A Pack of Their Own novel · Chapter 24 of 32

Chapter 24: Mark Me Back

Roark did not move.

"Say it again," he said.

"I'm saying it. I'm not asking you to wait anymore."

"Winona."

"Mark me." I walked up the hill to him through the wet grass. "And let me mark you back."

His breath went out of him.

"It has to be both," I said. "I'm not a thing you put a seal on. We choose it together or not at all."

"Together," he said, hoarse. "Always together."

He put his hands on my face.

The moon sat on the orchard behind him.

Down in the valley, the pack was still running, and their cries rose and fell on the dark air.

We were alone on the hill.

I took his shirt in both fists and pulled it over his head. He tugged mine off, and the night air touched my shoulders.

The gold print on my left one gave off a faint warmth.

He bent and put his mouth against it, very gently, and I shivered all the way down.

"That's where I have to," he said against it.

"I know."

"It will hurt."

"Then be quick, and I'll be louder."

He laughed once, low, and drew me down into the grass.

The ground was cool through my skin, and his body was hot all along mine.

He kissed my throat and my collarbone and the hollow below it.

His hands learned my ribs, my hips and the backs of my knees.

I pulled at the rest of his clothes until there was nothing between us.

My own were gone somewhere in the dark, and I did not care where.

There was a point, as he moved over me, where I felt the claws want to come.

Keep reading free with an account. Start A Pack of Their Own from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.