Chapter 483: Wake up, honey

The sun was low when the couple finally woke from a dreamless sleep, the air growing cooler.

Sebastian pulled her into the warmth of his body and smoothed her hair back from her face. "Are you all right?" He murmured, concern threading his voice as he remembered the violent intensity of their lovemaking. She nuzzled her face against his throat, lifting one slender arm to curl around his neck.

"Mm," she said, closing her eyes again. She didn’t feel like moving, didn’t feel like ever walking on her own legs again. She was so deliciously tired she wanted to stay exactly like this. He smoothed his hand over her hip and up her side, then cupped her breast.

"Wake up, honey."

"I am awake." The words came slowly and muffled against his throat, sleep still thick in her voice.

It was understandable. Awakening a wolf required a lot of rest, especially while getting used to sharing your body with another being. But his wife, Sebastian thought as he rubbed her back, had gotten up and fought him, a battle that would no doubt leave a toll on her until she allowed herself to rest and let her bones adjust to the changes.

Sebastian had always known he had married a very strong woman, one who didn’t easily break and didn’t give up on him. When many others might have chosen to take over his world and position with the power of the heir she carried, his wife had fought for him until she saw to it that he returned to himself. She had even gone to great lengths to awaken her wolf all by herself.

Sebastian couldn’t have loved her any more than he already did. He couldn’t help but bury his nose into the crook of her neck, hugging her tightly against him. She had given him back what he thought he would never have again: control over himself.

His heart swelled with love for her.

Then he realized night was settling around them, and they were lying out in the wild and open, completely exposed to the elements.

"It’s almost night. We need to go back and get you into a bed." He whispered.

"We can sleep here." She moved as if trying to sink into his skin, and her hand strayed downward to his groin. He closed his eyes as her fingers wrapped gently around him. Her lips opened against his throat, then slid upward to his jaw. "Let’s do it again, Seb. Please."

"Don’t worry about that," he said beneath his breath. There was no way he could restrain himself now, not after tasting her passion again after so long, and no way she’d let him even if he tried, the intensity had doubled now that she could feel the mate bond, even without the mark yet rising on her skin.

With a mixture of pleasure and despair, he knew he’d never be able to keep his hands off her now. But the temperature was dropping by the second as the sun sank below the horizon, and even though he was tempted to stay there with her, he didn’t want her getting chilled, forgetting, for a moment, that she had her wolf now, and that was unlikely to happen.

Still, Sebastian wanted to save the rest of this for their room, to savor the wild, reckless joy of finally being free after days imprisoned inside his own mind. The last thing he wanted was for someone to walk on them and seeing his mate unclothed.

He sat up and drew her up with him. "Home," he said, his voice husky. "Your body has had about all it can take. I want you in bed next time, somewhere soft and comfortable."

Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her lips swollen from his kisses. "As long as it’s soon," she whispered, feeling him lift her from the ground and slip her arms into his coat, which had been tossed somewhere on the ground while they fought hours ago, or was it minutes ago? Viola had lost all track of time. She dozed off and was barely aware of when they finally left the forest and made their way back home...

Home. The thought gave her a warm feeling that made her smile even in her sleep, like a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders. Though the echo of everything they’d been through still lingered in the back of her mind, it felt less pressing now, softened by the love filling her heart.

•••

Viola’s spirit was willing, but her body had already given in to sleep.

She slept in his arms that night, her head on his shoulder, one leg thrown over his hip.

Sebastian let her sleep, feeling contentment settle through his own body, along with a certain wry amusement. If Viola had been seductive before, even without trying, she was doubly so now while asleep.

When they returned home through the back entrance to avoid unwanted attention and curious questions of the elders, Sebastian didn’t think she should be seen looking the way she did right now, he took her to shower and wash off the dust and dirt from the forest floor.

She had woken up in the bathtub, smiling at him as she said, "I thought I was dreaming, Seb..."

And to make sure she wasn’t, his wife hadn’t held back. Throughout the bath, she’d kept reaching out to touch him somewhere, a lingering hand sliding along his ribs, a gentle brush against his hand or arm, a light ruffling of his hair, a tickle at his ear, a quick kiss to his chin, an appreciative pat on his backside, even a bold caress across his crotch.

After being denied that closeness for so long, he couldn’t keep his hands off her either.

By the time they had showered, eaten dinner he heated up from her refrigerator, and went to bed with her at long last, the accumulated effect of all those caresses, given and received, had him hard and aching again.

She had gone sweetly into his arms in bed, and he had made love to her, this time with lingering gentleness, until she fell asleep before he’d even withdrawn from her.

He stayed inside her for a long while afterward, dozing himself, luxuriating in the closeness. When he tried to move, she muttered a protest and turned with him, burrowing closer, refusing to let the connection break.

So he hooked his arm around her bottom, holding her locked against him through the night, and he slept better than he could remember sleeping in a long time.