He pulled her out of her chair and laid her down on the bed. And then he let himself feast for real, tasting her, savoring her, teasing her sensitive nipples and feeling them harden to nubs under his tongue. Her nails dug into
his shoulders as he went lower, but the tiny pain only sharpened his pleasure. She responded to his smallest touch, moaning and writhing, losing control. He loved seeing, hearing, feeling her desire. Destiny wanted him, needed him, just as much as he needed her.
He licked at her inner thighs, and she instinctively opened herself to him, inviting him to taste her tangy sweetness. He did. Her clit was like a little pearl under his tongue, and he felt it swell and throb as he made her climax.
Then he could hold himself back no more. And she was ready for more, a woman to match his own desperate desire. Even as he raised himself over her, she was pulling him in to her. They came together as if they were made for each other. And, he realized, that was because they were.
“Now!” she called out. “Come on, Ethan, now, now, now!”
He filled her with a single thrust, sliding into her ready wet heat. Destiny looked into his eyes, making it a moment of intimacy and connection as much as physical pleasure. She met his passion with passion, his desire with desire, his love with love. It was everything he had ever wanted. She was everything he’d ever wanted.
“I love you,” he gasped. “My mate!”
She cried out his name as she reached her second climax. He had never heard anything so sensual as his name on her lips, or seen anything so beautiful as her widened eyes. As his own ecstasy engulfed him, he held her close, glorying in the shared joy that had come to them at last.
Afterward, they held each other tenderly. Every curve of her body fit into every angle of his, like puzzle pieces.
Ethan would have loved to stay entwined with her for hours, if not days, but they had a much-delayed mission to go on. And if he was strong enough to make love, he was strong enough to carry it out.
Reluctantly, he sat up. “How long was I out? I mean before.”
She snickered. “I know what you meant.” Then, seriously, she said, “Just about twenty-four hours.”
Destiny cut off his exclamation of dismay with a shake of her head. “You needed it, Ethan. Shifters heal fast, but not instantaneously. Did you want me to wake you up earlier, so you could jump out of bed, tear off to the base, and collapse halfway there?”
He couldn’t argue with that. “When we get back to the US, we’ll stay in bed all day. All weekend, even.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
They shared one more passionate kiss, and he swung his legs over the side of the bed and cautiously stood up. A brief moment of dizziness washed over him, then faded. As he got dressed, he took inventory of his physical self. His side ached a little, and he could feel that he wasn’t quite up to his usual strength. But he was almost there. If he didn’t push too hard getting to the base, he should be fine by the time he arrived.
Destiny handed him his sword and tiger claws. “Here you go.”
“I thought I’d lost the sword.”
“I went back to the tower and retrieved it. Mine too. And my tiger claws.” Destiny patted her belt. “And I killed a deer for dinner. My tiger was beyond thrilled.”
“We’ve got venison?” Ethan asked hopefully. “Or did you mean you ate it as a tiger?”
“Both. My tiger had some, then I cooked some for me and you.” Quickly, she added, “Not from the part my tiger had chewed on!”
“Mudpuppy, I’m so hungry I wouldn’t even care.”
He accompanied her to the kitchen, where she retrieved some venison steaks she’d grilled over the fire, sliced up, and packed in a sort of lunch box of hammered bronze. Ethan’s stomach growled as she offered it to him.
“It’s not Aunt Lizzie’s barbecue, but…”
He was too busy eating the juicy, savory meat to reply. Once his mouth wasn’t full, he said, “You’d give Aunt Lizzie a run for her money.”
Still eating, they walked out together. As they passed the fallen tower, Destiny said, “I know it wasn’t our fault, but I feel bad about that.”
“Killing the T-Rex?” Ethan asked.
“No, knocking down the tower. It’s a historical monument. Or it should be, anyway.”
“It still could be. I mean, the whole city. We could contact some Indian archaeologists…” Ethan noticed the huge claw and tail-tip poking out from the heap of marble. “…or not. I don’t know if finding a fresh T-Rex could lead to shifters in general getting discovered, but maybe it’s better not to take any chances.”
Destiny contemplated the claw. “Yeah, I don’t think we want anyone finding any dinosaurs. But Mataji knows a lot of shifters in India. I bet if I tipped her off, she could arrange for a team of shifters to come dispose of the dinosaurs, then have someone ‘discover’ the city. Bingo! Historical monument!”