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  He slid the strap of her bra down a bit to keep it from being soiled and let his incisors sink deep into her flesh. Warm blood spurted out from the wound and Liam took a deep drag as he groaned out. One suck and Elle's whole body was quivering. It seemed to simultaneously relax and become as tight as a coil all at once and a soft whimper followed by a moan left her lips as she felt her nipples pucker.

  Liam dragged his tongue over her skin to seal in the bite and he shifted his body, pulling her onto his lap so that she was astride him.

  "Now...mark me," he told her, baring his neck eagerly for her. He was breathing heavily and Elle could immediately tell why. He was rock hard beneath his tight jeans. His hands came down to steady her hips, digging into the flesh through the layers of clothing.

  Elle's tongue slid over her lips, her eyes placing the spot where her bite would go. She leaned further into him, rubbing against his length and drawing out a hiss from him purely based on her movements.

  "Shirt," she said, reminded him he was still over-dressed. He nodded and pulled it up and over his head. Then there was only her thin bra between their skin and his hand moved back to cup her ass, keeping her in place. He pulled her even closer, his hard length rubbing against her sex, and Elle moaned as her body moved closer and molded to his.

  Without thinking, she let instinct take over and felt her canines elongate before slicing into his flesh.

  "Shit!" His pelvis drove upward into hers, rubbing against her clit through her shorts. She was sure she was soaking through the layers, but it didn't seem to matter as her teeth sank in, sucked, and then her tongue slid across the bite to heal the wound.

  A hand at her bra strap undid the clasp and pulled it off her body.

  "I need to feel you," he said, the words coming out harsh and desperate. "I won't take you. Not until you're ready. But I want to touch your skin as much as I can."

  Elle said nothing, her breath hitching as his hands came back to the front of her body, thumbs brushing lightly against her nipples. They tightened further and her hips ground against him in response.

  "Fuck..." He was hard as granite, diamond even. His groin once again met with her sex, the friction making her clit quiver. She mewled helplessly.

  "That...that feel good?" he choked out. "Christ, you make me so fucking hard, Elle."

  As he ground his cock against her he took her lips again. The kiss was slower and hungrier, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and teasing hers. His hands cupped her breasts, thumbs flicking over the sensitive buds. Swallowing her moans as he tasted her, his mouth then kissed her lips, chin, neck, and collarbone. His eyes flickered to her mark, watching as it became more defined. It was a flower – no, a blossom. The perfect, deep rose of a plum tree blossom. He vaguely wondered what his would look like, but his lips were so close to taking in a nipple he pushed the thought away.

  There...one rosy pink tip was hard, elongated, just begging to be taken into his mouth. He closed his lips around it with a suck and felt Elle shiver and arch her back. He traced the areola, sucked it back in, stroked it with the flat of his tongue and felt how completely her whole body seemed to respond to his, not just her sex. Her toes clenched and he drove his pelvis up into her again and again.

  Shit. I may come in my pants like a fucking kid if I keep this up, Liam thought to himself as his cock throbbed painfully, and strained against Elle's perfect little body. It had been years since he had felt a woman's soft, pliant form against his, or felt anything but the touch of his own hard hand on his dick. He couldn't wait until she was squeezing him with her hands, her mouth, her pussy. The thought made him even harder and he gave a grunt as he rolled his hips into her again.

  Elle let out a soft cry, her core clenching. She didn't know what he was doing to her, but she begged silently for it to continue. She felt ready to burst into flames.

  "Elle, sweetheart, do you hear me?"

  "Yes," she breathed.

  "Do you want me to keep going? Make you come like this?" He moved against her again.

  "Yes. Please. It feels...you feel so good," her voice rasped.

  He rubbed against her again with a quick thrust. She moaned, her head tipping back as his mouth closed around her nipple again.

  "H-how...do I know if I've c-c-ome?" she asked, squeezing her thighs together. She circled her pelvis against his again, greedy for friction.

  "You've never had an orgasm before?" He sounded surprised. "I thought that Je – your ex-mate would have-"

  "He...only his p-pleasure...m-m-mattered."

  Her tummy felt tight, as if a molten ball of lead had settled there and was doing its best to weigh her down. Liam's lips worked at her nipples, his hips pumping up harder. All of the sudden, his own pleasure didn't matter as much. Getting her there seemed to be his goal. To give her what no one else ever had.

  "Do you want to keep doing this?" he asked on a groan, dick twitching. "I can finger you or lick your pussy. Get you coming on my face."

  "Don't stop!" she cried out. She was so close. The friction was just right, not enough, almost too much. It was difficult to tell which.

  Liam could smell their mixing arousals, hers heavier than his own. He was sure she was soaking wet beneath those tiny shorts she had on. It took everything in him not to find out with his hands or his mouth, but he was pretty sure she would flood them both by the time he got her coming for him. He let go of another grunt as he circled his hips against her, rocking up into her. His cock throbbed heavily.

  "You feel amazing," he said, his lips against the skin of her breasts. He had her wound up so tight she was nearly rigid in his arms.

  "Close..." she murmured.

  "Oh, love. I can't wait to have you coming on my cock when we mate," he told her. He relished the hot friction of her pussy rubbing against him. "Damn...you're gonna make me make a mess of myself."

  "I'll do...laundry," she muttered. "Just...come with me. Please."

  He growled, his hips bucking up towards her. He was right there on the precipice. His face wore the same strained expression as hers, but it was so fucking beautiful. Hollowed out cheeks, thick lower lip that he bit down on as he rubbed his body against hers. Even his usually perfectly angled brows as they knit together in concentration were poetry. All. Beautiful.

  And perfect.

  And she was his. He had wanted her, and she had found herself wanting him right back.

  "Oh...fuck, Elle!" He cried out as he hurtled closer to release. "Come with me, my angel."

  Come she did. His words, the tortured groans he gave, the friction – they all combined to wind her up and set her free. All the tingling warmth from her orgasm spread from her groin to her toes, her head, making her call out a garbled version of his name as they both tumbled over the edge.

  As they sat there entwined, Elle sprawled on his lap with their breaths mingling and combining, she became a puddle of mush. Warm, gooey, satisfied mush.

  Their breathing slowly settled, his arms wrapping around her, keeping her from sliding off his lap onto the floor until they both felt the need to move.

  "Baby, I love you sitting on my lap, but I'm gonna need to get cleaned up," he told her, his lips to her ear. "And I'm pretty sure you soaked right through your shorts."

  She nodded silently, testing the floor with one wobbly leg before placing the other one down. Liam stood up after her, gripping her hips and pulling them close to his body.

  "I'll let you have the shower in here," he told her, breath fanning over her forehead and cheeks. "I'll take the bathroom in the hallway to shower. Then we'll move your stuff into my room and go downstairs to cook."

  He pressed his lips against her forehead, pulled back, and started to unzip his pants before pushing them off his hips.

  Elle's eyes averted and Liam smirked a little. Even half-hard as he was, the man was packing. He took off his dirty clothing, used his t-shirt to clean himself up a bit, and tossed them into the hamper. Then he walked out of the bedroom to the hallway bat
hroom, completely naked.

  Chapter 16

  Liam spoke on his cell phone while his hands skated lightly over the bruised flesh of his mark. Like Elle's, it was a plum blossom, but his was just the fresh buds on a sturdy branch.

  "Yes, I understand it was a risk to mark her without consulting you first," Liam spoke. He was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom, caught between looking at his mark and smelling the wonderful fragrance of the chicken and rice Elle was cooking downstairs. "But Jeremiah, he was – well, is still – a cruel bastard who would stop at nothing to take her from me."

  'You do understand that she is his mate and he will most likely try to get her back anyway, son?'

  "He is not her mate," he snapped back at his father's voice over the phone. "I have marked her as mine. She has no want of leaving here and no want of him as her mate. He...he marked her with silver, beat her bloody, and almost killed her. You can understand why she would be hesitant to go back to him. Frightened to, to speak plainly."

  A sigh through the phone told Liam that his father didn't like what he heard, but that he was going to go to bat for his son with The Council.

  'Do you have proof of his crimes?'

  "Photographs, yes," Liam said. "She was also found by my Beta, Delta, and Gamma. She was nearly dead when they ran across her. She also has a scar with Jeremiah's initials on her back. Done in silver."

  A hiss crackled through the phone.

  'He would brand her with silver, but not with his own teeth? That is cruel.'

  Liam nodded to himself, agreeing. "Will you speak to the other Elders? Let them know this was an emergency? Even if she was to go to The Claiming, she would be too frightened to attend. She is...wary of people except for myself, Colleen, and the pups. Strangers would be so much worse. I need you to secure an exemption for me."

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before his father sighed.

  'Do you love her?'

  Liam blinked as he blew a breath out. "I have feelings for her. The first true feelings I have felt for anyone since Cecilia died. If that is the beginning of love, then yes."

  'Do you need me to send someone there to check on things at Blackriver?'

  Liam shrugged, though he knew his father could not see it.

  "It couldn't hurt, though it will probably only anger Jeremiah more," Liam responded. "For someone who was quite adamant on not having an Omega as a mate, he was awfully clear on wanting her back."

  'Stupid man. He has feelings he cannot reconcile and takes it out on his mate because she is not of stronger blood. I'm glad you know better, Liam. Sometimes the best mates are those that are opposite you. They temper you, your anger, your frustrations. They make you well-rounded. Does she do that to you?'

  Again, Liam was silent. He didn't know what it was about Elle, but it was something. He tried to describe it as best he could in the simplest manner.

  "She makes me feel whole again," he simply said.

  'Then I look forward to meeting her. Your mother, too. Hell, I may even drag Arden with us when we visit. I'm sure she wouldn't believe that you were actually happy unless she saw it for herself. After...after Cecilia died, I was certain I wouldn't have heard you speak of another woman this way. Even if this relationship is young, it has plenty of time to grow. I look forward to witnessing it.'

  The two men said their goodbyes a few minutes later, Liam's father promising to call him when word came back from the other Elders. He would have his work cut out for him in order to convince them that the marking was a necessity, but once they were shown the proof of the claims of abuse, he was certain they would agree with him.

  "Elle?" Liam called out, walking into the kitchen to the sounds of sizzling chicken and boiling water.

  She looked over at him, smiling.

  "Almost done," she said. "When will...the others be here?" Her face twisted oddly, like she couldn't believe the words came so easily from her mouth.

  She was cooking not only for Liam and herself that night, but for Blake, Trace, and Caleb, along with Colleen who wouldn't take no for an answer when Liam told her it was a private meeting.

  "Twenty minutes or so," he told her, coming up from behind her and digging his fingers into her hips. He pulled her back to meet his body and curled his arms around her stomach to rest there.

  "Dinner should be ready in 15," she said. Her voice was stronger, not wavering as it once had been.

  "You're not stuttering," he observed, lips pressed against her head in a smile. "I'll have to ask Evelyn if it has anything to do with the marking. Mating with an Alpha does have its advantages."

  Elle smiled and stirred the rice and vegetables.

  "Or you're just an outstanding speech therapist," she said. "You may have missed your calling." She was teasing him and he grinned again into her hair.

  "I brought the last of your things into my room and spoke with my father," he told her, pressing his firm body against hers. Hard. She always made him hard. If he was smart, he'd have stepped away from her, but their bond was still forming, and that tether that attached the two souls was making itself known in any number of ways. "He will speak with the other Elders, but once we send him proof of your mistreatment, he says they should have no trouble in approving this odd pairing, even if you didn't attend The Claiming."

  "It is unusual," she said, stirring the rice again. Almost done.

  "Yes, it is," he agreed. "For one to take a mate when they are already bound to another is one thing, but to have that other mate brutalize and-" His voice caught. "It's almost unheard of, especially in an Alpha. They are known to be most protective of their kin."

  "Did Je-did he know you were planning on taking me as your mate?" Elle asked softly, her form stiffening slightly.

  "He had an inkling I would say," Liam told her. "I certainly allowed that it was a distinct possibility. He...well, he didn't take it very well."

  "Too bad." Her tone was bitter, jaw locked tight as her throat worked to swallow over the hard stone forming there.

  "Hush," Liam murmured, holding her tighter. He could feel her struggling to relax. "He won't get to you. Not once we've mated and the whole pack is officially behind you as their Luna."

  "Is there...a ceremony?" she asked, stilling with the question.

  "Usually, but we will keep it small this time. I know you are not fond of attention, but I will be announcing the mating at the next meeting for the entire pack. You'll have to be there, but you won't have to say or do anything. It's just a formality. The pack will be pleased to have a true Luna again. It's been years since my mother left, and I believe most of them thought I was never going to take a mate."

  "Has anyone…offered themselves to you?" she asked.

  Liam shrugged, not caring. "A few. None that I would have taken as a serious partner. The most diligent was Sheila. She bothered me for a whole year after Cecilia died. She still attempts to seduce me every once in a while, but for the most part, she leaves me alone."

  "I'm sure when you glare daggers at her she cowers."

  "She deserves every ounce of my indignation," Liam said bitterly. "She was Cecilia's best friend growing up. Waited a whole two weeks after her death before making bedroom eyes at me."

  Elle winced. That was tacky. She couldn't blame the lust the woman probably felt for Liam, but after only two weeks and with your best friend's grieving mate? Downright unbelievable.

  "Does she have a mate?"

  "No clue, not that I care. If all the pack females were to perish for some reason except for her, I still wouldn't take her. She's conniving and manipulative. The last type of person I want as a partner."

  They were quiet as Elle continued to cook, taking the rice off the burner and stirring it with seasoning that made it a rich yellow color.

  "What's that?" Liam asked.

  "Sazon," she explained. "I put it over the chicken as well. It's good seasoning."

  A hard knock on the door broke them up a bit and
Liam went to the door. After opening it, he was surprised to see it was Colleen and Blake. He cocked a brow.

  "How is it that you didn't just walk in like you usually do?" Liam questioned pointedly at Colleen.

  "I didn't know if you two were getting cozy or anything in there," Colleen said, stepping into the house. "Smells good. Hey Elle!"

  "Hi Colleen," Elle called, looking over her shoulder and smiling at the woman.

  "You're not stuttering!" Colleen beamed.

  "I know."

  "How-" Colleen started to ask.

  "I'll explain in a bit," Liam said, ushering his guests to the dining room table. "Eat first, questions later. Alpha's orders."

  Trace and Caleb came by in the next few minutes and sat down, watching the silent Elle dish chicken onto a serving dish, vegetables onto another, and a heaping bowl of seasoned rice into a huge serving bowl.

  "Oh, wow. This is really good, Elle," Colleen said, swallowing a bite of chicken. "What did you use?"

  Elle told her, letting her know the seasoning could be found in the ethnic aisle at the grocery store. They ate in relative silence, once in a while praising Elle's cooking, making her face flush happily. Liam smiled every time her face tinged pink at their words. After the plates were all cleared, Liam stood from his seat and leaned onto the oak wood table.

  "I'm taking Elle as my Luna," he announced, no preamble needed. "I've already marked her."

  Colleen squealed and Liam rolled his eyes. The woman had no volume control and an unending amount of enthusiasm.

  "I knew it!" she said, flipping Elle's hair back from her neck to look at her mark. "I'm planning the Luna ceremony! It's going to be-"

  "Small and intimate," Liam finished for her. "Just a small gathering of wolves. Elle doesn't want anything flashy or big."

  "Lee, she's gonna get “big” even if she doesn't have a big ceremony," Colleen said with a smirk. "Everyone knows Alpha's are large in the man bits department."

  Liam's face flushed this time. Elle already knew what she was dealing with, and she looked off into the distance beyond the bay windows.

  "She already knows, doesn't she?" Colleen guessed, her face lighting up. "Did you two already mate or-"