Crimson by Jessica Coulter Smith

filled some primal need deep in his soul.
    “Mine,” he growled softly.
    “Yes,” she agreed. “Yours.”
    He nipped her jaw before pressing kisses along the column of her throat. His palms cupped her breasts as he worked his way down her body. In the shower, they hadn’t had much time to play, but now he planned to make a feast of her. As he sank to his knees beside the bed, he pushed her thighs apart, baring her to his hungry gaze.
    “So beautiful.”
    She blushed so hard her entire body turned pink, making him grin even more. Crimson blew across the damp curls between her legs before giving in to the urge to taste her. The tang of her arousal burst on his tongue and he went back for more, lapping up her cream as his fingers coaxed more from her delicious body. Her scent changed as her arousal increased, her taste sharpened as she neared release, and he wanted more.
    Crimson eased a finger inside her, stroking in and out. He found himself rubbing his cock against the side of the bed to ease his suffering as he brought his mate to climax not once but twice. She lay replete beneath him as he crawled up her body, his cock aching. Pre-cum drizzled from the tip in a steady stream and he knew he’d die if he didn’t get inside of her.
    She wrapped her legs around his hips and reached down to guide him inside her. As he breached her tight, slick walls, he groaned in relief and pain. He’d never felt so good and ached so much at the same time. His fangs lengthened, his beast begging to mark her as theirs. He tried to take her slowly, to make things last, but after a few strokes he found himself riding her hard, pounding into her with a frenzy that nearly left him breathless.
    Holly clutched at his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin. That brief flash of pain was enough to push him, to make him drive into her harder and faster. With a growl, he latched onto her shoulder, his fangs breaking the skin, the coppery taste of her blood filling his mouth. He heard her cry out, but the way her sweet pussy milked his cock assured him it wasn’t from pain, unless it was the pain of coming too hard.
    As he stilled inside of her, his cock pulsing as the last of his seed was spilled, he found himself hoping that it would take root and create a child. Their child. If any of the recent mates were pregnant, his brothers had kept it quiet. It would fill him with joy to bring the first child into their brotherhood, to be the first one to start the next journey with the incredible woman in his arms.
    He disengaged his teeth and lapped at her wound. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
    She shook her head. “It didn’t hurt.”
    “You can’t deny your mine. I’ve marked you for the world to see.” He grinned.
    “You seem rather proud of that.” She laughed. “I was yours before the bite. You don’t have to warn other males away, Crimson. I don’t want anyone but you.”
    “Good.” He kissed her softly. “So…how many times do you think it will take before you’re pregnant? Because if you give me a few minutes, I can go again.”
    She stared up at him with wonder in her eyes. “You want a baby with me?”
    “I suppose we could wait a while, get to know one another better…but yes, I want to start a family with you. I know we can’t do that here in the clubhouse, but I thought maybe I could move into the apartment with you. Or better yet, we could buy a house. There are some for sale over where Viper and Axel live. Ghost is buying a place on the same street. You’d have family nearby if anything ever happened.”
    “Family. I guess I never thought of them being your family.”
    “Yours too now.”
    “When will you tell them about us?”
    He smiled and glanced at the door before looking back down at her. “Honey, shifters have sensitive hearing. Even if some of them hadn’t been with me last night, when I ran off to rescue you, anyone within hearing distance of this room now has no doubt that you’re mine, and just