Unbound by Elle Thorne

deeper.
    Quivers wracked her body as a climax began to build, spreading throughout her like a tidal upsurge. He released her hands just as she pushed her body upward, arching into him, taking him in deep as he slammed into her with a force that knocked her breath out.
    She cried out, then his mouth covered hers, taking in her scream as she climaxed, one series of orgasms following another, leaving her trembling in his arms. When a mountainous climax began to overtake him, his body stiffened, he thrust and was still, pumping into her, releasing hot seed while he held her immobile.
    Glory clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck as he nuzzled her shoulder, his teeth sharp and scraping her flesh.
    She froze. Was he marking her with a couple-bond? That would ruin her for Perry.
    A part of her prayed he was.

10
    G lory lay on Dane . Sometime during their nap she ended up on top of him. She breathed him in, relishing the earthy scent of him, the forest that seemed to be engrained in his essence.
    It brought back memories from so very long ago. Playing in the fields, exploring the forest, avoiding the other shifter types. Dane understood the ivies weren’t to be around other shifters, though he told her repeatedly that he didn’t understand why they couldn’t keep company with other shifters.
    “We are not allowed. We’re not the same type,” she’d told him.
    “But why not,” he’d insisted, pressing for an answer, his gray eyes dark and matching that day’s clouds. In the distance, lightning crackled and thunder boomed.
    “I can’t discuss that with you.” Another thunderous crack punctuated her denial.
    She couldn’t. It was part of the Ivy Creed that they not mix with other shifters. It was also not discussed with other shifter types. The ivy shifters kept to themselves and were the least known of all shifter types, even cryptic around other shifters.
    She laying on his stomach, his hard muscles gave her a sense of comfort, his heartbeat next to her ear, his pulse synchronized with hers, it was easy to fall back into the days when they were the best of friends and so much more.
    Thinking of those times was a fool’s folly. She had to let those times go. She was in the present now. He was Dane Forester, the famous Hollywood actor and she was a girl about to become another man’s mate.
    Hot tears trickled down her face, pooling on his skin, trapped between them. This wasn’t the time for regrets. This was the time to move forward with the life her parents wanted for her.
    God, her parents. She thought of the last day she’d seen them.

    A day so very long ago, almost as long as it had been since she’d seen Dane…

    G lory’s parents and her sister Honor were going out of town to look at colleges for Honor. Glory had begged off, saying she felt sick.
    Sick was right.
    She was pregnant.
    And she had no clue where Dane was since he’d left town a few months ago.
    So she’d decided to stay and nurture the morning sickness rather than be around her parents and have them figure out her situation.
    Thank goodness ivy shifters didn’t have the same problems as other shifters. It wasn’t discernible that they were pregnant from a scent or the baby’s heartbeat.
    Feeling bad she was pregnant with Dane’s baby and he didn’t know, she decided she should tell him. Dane’s uncle Frank Forester had been the only one she could contact who could reach Dane. So she’d called him the moment her parents left and made arrangements to see him.
    She plaited her hair into a braid, threw on a pair of jeans, applied a little blush and concealer to hide the baby’s effects on her face and began a hike across the properties.
    She was twenty minutes into the trek, well into the thick of the woods, when the first cramp struck.
    Glory fell to her knees, grabbing her abdomen while sweat dripped down her face. It wasn’t hot enough to be sweating like this.
    She leaned against a tree, holding her stomach, wishing the pains