Both his hands came to her head, sliding into her hair, pushing it back.
Then he stated throatily, “You love me.”
Sonia rested her lips against his but with her eyes open and, staring in his, she whispered, “With everything I am, wolf, and everything I’m meant to be.”
Callum’s fingers tightened in her hair and he rolled Sonia yet again.
He was kissing her by the time her back hit the bed.
It took a while before they fell back to sleep.
And when they did, they were connected.
In more ways than one.
Chapter Twenty-One
Understanding
Callum was sitting in his study, going through a report on some of his investments when he sensed Sonia’s approach.
She was wearing another pair of her thick socks so her footfalls were soft.
But that morning before he left her, he’d made love to her and she hadn’t showered. He could smell the essence of them getting stronger as she got closer.
And he f**king loved that smell.
It had been a month since she’d finally unburdened her mind.
It was also only days before their official Mating.
And Callum couldn’t f**king wait.
The hills were again filling with tents and the town was again bursting. Everyone wanted to be there, not because the king was formally binding his queen to him but because Callum was formally binding Sonia.
He’d been to many a Mating and he’d enjoyed them.
But he knew he’d like this one best for their last month together was better than the months before that.
Infinitely better.
It was beyond perfect.
It was a dream.
However, with Regan’s assistance and Leah’s long distance advice, he was planning a surprise to happen during their Mating. A surprise for his wife.
He was looking toward the door when Sonia rounded it and came into the room smiling.
The vision of her pretty, smiling, happy face settled pleasantly somewhere in his gut, he dropped his report, sat back in his chair and returned her smile.
She made short work of the distance, her cashmere robe parting and exposing her shapely legs as she walked. He noticed, yet again, that she’d put on weight in the last month. As he suspected it would, it had hit all the right places and he was pleased with the result. But he was more pleased that she’d given up her obsession with calories and was simply, as she should, enjoying her food.
“I told Mara and Callista my claiming story,” she announced when she came around the desk and he turned his chair to face her.
His brows went up when she seated herself in his lap and then curled up, her knees bent, feet close to her ass, torso twisted to face him.
“You did?” he asked, his arms wrapping about her small body, surprised at this news.
She shrugged as if it was all the same to her and she hadn’t been guarding this secret for months.
Then her mouth quirked in a smile (something she did a great deal the past month) and explained, “They were relentless.” Then her body started shaking before she went on while laughing, “I think they didn’t believe me though. Apparently, wolves are pretty excited during a claiming and they don’t have the wherewithal to do it in multiple positions the first time.” Her hand cupped his jaw and she brushed her thumb along his lower lip before finishing softly, “I think I’ve made you a legend, wolf.”
He’d been smiling at her as she told her story but at her endearment, he growled before he bent his head and took her mouth in a hard, rough kiss that she returned instantly.
When he lifted his head, she emitted a fluttering sigh, tucked her face in the crook of his shoulder, placed her hand in the center of his chest and rested it there, something else she’d done a great deal in the past month.
His queen, he’d learned through a variety of delightful ways, was fond of his chest.
“I like how you kiss,” she whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back.
She shook her head in his neck and muttered, “So arrogant.”
His arms gave her a squeeze.
She snuggled closer.
He loved these times when she’d come to him after breakfast.
Fuck, he loved every time he was with Sonia.
“Cal?” she called, her fingers toying with his sweater.
“Yes, baby doll?”
“I feel funny this morning.” His arms tightened reflexively at this news and her head came up to look at him. “Not like that,” she said quickly. “No, it’s something else. I felt funny yesterday morning too and the morning before that.” Her eyes went dazed and drifted over his shoulder. “I don’t know how to describe it.” Then she looked back at him. “It’s almost like jetlag, though kind of nauseous but I don’t get sick. It just like, I’m not one with my body somehow.”
Callum’s arms tightened again and he bit back a triumphant howl.
“We’ll get you to a doctor,” he told her.
She shook her head, still looking dazed, her mind preoccupied. “That’s not necessary. I don’t think it’s that bad.”
She’d be right, since she was pregnant with his pup.
She hadn’t had her period since she’d been at the castle. He wasn’t that familiar with humans but he did know they had their cycle monthly, rather than every five months like a she-wolf. And since she’d been there over two months, he reckoned she was at least that far gone.
If not more.
And he f**king loved that idea.
“Humor me,” he ordered, her dazed eyes cleared and she looked at him.
“Bossy,” she muttered but her lips quirked again.
His hands moved on her and her eyes widened in understanding before they got soft.
“Cal, the door is open,” she whispered.
He didn’t f**king care.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Cal –”
He pulled the robe open, exposing her breast.
She sucked in breath.
Bloody brilliant, she was na**d under the robe.
His head dropped and he took her nipple into his mouth and, not leading into it, sucked deep.
Her mind clearly no longer on the door, her head fell back and her fingers slid into his hair to hold him to her.
There were a myriad of ways he loved Sonia but one of them was how much he f**king loved how responsive she was.
He lifted his head, yanked the robe away from her other breast and did the same.
She shifted her soft ass against his hard cock, a low moan escaping her arched throat.
His hand went to her knee, pulled aside her robe and slid down the skin of her inner thigh, between her legs to find she was wet, already ready for him.