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Dimitri sucks in a breath, staring at our intertwined hands, and I can tell that, whatever it is, it’s more serious than that. “To be with an alpha wolf is no small thing,” he says quietly, drawing closer to me. His eyes have lightened to that amber color that I love so much, though they’re filled with a look that chills me to the bone. “We wouldn’t just be dating, Jules. You’d be mine. The mating bond is . . .” He takes another breath. “I would need to claim you — body and soul.”
At those words, my heart gives an irregular stutter. Everything inside me screams yes — that I want to belong to this man — but based on the way he’s acting, I feel I should ask more questions. “What does that entail, exactly?”
“A bite,” he says simply, caressing the tender spot where my neck meets my shoulder with the side of his thumb. “It would embed my scent in your flesh and tell any other shifter around that you belong to me.”
I drag in a shuddering breath, imagining his wolf’s long white fangs puncturing my skin.
“It will hurt,” he says. “But I’ve heard it can be pleasurable, too, since it’s usually done in the act of . . .” Dimitri trails off, and my face heats at the thought of his hands, his tongue roving over my body.
“What else?”
Dimitri snorts. “There’s no exam afterward. It’s just a bite. But . . .” He drags in another sharp breath. “You need to be sure this is what you want — that I’m what you want. Because once I sink my teeth into you, Jules, I won’t be able to let you go.”
My heart quickens as Dimitri’s words wash over me. A lifetime bound to an alpha wolf sounds intense, but if Dimitri had hoped to scare me away, his little speech has had the opposite effect.
“What if I don’t want you to?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
When I look up at Dimitri, his face is full of such love and hope that it steals my breath away. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t need to. He just takes me by the hand and leads me back upstairs.
Chapter Fifteen
Dimitri
Jules’s scent is all around me as I lead her up the stairs. With every step, my heart grows lighter. Jules didn’t run.
Ever since Rhys’s betrayal, I’ve only had one other person whom I felt I could trust. I hadn’t realized how small my world had become — that I was suffocating in my own loneliness.
It only got worse when I fell for Jules — to love her knowing she would never accept me. That she could never love my wolf.
But Jules looked inside me and saw it all — the ugly, broken, chaotic bits. She saw the beast, and she didn’t run. She stayed and fought for my soul.
I’ll always be grateful for that.
My bedroom is still in shambles from my meltdown earlier, so I tug Jules down the hallway to the room I gave her. I didn’t tell her at the time, but this was my room before she moved in. It has the very best views in the house, and I wanted her to have it.
I lead her over to the bed, and Jules sinks down on the edge. There’s always a chill in here after sunset, so I light a fire in the hearth, allowing the warmth of the small flames to lap against my skin.
I can feel Jules’s eyes on me the entire time, but I remain focused on my task so she can look her fill.
My wolf is urging me to mark Jules, but for the first time in a long while, his wants and needs feel manageable. As much as I want to claim Jules for my own, I want her to trust me more. I want her to know that she’s safe in my arms — that I would never hurt her.
Only once the fire is crackling in the hearth do I allow myself to turn around. Jules hasn’t moved from her spot on the bed, and even in a baggy T-shirt and sweatpants, she’s a fucking goddess. The golden glow of the fire plays over her soft features, dances in her warm brown eyes. Her raven locks are messy from our earlier lovemaking, splayed across her one bare shoulder where the T-shirt has fallen down.
Neither of us says a word as I cross to the bed. Jules scoots back to make room for me, and I cup her face in my hands. She doesn’t flinch as she did before, and I get the feeling that she truly sees me.
Gathering her wild locks, I tilt her head to the side and kiss a soft trail down her cheek, all the way along her neck to the little indent where I’ll mark her. I pause just there and inhale deeply, drinking in her warm cinnamon scent that has become like home to me.
I encircle her throat lightly and then drag my hand down between her breasts, where I can feel her racing heart. Jules rises up onto her knees and slips her sweatpants down her hips. I help free her of the heavy material, tossing them into a corner of the room.
My nostrils flare with desire when I realize she isn’t wearing anything underneath. I reach between her legs, and a quiet groan escapes me when my fingers come away drenched in her cream.
Jules shifts so that she’s straddling me, teasing my mouth with those warm, soft lips. I moan against her, reveling in the feel of her skin as I palm her bare ass.
I take my time stroking the swell of each cheek, my fingers dipping down to her silky inner thighs before trailing up her hips, under her shirt, and exploring the valley of her waist.
Jules’s sigh tickles my lips as I stroke her back and ribs. My erection is a painful throb against the zipper of my jeans, and when she seats herself down over my cock and grinds her pussy along my length, I can’t hold back my shaky groan.
Slowly, I inch my fingers up Jules’s body, palming her gorgeous breasts. A whimper slips out of her at my touch, and that little sound nearly unravels me.
