"You never really brought it up again. I was wondering if it was something I did, or— "
"I was fucking— " A deep, growly, unspeakable sound rises from deep in his chest. Koen had not known he was capable of that. "I was giving you space."
She frowns. "What?"
"I was being a patient, considerate, respectful, non-intrusive, accommodating mate. I was trying to— "
"Koen, you are the most intrusive mateever. You never stop staring at me when we're in the same room, you wake me up to have sex in the middle of the night, you keep tearing my clothes, and you want to be with me every second you're not gone on pack business. You're not really the space-giving kind of partner, and— "
"I'mtrying. I could be way fucking worse."
"—andI'm not complaining, because I wouldn't have you any other way."
He swallows. Works his jaw. "You've been through some shit. And I'm trying hard to seem more . . . evolved than I actually am."
She stares up at him with so much pity, he knows how miserably he has failed.
"I assumed," he continues, "that you didn't want me to shred your skin and make you bleed and scar you purely for my own sexual thrill, and— "
"Koen. My love." Her hand comes up to cup his face. She's clearly holding in laughter. "Could you please shred my skin and make me bleed and leave a scar purely for your own sexual thri— "
The force with which he flips Serena onto her belly is notevolved, nor is the way he tugs at the thick hair at the nape ofher neck. The thing is, it's in the way. So is her underwear, which means that he has to tear it off, and— okay, maybe Serena has a point.
Koen enters her quickly, maybe too deep and too soon, no time for adjusting, but she can take everything he dishes out. He hears her gasp and regains a smidge of control, trying for slow, unhurried thrusts, somewhat managing. His knot is already pulsating, starting to inflate, pressing against the tight walls of her cunt. She's warm inside, glowing with heat.
He would die for her, and he would kill for her. More importantly, he will live for her. She'll be the purpose driving every second of his every day.
"I'm going to do it," he says, licking up her spine, a promise. She's already nodding, arching back into him, and when he opens his mouth, the skin of her gland is soft under his tongue, under the scrape of his teeth. "I'm going to mark you," he tells her, because that's what this is about, and he wants to make it clear.
She doesn't reply. But he feels her come, clenching around his growing knot. When he can't wait any longer, his teeth cut into her supple flesh. The iron tang of her blood is strong and sweet.
It tastes, Koen thinks, like forever should.