"I have thought about this for a very long time," Fenrys said. He guided Nascha further back on the bed, until she was resting against the pillows. "How I'm going to please you, and how you are going to please me. Whether I want to go fast or slow. Rough, or gentle. How much you can take and how long you can take it. How much I can take and how long I can take it."

    Her aroused scent reached him and Fenrys paused, drinking it in. "Rutting hell, you drive me insane." He leaned over her, carefully removing the pins from her hair. Her crimson locks fell loose. Nascha's breathing was already uneven.

    "Do whatever you want to me," she said, "and when you're done, I get to do whatever I want to you." Nascha searched his gaze as he combed his fingers through her hair. "But I do want you to tell me if what I try to do is too much. I don't want to ask you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

    "I appreciate that, Stardust." Fenrys nuzzled her neck, touching soft kisses to her skin. "And I accept your terms. I'm going to start with this." His kisses shifted to her throat. Fenrys slid his hands around her neck and unclasped her necklace, before setting it aside with her hairpins, ribbon, and comb.

    "Have I mentioned how much I love the way your skin glows silver when you've used your starlight?" He asked. Fenrys kissed her collarbone, then traced the divot with his tongue.

    Nascha's throat bobbed. "I don't remember."

    "I love it." He kissed her sternum. "You are beautiful. Every inch of you." Fenrys' chest tightened with affection. He lifted his head, meeting her eyes. "I want to claim you. I want the world to know that you are mine. I want you to claim me. I want the world to look at me and know that I am yours. I will never be anyone else's. I am yours and yours alone."

    "You are mine," she said. "And I am yours, Fenrys Moonbeam. In any way you need. In any way you desire. After a nightmare. After a battle. After a meeting. After a ball. I will care for you. I will..." Nascha drew in a steadying breath as he kissed the curve of her breast. "I will love you." Fenrys stiffened and Nascha tipped his head up. "I love you."

    Fenrys brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "You don't know how many times I've longed to hear you say that." He kissed her again. "I love you." He shifted once more, letting his hand fall beneath the slit in her gown.

    Fenrys ran his palm down the length of her leg, pausing to feel the scars that his wolf jaws had left behind. He kissed the ridged marks. "I'm sorry for these," he said. "But they don't diminish your beauty in any way." He kissed the scars again and began working his way up her leg. His hand roamed over her other one, spreading them apart. Nascha fisted her hands atop the sheets.

    Fenrys breathed in her scent once more. "So easily excited, Sweetheart." He couldn't keep the low growl from his voice. "Are you always so easily excited?"

    "Only by you," Nascha replied.

    He moved his thumb in a circle over her inner thigh. Nascha squirmed and Fenrys kissed the spot where his thumb had been. He ran his fingers along the edge of her underwear. "Should I take these off now?" He asked himself, "or wait a little longer?" Nascha's breath caught as he slid a finger into her underwear and traced it over the heated area between her legs. Fenrys swallowed hard, pulling his hand away. "I'm going to wait."

    He moved back on top of her, letting his hips settle against hers. Nascha breathed a soft groan, lifting her hips slightly. Fenrys ground against her. Nascha whimpered. "Do you like that?" He did it again and she matched his movements. Fenrys lowered his head, measuring his breaths. "I like that."

    He looked up and touched another kiss to her lips. "I think I forgot a few areas." Nascha knit her brows. Fenrys smirked, drawing the material covering one of her breasts aside. Nascha's hand found his hair as he ran his tongue over its sensitive peak. She shivered and he kissed it, then let his canine graze over it. Nascha gasped, arching into him. "Should I do that again?"

    "Yes," Nascha answered. He complied and her eyelashes fluttered as she groaned. Fenrys rolled his hips atop hers. Her response was louder this time.

    He eased the second panel of material aside. Fenrys swirled his thumb over the peak of her first breast, while his tongue traced the newly bared one. Nascha made a strangled sound. Fenrys let his teeth tease her again. She dug her nails into his shoulder blades. Heat pooled in the pit of his stomach. Fenrys ground into her as the hard ache between his legs began to spread.

    He tugged the bodice of her gown lower, lifting her arms out of the sleeves and reaching around her to unclasp the skirt at her waist. Fenrys moved his hands onto her thighs once more. Nascha was panting with anticipation. He found the hem of her underwear and slid it down her legs. Fenrys stroked his finger over her in a light touch. Nascha's groan almost sounded frustrated.

    "You don't like when I tease you, do you?"

    Nascha just glared at him. Fenrys slid his thumb inside her. She gasped, bending her legs at the knee. He drew his thumb out and worked it in teasing circles over her throbbing center.

    "Fenrys," Nascha breathed. "Please."

    "Are you ready to take this off?" He pushed the fabric of her skirt up to her hips, letting his tongue follow where his thumb had been.

    "Yes!" She exclaimed. "Fenrys, please!"

    "Please what, Sweetheart?" He slipped his tongue inside her, then drew back and kissed that sensitive area.

    "Take it off, please," she rasped. He kissed her again, then slid her gown off and cast it aside.

    Fenrys let his gaze wander over her, taking in every inch of stardusted skin that was bare before him. She was truly devastating. There was no other word he could think of to describe her. Nascha stared at him through smoky brown eyes. He could sense her need as much as his own. Fenrys eased himself on top of her and began to kiss her.

    Nascha's hands deftly undid the fastenings on his tunic. He made no move to stop her. The ache in his body was growing. He thrust his hips into hers instinctively. Nascha gave a breathless moan beside his ear. Fenrys kissed her again, yanking one of his arms out of his tunic. Nascha freed the other one. His tunic joined her gown, and his undershirt soon followed.

    Fenrys held her close until there was barely an inch of space between them. Nascha's skin was warm and soft against his. He planted kisses down her neck and over her throat. She was unlacing his pants, knowing what they both wanted.

    "Touch me," Fenrys whispered. "Touch me first, Nascha."

    One of her hands ran down his back. Her nails traced his spine. Fenrys shivered against her. Nascha drew his pants down and threw them aside. She kissed his jaw while she wrapped her hand around him. Fenrys groaned as she stroked him firmly. He ground into her palm.

    "I think you are just as easily excited by me as I am by you," Nascha chuckled. She squeezed him harder. Fenrys shuddered, pressing claiming kisses to her neck.

    "Harder," he grunted. Nascha yielded to the demand. "Fuck," Fenrys breathed. "You could undo me with just your hand."

    "Could I?" She dragged her nails over the underside of him. Fenrys moaned, pleasure spiking through him. Hot instincts churned through his veins. Nascha stroked him again, then let her thumb tease his tip.

    "Nascha!" Fenrys gritted his teeth.

    "Oh, you don't like being teased either?" Nascha threw a leg around his hips and twisted, pinning him beneath her. "Let me tease you, Fenrys. It's my turn."

◦ ~ ❘ ☼ ❘ ~ ◦

    Nascha smirked as Fenrys raised no protest. She shimmied backwards and paused, rocking her hips atop his. Fenrys grabbed her thighs, groaning at the contact. She knew he could feel the aching heat between her legs, which was growing more and more unbearable, but damn it. She would bear it until he was as desperate as she.

    Nascha moved further back and bent over, taking him in her mouth. Fenrys dug his hand into her hair, already thrusting into her. She held his hips down with a forearm, then gripped him firmly. Fenrys gave a strangled groan. She glanced up at him, briefly concerned, but there was only frustrated pleasure on his face.

    Nascha drew back, running her hand over the length of him. She began to press soft kisses down one side, then the other. Fenrys writhed against her. She closed her mouth over his tip and her hand followed farther back. She worked in a combination of squeezing, licking, and sucking. Fenrys' back bowed off the bed.

    "Nascha!" He moaned. "Fuck, Sweetheart!" Fenrys groaned again, his limbs shaking. "At least let me be inside you before you make me finish," he rasped.

    Nascha pulled away and laid down on top of him. His heart raced, matching the tempo of her own. Molten heat surged through her veins. Fenrys ran his hands down her waist as he kissed her. He rolled over, and she was beneath him once more. Fenrys nudged her knees apart with his own.

    "Fenrys," Nascha breathed. She kissed him desperately. "I want to feel what you feel for me. Love me like no one else has. Please."

    "I could give you nothing less," he replied. Fenrys captured her lips in a kiss as he thrust into her. Nascha moaned, pleasure coursing through her body.

    Fenrys' breath shook as he began rolling his hips into hers. He went hard and slow. Each thrust hit a spot that made her see stars. Nascha arched into him, craving all the contact she could find. She scraped her nails over his shoulders and kissed his neck. Nascha lifted her hips to his, matching his every movement. She shivered and her body instinctively clenched around him.

    Fenrys moaned into her mouth. She kissed him soundly, only drawing back to catch her breath. Fenrys pressed his head against her shoulder and braced one hand on the headboard. He began to move faster, giving more force to his thrusts. Nascha moaned, and he trembled against her.

    "Fenrys!" She cried out. His free arm supported her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. She clung to him, still keeping up with his rhythm. "Fenrys..."

    "What do you need, Sweetheart?" Fenrys laid burning kisses along her jaw.

    "I..." Nascha wrapped her legs around him with a gasp. Fenrys' arm shook as he continued to brace himself. "I love you," she moaned. "I love you. I never hated you. I forgive you. I'm sorry for the way I treated you. For the way I treated your friends. Your family. I love you."

    "You have the strangest timing," Fenrys panted. "But all is forgiven." He paused with a moan. "Nascha!" She pressed her forehead against his. "I love you," he said. "And I shouldn't have waited so long to say it. I don't remember when I began to love you. I just remember looking at you one day and realizing it. The others all told me..." He groaned.

    Nascha whimpered, pleasure swelling through her. She could feel her climax approaching. Nascha buried her face in Fenrys' neck. "They knew," he said huskily. "They knew I had given you my heart. But I didn't. I didn't know until...until I did. Until I looked at you and realized my life would be incomplete without you. Until I saw you, and knew I was yours entirely. I choose to be yours. I want to be yours. I am yours. Nascha, I am yours."

    She didn't understand the odd feeling in her chest. The way a...thing, was awakening there. It had always been there, but dormant. Unnoticeable. Now, she could feel it. She could feel...him. It made no sense, yet she understood completely.

    Nascha met Fenrys' onyx eyes. "I choose you. In this life and whatever comes next. I am yours."

    Aching pleasure burst through her. Nascha kissed Fenrys, weathering the waves of release that crashed over her. Fenrys was tumbling over the edge with her. She kept her legs wrapped around him, feeling him shudder with every thrust. Fenrys began to slow gradually. Nascha stroked his hair, gulping down deep breaths. Her skin was damp with sweat. Fenrys' golden brown shoulders shone with it.

    He pulled out and Nascha whimpered, not removing her arms from around him. Fenrys pulled her into a tight embrace. Unbridled love drifted from that thing in her chest. Nascha kissed Fenrys' scars and tucked his hair behind his ear.

    "What now?" She whispered.

    "One thing at a time. We're catching our breath. Maybe drinking some water." Fenrys caught her eye and smirked. "And then we're doing this all over again."

    "I have training tomorrow. Vaughan and Aedion won't be sympathetic if I'm struggling to walk."

    "Vaughan and Aedion can kiss my ass. I don't want to hear another male's name from your lips right now."

    Nascha grinned. "I don't want to hear any name but my own from yours. And I certainly don't want to hear about anyone kissing your ass."

    "Why?" He chuckled. "Do you want to?"

    "You haven't reduced me to that yet."

    "I'm going to."

    "I'd like to see you try."

    Fenrys laughed and Nascha cupped his face in her hands, kissing him. She couldn't wipe the smile from her lips, or ignore the inexplicable fullness from her heart.