The Burning Claw (The Grey Wolves #10)(39)

One minute she was in his arms, and the next she was on her back on the couch, and Drake was kneeling beside her. He wasn’t looking at her face. His eyes were glued to the markings that showed beneath the shorts she was wearing. Drake lifted her calf until it was bent at the knee with her foot resting on the couch. He slowly pushed the hem of her shorts up until all of the mark was bare to his eyes. Bethany felt electricity running through her body and her blood felt as though it was heating up inside of her veins as Drake ran a finger over the dark design. His eyes still glowed with the wolf as he leaned closer to her. Just as he had done the first time he’d seen it, he pressed his lips to the flesh that bore the mark. When he was done, he rose up and covered her body with his own. He held himself up so that he wasn’t crushing her beneath his much larger frame. He shifted them so that she was laying on the inside of the couch and he on the outer. One of his arms was beneath her head, while the other reached across her and grabbed her hip, pulling on her to angle her body more toward him. Then his hand moved down her hip and on down her thigh until he reached the back of her knee. Drake grasped it and pulled it up so that her leg was wrapped around him. 
Bethany found herself relaxing in his arms and enjoying the eager attention. His warm breath on her skin gave her goosebumps and his hand roaming over her body caused the emittance of more than a few gasps.
“I’m sorry,” she heard several minutes later. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” Drake told her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, cheek, and neck. Apparently the wolf had allowed the man to take back over control.
“I hurt you too,” Bethany admitted as she trailed her fingers across his corded neck and down his shoulder.
“I should have listened to you instead of making my own choices for you. I’m just so scared of screwing this up, Bethany. I don’t want to lose you before we’ve even really started.”
She pulled back so that she could look at him. “Are you going anywhere?”
He frowned at her. “No.”
“Good, because neither am I,” she breathed out before pressing her lips firmly to his. Drake caught on to her intentions quickly and his lips and tongue moved just as eagerly as hers. He pulled her tightly against his body, molding her from head to foot. Bethany wrapped her arms around his neck pulling herself closer, needing to be as close to him as possible.
“Mate, mine,” she heard Drake’s wolf through the bond.
“Yes, I’m yours.”
“You’re ours,” Drake added.
Bethany lost track of time as Drake showered her with his attention. Each kiss and touch was like a balm to the wounds their fight had caused.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her collarbone as his lips traced it and then traced the v-neckline of her shirt. Bethany’s head tilted back and her eyes fluttered closed.
“You’re precious,” he continued as his mouth continued its exploration. “You’re lovely beyond words,” Drake whispered against her neck. Her breathing was a tad erratic as she listened to his deep voice purr at her. “You’re mine. I need you. I want you. I thirst for you like a parched desert that hasn’t seen rain in centuries.”
Bethany felt more tears well up in her eyes and her breath caught as emotion filled every empty place in her. It wasn’t only her emotion she was feeling, but Drake’s as well. Through the mate bond, their feelings and passions entwined, morphing into one. She wasn’t sure which were hers and which were Drake’s.
His fingers danced across her skin as he played her like a piano and her body sang for him. Bethany loved seeing the passion that filled his eyes as he pulled back and looked down at her, taking one of her hands and lifting it to his lips. He kissed each fingertip, her palm, and wrist, holding her gaze the entire time. He ran his nose up her arm to the bend where he inhaled deeply. When Drake’s tongue darted out to taste her, Bethany sucked in a quick breath. He was assaulting all of her senses, overwhelming her with his presence.
“Drake,” she breathed out his name.
“Hmm,” he answered, never taking his mouth from her skin.
“Jen explained more of the Blood Rites to me. To complete it, I have to—” she sucked in a breath, pausing her words when he pushed up the hem of her shirt, exposing her stomach and ran his hand across the expanse of her flesh. “I have to bite you,” she finished and squirmed under his attention.“Be still,” he grumbled as he held her hips still.
“I’m ready,” she said unable to obey him and continuing to wiggle against him. “I’m ready to bite you.”
Drake froze as he stared down at the flat stomach and smooth flesh he’d been reveling in only seconds ago. Bethany was everywhere. Her scent covered him and his wolf loved it. He rose slowly until he could look her in the eye. He had an arm under her head, supporting his upper body, bracing himself above her. “Do you really understand what that would mean? I’m not saying you aren’t capable of understanding. I just really need to know if you understand,” he said, his voice was thick with emotion and gruff with his wolf so close to the surface.
She nodded.
“Our lives would be tied to each other. If I died, you would lose your life as well and vice versa. Our souls would become one. Being apart would be very difficult, much more difficult than what we just experienced. Our need of each other would increase and touch would become essential to the health of our wolves. Do you really understand how serious and permanent this is?” He wanted her to bite him more than he wanted anything else, but he didn’t want her to do something in a moment of passion only to regret it later.
“Drake, I didn’t expect to have anything. I thought I would be a slave to those monsters until they finally drained me. You think I’m worried about being tied to a man who loves me, adores me, and needs me? I’m more scared that you’ll wake up one day and see how damaged I am and ask why the Great Luna gave you such a pathetic mate. But you want me now and I’ll take that. I want you for as long as you will have me.”
Drake leaned more heavily on one arm as he lifted the other to wipe away the tear sliding down her cheek. “Forever,” he said softly. “I will have you for all time. You’re mine.” He slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her toward him while at the same time turning his head and lowering his neck to her.
As her teeth broke through his skin, he didn’t wonder how this was possible. Bethany wasn’t a full Canis lupus. But Drake trusted the Great Luna. If she had given Bethany to him as his true mate, then she would work out the details of the Blood Rites.
The bond grew stronger as the call of the Blood Rites was satisfied and Drake let out a relieved sigh. His wolf was practically rolling around with satisfaction. Of course, both wolf and man wanted to complete other things, but Drake knew Bethany wasn’t ready for that, not yet. She was curious, he caught that much through the bond when he’d been kissing and touching her, but she still had reservations and that was okay with him. He would wait centuries for her to be ready if that’s what it took. She was worth waiting for. 
When it was done and she pulled back from him, he looked down at her and his heart was flooded with joy at the smile on her face.
“You are stuck with me now,” she said a little breathlessly.
He chuckled. “You were stuck with me the second I saw you.” His smile faded as he grew serious. “Bethany, my beautiful mate, please don’t ever forbid my touch again. It was torture.”
“Drake, my handsome mate, don’t give me a reason to forbid your touch.”
He groaned and laid his forehead against her chest. “Great, maybe Jen rubbed off on you more than I thought.”
She ran her fingers through his hair and he rumbled in pleasure at her touch. He would never grow tired of her touch.
“What now?” she asked softly.
Drake bit back the words his wolf was riding him to say. The last thing his little mate needed to hear was that now that they’d completed the Blood Rites, he was just as eager to complete all of their mating. His wolf was practically salivating at the thought of consummating their relationship. Not yet, he growled at his wolf, who snarled back at him. Stupid human, the wolf told him again. Drake nearly rolled his eyes. His wolf had become quite obstinate since they’d found their true mate. Before meeting Bethany, Drake had begun to wonder if maybe the abuse he’d suffered under the leadership of his former Alpha had caused the wolf irreparable damage. It seemed that since finding their true mate, his wolf was beginning to heal.
“Drake?” Bethany’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He pressed his lips gently to hers. “For now let’s just enjoy this part of our story. It will change quickly as time passes. We will never get this time back. Let me enjoy you. Let me meet whatever needs that you have.”
Bethany smiled warmly up at him. “Any need?”
The mischievous glint in her eyes gave him pause. But he finally nodded.
“I’m pretty sure I need a foot massage.”
Drake laughed. “Okay. I can handle that.” He sat up and pulled her feet into his lap. She had tiny, cute feet which were attached to sexy, shapely calves. Focus, Drake, he snapped at himself. Just her feet.