?” she breathed.

  “I’m looking forward to telling you about each one.”

  “But you gotta share first, baby. You gotta be my brave woman and show me yours first.” When her delicate brows speared down, he continued. “I know it’s unfair, but that’s how it is. I’d give to you first if I could, but wolf isn’t going to wait much longer. I need to be inside you like I need to fucking breathe. So you gotta trust me here. Show me all of you Emma. Show me all of you so I can show you that scars to me mean that you’re a survivor. You’re stronger than any person I’ve ever known, and I intend to worship you.” He dipped his head. “Show me, Em.”

  Her hands were shaking now in both fear and need.

  She wanted to close her eyes, but she wouldn’t. She needed to see his reaction to the damage that was her body, her lost femininity. Taking a fortifying breath, Emma dropped the towel.

  Chapter 25

  Standing naked, Emma’s body had gone rigid as she’d braced for even the slightest indication that Hayes was repulsed by what he saw.

  When Hayes finally spoke, his tone was reverent. “Do I have your permission to honor your body, Emma?”

  His question had her swallowing hard and suddenly her whole body was trembling. “Y-yes,” she breathed and his piercing blue eyes lifted to hers as he commanded, “Say it like you mean it, Em.”

  Lifting her chin, she spoke more firmly. “Yes.”

  And that was all it took. Hayes lifted his hands to her shoulders and slid them down her arms to grab her hands as he took a knee in front of her, making himself eye level with her chest. Emma squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands tightly in his as she fought the urge to cover up. Hayes shook his hands free of hers and then they were settled on her hips as he pulled her into him. His nose brushed down the center of her chest and she tensed so hard that her muscles actually ached. His hands slid up and rested on her ribs just below her one breast and where the other used to be. When his lips brushed against her scar, Emma’s eyes snapped open.

  “My warrior woman,” he murmured against her skin as he placed kisses all along her scar. “You fought and won, didn’t you, baby.”

  The tension melted from Emma with each kiss he left and tentatively, she lifted her hands and buried them in his hair as he continued to nuzzle and nibble around the puckered pink scar that she’d despised for so long.

  His hands glided down her rib cage and she thought they’d go back to her hips, but they didn’t. They gripped her ass and massaged as he pulled her even closer still. His adoration of her body had an ache growing in her middle so she pulled back and forced his attention to her breast and the needy little nipple that was budded there, straining for his attention. He didn’t disappoint. Hayes flicked her nipple with his tongue before pulling it into his mouth and sucking gently. His hands never stopped massaging her ass, and Emma let her head fall back. It’d been so long since a man had loved her.

  Hayes released her nipple and kissed his way slowly up her breast to her throat as he finally stood. Head dipped low, he nipped and sucked at the scar on her neck and she wondered if he was going to bite her now. He didn’t. He turned them and slowly backed Emma toward the bed until the back of her legs hit it. He pulled back from her roving hands just long enough to push her backward. She fell onto the bed with a startled gasp. She wasn’t alone for long though because seconds later, Hayes had the covers peeled down beneath her and was pulling them up over the both of them as he settled in the bed on top of her, her legs parting to make a space for his body while his arms braced to hold most of his weight off of her.

  His body was so warm as she glided her hands over his firm muscles. She’d wondered what this would feel like. She’d imagined it a thousand times, but this, right here right now, was ten thousand times better than any imagining could have ever possibly have been.

  His lips were back at her neck, at that place right below her ear that sent goose bumps rising across her whole body. He growled as if he knew what that spot did to her and Emma breathed out a needy little sound as she ground her hips against him.

  She could feel his erection bobbing just below the ache between her legs, but he wasn’t moving to take her yet.

  “Hayes,” she breathed, one hand fisting his hair while the other smoothed down his back and cupped his firm ass trying to force him to go wh
ere she wanted. He growled again and nipped gently at her neck before pulling back. When he looked up at her, his eyes were golden and glowing with what she now knew meant his wolf was close.

  “You gotta be sure, Emma. Once we do this, there is no going back. I’m dying to belong to you. Please…” his eyes dipped to her lips then back up. “Please say you’ll be mine. Forever.”

  She knew he needed the words so she smiled tenderly as she studied his face before locking her eyes with his. “I’m already yours, Hayes. You just need to accept it.”

  She thought he’d grin, or show some kind of happy response to her words. Instead, his eyes tightened in the corners and his face morphed into a near grimace. It alarmed her for a second but then when his eyes glistened with his emotion she realized just how happy she’d just made him.

  “’Till my life on this earth ends, woman.” Then he was sliding into her.

  Unable to stop herself, Emma arched her back as her body accepted him. A satisfied moan left her petal pink lips and she sighed contentedly as Hayes started working inside of her. The man was impossibly gentle and it warmed her heart because she knew it was intentional. He had a beast in him and he could have taken her hard, but he didn’t. He was making love to her

  their first time together and that made her love him even more than she already did.

  His lips were reverent, his hands adoring, his body gifting her exactly what she needed. Emma pulled her mouth from his to drag in an agonized breath as her womb clenched around him. She was close. His arm hooked a knee and lifted it higher until he was working deeper inside of her, hitting that spot that had her mewling and rubbing frantically against him. She felt his cock jerk inside of her and she knew he was close too.

  “Emmmm,” he buried his head in her shoulder and lifted to look down the length of their bodies. “Ffffffuck!” His hips worked faster and his pelvis bumped against Emma just right until she cried out with her orgasm. Hayes was pounding into her then, his hips working a frantic pace as he hammered into her and with the glide from her own honey coating him, Emma’s body tightened again. The head board banged against the wall loudly as Hayes’ movements rocked the bed. He groaned and his body tensed as he slammed home one last time, shooting his seed deep inside his mate just as he sunk his teeth into Emma’s throat. A second orgasm crashed over her and she cried out his name, “Hayes!”

  She didn’t know how careful he’d had to be to bite deep enough to cover Edric’s mark, but not deep enough to gift Emma a wolf. Hayes hoped one day she’d ask for it, but until then, he’d satisfy himself with simply marking her as his. As his teeth sunk into her, his heart soared. It was done. She was his, but more importantly, he was hers!

  Chapter 26

  Showered, brushed, and dressed, Hayes stepped out of his bathroom to find Emma sitting on the edge of his bed with a blanket wrapped around her middle. Their night had been long and he was surprised she was awake already.

  “Morning, baby.” He closed the distance between them and dropped to his knees in front of her, using his hands to force her legs apart as he settled between them. He and his wolf both liked the startled little gasp she gave as he pulled her ass off the bed until she was straddling his knee. He swallowed the gasp as he kissed her long and deep.

  The scent of her need filled the air and he moaned knowing he had to pull back before he fucked her again. She had to be sore this morning because they’d consummated their vows repeatedly throughout the night and he hadn’t always been as gentle as he had their first time. In fact, more than once he’d had to force his wolf back from trying to get in on the action.

  Pulling back, he nipped at her now swollen bottom lip before lifting her back onto the bed. He could feel her eyes on him as he opened the door to his room and leaned out into the hall coming back in with one of her overnight bags. “I had Udara go pack you up some clothes.” He’d intentionally asked Udara to do the task because she’d healed Emma twice, which meant she knew about Emma’s breast cancer and would be discreet and considerate about the clothing Emma would want.

  Handing Emma the bag, he felt a surge of relief when she beamed up at him like he’d just done something epically romantic. Her smile had his cock twitching so he growled playfully, “Get dressed, woman.”

  She glanced at the bathroom. “I should shower.”

  “No!” The word came out to quickly, to harshly and Emma was staring at him in question. “I know my mark is on you and that you said the words, but…” How did he say this without sounding like a sick fuck? “Wolf needs to have our scent on you.” But that was a lie and he wasn’t going to start his relationship with Emma like that. He dipped his head and muttered a curse before looking directly at her. “I need my scent on you.”

  He was beyond relieved when she grinned and nodded. “I like your scent on me too, Hayes.”

  She dressed quickly and didn’t even try to turn away or hide as she put on one of her custom bras. Once her boots were tied, he pulled her up from their bed. “Come on, pack’s finished cooking. I can smell it.” He laced his fingers with hers because he couldn’t stop touching her. He grinned when she squeezed his hand and kissed his bicep over his shirt. When she pulled her lips back, he bumped her shoulder gently with his own. “Woman, you own my soul now. You know that right?”

  “I’ll take good care of it,” she promised and he felt blessed because he heard the truth in her words and read it in her glistening eyes.

  “Come on.” He had to get her out of his room before he decided to fuck her again. Besides, his wolf was pacing with the need to get her fed. She’d been taken earlier the evening before and he doubted she’d eaten anything since lunch yesterday. She had to be famished and if the little growly noises her belly was making were any indication, then he was right.

  At the top of the stairs, she balked and because he was already two steps down, he turned and was nearly eye level with her. She looked nervous.

  “Hayes,” her gaze was focused on his chest. “If…if you want me to get a breast implant, I will.” She lifted her eyes to his then, her chin lifting too but her free hand lifted to cover her chest like just talking about it was making her self-conscious. “I’d do that if it’s something you needed, or wanted.”

  He pushed her hand aside and pulled her body hard into his, dark brows dipping low. Dean had been right. “Woman, you’re being silly and trying to waste good money on shit that don’t need fixing.” He knew his words, Dean’s words were right when Emma’s lip trembled and her eyes went all watery as she focused on his chest again.

  “Promise?” she asked in a nearly inaudible whisper.

  “You are perfect to me, Em. Always have been, always fucking will be.”

  She nodded, but a strong finger forced her chin up, forced her eyes back to his. “I mean my words.”

  And there it was that smile that reached her eyes and told him that she believed him.

  “You’re perfect to me too, Hayes.”

  Satisfied that she wasn’t feeling self-conscious about herself, he led her down to the kitchen.

  ****

  Shoving back from the table, Hayes pulled out Emma’s chair and once she stood, he pulled her into a hug, apparently unable to go even thirty minutes without the need for her warmth pressed into him.

  “You know I’m better for you right?” Aden spoke around a bite as he pointed his fork at Hayes. “There’s lots of shit wrong with that one.”

  Hayes’ eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he growled at Aden. It was a scary sound, but Emma lifted her hands to round over the back of his shoulders. Turning her head, she looked right at Aden and declared, “I like everything about him.”

  That had Hayes’ growl fading. The wolf left his eyes as they lowered to Emma’s. Canting his head, he let a grin spread across his mouth like butter on warm bread as one brow quirked. “I thought I was too growly for your liking?”

  Pressing a palm to his chest, Emma licked her lips her eyes still pinned on him. “I
like your growls just fine. They make me want…things.”

  Hayes’ grin slipped and his eyes filled with heat. A deep rumble rattled up from his chest, vibrating her palm and earning him a startled little gasp. “What things?”

  Emma pulled her hand back and lifted her chin haughtily letting her eyelids lower until she was peeking at him through thin slits. “Things a lady does not discuss in public.”

  Before she could even take a step, he had her up and over his shoulder.

  “HAYES!” she screeched with a delighted giggle.

  Her reward was a smack on the ass as Hayes carried her toward the door. They were going back to Emma’s cabin, back to where it all began.

  “Privacy it is.” He threw two fingers in the air by way of salutation to his pack. He chuckled when they all began cat calling and howling like a bunch of banshees.

  Epilogue

  Hayes lay on his side watching Emma as she slowly started to stir. They were back at her cabin and true to shifter form, he’d taken her repeatedly through the night. He couldn’t help himself now that she’d agreed to be his and was wearing his mark.

  She moaned and he grinned as she kept her eyes closed and slowly lifted her arms. Her butt poked out and pressed against his erection as she stretched and made sounds like a baby dinosaur. His grin broadened.

  Green eyes slowly blinked open and she grinned at him then snuggled deeper into the covers and nestled closer to his warm body.

  “Mmmm,” he moaned contentedly, dropping his head from where it’d been propped on his palm to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. He was just about to relax fully when his ears picked up approaching footsteps outside the cabin. A grin took his face and he carefully slid his arm from beneath Emma’s head.

  “Hey!” she protested. “Where do you think you’re going?”