“No, of course,” Gabriel replied hastily. “We want privacy.” He’d already wondered where they would find a place to be alone for the bonding ceremony. Unlike a human wedding, a blood-bond was performed in private, with only the two partners bonding present.

Thomas produced a key and handed it to him. “Here. Enjoy.”

Gabriel smiled. He would tell Maya that he wanted to bond tonight. There was no reason to wait any longer.

***

Gabriel closed the door behind him. Thomas’ house was quiet and for a moment he wondered if Maya was truly here, but then he inhaled and took in her scent. He followed the delectable scent to the private area of the house. When he pushed the door to the master bedroom open, the sight that greeting him was a dream come true.

The room glowed in the light of dozens of candles. The bed was covered with crisp white sheets, and on it lay Maya, dressed in a flowing blood-red negligee with a neckline plunging to her navel. Gabriel soaked in the image and knew he was already hard beneath his black pants.

Maya had anticipated his thoughts. He knew instinctively what her display meant: she was ready to blood-bond with him.

“I was waiting for you.”

He let the door behind him snap in, before he crossed the distance to the bed.

“I was worried when you disappeared from the funeral.”

“I wanted to surprise you,” she answered and gave him a longing look from underneath her lashes.

Slowly, he opened the first button of his shirt. “You did.”

Maya sat up and moved toward him. “Let me help you with that.”

Gabriel tried to swallow back his eagerness. He didn’t want to rush this and end up fucking her as frantically as he had in Samson’s living room. But when Maya’s hand came up to ease the buttons of his shirt open and scraped his skin in the process, he let out a frustrated huff.

“Ah, fuck it!” He ripped his shirt off his body with one swipe of his claws and dropped it to the ground.

“Somebody’s impatient,” she cooed and licked her lips.

“Is that a problem?”

Her eyes followed his hands as he tugged at his pants, jerking them off his body just as quickly at his shirt, taking his boxers with it in the same move. The widening of her pupils told him that she was looking at his twin erections now. The scent of Maya’s arousal drifted into this nostrils.

“No, no problem,” she answered slowly, her breath catching in her throat. He liked the way she looked at him as he stood in front of her completely naked. He couldn’t remember ever having shed his clothes this quickly.

Gabriel filled his lungs with her scent. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would be.” He deliberately dropped his gaze to the triangle of dark curls he could see through the gauzy fabric.

When he reached for her, she met him half way. “It’s time,” was all he said as he looked into her eyes.

“Yes,” she replied before she offered her lips for a kiss. He took them, sinking his mouth onto hers, driving his tongue between her parted lips to taste her.

He lowered them onto the bed, covering her body with his. His hands pushed aside the fabric that barely covered her breasts, and he caressed her naked skin. He loved the way the red color contrasted against her dark skin and hair. With the white sheets underneath her, she looked like a beautiful tableau.

“I like what you’re wearing,” he whispered against her lips. His hand slipped down along her torso to her hip, where he gathered the fabric in his hand and pulled it up. “I won’t undress you.” In fact, he wanted to bond with her wearing it.

Maya opened her thighs and allowed him to settle at her core. The hot little smile she gave him signaled her approval. “I want you now, Gabriel.”

He positioned his lower cock at her wet core and pushed forward. His upper cock slid over her clit in the same instant as he submerged himself in her heat.

A moan dislodged from her lips. “I love the way you do that.”

Gabriel locked eyes with her. “That’s good then, because I love doing it.” To prove his point, he pulled back and repeated the move. And for good measure, he did it again. Then he fell into an easy rhythm. Her body moved in synch with his, or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe he moved in synch with her body. But did it really matter? All that mattered was that they were together.

He found her lips again and took them, claiming her mouth with his tongue the way his cock claimed her pussy. He would never get enough of her, but he knew that he would enjoy the constant hunger he felt for her. A hunger he could no longer deny.