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I settled over him, sliding back onto his thick cock, my pussy reclaiming every inch of closeness between us. His head fell back with a ragged groan, his fingers flexing against my hips.

A feral growl tore out of my chest. "You are mine," I snarled, the words dripping with wild, unapologetic venom. "I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me."

I felt the heavy vibration of his chest. I couldn't see the full details in the dim light, but I felt it—that wicked, slow grin spreading across his face, those insufferable dimples cutting deep into his cheeks.

I lifted my hips and rode him. It was easier now. Not a lick of pain. Just pleasure. So much pleasure. I saw it on his face; the whites of his teeth flashed in a smile, and I saw. I put that there. I wanted to hear it. I wanted to make him howl.

I put my thumbs in his dimples, leaned over him and rode him harder. I set a frantic, punishing rhythm, driving myself down onto his heavy shaft over and over, taking every inch of him into my tight, weeping channel. The surrounding woods blurred into a storm of cold wind, rustling pines, and the hot, heavy friction of our bodies colliding. He was my soldier, my brute, my protector—and right now, he was mine to command.

Gunnar's hands locked around my hips as his whole body went rigid beneath me. A broken growl tore from his throat, his head driving back into the earth as pleasure seized him. Watching this man and beast come undone beneath me—because of me—sent a savage thrill through my wolf.

His pleasure built into a blinding wave that crashed over my senses. My wolf reared back, drunk on power, drunk on him. As the third climax seized my body, shaking me to my very core, I threw my head back toward the pale moon above the canopy and let out a long, breathless howl of pure, triumphant pleasure into the quiet night.

Gunnar answered with a roar beneath me. For once, I wasn't the prey. I'd brought the predator to his knees.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

GUNNAR

Rosalind didn't stir as I carried her across the backyard. She was curled against my chest like a sleepy kitten, cheek tucked beneath my chin, her breathing soft and even. My hands looked enormous against her. One spanned most of her back. The other cradled her beneath her thighs, my arms and body covering most of her nakedness.

She was small. Not delicate. There was nothing delicate about the woman in my arms. She'd run from a wolf through the woods because she wanted to be chased. She'd taken everything I could give her, then rolled me onto my back and ordered me to give her more. Like the pussy-whipped devotee I was, I'd obeyed.

In just the span of a few days, I was happily wrapped around her pinkie. I'd give her anything she asked for. I'd obey any command she gave. Corin Petrakis had thought she needed rescuing from me. That handsy fucking guard had thought he'd be her hero, too. They both wanted to take her from me.

They were both dead now.

I really hoped that message was clear. I didn't want to get any more blood on my hands. Not when my wife liked pale colors so much. And I had no intention of keeping my hands off her.

No one was coming to rescue Rosalind Blackwood. No one was putting their hands on her. No one was taking my wife anywhere she didn't choose to go. And right now, she was choosing to sleep in my arms.

Coming into the garage, I encountered another obstacle. Needing a hand to open the door when mine were filled with lush, she wolf. The fuck I wasn't putting her down just to open a door. I raised my foot and kicked it open.

The heavy oak door slammed hard against the wall. The hinges were intact. A screwdriver and a bit of elbow grease would take care of it in the morning. Unfortunately, what I saw inside told me I might not make it to morning.

"Sorry, Ma."

My mother sat at the table with a cup of tea halfway to her mouth. She wasn't alone. My entire family was sitting around the kitchen island for a late-night feast of raw ribeyes, artisan bread, and red wine. Addie froze with her wine glass halfway to her lips. Nell's eyebrows shot toward her hairline. Astrid's eyes went huge before immediately darting anywhere but at me. Ivar stared with the horrified fascination of a kid who had just learned something about his older brother he could never unlearn. Ma blinked. Dad slowly lowered his coffee.

Magnus and Vidar just stared. First at me. Then down. Then back at me.

Disbelief registered on both their faces at exactly the same time. That lasted maybe two seconds before Magnus's eyes narrowed and Vidar's jaw tightened, their expressions shifting into deeply offended resentment.

I grinned, and just barely kept myself from saying, Told ya.

Rosalind remained curled against my chest, blissfully unaware that my entire family was staring at us. Or maybe she was aware and was just too blissed out to care.

Addie recovered first. "Oh, my."

Nell leaned sideways for a better look. "Well, damn, little bro."

Addie glanced down, then back up. "You mean big bro."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," growled Vidar.

"Ewie! Ewie! Ewie! Ewie!" Astrid slapped both hands over her eyes. "Why would you bring that in here?"

Beside her, Ivar looked down at himself, then at me, then turned desperately toward Ma. "I'm still growing, right, Ma?"