Hooking her fingers in the waistband, she pulled down his jeans, slid them off. He kicked off his running shoes, stepped out of the pants, and spread his legs, standing with his feet braced slightly apart, and then pulled off his shirt. All of the glorious skin she’d been eager to touch and taste was right there, a living sculpture of male beauty.

Reaching out, she cradled his heavy balls, squeezing, manipulating carefully. He moaned and widened his stance, encouraging her to do what she wished. What she wanted was to drive him out of his mind with a tongue bath, and so she grasped the base of his cock, lifting his stiff erection. Bending forward, she licked the silky sac, determined not to leave an inch unloved. He squirmed, buried a hand in her hair and thrust his hips, clearly enjoying the attention.

Getting into her ministrations, she kissed and suckled each orb as though savoring a juicy peach. Delicious, too, smooth and creamy, just like—

“Kira,” he rasped.

“Mmm. Ready to beg yet?”

Whatever reply he might’ve made was silenced when she swallowed him to the root. A cock this magnificent deserved her undivided attention and she gave it, sucking him with firm pulls, laving the underside, worrying the sensitive flesh with lips and a slight grazing of her teeth.

Her wolf lasted longer than she expected, and she smirked to herself as he disengaged with a low growl of warning. “Get those clothes off, because if I do it there won’t be anything left but scraps.”

“You wouldn’t want me to traipse back in the buff?”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t share.”

“Good to know, because neither do I.”

Kneeling, he helped divest her of the pink cotton shirt she’d worn this morning, followed by the lacy white bra. Both were tossed aside and he literally crawled up her body, pushing her to lie on the grass. Straddling her, he tweaked a nipple and it immediately perked to attention, seeking more of the same. But he moved on, attacking her jeans with the same impatience she’d demonstrated, stripping them and her underwear down her legs. The shoes and socks went next, and the whole pile joined the rest of their clothing.

“Christ, you’re so pretty,” he breathed in reverence.

She resisted the impulse to cover herself. Barely, and because she knew he didn’t like it when she did. “I’m happy you think so.”

“It’s a fact.” Bending, he sniffed her neck, inhaling her scent. “So good. Sweet. You’re not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf eating you up?”

“Should I be?” Oh, God, he felt so good above her, his hard cock rubbing her belly.

“Oh, yeah. Be very afraid,” he deadpanned.

Then he gave her nipples his full attention, treating them with the same care she’d lavished on his balls. He suckled, scraped, and licked, making every nerve ending sizzle in joy. She clutched his short black hair as he began to kiss his way south, humming to himself in pleasure. Callused fingers parted her folds and it was his turn to drive her wild, his tongue lapping at her clit, her channel, sending tendrils of delight spiraling through her abdomen and to her limbs.

Somehow he knew when she couldn’t take anymore, but instead of backing off, he upped the ante. “Am I driving you crazy, baby? Who’s going to beg now?”

A smart remark hovered on her lips—and was instantly forgotten when his mouth went back to work on her slit. And when a slick finger teased her back entrance.

Her eyes widened and she gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Relax, angel,” he purred. “Give yourself to me. Just feel.”

She started to refuse. She really did. But the wonder of his tongue combined with the finger rubbing sensually around the sensitive ring of muscles there reduced her to a puddle of mush. He was never too invasive, simply teased and stroked in time to feasting on her, to the point that she was nothing but his.

“Jax, please!”

“Please what, my angel?”

“Fuck me,” she begged. “I need you, inside me.”

“What my lady wants, she gets.” He sounded rather pleased with himself.

Deftly, he urged her to flip over and grabbed her hips, pulling her up on her knees with her ass poking in the air. Offered to him. The man and the beast.

She knew what would come with the fucking and she welcomed it. Wanted it hard and feral, no holding back, and she made sure he understood. “Take me, like a wolf takes his mate. Show me how it can be.”

“I’ll show you how it is,” he asserted. “You’re mine.”

The blunt head of his cock pushed into her, sliding deep. He filled her to the hilt, his strong body covering hers, and still she needed more. Her blood called to him, every cell in her body yearning for the completion only he could give them. To be his Bondmate, the one at his side for life, loving him. Fighting their battles, celebrating their triumphs. She wanted it all, with him.

“God, yes,” he hissed. Gripping her hips, he began to thrust, slamming into her core with almost brutal force, skirting the edge of pain.

Breathless, she moaned, pushing back onto him. Tempting him to increase the intensity, to own her. Spearing her again and again, he drove them higher, to the brink. His nails lengthened, became claws needling her flesh. He seemed to grow bigger all over as he pounded into her channel, his muscles taut and unyielding.

About to go over, she reached back, trying to touch his face. “Jax, I can’t . . . Please!”

Sitting back, he brought her into his lap, the position burying his cock deep. Instinctively, she tilted her head to the side, offering her neck in submission to her mate. A finger brushed aside her hair and he licked the vulnerable skin where her neck and shoulder met.

“You’re mine.”

“Yes, I’m yours! Don’t make me wait any longer . . .”

He struck, sinking his canines into her flesh like razors slicing through paper. She cried out, the pain unlike any she’d ever known, and then . . . ecstasy.

Pure, white-hot pleasure that boiled and rose for about five seconds and then exploded in the most powerful orgasm she’d ever experienced. Screaming, she writhed on his lap, spasming around his cock. Her release triggered his and he poured into her, warmth bathing her womb. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see the forest through a golden glow, almost like a veil surrounding them. A glow that sank right through their skin as they remained connected, winding into a tangible golden thread that ran between them.

From her heart to his.

Jax stiffened with a hoarse shout, emptying the last of his seed and then slumped, still holding on, his face in the crook of her shoulder where he’d bitten.

How long they remained there, joined, she didn’t know. Finally he raised his head and peppered her neck, her cheek, with kisses. “Are you all right, baby?”

“I think I blew a fuse,” she teased.

“I know I did.” He sighed, and then said, “My wolf is gone, and so are my other gifts.”

“What? How can you tell?” Something like panic pushed at her breast.

“I just can.”

Easing off his lap, she sat facing him. “Well, try to shift.”

“Okay.” Scooting back some, he remained kneeling, and concentrated. After a couple of minutes, he shook his head. “Nothing.”

She reached out, took his hand. “Oh, Jax, I’m sorry. But Dr. Mallory said they’d probably return,” she reminded him.

He laughed. “I know. I was thinking how ironic it is that five years ago, when I was turned into a shifter, I thought I’d been cursed. I would’ve done anything to reverse it. And now I feel quite naked.”

“You are naked, in case you forgot.”

Fortunately, he responded to the tease. “Oh, my God! You’re right. What’re we gonna do about that?” Playfully, he got on his hands and knees and stalked her.

“I haven’t the foggiest.” Giggling, she began to inch backward. “Hey, you’re bullet wound is healed! I guess that means something good came from bonding, huh?”