Lure of Oblivion

“Then whose is it?”

“Yours.” She moaned as he upped his pace, rewarding her. God, she was so close to coming. The friction kept on building and building, winding her tighter and tighter until she thought she’d implode.

“Can you hear that?” he hissed into her ear. “The sound of me fucking you? Owning you. I fucking love that sound.”

She jolted as he slipped a wet finger in her ass. The burn felt good, like when he sank his teeth into her skin—a good kind of pain that just made her hotter. Her release crept that little bit closer, so close she could almost taste it.

“My baby wants to come for me, doesn’t she?”

Hell, yeah, she did. But she was beyond words, so she leaned forward and dug her teeth into his neck. For a moment, Zander froze. Then he was ramming himself into her like his control was gone. Something primitive in her made her bite him hard, draw blood, and suck until she left a mark.

Zander shifted his angle to hit her G-spot. “Mine.” He sank his teeth into her neck, and white-hot pleasure swept him under, made him explode in her pussy with a force that almost sent him to his knees. At the same time, she came with a choked scream of his name. He sank his teeth even deeper, tasting blood, and sucked hard to leave the ultimate, definitive mark that would brand her as his.

Licking her lip, Gwen panted. “Fuck. Jesus. Shit.” She’d never in her life been so thoroughly fucked. “How long does it take for the bond to—” Her breath caught in her throat as a burning pain sliced through her head. It lasted only seconds, but it was like her world had tilted. She blinked, feeling off balance . . . and then her vision blurred around the edges, and darkness came.

As she sagged in his arms, Zander swore and scooped her up. Neither he nor his wolf panicked. They knew she was fine; they could feel her through the mating bond. Still, they didn’t whatsoever like the sight of their mate unconscious. It was only then that Zander remembered hearing once that the intensity of the moment could be difficult for a human to bear. Shit.

Acting on instinct, he carried her into the bathroom and got into the shower with her still in his arms. He stood under the hot spray, hoping it would help her wake. It was no more than a minute later that she opened her eyes. His mouth curved. “Welcome back.”

Gwen blinked. “What happened?”

“You passed out for a minute.”

“I don’t pass out.”

“You did just now. I’d forgotten that the bond’s formation could be hard on a human. You okay?”

She nodded, meaning it. Where before there had been pain, there was now peace and tranquility. The feelings washed over her, smoothing away all the tension in her mind and body. And there was the mating bond, so vibrant it almost seemed alive. “This is so weird. I can feel you.” Inside her and outside her, like he was a shadow. She could feel Zander on the other end of the bond—a strong, solid presence. Even feel an echo of his emotional state.

“Our scents have mixed,” he told her. His wolf rumbled in satisfaction. “That doesn’t usually happen straight away. I’m guessing that hoping was so difficult for you that it gave the bond added strength. It’s not fully formed yet.”

“What will happen when it is?”

“Our connection will be more intense. We’ll be able to feed each other energy.”

Gwen quieted, letting herself get used to the bond. That feeling she’d always had that something was missing—a feeling she’d attributed to the absence of her biological family’s love—was totally gone. “So, true mates really are two halves of a whole, huh.”

“Yes. That feeling of completeness will get stronger when the bond is fully formed.”

As they got out of the shower and dried themselves off, she asked, “Does it bother your wolf that I don’t have, you know, a wolf for him?”

Zander snorted at the stupid question. “He adores you just as you are. He wants to rub up against you right now. You good with that?”

She swallowed. “Okay.”

Once they were out of the bathroom and she was wrapped in a robe, Gwen stood back and watched as Zander shifted forms. She winced at the sound of bones popping and snapping. In a flash, Zander was gone. In his place was a large, familiar wolf, but he wasn’t snarling like last time. Her heart pounded, though she felt no fear.

Gwen crouched down. “You’re a handsome thing, aren’t you?” The wolf padded to her and literally shoved himself right into her space, almost knocking her over. He rubbed his jaw against hers as she petted his neck. His fur was thick and much softer than she’d expected. Her nose wrinkled as he licked at her jaw. “Ew.” She gave him a gentle shove, and he backed up with a playful growl.

She remained still as the wolf circled her, rubbing up against her just as Zander had warned her that he would. She smiled. But that smile soon faded when he started clawing at her door and furniture, marking his territory. “Hey! You’re going to wreck the room.” He either didn’t understand the words or didn’t care, because he didn’t stop.

When he was apparently satisfied that the space was well and truly marked, he padded back to her and licked at her face again. Before she could give him another playful shove, he backed away. Bones snapped and popped, and then Zander was in front of her.

“You weren’t exaggerating when you said he wanted to rub up against me.”

Zander drew her to him as she stood. “You’re gonna have him wrapped around your little finger.”

She smiled. “He’s a menace.”

“He’s happy.”

That made her chest ache in a good way. “What about you?”

“You don’t need to ask me that. You can feel through the bond that I’m happy.” He brushed his nose against hers. “And I can feel that you are too.” Which meant that all was good in Zander’s world. Not even the threat that lingered over them could spoil the magic of what he’d found in Gwen. Not a single thing could.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Zander.”

The whisper snatched him out of sleep a few nights later. Zander blinked. There was no one there, except for the female sleeping peacefully at his side. Still, tension began to creep into his muscles. Something felt . . . wrong. Like the air was charged with something.

The sound of fast footsteps was quickly followed by knuckles rapping on the door. “Zander, we got company coming our way,” warned Derren, urgency in every syllable.

Motherfucker. Zander shot out of bed and reached for his jeans. “Ally had a vision? What did she see? Moore?”

“Shifters. Lots of shifters.”

Zander stilled, frowning. “Shifters?” Fuck.

Gwen’s eyes flickered open. “You okay?” Whatever she saw in his expression made her bolt upright, fisting the bed sheets. “He’s here, isn’t he?”

“No,” said Zander, watching as she practically leaped out of bed and yanked on a tee. “The bastard must have hired shifters to do his dirty work for him again.”

“Z, we have to go,” Derren called out.

Gwen swallowed. “I’ll be okay. Go.”

He could hear in her voice that she didn’t want him to go, but she wasn’t going to ask him to be something he wasn’t and remain behind. He couldn’t leave his pack mates to face the trouble alone, but he didn’t want to leave his mate either. His instinct was to stay with her, protect her. His wolf felt just as torn.