As he felt her * begin to flutter around him, Marcus groaned. “Yes, sweetheart, come hard for me.” He dug his teeth into her throat, tasting blood, licking and sucking to ensure that his brand could never be mistaken for anything else. At the same time, her body contracted around him as she screamed his name and her claws pierced the flesh of his back. Then her teeth locked on his shoulder and sank deep. The pleasure-pain shoved him over the edge and he exploded deep inside her, coming harder than he’d ever come before in his life.
Roni’s breath trapped in her throat as her back bowed. A brief flash of pain sliced through her head, but it was quickly soothed away by the warm feelings that washed through her—feelings of home and safety and rightness. They were soppy and weird and unfamiliar, but they also settled her in a way she couldn’t quite explain.
More important than that, she could feel Marcus. Feel him in her, over her, all around her . . . almost as if they shared the same skin—a sensation she knew she’d feel even when they were apart. She couldn’t see the bond, but she could feel it as surely as she could feel her connection to her arm. She could sense what Marcus was feeling as it hummed through the bond: pure masculine satisfaction. Although not yet fully developed, the bond was stable and vibrant. “Can you feel what I’m feeling?”
Marcus nodded, licking over his claiming mark. He’d felt everything she’d felt—experienced every single flicker of emotion, every sensation, every bit of wonder. “Balanced.”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t trust it.”
He laughed, liking the mischief in her eyes. “Why shouldn’t you feel balanced, sweetheart? You’re anchored now.”
“It doesn’t mean I’ll start smiling or anything.”
“Of course not, Dimples.” That got him a whack over the head. Laughing again, he rolled them over so she was straddling him, and shaped her waist with his hands. “Now that wasn’t nice. You’re supposed to treasure and worship me.” She just rolled her eyes.
Marcus couldn’t help marveling at how much more centered he felt, at how the feel of her inside him steadied him. Not that the anger was gone. It was still there, always would be. But Roni’s presence smoothed over the jagged edges inside him, so they were no longer sharp and cutting—healing him without changing him. “You really can’t bolt now.”
“I wouldn’t have anyway,” she answered honestly. That got her a wide smile. When that smile turned impish, she arched a brow questioningly.
“You know, a petty thought just crept into my brain.”
She sighed. “You like that Nick’s going to freak, don’t you?” Her brother had come to tolerate Marcus, but that was as good as it got—for the simple reason that she was his sister, and he liked to think of her as a sweet, innocent virgin.
“Do you think he’ll cry? I hope so.”
“On another note, aren’t you a little . . . I don’t know . . . disappointed?” Like that, his amusement vanished and he bolted upright.
Wrapping his arms around her, Marcus held her eyes with a serious gaze. “I need you to listen up, sweetheart. Hear me when I say that you are more important to me than any goddamn thing in this world. I’m proud to have you as a mate. Everything about you appeals to me—your strength, your intelligence, your complexity, your frankness, and the fact that you use pointless facts as social repellents. And let’s not forget your ass. I love your addictively supple body, sweetheart, but especially that phenomenal ass.”
It was impossible not to believe him when she could feel his sincerity. She could feel something else from him too—a flash of insecurity. “You don’t honestly worry that I might be disappointed, do you? Because that means I’ll have to dish out some compliments to assure you I’m perfectly happy, and I won’t be good at that.”
“You’re perfectly happy?” Smiling, Marcus lifted her by her waist, aligned his hard cock to her *, and impaled her on him. “That tells me all I need to know.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He’s your mate?”
Smiling at Nick, Marcus slid an arm around Roni to cup her hip possessively. “I knew you’d be happy for us.”
From his seat on the sofa, Nick gaped at his sister. “Seriously? He’s your mate?”
Looking delighted, Shaya came over and kissed both Roni and Marcus on the cheek. “Congratulations!” Then she was crying and fanning her face. “It’s the hormones.”
“I suspected it,” said Eli, “but I wasn’t totally sure.” He kissed Roni on the cheek, and shook Marcus’s hand. One by one, Caleb, Kent, and the enforcers rose from various seats around the living area of the main lodge and congratulated them—careful not to get too close to Roni. While the mating bond was incomplete, the possessiveness would be worse than ever. Nick seemed too shocked to move.
Roni raised her brows at her uncharacteristically quiet mother. “Happy to hear I’m not living in sin after all?” Kathy didn’t answer. And, yeah, that kind of hurt. Similarly, neither Janice nor Eliza offered their congratulations, but whatever.
“Oh, come on! He’s your mate?”
Roni rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, Nick! Can’t you be happy for me?”
“I am happy that you’ve found your mate; I was hoping you would.” Nick shrugged, practically pouting. “I was just hoping it wasn’t him.”
“I thought you liked Marcus,” said a clearly amused Eli.
“Like? No. Prepared to tolerate? Yes.”
Shaya patted her mate’s thigh. “Do you think, maybe, it’s not that you truly have a problem with Marcus, it’s that you’re just a little bummed that you have to let your sister go now? You’ve been used to being the main man in her life, and now that’s changed.”
Nick folded his arms across his chest. “Maybe.”
“I wouldn’t take it personally that he’s not warm to you,” Eli said to Marcus. “According to Mom, Nick’s been alienating people since he was two years old.”
“When will you have the mating ceremony?” Shaya did a little clap. “Ooh, can I plan it, please?”
It was tradition for the other females of the pack to plan the event, and since Roni wouldn’t have a clue where to start, she nodded. “Sure. Just no fairy-tale theme.”
Shaya nodded. “Got it. How about on Saturday evening?”
“Can you have it planned and sorted in just two days?” asked Marcus.