LISA

"You''re so responsive," he murmurs against my neck. "Like a live wire, ready to shock the hell out of me."

I reach for his hair, winding the damp strands around my fingers. My eyes fall shut as I pull him back toward my breasts, desperate for more.

"I think you''re already shocking me," I admit.

His mouth curves against my skin, and I feel the vibration of his laugh again. Those clever, experienced hands drift over my hips, splaying across my stomach before dipping lower, beneath my waistband and between my thighs.

Slick. Hot. Ready.

Everything in me tightens, and I tilt my hips toward his touch. My breath catches as his fingers slide over my folds, gathering proof of my arousal before circling my entrance.

"Jesus, Lisa." His voice is barely a growl. "You''re already soaked."

He pushes a finger inside me, making me keen with need. It''s been so long. Too long. My skin is on fire. Nerves alive.

"Kellan, please." My fingers tighten in his hair, urging him to continue. "Don''t tease. I need—"

Words fail me. I don''t even know what I need. Just more. More of him. More pleasure. More of this feeling that drags me away from the memories of blood on snow and death.

Because right now, I''m alive. Right now, I''m here, in Kellan''s arms, and nothing else matters.

"I know what you need." His voice is rough as he pushes another finger inside me. Stretching me. Filling me. His lips close over my nipple, and my back bows off the bed.

My body is alive with sensation. Every touch. Every breath. It''s all too much and not enough, all at once.

"Fuck." He swears as I clench around his fingers. "Maybe I should tie you down. Keep you still so I can—"

"Don''t you dare." My chest heaves as I battle the coil of need twisting tighter with each passing second. "Don''t hold back with me, Kellan. Not tonight."

His eyes flash amber, his wolf a hairsbreadth away. "I''ll break you."

"I won''t break." I punctuate each word with a desperate kiss. "Need you, Kellan. Please."

I kiss him with everything I have. The slide of his mouth against mine. The press of our bodies. The primal rhythm of this mating dance our bodies have memorized without our input.

It''s wild. It''s desperate. It''s everything I didn''t know I needed.

He moves above me with a slow, steady rhythm that has my head spinning.

And then he curses, and that steady rhythm goes wild.

His hips slam into mine, jolting my entire body further up the bed, hard enough to make my moans turn into screams. Every thrust brings us closer together, every rock of his hips pushes me nearer to the edge.

But it''s more than just physical. As our bodies join in perfect harmony, the soul-deep connection sparks between us. Fated mates. Meant for each other. This moment was written in the stars.

I cry out as pleasure washes over me in wave after wave, carrying me away on a tide of pure sensation. Heat coils in my belly as I shatter around him, screaming his name.

But he doesn''t stop.

He keeps moving, thrusting hard enough to bring the stars down from the sky, prolonging my pleasure as my core clenches around him. I''m distantly aware of his cock throbbing inside me, the pressure of his release, but it''s secondary to the inferno he''s unleashed inside me.

Spent, I sink into the mattress, my eyelids feeling like lead. Kellan follows a moment later, his weight comforting, solid as he settles onto his elbows, breathing ragged.

"I didn''t hurt you, did I?"

I squint my eyes open, watching as he stares at me with concern.

"No." I reach for him, tangling my fingers with his. "It was perfect."

The word feels inadequate.

It''s complicated and messy and perfect, all at once. Fated mates. Human and wolf. My breath tangles with his as I bask in the afterglow, and he doesn''t roll off me.

He remains inside, keeping me pleasantly stretched as he nuzzles my throat.

It takes a few minutes and the haze of pleasure subsiding for me to realize he''s still hard. My breath hitches.

"Not enough," he murmurs. "I need more."

That doesn''t sound like a bad idea at all.