Rig’s breath sucked in below me, and I giggled, letting myself go so I dropped because I knew that I had just the right angle to catch the next branch down if I just turned my body slightly…
“Cara, for fuck’s sake, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
I laughed and continued on my path down the tree while Rig growled and paced below.
He was strong. He could climb the trees too—like a gymnast. But it was all sheer power. He couldn’t jump the way I could. His body didn’t… bend like mine.
We’d tried racing and it turned out I was faster off the mark—shooting ahead and keeping my lead for a while. But when I
~ CARA ~Rig leaped on me with a playful growl, straddling my legs, his large hands pinning me down to the blankets, his breath hot on my neck again, then disappearing as he curled himself up and for a moment I just stayed there as he kissed his way up from the base of my spine, his hands stroking and kneading all over my body, desperate, but leashed.I could feel the fight in him, the need warring with his desire to take care of me, and while I loved that he wanted to be careful with my heart, I hated that he felt like he couldn’t really let go.Then his kisses reached my neck and I sighed happily, bending my head forward to pressing into the warmth of his lips and tongue.He gave a little growl and nipped at the sensitive skin there.
~ NATALIE ~I don’t even know what time it was when I finally dragged myself back to the house, except that it was broad daylight, and I’d been gone several hours. The sun had risen hours earlier and now the sky glowed. The trees were still draped in mist and fog, but it had a magical quality with the sunlight shining through it.I should have been inspired by that. I should have smiled and enjoyed the incredible view, the quiet, and the safety of this place.But I was hungry, tired, and utterly miserable.I’d tried to flee my feelings. Tried to run away from the pressure building in my chest. At some point in the dark, I’d gotten it into my head that if I ran out all my energy and exhausted my body I’d be able to ignore… well, everyth
~ NATALIE ~Mack blinked and suddenly I couldn’t look at him anymore. Couldn’t be there, couldn’t let myself see the pain in his eyes. Pressure built in my chest and shoved my feet up to the next step.I ripped my gaze from his. “I need to take a shower.”I almost stumbled when I first started moving, but then I gained strength. It was right to keep him safe. It was right not to try and unravel the tangle of knowing he’d taken other females after we recognized the bond. It was all too much. We were doomed—and he would die if this went wrong. Maybe I would too.Flashed memories of the joy and heat between Rig and Cara taunted me… wouldn’t it be worth it to have that, even for a short time?
If you like music while you read, try “Masquerade” by Euphoria + Bolshiee. It’s what I was listening to while writing this scene!*****~ NATALIE ~“I love you, Mack. I always have. I’ve… I’ve been so miserable without you—”Something broke in his eyes and his hands came up to my face as he took my mouth in a soul-searing kiss.I sucked in, gripping his wrists, as he devoured me—frantic, desperate—and everything in my body, my heart, broke open and sang.I couldn’t think, could barely breathe, as his lips pressed mine, his tongue seeking, demanding, insistent, and his body, his warmth pressed against me from knee to chest.
~ NATALIE ~I bit my lip against the tears, because the bond was thrumming, glowing, pulling at my chest, and holding him like this, I could feel his fear mixed with joy, the terror tangling with need.I cupped his face and held his eyes, kissed him once and rocked against him again so his eyes almost closed. Then I let my head fall back again.Hold onto me, he said, and I did. I clutched at him, holding him tightly against me as he began to move, his body making promises I needed him to keep.I’ve got you, he said, and he did. I couldn’t deny it for another second. I belonged to
~ NATALIE ~I’d never felt so vulnerable, so exposed, and so ecstatic in my life.With every wash of joy and pleasure there was an equal wave of fear—and yet I just clung to him, pleading with my heart, and sometimes with my words, that he’d stay with me in it.Nothing had ever felt more right than having Mack in my arms, in my body, moving with me, whispering to me, his mouth on mine, his breath hot and fluttering on my skin, his eyes blazing and his heart… his heart.With a sob I flattened a hand against his chest as something within him blazed. The bond, twisting, unfurling, lassoing our hearts and drawing us together. I shook with the intensity of it, and th
Mack’s Song: “Never Let Her Go (Reinvented)” by Project Vela.*****~ MACK ~Laying in bed with Natalie was the most surreal feeling.Part of me was happy to the point of smug. Wallowing in her, in her scent, her warmth, her lush softness. I couldn’t stop touching her, and thankfully she didn’t seem to want to stop touching me either. She curled into my side under my arm, one arm thrown across my chest, her head on my shoulder. For a while, neither of us spoke. We just touched and breathed. And it was incredible.But I never stopped being aware of that looming danger behind us, the risks, the threats, gathering like storm clouds on the horizon.In a strange way it made l
~ RIG ~I was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, starving, and getting ready for a late dinner Cara had been cooking when I felt Mack’s claws scratching at my mind, a submissive request to link that surprised me. Usually, unless I was closed off, he just spoke into my head and expected me to shut him down if it was a problem.I looked at Cara, who caught the expression on my face and paused in rinsing the pasta she’d just taken off the stove.“What is it?” she asked.“Mack,” I said carefully.Her eyes widened a little, but she went back to the food, trusting me to fill her in. I could see the tension in her, though. We’d both been waiting, our nerves growing wit