16

Celeste

Liam kicked as I wedged myself back into the chair beside Nathan’s bed. “There isn’t any fluff here,” I told him, fairly sure he was cranky about my eating “normal” food for lunch instead of another round of pickles and marshmallow fluff. But Nathan didn’t have any marshmallow paste in his

cabinets, and I wasn’t leaving the house until he woke up and I knew he was all right.

Micah had stayed overnight, insisting that I sleep, but he’d gone home a few hours ago, satisfied that Nathan was sufficiently on the mend. Other than catching about six hours of sleep while Micah sat with him, I hadn’t left Nathan’s side since the Elders had carried him inside yesterday.

I’d woken to the horrific noise of the fight and raced down the

stairs, heart pounding and forced to watch as Nathan took on the rival pack alone until the others arrived to join him. He’d been half-dead when they brought him in, but he’d smiled at me when he realized I was there.

It was at that moment that I knew. Nathan was my mate. He’d

always been my mate. Leaving me behind had been the desperate act of a boy who didn’t know what else to do and was trying to take care of me the only way he knew how at the time. He was still trying to take care of me. There, at that moment, viscerally aware that I could lose him, I realized I would do anything to keep him.

Propping my feet up on the bed, I settled in to wait for him to wake up so I could make sure he knew it.

I didn’t remember dozing off, but I woke with a start at the feel of a hand on my foot. “Nathan?”

“Celeste, what are you doing?” Nathan was propped up on his

elbows, peering at me in confusion. His dark hair stood up in all directions, mussed from sleep, and a five-o’clock shadow darkened his jaw. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.

“Waiting for you,” I said, struggling upright. Gods, being pregnant made me an unwieldy mess. “How do you feel?”

He rolled his head from side to side and pushed himself to a sitting position, testing his body. “Not bad,” he decided. “A little stiff.” I could see the memories catch up with him. “The fight—”

“Everything’s cleaned up,” I assured him. “Micah and the Elders took care of it. We’re safe—Kurt’s dead. Two of his Elders, too.”

He looked stunned. “How long was I out?”

“About a day. You were—” The urge to cry tightened my chest. “It was so bad, Nathan.”

“Hey.” He caught my hand and leaned in. “It’s all right. It’s all

over.”

“I thought you were going to die,” I blurted, tears welling up.

He blinked, and I belatedly realized how ridiculously over-reactive

this must look given that he hadn’t been around to see me crying over absurd things for months already. Once I’d started talking, though, I

couldn’t stop. The words just poured out of me.

“I thought you were going to die, and I wouldn’t get to tell you I’m sorry—I’m so sorry, Nathan! You—when you left, you were doing the best you could. I know you were. I just—it hurt, and then my parents died, and I couldn’t—I just built walls, because I didn’t want to hurt anymore.” I was

sobbing for real now, years of grief and longing gushing out. “Oh, baby.”

Nathan pulled me up into his lap, my left shoulder against his chest, and rested his chin atop my head. It felt so safe to be enfolded in his arms that way.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said, his hand stroking up and down my arm soothingly. “It killed me not to be here when you needed me.”

“You’re here now,” I said, wiping at my face and struggling to control my tears. “Fighting for us and trying, and I—I still love you.” I

sniffled and grabbed for his hands. “You’re still my mate, Nathan, and I’m

tired of pretending you’re not. I know it’s complicated now with the baby and the paperwork and everything, but … can we start over? As mates?

Like we should have when you came back.” I tipped my head back to see his face, holding my breath in hope.

Incredulity and then rapturous joy spread over his face, and he folded forward, pressing his forehead to mine. His hands came up to frame my face. “Yes,” he said fiercely. “Yes, baby.”

Then his mouth was on mine, kissing me like he was starved for the taste of me. I returned the kiss passionately, unable to get close enough. He was mine, and after so long of keeping my distance, I never wanted to be parted from him again.

His right hand stroked down my jaw, down my throat, and over my sternum. Every nerve lit up in its wake, my body aching for his touch. He cupped my breast through the shirt, and I broke from the kiss with an impatient noise. It wasn’t enough. Hauling the shirt over my head, I tossed it aside. Nathan laughed and pulled me back in. He coaxed me up onto my knees this time, facing him, and laved his tongue over the sensitive tip of my breast.

I moaned and arched into the touch. He splayed his broad hands against my back, bracing me as he moved back and forth between my

breasts, licking, kissing, and suckling. Heat shot through to my core, and I whined. I buried my fingers in his messy hair and tugged him closer, reveling in the feel of him feasting on me. His mouth evoked waves of pleasure that made stars dance across my vision.

“I want you,” I gasped.

“Yes,” he murmured against my skin. He looked up, pressing a kiss between my breasts and ran a hand over the swell of my belly. Mischief

sparkled in his green eyes. “I might have read an article or two on sex while pregnant,” he said.

I arched an eyebrow, and he playfully ran his tongue around a nipple, making my whole body tighten with want.

“Experts say on your knees or your side is probably best,” he

continued, his hands gliding from my thighs to my hips and back, slowly

stoking the heat in my core. “But I want to learn from you, Celly, what you like, like this.”

Warmth pooled inside me. My Alpha. “Well,” I said, running my fingers along the prickly stubble at his jaw while I pretended to think it over. “I guess the only way to know is to try them both.”

“Smart.” His eyes twinkled. “Come here.”

He helped me get out of the shorts and my panties and let me divest him of the loose sleep pants Micah and I had gotten him in after his wounds had been tended yesterday. The rapid healing all shifters were gifted with had kicked in overnight, and his wounds were nearly gone already. That

was lucky for me, because I desperately wanted him inside me.

We shimmed around so that I could lie on my left side, Nathan

spooning behind me. The heat of his body soaked into me, and I welcomed it, nestling myself against him. His left arm tucked under my head, and his fingers interlaced with mine. His right arm snaked around my waist and began exploring the naked expanse of my skin. I could feel him hard

against my backside and squirmed my right hand back to stroke him.

Nathan made a low, wanting sound and buried his face in the curve of my neck. His fingers wove patterns across my skin, light and languid.

His touch skated over my breasts, brushing their curves and toying with my pearled nipples before sliding down to trace the swell of my belly. My

whole body felt alive, every inch of me aching for more. I whimpered when he pressed a kiss to the back of my neck, my entire body shuddering with the intensity of it.

He kissed his way leisurely down my shoulder, his hips starting to work against my hand as I spread the precum at his tip back along the length of his shaft.

“Impatient?” he murmured, amused.

My answer was to grasp his wrist and move his teasing hand down to my thighs. He chuckled in my ear, soft and pleased, and dipped his questing fingers between my legs. At the same time, he adjusted his weight, angling himself so that he could push into me from behind. I turned my face into his arm and keened as he rocked into me. I could feel my body stretch

to accommodate his girth, every inch of him sending my inner walls into fresh spasms of pleasure. I thrust back, trying to drive myself harder onto his length.

“Mmm,” he rumbled in my ear. “Easy, baby. There’s no hurry.” “Says you,” I gasped.

“Well,” he nibbled at my shoulder, tucking himself in closer and delving his fingers a little more deeply between my folds just above where he was buried inside me. “In that case …” He unerringly found my clit with the pad of one finger and circled it expertly.

I yelped, my vision fuzzing as I started to tremble. “Yes,” I gasped. “Just like that. Oh, Nathan—”

He settled into a rhythm, and I lost any sense of coherence. Every time he thrust, my hips rocked forward into his hand, and his finger rubbed my throbbing clit. Every time he pulled out a little, I eased away from his finger. Back and forth, he worked me, my body spiraling toward a precipice as he coaxed more and more pleasure from me. I could feel myself melting under his masterful touch. His hand was covered in my slick, and it smeared across my thighs as he began to rock harder.

With anyone else, I’d have been self-conscious. About the mess, about my belly and the pregnancy weight I’d gained. About the babbling sounds I was making as I rode his touch toward ecstasy. But not with

Nathan. He was my Alpha, my mate.

I felt his teeth graze the back of my neck as he thrust sharply, pressing down with his finger at the same instant. I came apart, shattering with a cry.

Nathan groaned in my ear as I clenched around him, but he didn’t move. Just held me as I shook with my climax. His finger eased off my clit, and he began to rub my folds lightly, easing me down from the high.

When I settled into my body enough to move, I twisted my head

around and kissed him thoroughly. “Knees,” I gasped when the kiss broke. “You’re sure?” he asked, his hand moving up to rest near my ribs. “Now,” I demanded.

He laughed and eased himself out of me, drawing a whine of protest. He smacked my thigh playfully. “Patience,” he chided with a mock frown.

I growled and watched him grin as he helped me to my knees. It took a minute to get settled on my knees and elbows, my legs spread.

Nathan knelt behind me, one hand on the small of my back, the other gliding up and down my thigh.

“If it’s not okay,” he said, “you’ll tell me?” There was something in his voice that made me crane my head around to meet his eyes over my

shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you, Celly. Never again.”

“You won’t. I know you won’t.” I reached back to brush his thigh with my fingers. I would never find another protector as fierce or as careful with me as Nathan, and the awareness of how deeply he loved me made fresh tears spring to my eyes.

He smiled and folded over me, trailing kisses down my spine. “I love you.” His hand framing my hips, he pushed slowly inside, filling me. This angle let him go much deeper, and I buried my face in the pillow, moaning out my pleasure.

He kept murmuring and peppering my skin with kisses as he started to move. There was a different purpose in his pace this time, and I could feel the tension radiating out of him as he approached his own climax. His heavily-muscled thighs were hard against mine as he thrust into me, driving deeper and harder. I fisted my hands in the sheets as I careened toward the peak again myself.

“Celly.” Nathan groaned my name over and over.

I couldn’t think, could hardly breathe—and then his hand slipped around my thigh, and his fingers slid through my folds. He just barely

grazed my clit, and I broke, the world going soft and white as I plummeted into the most intense orgasm of my life.

Muzzily, I felt his body lock up, a shout escaping as he surrendered to his own climax. I could feel the hot, pulsing rush as he spilled himself inside me, his body folding over mine as every muscle gave out.

I drifted, sated and content, until Nathan reluctantly pushed himself upright and pulled out of me. He eased me onto my side and curled up

around me again. I thought he might have adjusted the covers, but it didn’t matter. I was warm and safe and happier than I could ever remember being. His arms wrapped around me, and I slept.