บท 110: Chapter 110: Private Surrender (2)

Ravyn POV

The cool water felt silky and luxurious on her skin after she shattered. Holding her tightly while they waded into the river, Jude seemed determined to fuse her back together again.

He'd kept his promise and made her completely messy. She felt hot and sweaty, and a refreshing dip in the water felt like just the thing–a perfect reward.

Twining his arms around her neck, he stood hip-deep with her in the water. "You look so beautiful like this," he murmured.

The flood of heat and love through the bond knocked her flat. Ravyn melted. "I feel … I feel for the first time what it is to be a shifter's mate. Isn't that silly?"

He gazed adoringly into her eyes. "No one can understand it until you're bonded. No one can prepare you for it. Being mated is the greatest thing in the whole world. Except maybe having pups."

She huffed. "I'm well past that."

He grinned. "Witches live as long as we do, and stay youthful and vital for ages. You could have my pups, easily."

Pups?

She'd raised her daughter. Jude had raised his children.

"Would you want–"

"Pups? Show me an Alpha or a shifter male who doesn't want lots of pups to expand the pack, and I'll think he's a true lone wolf." He grinned at her, his fangs flashing in the dark. "I must confess, I thought that side of things was finished … Emer and I just had our two. Some of them were stillborn."

She clung to him. "I'm sorry."

With a shrug, he said, "I'm proud of Mali and Bram. Especially now that he's emerging out of his tunnel and he's got his footing again."

"And I'm proud of Lilia. She … she was always enough for me. Daxius wanted more children, but I always felt Lilia was my miracle child. It was a difficult birth–even for a witch."

He nodded sympathetically. "Emer had the same with Bram and Mali. I don't blame Daxius for wanting as many babies as possible, but he's no fool. ANYONE would be thrilled with Lilia."

Ravyn smiled. "And now, she has the big family she wanted as a child."

Chuckling, Jude agreed. "We do tend to favor huge families. A minimum of two children. Preferably more. With Lilia pregnant, Dane will be in baby heaven." His eyes glittered possessively. "I'd love to see you big and swollen with a pup or two. Wolves aren't like some HUMAN men."

She splashed him. "No anti-human sentiment right now!"

"Hmph, I suppose you're right. All I meant is, pregnancy arouses a wolf's protective instincts, and it's very different than with humans." He nuzzled her. "Who knows … the tireless Ravyn Rolfe might just lie back and let me pamper her if she's carrying my child. I'm sure, seeing Daxius with Lilia now, that he wasn't any different."

She smiled, remembering. "I had to remind him that witches have been having–and delivering–babies since time began. He wouldn't let me lift a finger the entire time I was pregnant, and we had a few shouting matches because he didn't want me on my feet all day in the shop."

What was she going to do about the shop? Let Anneliese run it? Anneliese was already juggling pack life and her own pups, as well as witch business.

For tonight, she shoved the thought out of her mind. Tonight was all about her happiness with Jude.

A bite on her shoulder made her gasp as Jude marked her. "I'll do anything in the world for you. Protect you, provide for you, spoil you," he murmured in her ear. "Nothing short of death will separate us, and maybe not even then. You'll always be mine. Small minds won't interfere with that. They don't scare me. If anything, those idiots, with their hate and fear, have planted a goal inside my heart."

"And that is?"

She was having difficulty forming thoughts with Jude's teeth working their particular brand of magic and the romantic setting deepening the enchantment.

"To make you the best Luna in the Shifter Federation. Dane and Jiro will disagree, of course. But there's a principle at stake."

"You do realize they both chose witches as mates," Ravyn teased lightly. "I'm hardly unique. Garnet is a shifter witch–and Dane started everything when he bonded with Lilia."

Jude growled, not convinced. The force of his bite on her other shoulder made her gasp, and he picked her up and carried her to the shallows of the river, laying her down so her legs rested in the water. She leaned back on the coarse grass of the riverbank, staring up into his golden wolf eyes.

"Ready for me?" he said in a husky voice.

Heat bloomed once again between her legs, and the cool river did nothing to lower her temperature. "Yes," she said in a thickened tone.

In one swift thrust, he plunged deep inside her, so hard and fast that she saw stars. "Hang on tight, sweet one." He nipped her neck. "You're mine. Mine forever. And I'm going to make sure you know it before I'm done."

The force of his claim shook her to the core. It overwhelmed her as a witch, and yet, it unleashed something in her.

She clawed his back, and he moaned in ecstasy. "YES. Just like that, my Luna, my mate, my world. Mark me completely. Show everyone that I'm yours."

His mouth opened on her breast, and she couldn't think for quite a while.

* * * * *

Jude POV

He wanted to send Ravyn so far into orbit with pleasure that she'd land among the stars. He'd launch her to the moon and back. Her smooth skin felt like moonlight and rose petals. Her breast tasted like the sweetest fruit. The pinpricks of pleasure-pain on his skin only added spice to their lovemaking. And being inside her … Goddess, he never wanted to come out again.

"Heaven," he moaned. "We're in heaven. You feel amazing. You're so beautiful, so perfect."

She moved under him like a wild thing, meeting him thrust for thrust, kiss for kiss, running her hands up and down his back. He couldn't get enough of her, the warmth surrounding him combined with the flowing water.

"Do you like this?" he asked huskily. "It's your fantasy. I'm giving it to you, lover. I'd give you anything, if you only asked. There's nothing I'd deny you. You're my Luna, my mate, my sweet omega."

"Anything?"

Her sweet voice made him drive even harder inside her, pounding her. The splash and slapping of their bodies against the water fired his blood.

"You name it. When I'm inside you, I want to give you the world."

He kissed his way back to her neck, feathering his lips over her skin, claiming her mouth with his own. So ripe, so tasty, so beautiful. And something else.

She tasted like home.

"Anything, you name it," he whispered, his hips moving in a frenzied rhythm. "I want to give you whatever you want, whatever you need."

Her words stunned him.

"Make me a wolf, Jude. Make me a full wolf after we're finished mating."

Growing as still as the night, he stared down into her eyes the color of wildflowers.

Make her a wolf?

Although he'd love to spar with her and link with her and see her as a soft, furry she-wolf, he knew why it was a bad idea. At least right now.

His hips ceased their mesmerizing dance of desire, and her eyes widened in expectation–only to cloud over, turning black and purple, when he spoke his next words.

"No."