Nick led her up the golden curved staircase and gave her a tour of upstairs—showing her the large bathroom, the many guest rooms, and the game room with a cocktail bar. The master bedroom could only be described as sensual with its red, gold, and white color theme and the grand four-poster bed—the room made a person think of sex, pleasure, and desires fulfilled.

As if it wasn’t great enough that there was a Jacuzzi in the stylish en suite bathroom, there was also one on the deck outside the bedroom balcony, overlooking the river and the sun that was setting beyond it. The whole place was like a peaceful oasis for her and her wolf. Turning, she found her mate in the doorway of the bedroom with his gaze locked on her. “I absolutely love it. But…no decorative pillows?” she teased, pouting.

He shook his head and began advancing toward her, intent on taking her on that bed as he’d imagined doing since he’d chosen it. “No decorative pillows.” Finally reaching her, he trailed his fingertips up her arms. “As for the basement…it’s now an indoor pool, but you can see that later. Now that I finally have you in this room, I’m keeping you in it for a little while.” He took a single step backward. “Take off your clothes.”

Shivering at that authoritative tone that brooked no argument, Shaya removed her tank top, stilettos, jeans, lacy bra, and matching panties. Eyes flashing with need raked over her, making her entire body tingle in awareness and anticipation. But he didn’t touch her. Instead, he began to very slowly circle her predatorily in that way he sometimes did. Behind her, he licked along the curve of her shoulder and delivered a sharp nip to her earlobe. Then his deep, seductive voice was murmuring in her ear.

“Perfect…every single inch of you.”

Coming to stand before her again, he still didn’t reach for her. But his hungry gaze felt enough like a touch that a tremor rippled down her spine. As he slowly undressed, her breathing deepened as electricity arched between them and the silence seemed to stretch on and on. Every part of her seemed to ache for him; her br**sts felt heavy, her ni**les were hard, and her clit was pulsing. “Nick,” she appealed.

His piercing gaze ensnared hers. “What do you want? Tell me, Shay. Tell me, and I’ll give it to you.”

Somehow, his dominant tone created a trancelike effect that made both her and her wolf total slaves. “You,” she rasped. “All of you.” It was an echo of something he had once said to her. And it got Shaya what she wanted: a growl rumbled up his chest as he fit her body to his, crushing her br**sts against him and cupping her ass. His mouth, tongue, and hands were demanding, dominating, and possessive. She more or less liquefied under the assault to her senses, threading her fingers through his hair and tugging.

He closed his mouth around her nipple, sucking hard and raking his teeth over it. Moving on to the other nipple, he lashed it with his tongue and then drew it into his mouth. At the same time, his hand skimmed over her flat stomach and down to cup her hard. Then two fingers sank deep inside her and swirled around.

“I love how you get so wet for me.” Kissing her again, Nick slowly thrust his fingers in and out of her, loving the moans she fed him, watching every expression that flashed across her face. Withdrawing his fingers, he moved one to circle the puckered hole where a butt plug was snugly positioned inside her. “I’m going to finally take you here tonight, baby. Do you want that?”

Shaya nodded, wanting her mate to have claimed her in every possible way—this was the only step they hadn’t yet taken, because Nick had wanted her to be totally ready. Also, he’d explained that he didn’t want her to surrender this way just to please him or out of curiosity, that he wanted her to want it as much as he did. She did, and she wasn’t embarrassed to admit it.

“On the bed, baby.” Once she clambered onto the bed and lay on her back, he crawled over her and took her mouth, branding it. He ended the kiss with a bite to her lip. “Spread your legs,” he rumbled. “I want to taste this pu**y that was made for me.”

Once she’d followed his order, Nick kissed, licked, and bit his way down her body to dip his tongue into her navel before going lower still. He flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from her. He might have made her beg a little, but the scent of her pu**y was much too tempting. Sliding his hands under her thighs, he tilted her hips and hooked her legs over his shoulders. Then he licked, sipped, and drank from her, savoring her taste and her moans. Each one of his senses was filled with, and overwhelmed by, her.

One thing he loved about Shaya was that her responses were without deception or exaggeration; she simply allowed her desire to flood her veins, rule her, and take her where she needed to be. The way she writhed and arched, the way she pulled on his hair, the way she groaned and whimpered and dug her heels between his shoulder blades—all of it was real, and all of it sent an agonizing need rocketing through him. “I need to be inside you. Right f**king now. Turn over.”

Those words caused quivers deep in her stomach. Needing to come so badly, Shaya obediently positioned herself on her hands and knees. He smoothed his hands over her ass as he came to kneel behind her, letting his c**k rub against her slit. It felt good and all, but she really couldn’t wait much longer. “Nick, I need to come.”

He positioned his c**k at the entrance of her pu**y. Keeping one hand on her hip, he held her shoulder with the other. “When I’m ready for you to come, I’ll tell you.” He slammed home, groaning as her walls clamped down on him. Buried inside his mate, the aching need in his body eased. But then it exploded.

Shaya cried out as Nick began to ruthlessly hammer into her, thrusting hard, driving deep. His pace was feverish, frenzied, and was sending her into that same frenzied state; she was moaning, whimpering, and instinctively pushing back against him. Well, actually, she was trying to push back, but his iron hold prevented her from moving. Still, her attempts earned her a growl and the prick of claws against her skin—Nick’s way of telling her to keep still, that he was in control and she’d take what he gave her.

“I love the feel of your pu**y around me. Know what else I love?” Nick slid his hand into her hair and pulled, urging her upright so her back was to his chest, and bringing her face to his. “You. Every goddamn inch of you—inside and out. Can you feel it?”

She could. She could feel it flowing over her, centering her, sheltering her, and wrapping around her. Even if she hadn’t known it with every cell and every bone of her body, she would have known it from the look in his eyes right then. He loved her. Loved her with an intensity that he would never have thought himself capable of—it was deep, and boundless, and true. It was also returned. She looped her arms around his neck. “And I love you.”