Heart of Stone - Book 3: Souls Entwine

Author’s Note: This is the TAME version, with details glossed over. If you want the explicit STEAMY version, click to the next part. Chapters are identical in the first half with the latter half being different to suit readers’ personal steam preferences. Much love. Enjoy.

She was crazy. She knew she was. But after all was said, she didn’t want to wait another minute.

He loved her regardless of what she decided. He offered to continue driving himself mad with the pull of the matebond if she didn’t want to become a lycan like him anytime soon. What more could he offer as a sacrifice for her happiness?

He’d suffered for many years already, it wasn’t right to make him—as well as herself—suffer any further with the force of the matebond.

She had time to get used to his beast before her first transformation. She had another full lunar cycle. What use did it make to wait another week if she was still going to transform at the same time? Why drive each other mad with desire?

Not only that, but she craved the feel of his teeth raking over her shoulder when they made love. A part of her trembled with a deep-seated need within to have his teeth break her flesh. It ached within her when he jerked away from her neck to bite himself instead.

It made her all the more hungry for his touch, like an insatiable animal.

She wanted him now. She wanted him with every fiber of her being and no amount of fear was going to drive her away from doing what she wanted. Needed.

She rocked her hips, taking his tongue in her mouth again as a rumble of pleasure vibrated in his chest. It rippled through her, exciting her all the more as her kisses grew more demanding.

He pulled away, panting heavily as he gripped her shoulders and lightly pushed her away.

In the faint light of the moon, she could see that his irises were dark, nearly black. He was struggling for control.

“Stone, please,” she whispered, pushing her desire on him as her hands moved down to his shoulders.

“You sure? Because once I do—I can’t take it back.”

Releasing his shoulders, she reached down and grabbed the bottom of her hoodie. She pulled it over her head along with her T-shirt. The cool desert night air nipped at her exposed skin, making her shiver as she tossed the clothing into the tent behind him.

She watched his eyes drink her in as he took in a haggard breath.

“You’re not wearing a bra.”

A knowing grin tugged on her lips as she placed her hands on his hips and slowly slipped her palms up under the hem of his shirt.

“Nope. I wanted to be comfortable for the Spirit Walker’s ceremony.”

His dark eyes darted up to catch hers, while her hands continued their slow ascension over the ridges of muscle in his torso. With each inch scaled, his breaths became heavier. When she reached his chest, she tugged his shirt over his head and he tossed it behind him.

He took her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. His thumbs brushed over her cheekbones. His hot breath fanned over her lips. His desire poured into her pores—hot, hungry, and primal.

She could feel the battle waging within him—could feel his need to take her. To claim her.

And she wanted it—needed it—herself.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she said in a breathy whisper.

His lips crashed into hers as his resolve snapped.

She gasped at the collision of emotions that surged through her.

Gone was the gentleness. The soft caresses. The tender touches. In its place was the raw, wild, primitive nature of an untamed male.

He’d held back so much in the weeks to pass. She could feel it now. The power. The strength of his beast.

Instead of being scared, she felt even more aroused and kissed him back with equal intensity and fierceness.

She nibbled on his bottom lip, drawing a guttural groan of pleasure from him.

Without releasing her lips, he placed one strong hand on her bottom and another on her back as he lifted himself to his knees. Her arms and legs instinctively wrapped around him as he eased her down on the blanket.

Pulling her hands from his neck, he lifted them over her head and pinned both wrists against the blanket while he supported his weight on his knees as he straddled her.

“I can’t lose control yet.” His voice rumbled low and husky. “I have to do one thing first.”

She nodded before he dipped his head to capture her lips again.

He had to share his blood with her. She hadn’t forgotten but she tried not to think about it. She just wanted to feel him. Feel him inside her. Feel the pressure build up within him that only she could generate. Feel him explode in ecstasy.

Pulling away, he drew a shaky breath as he gazed into her eyes and traced her jaw with his callous thumb.

Her lips throbbed as she licked them. The chill of the night, coupled with the heat of her anticipation, made her shiver with his absence.

“Hurry,” she whispered.

A rumble in his chest sent another wave of molten desire to crash over her. Her command was kindling added to the blaze now taking over him.

His thumb left her jaw and he brushed it over her left palm, from the heel of her thumb to the base of her pinky.

Her lungs expanded in deep rushed breaths, in and out, as she watched his face in the moonlight. Releasing her wrists and propping himself up on one elbow, his lips pressed together in a thin line as his eyes focused on what he was doing above her head.

The tip of a claw pressed gingerly into the soft cushion of flesh under her thumb before it bit into the skin. Before she could even wince, Stone’s bloody palm descended on her cut as his lips collided with hers.

Desperately, he kissed her as he gripped her hand in his. Guilt ebbed away with each heated caress of lips.

Tingles danced from her hand up to her arm, a sensation much like one she would have felt if her arm had fallen asleep and the circulation was pumping fresh blood to starved veins.

His blood. The blood that would heal her and make her like him and not a raving, bloodthirsty monster.

Breaking away from the kiss, Stone brought her hand closer to his face and sniffed it with clenched jaws.

The pain was gone and when she didn’t wince as he pressed his thumb against it, only then did he seem satisfied.

“I still don’t like the smell of your blood,” he said. “Maybe that will change after your first shift... but it has healed.”

He turned her palm and she could see the blood on her but there was no sign of the cut.

She turned her hand back around and pressed her small palm to his, sliding her slender fingers between his long callous ones. Turning her attention from their hands to his eyes, her desire for him increased tenfold.

He’d been as gentle as he could, as careful as he could, held himself back as long as he could...

“Stone.” It was scarcely audible, a whisper of breath between her lips. A nearly silent plea as her soul reached out for his.

She was ready. More than ready.

Putting his hand over her heart, she pressed his palm against her skin as her heartbeat quickened under his touch.

He stiffened with a sharp intake of air. Closing his eyes, he exhaled slowly before he lowered himself to the crook of her neck. A low growl emitted as he brushed his nose from her earlobe down to her shoulder blade. His hand on her chest slid down to cup her breast, drawing an involuntary moan to creep up her throat as he gently pinched and teased the pebbled peak.

“Say my name again.”

He kissed her neck where it dipped beside the collarbone. A shock of heat surged through her, making her gasp out his name.

“Stone!”

Teeth grazed over the sweet spot before sliding down and planting wet, hot kisses around her navel as he unbuttoned her jeans and tugged them down her thighs.

She squirmed underneath him, her fingers tangling in his hair, as his mouth moved lower to her panties. As she whimpered, he paused for a moment to inhale and exhale a haggard breath. His body trembled as he struggled to control himself.

His hands glided over her thighs before pulling her jeans down to her knees and liberating her legs. Once freed, he shed his own pants before easing his naked body up between her parted legs.

She held her breath as he massaged her thighs just below her panties. His thumbs strummed across the delicate lace on both sides as the air she’d been holding slipped out in a moan. His hands continued to massage her as his thumbs traced the panties. When his thumbs caressed her, she cried out. She was so ready, she couldn’t handle the teasing, yet she loved every second of it.

His touch withdrew as he slipped his hands up to hook his fingers on the hem of her panties and slowly pull them down.

Licking her lips, she held her breath in anticipation as his hands continued to massage her thighs. When he blew gently on her, she gasped before hissing like a teakettle.

“Stone, please.”

His throat rumbled in response but he conceded and lunged for her mouth, clasping her lips with his.

Her palms lowered to his shoulders and glided down to explore the ridges of muscle across his broad chest. The way they flexed under her touch sent shared ripples of pleasure through her as he groaned into her before pulling away, planting open-mouthed kisses along her jaw and down her neck to her shoulders as his hands stroked over her body before settling on her hips.

She gasped as his teeth raked over the soft curve between her collar bone and neck as her hands slipped around his chest. Her fingers dug into his back as she arched into him.

He was still restraining himself. She could tell. She could feel the intensity of his emotions, of his desire, pushing against his skin from within.

“Stone,” she huffed as she wrapped her legs around him. “Let go. I need you to—”

With a grunt, he thrust into her, effectively cutting her off as her breath caught in her throat.

She clutched tightly to him as he stilled, his heavy breaths blowing against the curve of her neck.

This felt different—but in a good way.

As if reading her mind, he whispered, “This... This is how it’s supposed to feel. No barriers separating us. Flesh on flesh. Me inside of you.”

He pulled away from her neck and captured her lips in a lingering kiss.

"Yamona.” His soft, husky voice whispered over her lips. ”T’eva yamona. E y’ata temona.”

He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “Repeat after me in English,” he commanded. “Mine.”

She licked her lips as her voice came out thick and throaty with desire as he slid out and thrust back into her repeatedly. “Mine.”

“You’re mine.”

“You’re mine.”

“And I’m yours.”

She stole a kiss before she uttered in a breathy whisper, “And I’m yours.”

Hungrily, he grasped her mouth, groaning as his tempo increased and a growl reverberated within him.

Something changed under his touch. Something powerful. Primal. Masculine. Feral.

She could feel his beast crawling under his skin as he grunted with their love-making.

As she neared her peak, she could feel him building within her as well. He grunted as her muscles contracted, tightening around him, as she threw her head back and groaned.

“Stone!”

Pulling himself forward, he bent over her. His left hand tangled into her hair and pulled her head to the side while his other was bent next to her head and supporting his weight. Panting, his breath burned against her neck as she held her breath.

“Again,” he commanded.

She teetered on the edge. She was close. So close, she could hardly contain herself.

As he raked his teeth over the sweet spot, she cried out his name into the night.

“Stone!”

Clenching her eyes shut, a sharp pain pierced through the base of her neck. Her breath caught before the pain turned to exquisite ecstasy, igniting an explosion of rapture that shook her to the very core of her existence.

A bright white light flashed before her and a feeling she had never experienced before enveloped her. Oneness. Completeness. Wholeness.

The light faded.

Her eyes shot open as she gasped for air in the same moment that a deep snarl penetrated her ears as Stone exploded within her.

Panting, her body was still shaking from the highs of her orgasm as Stone stilled over her.

His mouth still clutched her neck and after a few moments, he pulled away and bathed the wound with his tongue. It was hot and sensitive under his touch as his heavy breaths fanned over it.

Despite his obvious need for air, he planted soft kisses along her shoulder before pulling away and claiming her lips with a tenderness that eased the frantic beating of her heart.

“Aubree,” he murmured, “I am yours. Bound to you forever as you have forever been bound to me.”

He pressed his forehead to hers before kissing her softly once more.

[I love you,] he whispered into her mind as she slipped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes.

Feeling his heart pounding against her chest, she smiled as he drew himself back to the crook of her neck and nuzzled her. Fully sated.

[I love you too.]