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***Leah's POV***

In the wee hours of the morning, after time passed freely between me and what would be my mate, I'm lying on the bed beside him. Christian sleeps quietly, a smile adorned his face before his eyes decided to close for the night. Heavy ideas of what could be battle within my own mind as proof of what has always been.

I'm not sure when I made a conscious decision to push this man away. I'm unsure if I had a choice in pulling him closer. The game is dangerous. I don't know who will be the winner. The thought has my leg thumping across the sheets.

The first word that comes to mind, when Christian is around, is trustworthy. That alone should be enough to have me standing beside him, holding his hand. It's not though. I don't even have a good explanation for why it is not.

Truth be told, Christian is and will be punished for sins he had no control over. He did not commit the sins that he must atone for. I wouldn't say it is fair. It just is what it is. Being born to a family full of greed, no values and driven by deceitful hearts has done no favors for the man ordained to put up with me for eternity.

As Christian moves fluidly, shifting his body to angle more towards me, I stare. He really is attractive. There isn't a being alive that wouldn't want to be fated towards this man. Even in his sleep, the purity of Christian's adoration for me is apparent. The space between us is just enough to be protective without being intrusive.

If I reach out my hand, I can feel his heartbeat. One nudge of my foot, he would wake. Yet, he has made no move to cage me in any way. He seems content as long as I seem safe.

My fingers walk towards the sleeping angel's head. With my shaking hand, I tremble while pulling the strands of his hair to the side. Softly, I move his hair back to its natural state. The pin pricks of electricity remind me that I am alive, destined to be tethered to this being for a life time.

A sigh escapes my lips when Christian hums delightfully. I roll towards him, laying my cheek against his pillow. One last millimeter and our noses would be touching. The tiny breaths that pass his lips brush against my lips. I would be untruthful to say that my mouth doesn't twitch to seal a kiss upon his rose petal lips.

I desire him in ways that are foreign to me. His touch frightens me yet, it is all I want. I need to know what his velvet flesh feels like caressing my own. I'm just so afraid.

My eyes dart from left to right. They memorize his perfect facial structure. I want to see his frozen blues from this perspective. I'm positive I could see his soul from the right angle. It seems as though it would be a silent picture of peace that is much needed in my life.

Giving in, I lean forward to close the space. As our lips softly meet, I hum in contentment. The contact causes tingles to dance between our flesh. Christian moves infinitesimally allowing his lips to seal to my own. It takes milliseconds for me to thread my fingers into his satin hair. I pull his head forward, sighing in relief when he responds.

"Leah." Christian whispers into my mouth. It's too late. I tasted heaven. I don't want to escape.

Our bodies automatically press against one another. Christian silently answers my siren call. His fingers grip my hips. His hands slide across my waist to encompass me in his hold.

"Christian." I whimper for him. He is doing things to me he cannot imagine. I can physically feel him holding my pieces together.

"I want to kiss you harder." Christian pleads against my lips.

Nodding quickly, I open for him. He gently parts my lips further, filling the spaces I leave open with his soft tongue. Goddess, have mercy. He tastes like cold nectar.

My tongue caresses his, chasing his tongue that massages the inside of my pallet. Curling into him, I weld us together. I need this man. All of him. He's mine. Made for me. A gift.

My mouth abruptly leaves his. My head lulls back, exposing my neck to his mouth. Without instruction, his lips touch my flesh. It's amazing. I feel the scrape of his canines against the throbbing pulse of my artery. I want to beg for his puncture into my muscle.

"Harder." I comply with my own wishes.

It's fucking sin. He scrapes, pressing the sharp incisors to my flesh. My nerves alight with hunger, need.

Shifting into his lap, I climb up this pillar of a man.

"Leah, baby." Christian warns me softly with a panted breath. That's not helping the situation. Baby? Oh hell, I love it. Again. Please say it again.

"Mate." My cry is painfully seductive. I claim him.

"Baby." He almost growls into my throat.

"Mate. Mate. Mate." I scream the claim in a chant. He's mine. Only mine.

"Beloved." That seals it. I feel myself accept him, unconditionally.

"I need you." It's not a question. I am exclaiming that I want him.

"Okay. Okay. Baby." Christian flips us. My back hits the soft duvet. I pull him down on top of me. Those piercing blue eyes search my own.

My legs wrap around his hips, holding him in place.

"Are you sure?" Christian kisses my forehead gently.

"You're mine. I am yours. Take me." I'm positive. I will deal with my fears later. Right now, I need to feel him possess me.

I yank at his shirt pulling the hem up his abs. Holy mother of kittens. That's a sexy ass form. Greek gods be envious.

"Take it off." I am impatient.

Skillfully, Christian rocks back on his heels. I don't release him. In all his ashen glory, snowy white skin glistens above me. Trailing my eyes down his toned body, I groan. I want him.

My fingers rake against his taut flesh. Mine. Mine. Mine.

I lift up, swooping into Christian's chest. My lips kiss his pecks, dragging them down to his nipple. In the most feline manner ever, I purr as my teeth scrape the hardened bud.

"Fuck." That dirty word leaves my mate. Oh yes, love. Fuck. Me.

I shove him backwards, falling against his chest. An umph leaves his lips. It's too late. I shred his bottoms, exposing him with a careful swipe of my claws.

"Well." A chuckle leaves the sexy man's lips. That's my man. My lips to kiss, take, devour.

Animalistic urges have my body responding. My heat aches in my core. My hips gently sway across his hardening member. His lap is warm, inviting. The steel pillar brushes roughly against my clothed bud.

I need these clothes off. My shirt flies over my head. Unsure which one of us has removed it, I just watch Christian transform into a beast.

His eyes blow wide, persuaded by lust. His sharp fangs glisten with dripping venom. I pull him to me, kissing him in starvation. My tongue runs across the point of one of his fangs. A shudder ripples through my body, down my back.

I feel the moisture pooling between my legs. Fuck. He is going to destroy me. I am a willing sacrifice.

"Baby." His fingers dig into my hips as he pushes them down onto his pole.

It's a burning sear. His head pokes against my entrance urging me to open for him. Relaxing my muscles purposefully, I moan out my excitement. Slowly my body accepts his growth. It expands, surrounding his flesh with my tight walls. I sink slowly onto his thick member.

Christian rubs soothing circles along my flesh. He patiently goes slow allowing my body to contort, molding around what was made to fill me.

"Christian, move." I whimper. The stretch is slightly uncomfortable. I feel stuck as I barely feel his hips meet my bottom.

With a nod of his head, Christian spikes his hips upward. The intrusion feels as though it will push through me, ripping me in half. I wince.

"I'm sorry, love. Did I hurt you?" Christian worries as my breath hitches. He did but, I won't admit that to him. Instead I shake my head adamantly.

"Okay. Slow." Christian agrees. He gently rocks until I finally meet his body with ease, our flesh is connected without space.

Feeling brave, I grit my teeth. I rock slowly. It takes a few moments before the arousal inside of me seeps around his erection. The warm moisture creates a slick path for me to pull up, dragging a panted breath from my mate.

"Again." Christian growls his demand. A small smile plays on my lips knowing I'm driving him mad. I always want to make him commanding towards me.

Squeezing my thighs, constricting my intimate walls, I drag myself up before slowly descending. I use Christian's abs to steady myself. The sensation of his cock feeding through my tunnel is ungodly. A ripple shakes through my body creating a visible tremble.

Without warning, my mate flips us roughly. My back collides with the sheets. My head snaps before bouncing off of the mattress. A giggle of excitement rushes passed my lips.

Christian yanks my calves around his hips before daring me to unlock them with a silent demand. His hands land on either side of my hips. He looks like a beast. It's a fucking turn on.

Our moans are loud before the noise registers that my body is accepting every part of my mate. It's amazing that my body easily adjusted to what was meant for only me. Thrust after thrust sends the headboard crashing against the stone wall. The bed screams in protest, it's frame shaking from our movements.

Christian never stops. My breasts bounce quickly. My nipples scrape against Christian's heaving chest. The texture sends more arousal washing around our connectedness.

My pussy throbs in delicious agony from the abuse. His balls slap across my bottom causing a slick sound of skin on skin contact to vibrate through the air. The scent of heady lust fills the room.

It's so arousing. Every single push of his cock through my pulsing walls brings me closer to the edge. I anticipate the fall from my high.

Christian shifts above me. His hand slams down on my throat, caging me to the bed. I never thought it could be a turn on. I'm fucking turned on. I moan deeply from the pressure of his fingers that squeeze the sides of my neck.

Getting lost in the dance of our bodies, I find myself squeezing my walls tightly every time he shoves deeper. My whole center is on the verge of purging for my mate. My eyes begin to flutter as the pressure becomes overwhelming to gush for my mate.

"I'm going to cum." Christian husks out his admission that causes all my tethers of sanity to snap in unison.

His mere confession causes a devastating earthquake of tremors to push open the flood gates. My lips part as a feral chuffle leaves my throat. I feel myself release on a long purr. It's exotic. I'm cumming for the man that is made for me.

A sharp tear at the side of my throat sends pain followed by blinding ecstasy. My body releases again and again. Everything becomes boneless while I purge every drop of arousal from my center.

A warm heat replenishes my moisture as Christian shutters above me. His face beams as he spills his seed inside of my walls. Soft licks across my skin alert me that he has retracted his fangs from my throat.

A deep throb races through my veins before the urge to claim my mate takes over. Lifting quickly, my canines fall before I tear into the lush pulse of Christian's neck. Christian immediately fills me for a second time on a deep rumble from his chest.

The snap and pull of our souls intertwining allows me confirmation that we have accepted our bond. I don't worry for the consequences. The moment is too perfect. The physical release has nothing on the full sense of peace that fills me from the inside out.

Christian collapses, rolling me over onto his chest. A tilt of my chin has his lips descending over mine. I kiss back passionately, proud to have the claim of my mate on my lips.

If this is what acceptance feels like, I will gladly take whatever trials come along with it.