Chapter 126: Tied Up in Silk

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Ravyn POV

She couldn't beg him. It felt too raw, too vulnerable, and she'd already submitted to him as much as she could.

He'd relent. Jude always did. He was one of the gentlest men she knew underneath the Alpha machismo. He wouldn't push her when it came down to it.

She tried humor. "You know you're sounding like the kind of Alpha you've complained about for years. The kind that expects his mate to just go into heat every time he lays a finger on her."

His eyes lit up with wolfish desire. "I'd love to see you in heat–and I know witches can have babies when they're in their hundreds. Anneliese told me."

"Oh, don't pay her any mind. She and Patch love their little jokes."

But Anneliese had her facts straight. According to records, witches had given birth at three hundred, and shocked their descendants. Jude didn't need to know this, however.

Growling, Jude burned her with his eyes. "You're the one playing a joke on me. You refuse to give in. But I'm not anyone you've ever known before. I'm your Alpha. Your mate. This bond is more primal than anything you've experienced, and you won't be able to resist. You will beg."

"Why … why is it suddenly so important to you? We've played these games before–"

"This is no game."

And in a swift, animal pounce, he wrapped the silk around her wrists and pulled taut, raising her hands above her head.

Ravyn trembled, helpless.

Something felt different about Jude. More passionate. More primal. More Alpha.

The bizarre part was, her own wolf jumped up and down, craving him. Craving his claiming her. 

"Don't fight me." His voice washed over her, enchanting her. "Give yourself up to me, and I promise you won't regret it."

Trembling, Ravyn didn't feel ready to beg yet, but some part of her embraced the feeling of not having to be in control. She'd made decisions all her life. Controlled her world, from the shop to the Evenhide Pack. She'd be in command as Luna of the Silverpaw Pack–and a liaison between the witch world and the shifter world. One of several ambassadors. 

"Ravyn." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his sensual, firm lips conjuring the most delicious fire. "Let go. Yield. If you do, you'll know the greatest pleasure in the world."

Why couldn't she beg him?

Was it just her pride? She'd begged him, by the riverbank, but she'd done that spontaneously.

Why did she resist now? It wasn't life or death. 

She trusted him completely. Her body thirsted for his touch like the earth thirsted for rain during a drought. But something held her back.

His velvety voice did double duty seducing her, and his hands caressed her thighs, skimming her flesh in ways that made her skin heat up and turn immediately, exquisitely sensitive. He was such a sensual master of touch. And he meant to be master in the bedroom.

"You … you take this dominant Alpha vow seriously," she whispered.

He grinned sensually. "You make it easy for me, Ravyn. I want you to just relax and let go. That's all I want. Just relax and let me handle your pleasure. Can you do that?"

His eyes held a challenge, one that her body responded to.

* * * * *

Jude POV

His sweet, stubborn, indomitable witch. Lying spread out for him, her arms above her head, her legs clasped close together. Ravyn was a true lady, always classy … but he wanted her to explore and enjoy her own sensuality. 

"Beg me," he whispered.

"Why is it so important to you?"

Growling, he cupped her breasts. "You promised to submit to me. Just beg me to let you come. I know you feel it."

Her scent filled his nostrils, and went to his head like nothing else. He sniffed her intoxicating skin and tasted the softness of her flesh, nipping her. "I want everything," he murmured. "No exceptions. I want all you have to give and then some. You became a wolf for me–is begging really out of the question?"

His hands massaged the creamy skin of her thighs. "Velvet feels like coarse brown paper compared to your skin," he murmured. "Flower petals have nothing on the softness of your lips. Honey doesn't taste as sweet as your kisses."

Ravyn groaned. "You're not playing fair, Jude."

Nipping her neck, he murmured, "With you, never. Because I know that you'll let me push past your limits. That you like what I do to you. Look at you. I swear we'll make love in front of a mirror because you have no idea how gorgeous you look right now."

Her back arched, and she spasmed, letting her legs fall open. 

Little by little, she yielded to him. He loved this game. The outcome felt deliciously inevitable, and all the sweeter because he would work for it.

"I want to see your eyes like a hazy night sky, your lips swollen with my kisses, and you completely wrecked by what I do to you," he whispered.

Straining against the silk scarf, she thrust her hips up, seeking his touch. "Jude … please … please .."

The words shocked her, and made him howl with satisfaction.

"Please … what, sweetheart?" 

Her eyes swirled with need, want, and surrender. "PLEASE let me come."

In one smooth move, he thrust inside her and she screamed with the sheer pleasure of it. He knew the second he entered her softness that he wouldn't last long. He wanted them to come together. To reach the stars together. He watched her love-drugged face and knew that she'd given herself to him in a way that she never did with any other man.

A few hard, fast strokes later, she shuddered in his arms and came apart. She barely registered him untying her and placing a soft kiss on her temple before he blew out the lamp and curled around her protectively, possessively. 

"I love you," she mumbled.

"And I love you," he murmured. "I love you so much. I have a wolf again, and I have you. What more could I want?"

Although drowsy and contented, Ravyn's eyes snapped open.

"You have a wolf again? Jude! What are you talking about? Are you feeling alright?"