Chapter 147

Angel’s POV

The shadow moved.

I was already sitting up, already braced, already wondering if someone was here to kill me - and then the shadow resolved into a shape I recognized, and the shape spoke.

"There you are."

Terrell.

He came out of the doorway and into the candlelight with unhurried steps, like he had found what he was looking for and was no longer in a hurry about anything. He looked at me on the bed with the expression that had been in his eyes before Merrick’s knock - the one I’d been equally thinking about.

It had not diminished.

"How did you find me?" I asked. My voice came out steadier than I felt, which I considered an achievement.

"You keep forgetting," he said, crossing the room toward me, "what I am."

He stopped at the edge of the bed.

"Your scent," he said, simply. "It’s all I can focus on. In any room. In any corridor." His eyes held mine. "You could be anywhere in this castle and I would find you."

I looked at him.

He looked so handsome in the candlelight, the line of his jaw, the darkness of his eyes... Oh God. It was hard to concentrate when this man was near.

"Merrick..." I started to say, when I remembered the expression of my second husband.

"He has gone to his room," Terrell said. "You don’t have to worry about him." A pause. "Just focus on me tonight."

He put one knee on the bed.

The shift of the mattress. The warmth of him, closer now.

"We have unfinished business," he said.

He looked at me with the patience of a man who was willing to wait for the answer and the heat of a man who was hoping he wouldn’t have to wait long.

I looked back at him, then reached up and put my hand against his jaw.

He went very still.

Except his eyes.

His eyes rake over my body, the hunger evident in his stare.

"Tell me you want me to touch you, Angel," he growled, his voice low.

I suddenly felt lightheaded, like the need for him to take me was consuming.

My fingers trembled against his warm skin. The anger I carried for so long still sat heavy in my chest, the memory of fire and loss, of him as the Alpha who destroyed everything. But the wolf he put inside me now howled for him, loud and needy, drowning out the old pain. I wanted him. I wanted this.

"I want you to touch me," I whispered, my voice shaking. "Please, Terrell. Touch me."

A low sound rumbled from his chest. He leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine, slow at first, tasting me like he had waited forever. His tongue slid past my lips and I opened for him, kissing him back with all the hunger building inside me. His hand slid up my side, over the thin nightgown, cupping my breast. My nipple hardened under his palm and I gasped into his mouth.

"You feel so soft," he murmured against my lips. "So fucking soft. I’ve dreamed of this. Of claiming what’s mine."

He pushed me back onto the pillows and climbed over me, his heavy body settling between my legs. The hard length of him pressed against my thigh through his clothes and my stomach flipped. I was a virgin. The turning had made my body crave him, but I had never done this.

"You’re shaking," he said, brushing hair from my face. His eyes searched mine. "Tell me if it’s too much. I’ll stop."

"Don’t stop," I breathed. "I need you. Something inside me needs you. Please... make me yours."

He kissed me deeper, hungrier, while his hands pulled the nightgown up and over my head. Cool air touched my bare skin and I felt exposed, but the way he looked at me made heat flood between my legs.

"Beautiful," he said roughly. "My mate. Mine."

His mouth closed over one nipple and sucked hard. I cried out, back arching. Pleasure shot straight down to my core. He licked and bit gently, then moved to the other breast, his hand sliding down my stomach to the wet place between my thighs.

"Already so wet for me," he groaned, stroking through my folds. "Fuck, Angel. You’re dripping."

One thick finger pushed inside me slowly. I was tight and he felt it. He worked it in and out, then added a second, stretching me carefully while his thumb rubbed the sensitive bud at the top.

"Does that feel good?" he asked, voice thick with need. "Tell me."

"Yes... oh God, yes. Don’t stop."

He kept working his fingers until I was panting and rocking against his hand. Then he pulled them out, stood just long enough to strip off his clothes, and came back naked. His cock was thick and hard, the tip already glistening. I stared, nervous and aching at the same time.

"I’ll go slow," he promised, settling between my legs again. He rubbed the head against my entrance, coating himself in my wetness. "Breathe for me."

He pushed in slowly and the stretch burned. I gripped his shoulders, my eyes stinging, but the wolf inside me pushed forward, wanting more. He sank deeper, inch by inch, until he was fully inside me.

"Fuck... so tight," he groaned. "You’re gripping me like a fist. My virgin mate."

He stayed still, letting me adjust, kissing my neck, whispering how good I felt. When the burn faded into deep pressure, I nodded.

"Move," I whispered. "Please."

He pulled back and thrust in again, slow and deep. Each stroke filled me completely. The pleasure built, mixed with the slight pain of being claimed for the first time. His hips rolled against mine and I met him, learning the rhythm.

"Harder," I gasped. "I can take it. Claim me."

A growl tore from his throat. He drove into me faster, deeper, the wet sound of our bodies filling the room. His hand slid between us to rub my clit while he fucked me.

"You’re going to cum on my cock," he ordered, voice rough. "I want to feel you squeeze me when you break."

The tension coiled tighter and tighter. My nails dug into his back.

"Terrell... I’m close..."

"Cum for me, Angel. Now."

The orgasm crashed through me. I cried out his name as my walls clenched around him, pulsing hard. He kept thrusting through it, chasing his own release.

"Fuck... I’m going to fill you," he growled. "Take every drop."

He slammed deep one last time and came with a raw shout, hot pulses of cum flooding me. I felt every throb, every spurt painting my insides. He stayed buried, breathing hard against my neck, still rocking gently as the last of his seed spilled into me.

We stayed locked together while our hearts slowed. His forehead rested against mine.

"You’re mine now," he whispered. "Body and soul. No more running from this."

I wrapped my arms around him, the old grudge quieter than it had ever been, and the wolf inside me purred, content.

"I’m yours," I answered.