For the first time she could remember her wolf was happy. Usually her other half paced restlessly within her, challenging her for dominance, demanding more time to be allowed free, but this morning her wolf was sated, content to curl up in a ball and sleep. It was so surprising, Lily couldn’t help laughing softly, disturbing her mate who shifted restlessly against her his arm tightening around her body.
Lips caressed her shoulder gently as Mac rubbed against her back sleepily. “What’s so funny, woman?” he grumbled. “Shouldn’t you be passed out with exhaustion after last night?”
Lily laughed louder, rubbing her bottom against his morning erection and receiving a muttered curse for her troubles. “I’m a Vârcolac,” she answered smugly. “We obviously have more stamina than mere vampires.”
She shrieked when Mac rolled onto his back, dragging her across his body until she lay on top of him. His hand clamped around the nape of her neck holding her securely as his eyes glittered like a midnight pool of water.
“You want to talk stamina?” he asked huskily his expression full of amusement laced with desire. “I wasn’t the one pleading so prettily to stop two hours ago. Or was that begging, sugar? Do you want me to repeat your words verbatim?”
“You probably could too,” she laughed, her face burning with heat at all the things Mac had done to her body during the night and all the things she’d done to his. She had begged him to stop, unable to take any more sensual overload.
She could see why he had been picked to head the Praetorians. When given a task, Mac went at it with a ruthless determination to succeed. Nothing got in his way and last night, his mission had been to take his mate over and over again until she was exhausted. He’d passed with flying colours and it had been glorious.
Lily had never felt more loved, more desired, so utterly cherished. It left her feeling awestruck. Mac had taken her with hot, lustful passion and also with a tenderness which had threatened to bring tears to her eyes it was so beautiful. Then he’d allowed her to explore his body at her own pace, lying back as she learned each spot which brought him pleasure.
Well, that part had lasted all of five minutes before his natural dominance had taken over and he’d flipped her onto her back and taken all control out of her hands. She hadn’t had the opportunity to indulge all of her curiosity of his sexy body.
Sighing softly, Lily laid her head on his shoulder and breathed in the scent of her mate. It was still a shock to realise that Mac belonged to her completely now. For some reason, she’d thought they would wait to become fully mated at least until after they’d spoken to her father, but Mac had been pretty adamant about how the night was going to progress.
She could still feel his fangs sliding through her skin, the numerous little bites he’d given her as they’d made love. All Weres learned from an early age that vampire venom was toxic to them. One bite and they were dead. The only way for a Were and vampire to mate was for the vampire to heal the Were from a fatal wound… at a DNA level.
They all knew the stories of how their parents had mated with their vampires. Andrei had healed Loretta when he’d found her dying in the forest. The side-effects of that healing were only discovered by accident. Nors had healed Ashleigh when his own people had tried to kill her, allowing them to mate. Even Freya’s healing of Dayton had been relatively easy, saving his life when he’d become trapped in a pit, his body impaled on wicked spikes.
It was Cedar and Alexei’s mating which always brought chills to Lily. Her aunt had had no fatal injury caused by someone or something else. The only way for them to mate was for Alexei to wound her to the point of death. She couldn’t even begin to imagine which of them had been the bravest, Cedar for being strong enough to demand her right to be mated to him or Alexei for going against everything he believed in to give his mate what she needed so badly.
Thankfully, the Vârcolac were immune to all vampire venom. They were half vampire; therefore, the venom couldn’t hurt them, as it was part of their DNA. It wasn’t common knowledge among the pack, only the hybrids knew and trusted members of the pack hierarchy… their adopted family. Naturally, the Praetorians knew, which was why Mac had had no qualms about claiming his mate the night before.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Mac yawned turning his head to see it was just past six thirty in the morning. They’d barely gotten any sleep and he fancied another couple of hours before they had to get up.
“You wore my wolf out,” Lily giggled, pressing her lips against the hard wall of his chest. “She’s quiet for the first time ever. It feels wonderful.”
“You feel wonderful,” he groaned, fighting the urge to rub against her. He shifted their position again, spooning against her back and settling the sheet around them. “But I need sleep. Your wolf wore me out too. Go back to sleep, sugar.” He pressed his lips against her shoulder and sighed in contentment.
Lily didn’t see the point in arguing with him. It felt so good lying in his arms she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to claim her again, safe in her mate’s embrace.
When she woke a few hours later, she was in bed alone, the sound of the shower running a soothing wash across her senses. The shower shut off just as she registered it was on and a few minutes later Mac came into the bedroom towelling his hair dry.
He was naked, apart from a towel wrapped around his waist, his skin damp and oh so tempting. She must have moved or made a sound because he turned to look at her, a sensual smile curling over his lips.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that, sugar. We’ve got to go visit your parents today,” he laughed kneeling on the side of the bed to drop a kiss on her mouth. It was supposed to be a quick kiss but she tasted so good and it felt like forever since he’d last kissed her, so he dived in and thoroughly explored her mouth with much enthusiasm.
He was instantly hard for her, his blood heating so quickly it was almost like a fever. He growled and deepened the kiss, half raising her from the bed until her silky hair draped over his arms and cascaded down to the pillows.