The apology startled Dante so much that he actually stopped. “Then tell me you’re mine. Tell me you’ll never deny me again.”

His pain was still in his voice. Determined to take it away, Jaime did something that she, as a dominant female, would never have envisioned herself doing. She gave him her throat.

As her head fell back in invitation and submission, Dante groaned and almost came right then.

His mate was submitting to him in the ultimate way. “Such.” Thrust. “A.” Thrust. “Good.” Thrust.

“Girl.” With what could only be described as a territorial growl, he resumed pounding into her so hard he was pretty sure it was hurting her, but there was no way he could hold back even one ounce of himself.

Burying his face into the crook of her neck, he licked and scraped his teeth over the spot where he’d visualized his mark would be. “My good girl. My mate.” To punctuate that, he sank his teeth hard and deep into her skin, tasting blood, and plunged a second finger into her ass.

White-hot fire lanced through Jaime, and she screamed his name as the most intense and most moving orgasm she had ever experienced slammed into her. She succumbed to the primal urge to bite down on his neck, sucking hard and branding him as hers.

As her pu**y clamped around his c*ck and her teeth marked him, Dante half growled, half groaned. He punched into her one last time and erupted inside her, fully claiming her as his mate.

“Mine.”

What happened next was as exactly as Jaime’s mother had described; her whole body tightened and a painful pressure thumped her brain, but the pain quickly disappeared and feelings of

“warmth” and “rightness” flowed over and through her. She felt comforted, secure, and safe. Although she could easily feel her connection to Dante, it was only partly developed and not yet solid. Still, she could sense him and what he was feeling. Could feel him on a preternatural level, feel him completely, as though he was blanketed around her. She knew that even when they were apart, she would feel him, would feel joined to him. In that way, the bond was a little like a shadow—something she wouldn’t be able to touch, but a presence that was always right there.

Dante easily sensed that Jaime was going through the same sensations that he was. The metaphysical bond allowed him to simply know what she was feeling. As such, he could sense her happiness and contentedness just as he could also sense her fear that by bonding with him, she would destroy him. “Do you really think I’d want to live without you anyway?” Jaime groaned. “Oh God, I’m going to have to cope with you sensing my feelings all the time, aren’t I?” Panting and shuddering with the aftershocks, they were still locked together. He tucked her hair behind her ear, his gentle touch so at odds to his roughness of a minute ago.

“Yup. That means no more secrets. And it means that whenever I’m messing up, I’ll know and I can fix it before hurting you.”

“And it means I’ll know whenever your mind is on your job instead of me.” She’d expected him to panic a little at that, but he smiled.

“I haven’t done that for a while.” Reluctantly he withdrew from her body, but he held her to him. After slicing through the two ropes securing her to the tree with his claws, he tackled the knot tying her wrists. She groaned in pain as she lowered her arms and rotated her shoulders. “I’m sorry, baby.” Laying her on the grass, he straddled her and gently massaged her arms and shoulders.

“I can’t give you all of me,” she whispered. He froze for only a second. “I can’t let down all the walls.”

“Yes, you can,” he objected gently. “I know you’re afraid to share the burden of subduing your wolf, and I know why. But I want to help.”

“I don’t want you to have to.” The last thing she’d ever wanted was to go to her mate loaded with baggage. She didn’t want Dante to have to heal her.

“I know. But I’m greedy and I want all of you—the good parts and the bad parts. Have you considered that maybe over time the bond will help your wolf heal? It will serve as an anchor, which is something she’s never had before.”

Jaime might have thought he was just kidding himself, but even now she could feel her wolf’s contentment with the bond. “But if she doesn’t, I could make you weak. I could even kill you.”

“Or we could make each other even stronger.” When she went to object, he leaned down and kissed her gently. “No. If you can’t say anything nice, zip it.” She snapped her teeth at him, but smiled.

“I don’t care about what may or may not happen. You’re my mate and that’s it.”

“And you’re mine. And if you ever let another female touch you again, I’ll gut you both.” She rolled her eyes at his crooked grin. God save her from guys who found jealousy hot!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The identical looks of shock on each of the faces staring at them were almost comical. Jaime and Dante had made a short pit stop at their room to change clothes—he hadn’t wanted the others seeing her in nothing but his huge T-shirt—before going to the living area, where everyone other than the Alphas and Kye were lounging. Their announcement had received a stunned silence.

“How did I not see this coming? I should have picked up on it.” Rhett sounded like someone who thought he’d lost his super-power.

Grace looked at her mate oddly from where they were sat on the sofa. “Why? You never picked up on Trey and Taryn.”

“I did, I just hadn’t said anything.”

“Sure you did, honey.” Turning to Jaime and Dante, she smiled. “I had a feeling you guys would imprint, but this is even better.”

Lydia’s smile was ever wider. “A birth and a mating all in one day. How awesome is that?”

“When do you want the mating ceremony to take place?” asked Grace excitedly.

“You have to let me help with it,” insisted Lydia as she leaned forward in Cam’s lap. It was tradition for the other members of the pack to arrange most of the ceremony.

Cam sighed, which earned him a cautioning look from his mate. “I won’t lie and say I don’t still have my worries about Jaime’s wolf,” he said, looking between Jaime and Dante, “but I am happy for you guys.”

Greta huffed. “An insane jezebel as a Beta female? Ludicrous.”

“Yet true, so suck it up, Grandma Grinch,” said Jaime with a sweet smile.

Tao gave Jaime a mock frown. “I guess this means I can’t bitch at you anymore, since you outrank me.”

Ryan nudged Tao with his elbow. “One word: karma.” He then turned to Jaime and Dante.

“Congratulations.”

“Gorgeous, you could do so much better than him,” Marcus told Jaime. Predictably, Dante responded with a low growl. That pleased Marcus so immensely that his clown-wide smile surfaced.

“Congratulations to both of you,” said Trick. “You two getting together was always going to happen, even if you weren’t true mates.”

When Dominic saw that Jaime and Dante’s attention was on him, he shrugged. “What can I say? You’ve shattered my dreams. Jaime, are you really going to ignore this chemistry we have?”

“Dominic,” bit out Dante, giving him a warning shake of the head.

“Come on, you can’t blame me for being attracted to her. Look at that body and those entrancing eyes and that beaming smile.”

“Dominic, seriously, don’t do it.”

Naturally, he ignored Dante. “I swear, when she smiles it lights up the entire room like a candle in the dark.” He winked at Jaime. “Let’s go upstairs and prove it.” His eyes widened as Dante suddenly dove at him. Quickly the pervert darted out of the way, laughing, as Dante chased him out of the room and down the tunnels.

“Boys.” Jaime sighed.

“I don’t know what either of them sees in you anyway.” Greta huffed.

Jaime gave her a sweet smile. “If you don’t stop bothering me, I’m going to fart and watch with glee as you pass out from the smell.” She switched her attention to Gabe, Hope, and Shaya, who were now beside her.

Hope gave her a respectful nod. “Congratulations. You make a good couple. Thank you for being happy for Gabe and me.”

Jaime shrugged, smiling. “You make him happy.” That was all that was important to Jaime.

“You’re looking very pleased with yourself,” she said dryly to her brother.

“I told you he adored you.” He kissed her cheek. “He didn’t have to claim you, Jaime, but he did. He could have walked away, but he didn’t.”

That made her think of someone else. Someone who had been very quiet—an usual thing for Shaya. It struck Jaime that hearing about other people mating might be too painful for her.

Shaya must have known what she was thinking, because she dragged her to the side as she told her quietly, “Don’t you dare think I’m not happy for you, okay? I’m so thrilled for you and Dante.

Both of you deserve to be happy.”

Sensing that she was being truthful, Jaime relaxed a little. “I felt what the urge to claim was like. God, Shaya how do you do it?”

“It’s not easy.”

“Are you still thinking of leaving?” It was the last thing Jaime wanted her to do, but she could truly understand why Shaya might feel that she had to.

She shrugged. “Maybe I won’t have to. He hasn’t been here for a while. Maybe he’s planning to stay away now. God, I hope so.”

“Is it easier when he’s away from you?”

“Not easier where the urge to claim is concerned. But it’s easier here.” She placed her hand over her heart.

“If it makes you feel any better, he’s going through the same pain. I saw it on his face that day in the tattoo parlor.”

“Emotional pain and physical pain are two different things. I’m not saying that I love him or anything. I don’t know him. But when your own mate doesn’t want you or even acknowledge you…

that’s pain.”

Now that she was mated, Jaime could imagine exactly how that felt. That evening as she lay na**d on top of Dante, with him still semihard inside her, she said, “I’m not sure that Trey will be as happy for us as the others have been.” They still hadn’t seen the Alphas, who were both spending quality time with their new arrival.

“Yes, he will.” Dante paused in doodling on her back with his fingers and kissed her hair. “I know he will. He gave me his blessing when he knew I wanted to imprint on you.” Startled, she lifted her head to meet his gaze. “You wanted to imprint on me?”

“Obviously.”

“But…after what Bitch Face did—”

He put a finger to her lips. “That was all a long time ago, and yes, I’d stayed clear of relationships because I didn’t want to go through that again. But I knew you were nothing like her.

You don’t play games”—kiss to her forehead—“you’re not self-absorbed”—kiss to her cheek —“you’ve got a big heart”—kiss to her lips—“and you’re loyal to the bone.”

“And I’m broken.”

“Hey, what have I told you? You’re not broken. Don’t say that. You wouldn’t have agreed to imprint, would you?”

“Only because I don’t want you to be hurt. If we’d imprinted and Trey asked me to leave, you would have had to break the bond. I knew you wouldn’t want to go through that a second time, and I wouldn’t have wanted you to.”

“I’m glad she did what she did. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s true, because I wouldn’t be mated to you right now if she hadn’t.” He studied her through narrowed eyes. “You would have left me, wouldn’t you?” She didn’t look even the slightest bit guilty about it. “I would have hunted you down.”

“I know.”

He snaked a hand around her throat, ignoring the spark of irritation in her eyes. “Know this, too: if you ever get an idea like that again, I’ll know, baby, and I’ll spank your ass so damn hard there’ll be a permanent handprint right there.”

She gave him a cheeky smile. “As long as you understand there’ll be a matching one on your face.”

He smiled crookedly as he flexed his c*ck inside that pu**y that was made for him. Gripping her by the waist, he gently moved her up and down on him. “So…is there any chance of you reconsidering getting my name tattooed on your ass?”

Jaime rolled her eyes at his possessiveness. “Not a chance,” she said a little breathlessly as he began to harden further inside her.

“How about my initials?”

“Not going to happen, Popeye. Get over it.”

“Now that’s just mean.”

“You have your brands all over me.”

“I know.” He smoothed his hands up and down her back, loving the velvety feel of her skin. “I just think it would be hot.”

“You really want someone touching and looking at my bare ass?” She refrained from smiling as his grin vanished, just like she’d known it would.

He cupped her ass possessively, again slowly impaling her on him. “No, I don’t. This ass is mine. Mine to look at, and touch, and bite…and f**k.”

“You truly believe I’ll let you do that, don’t you?” She patted his head patronizingly. “Aw, you’re so pretty.”

“Oh you’ll let me. Right over my office desk. You don’t want to admit it, but you want it. I knew that before we mated, and now that we are, I can feel that you’re intrigued.” Damn that freaking bond. “Intrigued and willing aren’t the same, Popeye.” He patted her head just as she had his. “Aw, you’re so full of shit.” Before she could respond with an insult or a bitch slap, he flipped her onto her back and f**ked her until neither of them had the strength to do anything other than roll onto their sides and sleep.