Chapter 44 — Bree

As soon as the words are out of Rainn’s mouth, I burst out laughing. He looks hurt, but I don’t even attempt to stop the teasing laughter that bubbles from my lips. “Umm. No. The last two times you said that, it didn’t end well.”

“I know.” Rainn’s eyes meet mine, apologetic. He runs a hand through his hair. “I know,” he says again. “And I’m sorry. Just…trust me…okay?”

“Okay. Maybe the third time is the charm, as they say.”

He leads the way out of the kitchen and past the patio, his hand light around mine. We leave the house behind, walking down the path from the patio to the edge of the woods.

Rainn turns to face me. His eyes are serious, his gaze intense. “Earlier, I planned to introduce you to my wolf this way. Here, where I could show you who I really was. Not by lunging out of the forest…”

“And saving my life?” I give him a smile. “I’m glad you were there, Rainn.”

He exhales. “Me too.”

I’m quiet. “I want you to meet my wolf,” I say after a while. “Properly.” I take a steadying breath. “Shifting has been difficult for me. At first, it was because I couldn’t stand Hugo’s decree that I had to ask permission from a male, then after I lost my mother…I just couldn’t get over my grief and fear. I pushed my wolf away, and now it’s hard to reach her.”

Rainn takes my face in his hands. “Yet you shifted in an instant to protect your friend. Bree, don’t you see how awesome that makes you? How much more it makes me love you?”

His words cause something to unfurl inside me. Something beautiful and happy and hopeful. “Rainn,” I whisper.

“I do,” he continues, his voice low. “I think I always have. And…before you say anything, I want to let you know that if you choose to join my pack, you’ll need no one’s permission to shift.”

“I’m hoping that when we’re done with Hugo, no one will need anyone’s permission to shift,” I reply, then take a deep breath, searching Rainn’s face. “Do you really want me to join your pack?”

“Yes,” he says without hesitation.

I imagine being in the same pack with Rainn, sharing his thoughts, having one more reason to be close to him for the rest of our lives. “What if something goes wrong? What if you stop feeling this way about me? What if you fall for someone else?”

Rainn barks out a laugh at the suggestion, as if I’ve just said something ridiculous. “I love you, Bree. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and I know I’ll never feel this way about anyone else.”

I take his hands in mine, and our fingers interlace. “I love you too,” I whisper. “I think I knew the first time I saw you.”

In reply, he releases my hands, then grabs his t-shirt and pulls it over his head. The rest of his clothes follow, and once again, he’s standing naked in front of me.

Reaching out, I touch his chest, feeling the thud of his heart against my palm. “You’re perfect,” I whisper, trailing my fingers over the warmth of his skin.

“If you keep doing that,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m going to forget why we’re here.”

With a laugh, I step back, giving him a few feet of space. His shift happens quickly. One moment, Rainn is standing there, the next, it’s his wolf. He’s as tall as I am, standing, covered with soft, midnight-black fur and with the same blue eyes I already know and love.

He approaches me, quiet and graceful, and I reach out to touch his face. “I love you,” I whisper.

I imagine hearing his reply in my head, in the place where I sometimes tell myself that I can feel Rainn’s thoughts. There, he tells me he loves me too.

Slowly, I undress. In my head, I keep up a mental conversation where I tell myself that I can shift, that I already did it just a few hours ago. Rainn’s quiet confidence also gives me strength, and once I’m naked beside him, I close my eyes…

…And shift.

…Then we run, together, and with Rainn by my side, it feels like flying.

***

We run for what seems like hours, untiring. By the time we return to the house and Rainn takes me up to his room, I feel alive in every nerve and every fiber of my body.

We’re already inside his room before I realize we didn’t bother to put our clothes back on before entering the house. But when his lips cover mine, I decide I don’t care.

He carries me over to his bed, still kissing me, and I feel senseless with something that’s more than desire. I feel as if I’ve been waiting my entire life to be with Rainn, and I can’t wait for one more moment.

We fall back on the bed, still kissing. My skin feels heated against his, and his hands on my body make me feel like I’m on fire.

“Rainn,” I whisper his name.

His face hovers over mine, his eyes dark and intense. “Do you want to stop?”

“No. Never.”

He smiles, and then he’s kissing me again, his lips traveling down my body, his fingers touching me in the most intimate of places. I feel pleasure like I’ve never felt before. Everything else disappears, leaving just Rainn and his touch.

“Don’t stop,” I beg, as pleasure builds to an uncontrollable peak.

“Never,” he whispers, his lips at my ear, teasing my skin as his fingers bring my body to a perfect, earth-shattering release.

When my body stops shaking, Rainn presses a kiss to my neck, making me sigh.

“How do you feel?” he asks.

“Good.” Lying in his arms, I can feel every inch of him against me. He’s gentle, but I can feel how much he wants me, and how much he’s keeping himself in control.

“Rainn,” I whisper. “Don’t worry about losing your head around me. I won’t break if you touch me the way you want.”

He laughs. “Maybe I’ll break if I touch you the way I want.”

He’s only half joking.

“Then we’ll both break,” I reply.

He lifts himself on his elbows and hovers over me, then presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes and put my arms around him, pulling his body down over mine.

“I’m ready, Rainn.”

He kisses me again, then gently, with his eyes locked on mine the entire time, he enters me.

The sensation is new. I close my eyes, waiting for pain, but all I feel is a budding, beautiful pleasure.

“Bree,” Rainn whispers my name.

“Yes,” I moan, opening my eyes to drink in his gaze. “Yes.”

He starts to move, and I hold on to him. I say his name over and over as he gives me everything I didn’t even know I wanted. Our bodies move together, perfectly, as if this was always meant to be. “Rainn.” I cry out his name as everything explodes, clutching him, wanting to hold on to the most beautiful feeling I’ve ever experienced.

“Bree,” Rainn whispers my name as he loses control. His eyes close, and he buries his face in my neck, breathing deeply. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I’m still smiling as I fall asleep in his arms.