"Is it really you?" she whispered. They couldn't lie to her.
He pulled her in tighter.
"It's me. Breathe. I'm here."
She couldn't hold back any longer. Her heart needed Caleb. The longer he touched her, the less it hurt. She could finally breathe. Taking in the air, she instantly found a new need.
No more waiting.
"I'm yours." The words far away to her ears, but they were right. She was his. There was no one else for her, she'd meant to tell him tomorrow, but if today were her last day she had no choice.
The deep spice of him took over her senses as his lips mashed into hers commanding they follow him.
Yes.
Need coursed through her. She needed him now. Her fingers trailed down the solid muscles of his abdomen, following the trail of hair down a short way where her hand stopped. There was no need to guess what he wanted as she wrapped her hand around his long hard shaft.
His lips pulled away, leaving her hungry.
"Look at me," he said.
She blinked and did as instructed.
"Marci, look at me. See me." He shook her gently. The fog lifted, leaving way for clarity.
"Did you mean what you said?"
She had to think back. What had she said?
"Are you mine?" he asked.
Biting her lip, she nodded. Those words. She meant them.
"Yes. Yours. And you're mine."
She nearly fell as her legs shook under her weight.
His hands wrapped tight around her.
"Marcy, look at me."
She tried to blink away the clouds coming back. Raising her hand to his face, she let the stubble along Caleb's jawline remind her he was real. What was real, and what wasn't, crashed into some in-between here.
"Marci. Look at me. Do you know what being mine would mean?"
His. In his arms she was safe. Her magic danced along with him as if he was the piper. The wandering in her soul stopped as she blinked away the last of the forest's magic. Taking in the deep green of his eyes glowing against the iridescence of the forest, no more questions remained.
"Yes. I do. I would be yours, and you would be mine. Forever."
This time he blinked. "Is the forest getting to you too?" Marci asked. Sending up a prayer to anyone that would listen, she hoped it wasn't. She needed him.
Shaking his head, he said, "No. It doesn't affect me. Not like it affects you."
A wind blew around them. The forest dimmed for a moment, or maybe it was her imagination.
"Do you trust me?" He didn't look away from her.
She nodded. "Yes. I trust you. I love you."
She liked the way his lips pulled up at the edge as he let a smile out.
"I'll love you, Marci, for as long as my heart beats and after."
The cobwebs of magic in her head evaporated with his words.
"I'm done living for anyone else. I'm living for me, and for what I want," Marci said.
He pulled her to him, the heat of his body feeding her need.
"And what do you want?" he asked.
She smiled for the first time since entering this place. "You."
"Save her, shifter." The words a whisper in the air.
Before she could ask if the words were real, his mouth was against hers and the world around her no longer mattered.
Her body ached for his touch, ached for his taste. She ran her hands along the ridges of his back, the muscles solid beneath her fingers.
A heat raged through her, a fire burning hotter with each kiss. His lips trailed along her jawline, a tingle of magic wherever Caleb touched her. She shivered as he whispered in her ear.
"Be mine forever?"
"Yes." She breathed out.
The need within her pooled between her legs. An ache running along her body begged for him.
She pulled her own hands back and began to yank at her nightshirt. This wasn't her, and she didn't care. Everything in her needed Caleb.
He growled as she pulled up her nightshirt. Marci gasped as his teeth nibbled on her breast, moaning against the delicious pain and pleasure.
Finally, she freed herself from the cotton prison.
Gripping his head, she pulled him to her face.
Pushing against him, they stopped as his back met a tree.
Pressing her body against him, knowing every point he touched brought relief from the burning pain.
She grabbed his naked dick, hard, ready, and wanting her. He was hers. Stroking him up and down, she watched as the veins in his neck popped as he restrained himself. His hand trailed down her bare skin down, down, cupping her over her wet panties.
"Take me," she said.
He hissed out the word, "Mine."
Her body shivered at the possession in his voice, the deep tones of need, want, power.
She pulled at him, stroking him until his breathing met hers.
"Make room for me," he commanded.
His hand slid beneath the cotton panties, his fingers sliding between her folds where he started to stroke against her sensitive nub.
She whimpered as he stroked her, sliding along the sensitive skin until he stopped at her entrance and slowly slid a finger into her. Her breath shuddered.
One more stroke and his finger retreated. He yanked at her underwear, the thin fabric ripping with ease.
"Now. Please."
He gripped her behind the thighs and lifted her. His lips mashed against hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The world slowed down as he lowered her to the ground -- the weight of him on top of her everything she needed.
He pushed her thigh with his knee as he readied her for him. Her body willing, she would always want this. Him. Forever.
Forever.
He pushed forward as her body stretched around him.
A gasp left her lips as he pushed further and further, his eyes never leaving hers.
Arching her back she rocked against him, inviting him deeper.
Matching her rhythm, he met her thrust for thrust between every kiss.
She pulled air in ragged breaths the higher he brought her. Everything started to tingle, her body electrified, energy
