My heartbeat kicked up when she locked her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss, her lips and tongue anything but hesitant.
"Fuck, Luna," I groaned when she nipped my bottom lip.
"Maybe later," she replied, a thread of smugness in her voice at her effect on me.
I shuddered.
"For now…" She tightened her arms around me and jumped up, trusting me to catch her or just very determined. I caught the underside of her thighs and swore when her core brushed my hard cock. "Bite me, Priest."
I gasped, squeezing her thighs in reflex. "Luna…"
She dragged her lips down my jaw to my throat, kissing my hammering pulse. "I mean it."
Shit, was I dreaming? She wanted to be bonded to me—fullybonded. A bite would lock in the bond; there'd be no ignoring the connection, no going back.
But would the pain of the bite remind her of her assault? The last thing I wanted was to throw her into a flashback with something that was supposed to be a joyous act.
"I'll bite you if you bite me," I proposed.
She tightened her thighs around me, brushing a kiss over my thrumming pulse. "Really?"
"Really."
"Should we … count down?"
I laughed, a smile creasing my eyes as I kissed her throat to test if she was jumpy—she didn't flinch at all. "Why not? Three … two …one."
I gasped at the sudden flash of pain piercing my throat, and echoed it by biting gently until Luna’s blood trickled over my tongue. The taste of her, my mark on her skin, and the trust she put in me … it all locked the bond into a full, thriving mate bond. I could taste the stormy water of her soul on my tongue, mixing with her bittersweet orange scent, and I shook with the force of her joined with me.
Luna gasped, drawing her teeth from my skin. "Wow."
"Yeah," I breathed, blinking at her, "Wow."
I could sense her awe; I felt it as clearly as my own, rushing through me like waves.
"You were serious about killing to protect me, huh?" she laughed, holding my gaze. "And youlikeme; I can feel it."
I kissed her again and felt the swell of hope in the bond, followed by a rush of safety.
Fuck. I made her feelsafe—I couldfeelthat safety, and it ruined me in the best way.
"Deadly serious," I replied against her lips, my voice hoarse. "Whatever it takes to keep you safe, I won’t hesitate to do it. I'm with you for good, Luna, every step of the way."
She rested her forehead against mine, a smile on her lips. "Every step of the way," she agreed.
EPILOGUE
Sweetie
“Jesus Christ,” I grunted, covering my mouth and nose with the sleeve of my jacket. Leather was shit for filtering smells; it did nothing to mask the scent of piss and cum coming from the room I'd just forced open.
I'd seen—and smelled—a lot of fucked up stuff since joining the Alpha Knights motorcycle club a year ago, but it never got less horrifying.
I was used to finding victims in grimy back rooms behind bars, or basements and attics full of mould and cobwebs, with shitty mattresses shoved into the corners where they were used. There was even a cold, dirty outhouse that had given a girl pneumonia before we got to her; she only just held on. She'd healed and left us for a better life months ago, but you never forgot the twisted shit you saw as a knight. I never had, at least.
This was … worse. The room wasn't blackened or moulding; it was bright and gilded, like something out of a damn palace. Itstill did nothing to cover the scents that lived in the elaborately decorated walls, or sunk into the plush rug in the middle of the room.
The beta we were here to get out—thanks to a tip-off from a maid, because that was how ritzy this place was; it had fuckingstaff—was sat in the middle of the bed, with her knees to her chest.