Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)
Shadow Kissed: Chapter 23

Savannah

Jaxson’s eyes dilated at my bare flesh, and he grasped my jeans and dragged them the rest of the way off.

“Fuck,” he whispered, dropping my clothes, staring at my nakedness. “You’re going to be the end of me, Savy.”

Without taking his eyes off me, he reached over and turned on the water in the walk-in shower beside us.

Desire pulsed off him, and I couldn’t ignore the bulge in his pants. Licking my lips, I cast him a vixen smile. “I hope not. There are so many things I want to do to you.”

Gripping the bottom of his shirt, I tugged it up over his head and threw it to the ground.

“Show me,” he growled, pulling me off the counter in a swift movement.

I fumbled with the button of his jeans and slid them off, my need burning when I took in his naked body. He must have seen the lust in my eyes, because when I looked up, he had a devilish grin on his face.

Then he pulled me to him, unclipping my bra and slipping off the straps as he trailed kisses down my neck. The bra dropped to the floor, and he palmed one of my breasts, taking the other in his mouth. I gasped when he grazed my nipple with his teeth, and then his hand moved down my stomach, dipping between my thighs.

“Savy…” he growled, feeling the slickness at my center. He gripped my ass cheeks, and with a single motion, he hiked me up to his hips.

He stepped into the shower, still holding me, and I gasped as gloriously hot water rushed over my back.

But all I could think of was his hard length pressed against my tummy, and I couldn’t help but move against it. The emptiness ached inside me, begging to be filled.

“Please, Jax,” I whispered.

“Please what?” He nipped my ear, sending flames down my neck.

“Take me.”

Greed flashed through his eyes, and he obeyed. His mouth claimed mine, his touch hard and urgent. I met his kisses with equal measure, my nails digging into his back as I pulled him closer, needing to close the distance between us.

I gasped as he pressed my back to the cold tile, and then a moan slipped from my mouth when he reached around and his fingers slipped inside of me. My hips bucked against his hand as his thumb rubbed me just where I needed him to. “More,” I rasped.

He lifted my hips and positioned his length at my center. I whimpered as he pushed into me, slowly, nudging himself deeper.

My God.

Pain and pleasure arced through me, and the world and all its problems faded away.

I had been running for so long, I’d lost all sense of direction. I’d been stumbling and hurtling through life, just trying to keep both feet moving. But finally, I’d found the thing I’d been running toward all along.

“I need you, Jax,” I whispered. “Not for this moment, or tonight. But every moment that’s going to come after.”

He pressed his forehead against mine. “I’m yours. I always have been.”

I knew then that we would only be complete together.

I began moving my hips against him. With a shudder, he growled low, then pulled out and slammed into me. I dragged my fingers down his back, tugging him to me, desperate to join our bodies.

How had the fates known exactly what I needed, and who I needed to pull me from the darkness? Whatever happened next outside the walls of Jaxson’s penthouse didn’t matter. He had restored my faith in one thing, at least: someone, somewhere was looking out for me, and there was a plan for us.

Bracing one arm against the tile, the other on my hip, Jaxson fell into a rough rhythm, our bodies slick and moving in tandem. He fucked me hard, and I met each thrust, needing more. I was more synchronized with him than I’d ever been. My fears and doubts melted away, and soon, nothing existed but the two of us, complete in each other. Every movement we made left me with no doubt that I was made for his arms, and that he was made for me.

How had I ever run from this?

I kissed him with everything I had, claiming him as my own.

I tried to hold on, preserving this moment for as long as I could, but pleasure swelled until I couldn’t resist it any longer.

I split apart.

My back arched off the wet tile, my vision darkening as flames ripped through me. Jaxson grunted and thrust deeply, rocking into me as a roar tore from his throat and his muscles flexed.

He buried his face in my neck, our bodies heaving as we came back down together. “My gods,” he said gruffly, a hint of astonishment in his voice.

My gods was right.

Every muscle in my body was weak and quaking, but just being next to him gave me the strength I needed.

He pressed gentle kisses along my jaw, and I felt his smile against my skin. “You’re mine, Savy.”

“And you are mine.” I turned my head and found his lips, and we kissed, long and slow. No longer desperate, but savoring every sensation.

This man. He was everything.

Jaxson

There are moments in life that we know will change the course of things. A decision. An action. A twist of fate that alters everything and sets into motion a cascade of events, for better or worse.

The night I stepped into that shithole bar and laid eyes on Savannah. The day she decided to seek out her family and ended up in Magic Side. Those moments had changed everything.

Pressing a kiss to her lips, I set Savannah down on her feet. She was a vision. Water cascaded down her curves, and when she smiled up at me, my heart stilled. Her eyes were no longer stormy and blazing like the tempest outside, but calm and complete.

It was a feeling I shared—one that I’d never felt so strongly before.

Savannah took the loofah and lathered it with soap. Reaching up, she began to clean the lingering blood and grime that coated my skin. As she stepped behind me, she pressed a kiss to my shoulder, whispering, “Thank you,” before she continued scrubbing my back.

“For what?” I asked.

“For being exactly what I needed.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, recalling the fortune teller’s tent where I’d had my first glimpse of Savannah through a crystal ball. The seer had drawn three cards for my fate. The second had been a woman subduing a lion by gripping it by its jaws. The card for Strength.

Turning, I took the loofah from Savy, soaped it up again, and began to wash her. The fates never chose the easy paths for mortals, but they were always the paths they needed to follow.

“You’ve always been exactly what I needed. I just was too blind to see it,” I said.

Trepidation flickered in her beautiful eyes, and she swallowed hard and looked away. “I know you never wanted a mate, Jax. And if that’s still the case, I understand.”

She had no fucking idea, did she? Once, that had been the truth. After seeing what Stephanie’s death had done to my brother-in-law, I swore to reject my fated mate, if I had one. But something had flicked on when I’d met Savannah, something that made me feel alive again. And the truth was, it terrified the shit out of me, feeling this way about someone.

I ran my fingers along her jaw. “No. I never wanted a mate until I met you. You changed everything.”

She turned her face and kissed my palm, and when she looked back up at me, there was a hint of smile.

My heart swelled. Maybe we were crazy. Maybe we were doomed. But I didn’t give a damn. Savannah was my mate, and I chose her.

We finished up, and I stepped out of the shower, grabbing two towels from the closet. Securing one around my waist, I wrapped the other around her bare body. Desire flared, and she must have sensed it, because she cast me a wicked grin as she took her towel off briefly and rubbed the drips from her wet hair.

Thunder raged outside, and rain drummed against the window in my bedroom.

Barely decent once more, Savannah took a step forward, tracing her fingers over my collarbone. “I hope you’re not going to just tuck me into bed and then leave again.”

Her citrus sunshine scent made my head spin. Intoxicating. Those lips, plump and inviting to be devoured.

I shook my head. The last time we’d fucked and showered, I’d put her in my bed and left. Propriety or not, I’d been an asshole. “There is no way I’m leaving you tonight,” I said, my voice rough.

She turned and walked into my bedroom, then glancing over her shoulder, she let the towel slide, revealing nothing but bare skin. Lightning streaked, casting Savannah in a brilliant glow. My mouth went dry as my eyes devoured the sight. Her damp crimson hair fell down her sleek back as she climbed up and kneeled on my bed, her toned thighs and round ass on full display.

“Well, then, alpha. Come and claim me,” she said, peering over her shoulder at me with a come-hither smile.

Fucking hell.