20. Marked

With his loins tense and boiling, he concentrated on the sound of her heart as it thumped inside her chest. He listened for the telltale stutter she let out moments before she had climaxed for the first time. The very first hesitant beat and he broke the kiss. A half-second later, pain burned into her nerves as his teeth quickly and cleanly sliced into the juncture of her shoulder and neck. Two rapid, precise marks with the last slicing wider than the first.

Emmalyn felt his body tense. She expected to feel him pulse inside her with the power of his release, but she felt the pain instead. Her breath stopped and her teeth clenched as the pain moved through her. She closed her eyes, tears forming and plummeting. Emmalyn had to breathe again, even though her lungs felt as if they were going to explode. She inhaled a great gasp of air just as they both found their release. Her’s was short, but just as powerful as before. Cut short by the pain and the rational thought that followed.

She tried to control her breathing, just like before. In through her nose, out through her mouth. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated. She couldn’t heal, not yet. Not until she was certain she would scar. Unless she was mistaken, this was the mark they were talking about. If she let her body heal it, it would disappear.

With the very last ounce of sanity he had left, Caleb moved his mouth away from her bleeding shoulder, then slammed upwards. Buried fully to his hilt, he swelled and burst in a torrent of nearly unbearably hot seed. It spilled into her womb, pooling and overflowing as his howls of triumph echoed through the forest.

He lowered his head, softly kissing the two nearly perfect circles he had bitten into her flesh; his tongue darting out to lick away the blood and clean the red stain from her skin.

“I’m sorry it hurts,” he whispered, moving his kisses off her injured flesh to the tender areas around it.

A dozen miles away, lost completely in his animal form on the trail of a large grizzly, the great chestnut wolf tensed in his tracks. He felt the connection between his blood brother and his mate sear inside his mind. He felt their joining from both sides in that single moment that the mark was made, and he shuddered with the painful rush of desire. The wolf stood frozen, waiting for the feeling to pass. His lips curled into what could only be a wolfine smile. His little healer was happy, as was his brother. For now, he cared little about the complications his own lusts might cause.

He still wanted her.

Emmalyn knew she had sanctuary in Caleb’s arms. She didn’t know how she knew, only that she knew. Even though he was thrusting into her with animalistic enthusiasm, she clung to him tightly, as though her life depended on it, and perhaps it did. Her fingers gripped at his back as her arms wrapped around him, holding herself against him as tightly as she could.

Her lips parted for him, her tongue moved to meet his with the same passion and intensity as his. She moaned against his lips, her deep need echoing in that sound that moved through her. There was so much expressed in that kiss… love, need, desire… all of it held there.

But, with her healing, it was all or nothing. She couldn’t decide what to heal and what not to heal. She could feel the bruises forming where he held her. It wouldn’t be as bad as when Farrel did it, but it would still mark her. She felt the force of his body slamming against hers.

Caleb’s body seemed to spill gallons into her, though it was only the result of the long time frame between romps with females. From now on, he would only need one female and he was glad of that. As his trembling subsided and his knees grew weak, he sank down into the spring and knelt with her still cradled in his arms.

She hadn’t thought quick enough to stop it from healing a little, but it was enough. It wasn’t bleeding as much as it could have been, given how deep one bite was. She would have to wait a few days before she could let go of her hold, but it would be worth it. She was his, belonged to him, and would be protected by him. More than that, he loved her and she loved him. She didn’t know how or why it had happened as fast as it did, but it did.

With his orgasm, seemingly all his strength went with it. His grip on her was infinitely light and tender; hands slowly stroking along her back to ease her tension. He knew from Farrel’s memories and the empathetic connection now bridged between them she was fighting hard to concentrate on her ability.

Emmalyn turned her head and nuzzled against his neck as he had done to her. She was hoping he would see it as the affectionate gesture as she meant it. She wanted him to know that it was alright, that she would be alright. Emmalyn nuzzled against him again and smiled.

“Am I doing this right?” She asked.

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her sweet innocence, even after what had just transpired. She was so beautiful and pure it was hard to imagine anyone wanting to harm her. Fingertips tenderly caressed the length of her spine from her shoulders to the curve of her buttocks and back up. He fully enjoyed her soft nuzzling on him; a soft smile playing across his lips.

There was a strong feeling of rightness, security, and love around them. Their own emotions weaving so perfectly together through their link that it was impossible to tell who’s emotions were dominating.

“I would say so, my love. It feels good,” he commented, finally brushing his own lips along the throbbing pulse in her neck and ended by placing a kiss at her jaw just below her ear. “Can you guess why my kind do that to their lovers?”

Emmalyn smiled and laughed softly when she felt his body shake with the chuckle that came from his lips. She shivered gently when his fingers moved over her skin. Emmalyn nipped a few times, playfully, on his neck, still smiling through the pain, which was throbbing. She wasn’t sure if he could feel it or not.

What an exciting and new sensation! Being able to feel him, both emotionally and physically. It was like they were feeding off each other, each one amplifying the other. It was almost intoxicating and almost addicting. She couldn’t help but giggle softly.

She titled her head to the side, giving him more access to it if he wanted it. Emmalyn made soft sounds, nice and happy sounds. She felt almost like she was drunk, but she liked it.

“It feels good,” she whispered, though what, exactly, she was talking about, it wasn’t clear. “And I think I understand this feeling too, but is there more?” She asked.

Her good mood flowed right into him and he let out another laugh; this one more filled with the joy she provided him in waves. He lifted a hand from the water and cupped her cheek and held her steady as he pressed several eager kisses against her plump lips, then all but devoured her neck with tender nips and suckling kisses, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Emmalyn smiled with her eyes still closed, kissing his lips softly and sweetly. She moved to rest her cheek on his palm as his kisses moved down her neck and over to the wound. The sharp sting had faded, leaving her with the dull thump of discomfort. She could live with that.

By the time he reached her wounds, his enthusiasm ebbed into the soft blanket of comfort and love still wrapped tight around them. He softly kissed the inner part of those circles one at a time, then lifted his head once more so he could nuzzle her neck affectionately.

“This... is to leave a scent behind. A subtle marker that you’ve been with that lover. It’s a wolf’s instinct to show their love for their mate in a possessive way. The symbol of the bite is the same gesture made permanent. My venom, I suppose is a good enough word, creates a bond through your blood into my heart and mind. You can feel me as I feel you. There can be no secrets between us, though I would keep none from you either way.”

“It reminds me of the rings given in human wedding ceremonies.” She breathed. “But, it’s permanent. So much more sharing. Humans lie to each other. I don’t want to lie to you and I won’t.” she opened her eyes slowly.

“It feels strange that I feel I fit in more here than I did in my world.” She said, her brows creasing a bit.

Then another thought crossed her mind. With her healing, she would live longer than most humans, but it wouldn’t be nearly as long as Caleb would live. Was it really fair to him? He would endure long after she was gone. She knew she didn’t have to say anything, that, from what he said, he would know that something was troubling her. But how would she word it?

Her worry sliced through their warm little haven like a cold caress. It was the one foreign emotion that he recognized was not his. Caleb frowned, studying her face for a long moment before he pressed a playful kiss against her lips and jiggled her on his lap, hoping to send that tense feeling away. It was a reflexive motion, one he didn’t think of until it was done, and he bit down hard on his tongue to hold back the groan that leaped up into his throat when she bounced once on his still stiff length.

Immediately going still again, he waited for the lust to settle back down before he was plenty calm enough to focus on that dark emotion poisoning their sanctuary.

“What’s wrong, Emmalyn?”

She felt the movement of him bouncing her and smiled at him. Emmalyn didn’t mean to worry him. She would have to be mindful of things from now on and make sure she didn’t worry too much and send it to him. She didn’t want to worry, she just wanted him and this moment to last forever. Maybe the stories were wrong. They certainly all couldn’t be right.

Emmalyn wasn’t oblivious to what else had happened when Caleb moved her onto his lap. To banish that worry from her mind, she moved her hips slowly towards him, rolling her hips a bit.

“I was just thinking that I don’t want to lose you or cause you any pain. I don’t know what will happen to me if I will grow old slower than a human and then die. Or, maybe, I might continue on. I just don’t want to think of the pain you will have if I was to grow old and perish.” She gave him a sad smile. “Regardless, it’s a long time away if it happens and I won’t think of it anymore for now. Right now, it’s just us here.”

The very thought of outliving his mate was crushing, and it reverberated through the link with as much force as one of the ancient trees falling to the ground. His gold eyes widened a fraction with the pain the thought brought him, then immediately slid shut when he felt her lovely little body roll against him. He moaned low, the sound both pleasure and pain combined.