Beth rose up and straddled his waist, bringing his erection to her opening. She kissed him deep and hard, and she could feel his struggle to hold back, to wait for her. Pulling back, she stared into his eyes as she lowered herself slowly onto him. He clenched his teeth and sweat broke out on his forehead.
“There,” she breathed. “Where you belong.”
He kissed her, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth. Beth began to move her hips, slowly at first, feeling his fullness inside and his hands outside. With each thrust, her breasts bounced at the top of the water. In and out, her nipples hot one second, ice cold the next. The sensation drove her crazy, and when Renner started thrusting beneath her, everything intensified. A grunt escaped his throat and she opened her eyes to find him staring at the tight tips dipping above and beneath the water.
“Faster,” he growled, and she obliged, swinging her hips. “God, Beth. You’re going to make this too quick.”
She moaned in response. The flickering candle light glowing against the steam, the sight of Renner losing his mind because of her, the knowledge that they were making this permanent… it was all too much. So when his hand came between them, pushing on her clit while she thrust, Bethany blew apart. Like glitter being tossed in the air, she went high, and then floated back to the ground.
But Renner kept up the movement and within seconds, she was wound tight again.
“This time,” he said, through clenched teeth, “I mark you. A claw to your back, it will leave a small scar.” He stopped moving. “God, I’m going to come. Be still.” She tried but the urge to move was almost unbearable. Breathing deep, she nodded. “When I come inside you, it will mark you with my scent. The cats will know you’re mine.”
“And how will they know you’re mine?”
“By my actions. And I plan on doing this a million more times, so your scent will be all over me too. They’ll know, sweet, because you’ve marked my heart.”
She kissed him, tasting the truth on his lips.
“Are you ready, Bethy?”
“So ready.”
He pushed into her again, hard and fast and delicious. She felt the build, the climb, she was on the verge once again. Renner pulled her close, his nails digging into her shoulder. The bite of his grip was sharp, but pleasurable. With his other hand, he gripped her ass, grinding his hips into hers.
She erupted with a scream of pleasure that broke the blackness of the night sky. She saw flashes of color between one blink and the next, and then Renner followed her over the ledge, groaning as he released into her.
A sharp swipe at her back had her gasping, but his insistent pounding between her legs distracted her, bringing her to the top once again. She cried out with her third orgasm, trembling above him like a newborn bird.
“Renner.”
She collapsed onto his chest, drained and more sated than she could have imagined. His chest heaved as he pet her hair.
“Do you remember my twelfth birthday? Mama R made a chocolate cake because she knew it was my favorite.”
“Mm hm.”
“I blew out all the candles with one breath, and made a wish that one day I’d be able to do right by you. To stop hurting you and just love you. I thought leaving, loving you from afar, was an answer to that wish, but I was wrong.” He kissed her head. “Wish came true tonight.”
Tiny bites of cold landed on Beth’s arm, and she realized it was snowing. The white stuff sprinkled around them like a blessing on their union .
“I made a wish that day too.” She glanced up at him, sheepish. “I wished you’d cry more, because then you’d let me lay in your bed and pet your head.”
Laughter bubbled from his chest, warming her. He dropped a kiss to her nose. “You can lay in my bed and pet me anytime you want. And you don’t even have to wait for me to cry.”
Beth grinned. “Wish come true.”
“Hold on, babe, because we have an entire lifetime to make each other’s wishes come true. And I plan on making lots and lots and lots of wishes with you. Wishes in the morning, and before we go to bed. Shower wishes, and outdoor wishes, and wishes against the wall. You up for that?”
Beth nodded. “Absolutely. In fact, maybe we should do some wishing right now. A Christmas Eve wish?”
He kissed her lips, rubbing a thumb over a taut nipple. “I can’t think of anything better than wishing the night away with you, my Bethy.”
The world faded away under Renner’s lips, and Bethany knew she’d found her home.
Epilogue
A year had passed, and another Christmas had come and gone. Renner stood on the footbridge and watched his mate as she maneuvered past the nativity, her belly swollen with his cub. She wasn’t due for another month but he wished she’d take it easy. Until she gave birth, he couldn’t relax. The two most precious things in his life were in one volatile package and it left him feeling constantly anxious.