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"For how long?"

"Could be a while."

Her mouth curves. "You're telling me you're going to be stuck inside me?"

"Yes. Does that scare you? I should have told you sooner."

"Gage." She grabs my face. Both hands. Firm. "No. Just let it happen."

I laugh, breathless, and kiss her. The kiss is messy and desperate and my knot swells further, catching at her entrance on every thrust, pressing against her, stretching her.

"God, I can feel it," she moans. "It's…fuck, it's huge…"

"I know. I know. Relax. Let me in."

She breathes out and I push forward. The knot slips past her entrance and seats fully inside her. She gasps, her walls clenching around the swollen base. The pressure builds, the unbearable, inevitable pressure at the root of me.

"Here," I say, turning my head, baring my neck. "Here, Maren. Bite me."

She doesn’t hesitate. Her mouth finds the same spot on my neck, the junction, the pulse point, and her teeth sink in.

The world goes white.

My orgasm hits me like a freight train. I come harder than I ever have in my life, pulsing deep inside her. The knot holds me locked in place, my cock jerking and emptying in waves that seem to have no end. I hear myself roar and something cracks. The headboard, maybe? Or my own composure. Through the bond I feel her orgasm crash into her at the same time.

She screams against my throat, teeth still buried in my skin. Her pussy milks me in rhythmic spasms that pull every last drop out of me. I feel her climax through the bond again like a second sun, blinding, burning, and all-consuming.

We ride it out together. We’re locked together, her teeth in my neck, my body pouring into hers, the bond between us blazing like a live wire.

Then it eases. Slowly. Like a tide pulling back.

Her teeth release. She licks the mark a few times and then her head drops to the pillow. Her eyes are glassy, stunned, and she’s smiling this wrecked, incredulous, bloody smile that makes my chest ache.

"Holy shit," she whispers.

"Yeah."

"Is it…are we…?"

"Stuck? Yeah." I shift experimentally and we both gasp. The knot is tugging at her entrance, oversensitive.

"Don't move. Give it a few minutes."

"I wasn't planning on moving anywhere." She traces a finger over the bite mark on my neck. I feel the sting and the tenderness and the bond pulses warm between us.

"How do you feel?" she asks.

I search for words. Find almost none. "Like you're everywhere. In my head. In my chest. Like I've been cold my whole life and I just now figured out why."

Her eyes soften. She presses her palm flat against my chest and over my heart. Through the bond I feel her feeling what I feel and the enormity of it, the rightness.

"You're stuck with me now.”

"Thank God."

She laughs, and the movement makes her clench around the knot, and I groan and drop my face into her hair.

"Don't do that."