Chapter 73

"Are you going to bite me, then, Damion?" I ask breathlessly. The idea doesn't scare me at all. In fact, I'm so hopped on the rush of the moment that all I feel is desire. Desire and that subtle thrumming in my neck that's aching for the sharp curve of his teeth.

"Fuck," he curses low under his breath, his face buried in the crook where my shoulder and neck meet, his breath is a warm tickle on my sweat-slick skin that has me shuddering against him. His breathing is uneven as if he's fighting back from doing just that. Fighting against every wild and crazy instinct that has taken over both of us. "I want to- gods, I want to. More than anything. I want to bind you to me in every possible way. I want everyone to know you're mine when we walk into a room. Want every shifter to sense my mark on you."

He shudders against me, breathing in my scent again- like he can't get enough of it, enough of *me*- and it sets off another round of orgasms pulsing through us both. Fire and lightening shimmer behind my eyelids and I can't catch my breath. Heat and ice explode through my veins in equal parts and my entire system feels like its detonating in on itself in the best way possible.

My inner walls clenching around him, heat from him pulsing into me, and he rides the high down from his own pleasure with a ragged groan.

"Then do it." I tell him on a gasp as I come off that same high- the high from both the orgasm and his words. Right now, I can't imagine wanting anything more than him. Wanting anything more than this sweet euphoria that I never want to come down from, "I *want* you to do it."

He leans forward and kisses that spot on my neck, his teeth scraping the oversensitive skin there and I let out a desperate moan, rocking against him.

"Not yet-" he says, pulling back and stroking a strand of damp hair from my forehead, and when I meet his eyes, they're as glazed over as mine feel. It takes a moment for his words to register.

*Not yet?*

"Why not?" I ask him, trying to stay focused on the conversation and not all the places we're touching. All the sensations he's igniting in me.

"I don't think now is the best time for you to be making life- altering decisions. As much as I want to, I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

*This man. Always so protective of my choice in all of this.* I wonder what it will take for him to see that it's him that I want. That I'm not going to change my mind.

"I'm not going to regret it," I try to reassure him.

"Then you'll still want it next time. There's no rush." He grins up at me like he's won. I roll my eyes, but decide that he's probably right. As much as I want him to sink his teeth into me this instant, there's not any real reason to rush things. If he wants to wait to hear the truth from me when he's not buried inside of me, then I suppose I can do that for him.

I don't know how long we stay like that. So long that I feel washed out and made new all at the same time. We ride out the pleasure until we're both boneless. So spent that we can't be bothered to move. Eventually as we stop moving, I feel the strain- the fullness of Damion's knot start to deflate enough that he's able to untangle from me.

I lay sprawled across his sweat slicked chest as our breathing evens out. And eventually, I'm so exhausted that I fall asleep, warm and comfortable, pressed up on his chest with his arms around me. I drift off to sleep with the overwhelming sensation of being *home*. That I've found my home for possibly the first time in my life.

I wake up to the feel of Damion idly toying with strands of my hair.

Through his window, I can see the first soft gray light peeking through the cracks. It's already morning. I stayed here way longer than I intended to- been away from Lucia longer than should have. She may already be awake and wondering where I disappeared to.

I know Damion and I both need to get up, to go get cleaned up soon, but don't want to move. Instead I turn my head enough to peek up at him. His sleepy eyes- in a dark golden shade- squint down at me in a tired smile.

"Good morning," I say.

He leans forward to press his lips against mine, before pulling back.

"Morning." His eyes look so content. Like he loves me being in his arms- being the first thing he sees when he wakes up- as much as I love being there.

"Last night was-" I start, unable to find a word to describe how last night had been. Words like 'Incredible' and 'amazing' don't seem to do it justice.

His lips tilt up into a smug masculine smile, "It was," he agrees, hearing my lack of words for what it is.

"I need to go wash off-" I start with a sigh.

"*Don't*," the word is out of his mouth seemingly without thinking, and I feel his body suddenly tense beneath me as I look down at him curiously. He rubs a rough hand over his sleep rumpled hair, his face, "Shit, sorry. I have never feltterritorial like this before. It'sunnerving."

"Territorial over what exactly?" I ask curiously.

He clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, "Because we didn't seal the Bonding last night, it turns out my berserker side is extremely against the idea of you washing my scent from your skin. It's beingmore possessive today than usual," he admits, "Though, that side of me is already a territorial and greedy bastard. I wondered if being with you so much last night would help relieve some of that tension, but it seems to have made my need to mark youeven more intense somehow."

His words surprise me, "IsAre you going to be okay?" I ask chewing worriedly on my bottom lip. I don't want him to be uncomfortable or in any pain because of me- because of last night. He watches the movement with avid interest before leaning forward to kiss the worrying away.

He nods as his jaw works, clenches as if he's fighting with himself, "Let me help you get cleaned up," he says in a strained voice before tightening his grip on me. Tucked into his chest, he picks me up into his arms and carries me to the attached bathing chamber.