A Taste of Honey (14 page)

Ted stepped forward, causing Violet to realize for the first time that he’d been standing behind Ronnie all along. Maybe the woman had been looking at him.

Ted transformed before anyone had a chance to respond, destroying his clothing in the process, and bounded toward the tree line. More than twice Kristen’s size, there was no doubt that he’d catch up to her quickly.

In his wake, the crowd began to buzz again, but Emmaline soon put a stop to it by stepping close to the fire, holding up the ceremonial beads. “Ronnie, Violet?” The strands clacked and gleamed in the firelight, holding the audience captive.

As she and Ronnie stepped forward, Violet didn’t feel quite as nervous as she had the first time. After what they’d just been through, her nerves were spent. Still, a shiver of anticipation ran down her spine as they stood in front of Emmaline, facing each other.

“Ronald Sweetwater and Violet Collins are destined mates…” Emmaline repeated the words she’d recited earlier. When she got to the part where anyone who had anything against the union could speak up, Violet’s stomach flip-flopped.

No one said anything.

“Then with these beads, I acknowledge the timeless bond between Ronald and Violet on behalf of the Roaring Water Tribe.”

Violet hardly dared to breathe a sigh of relief as Emmaline draped one of the beaded necklaces around her neck.

Ronnie had to bend down so that his grandmother could reach to slide his on.

“Join hands,” Emmaline said, holding the last strand aloft.

Unlike Violet, Ronnie had slung his blanket around his hips, leaving his upper body and arms free. He reached for Violet, slipping his hands beneath the blanket she’d draped over herself and gently sliding his hands over her shoulders, sending it crumpling to the ground.

Cold night air kissed every inch of Violet’s skin, warring with the heat emanating from the nearby fire. The only part of her that wasn’t at least a little cold was her face – warmth flooded it as Ronnie clasped her hands. She couldn’t have avoided standing bare in front of him – in front of everybody. Even if she’d been wearing clothing, she would’ve had to either take it off or destroy it when she changed forms for the marking. Still, it was unnerving to stand naked before the tribe she had yet to grow accustomed to thinking of as her own.

Emmaline laid the third strand over Violet and Ronnie’s clasped hands, letting the beads drape over their wrists. “May your love stretch farther than these mountains and endure every season.”

The beads swayed, round and cool against Violet’s skin, a marked contrast to the warm roughness of Ronnie’s hand.

“You may mark each other now to demonstrate your dedication before the tribe.”

Violet’s fingers slid from Ronnie’s hand as he let go, meeting her eyes for a brief moment before transforming.

Beads fell from his neck, broken during his transformation, and he towered over her in his bear form, standing so tall that he had to reach down to touch her shoulder with one paw.

For the first time, she noticed exactly how long his claws were as he laid them across her shoulder, pressing them delicately against her skin as if burning into his mind where they would fall in a few moments.

She stood straight, her skin tingling and pebbling as he lifted his paw. The sight of a bear about to claw her should’ve scared her, and her heart did race, though not from fear. She wanted his mark more badly than she’d ever wanted anything, apart from him. Everything and everyone faded away as she drew a breath and held it in. She wasn’t standing naked before a tribe or a pack or anyone else – there was only Ronnie. Her mate. Shock rippled through her system as he dragged the tips of his claws cleanly across her shoulder in one quick strike, tearing her skin with a precision that belied his bulky form.

He was a man again before she could blink, and as blood began to trickle down her breast he wrapped his arms around her and clutched her to his chest.

She simply stood in his embrace for several long moments, letting her heartbeat slow to the pace of his and ignoring the warm wetness that was flowing down her shoulder. It was nighttime – the light of the moon would heal her soon enough. For now, the wound burnt, a flesh-and-blood reminder that they belonged to each other. Forever. She would have been content to spend the rest of the night in his arms if it hadn’t been for the craving that had risen up inside her – a bone-deep need to mark him as he’d marked her.

Her mouth actually watered as she turned her head and her lips brushed his collarbone. As she leaned back to put a little distance between them, he held her fast. “I’m all right,” she whispered.

He loosened his hold a little, enough that she could take a step backward. As night air and heat from the fire rushed between them, her body ached to be against his again – but not as much as she ached to leave her mark on him. He stood tall, bare and bloodied before her, and she’d never seen anyone or anything more appealing. His scent called to her, as did the lingering heat contact with him had left on her skin, and she could almost feel her teeth sharpening in her mouth. As the firelight cast shadows across his broad, blood-smeared chest, she surrendered her human shape, slipping into her lupine form.

Beads rained onto the earth around her paws, the cord that had secured them around her neck broken. On four legs, she was much closer to the ground than Ronnie.

He knelt, one knee against the earth, in front of her.

The muscular curve of his shoulder was firm and tasted slightly salty. She opened her jaws wide to accommodate it as feelings both tender and feral welled up inside her, at odds yet strangely in sync. She paused to breathe in his scent, savor the flavor of his skin and make sure her fangs were firmly in place. Where they rested now would be where his scar would remain forever. The thought spurred her on and she flexed her jaws, biting down quickly.

She sank her teeth past his skin and into his muscle, her every thought focused on creating a mark that couldn’t possibly be as deep as her love. He never so much as flinched – not when she bit down and not when she withdrew, releasing his shoulder and returning to her human form.

In a moment’s time she was human again and embracing him, breathing the sweet scent of honey mixed with the coppery odor of blood. The combination made her lightheaded with happiness and a delicious feeling of possession – a private sense of belonging shared between the two of them. Somewhere, in the bottom of her heart, a missing puzzle piece clicked into place.

He ran his hands down her sides and reached below, picking up one of the fallen blankets and wrapping it around her. When they rose together, draped in blankets and freshly marked, soft applause resounded, coming from bears and wolves alike. Someone whistled and the high-pitched sound rose above the rest of the noise, followed by happy laughter. The beads of the necklaces that had been placed around Ronnie and Violet’s necks rolled loose beneath their feet, scattered, but the strand that had been draped over their wrists, uniting them, remained whole. Ronnie bent to pick it up and placed it around her neck. “A keepsake.”

* * * * *

Ronnie’s cabin was a cozy sanctuary after half a night spent mostly-naked outside. Violet sighed as Ronnie latched the door behind them, shutting out the world. Finally, it was just the two of them.

“Come here.” He reached for her, wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against his chest. He still wore nothing but the blanket he’d secured around his waist and he was clearly hard beneath it. His shaft dug into her belly, sending shivers of promise down her spine. She pressed her hands against his chest, forgetting about holding up her blanket as he took her mouth in a deep kiss. When their lips parted several minutes later, it fell away, pooling at her feet.

He growled, his eyes roving over her body. She wore nothing but the beads he’d placed around her neck at the conclusion of their ceremony and her nipples hardened beneath his gaze.

Wordlessly, he scooped her up, cradling her against his chest.

Her heart fluttered as he started across the living room, hurrying past the kitchen and down the hall with deliberate strides. The bedroom door swung open when he nudged it with his shoulder and he carried her inside, sinking down onto the bed with her in his arms.

She opened her mouth to speak but forgot what she’d been about to say when he bowed his head and pressed his mouth to one of her breasts. She gasped as his teeth scraped her tender skin and he drew her nipple past them, cupping her other breast in one hand and squeezing.

Her heart beat like crazy as his jaw dented the lower curve of her breast and her nipple tingled inside his mouth, making both her breasts ache. Below, her pussy tightened as she imagined the hard length of his cock sliding inside. A twinge struck a place deep inside her, sparking a slow burn in her core as he teased one nipple with his tongue and the other with his fingertips. The beads draped around her neck felt cooler than ever against her skin as a flush crept up her chest and into her cheeks.

She ran a hand up one of his thighs until her fingertips met dark hair. His cock stood tall in his lap, begging for her touch. Wrapping her fingers around the thick base, she brought her hand up the shaft, letting her touch drift over the smooth head.

 He released her nipple and lifted his head, exhaling sharply as she brought her hand back down the length of his erection, reaching below to cup his balls, letting them rest in the palm of her hand.

Her fingers slipped from his shaft when he gripped her shoulders and leaned back, reclining onto the bed and pulling her with him. He nudged her thighs apart with his knee and she braced herself with a hand against his chest as she straddled him.

“I want to taste you.” He ran a hand up one of her thighs, over her hip and side until at last he cupped her skull, burying his fingers in her hair.

She leaned forward, letting him guide her. Her nipples brushed his chest as their mouths met and he pushed his tongue past her lips and teeth.

When he grasped one of her breasts a shudder swept through her, filling her mind with visions of breaking the seal of their kiss and sinking down, burying his cock in her core. He must have had the same thought; he pulled his hand from her hair and withdrew his tongue from her mouth.

“I want to be inside you,” he said, removing his hand from her breast and running it up her thigh instead, tracing a path to her pussy with his fingertips.

She widened her thighs, sinking down until the tip of his erection pressed against her folds.

He grasped his cock at the base and groaned as he guided it inside her, stretching her channel inch by inch.

It ached, but it didn’t hurt like the first time. She let her fingers curl against his chest as her pussy tightened, embracing the invading length of his shaft. A place deep inside her, one she hadn’t even realized existed until earlier that day, throbbed, waiting to feel the press of the tip of his cock. She stiffened when she felt it, the pressure of his rod stretching her at the end of the first stroke, sunken to the base inside her.

He rocked his hips against the mattress, pushing deep and retreating in a slow, steady rhythm that coaxed an involuntary moan from her. The position opened her wider than the one they’d used the first time, leaving her extra-sensitive to every thrust and pull, even to the rhythm of his breathing. Her entrance was stretched tight around his shaft and the blunt tip dragged up and down her inner walls, touching a place that made her want to squirm. She dug her nails firmly into his chest but still wasn’t prepared for the pleasure that struck her when he placed a hand between her legs and began to massage her clit with his thumb.

The tension in her core quickly reached boiling-point, spurred on by his touch. Her pussy tensed around his cock, wrapping it in an involuntary embrace that tore the breath right out of her lungs. Her toes curled and so did her fingers, reflexively driving her nails a little deeper into his skin.

He moaned and thrust harder into her, still teasing her clit with the pad of his thumb.

She rocked her hips too, adding her effort to his to drive him a little deeper inside her. The effect was explosive – her channel tightened as a final contraction rippled through it, making her gasp as her nerve-endings sparked with intensity. Afterward the pleasure ebbed, fading to a dull sense of fulfillment that was shattered each time he thrust into her, sending pangs of bliss through her body again.

Her skin pebbled as he ran his hand up her back, cupping the back of her skull as he had before and drawing her down for a kiss. When their lips met, he plunged his tongue into her mouth, deep and hard, much like he’d penetrated her below. A low moan rose from his chest and was lost between them as he picked up pace, taking her with powerful strokes that made the insides of her thighs tremble.

She could feel his release, hot inside her, as his mouth broke apart from hers, leaving her lips swollen. As he slowed, she uncurled her fingers at last, a pang of mingled guilt and satisfaction slicing through her when she imagined the marks she must have left. Infinitely more satisfying was the bite mark that stood out in a bright pink half-circle on his right shoulder, freshly healed by moonlight. Her own mate mark didn’t hurt anymore but when she thought of his claws slicing through her skin, marking her forever, a shiver that had more to do with pleasure than pain wracked her.