The Liger's Mark by Lacey Thorn

stomach. She automatically went to her knees as if she knew what he craved and wanted to give it to him.
    He caressed the flare of her hips, squeezed the perfectly rounded globes of her ass and tugged them apart. His gaze zeroed in on the tight pucker of her anus, and he knew eventually he would want to take her there. He needed to claim her in every way possible. His beast would accept nothing less. She wiggled, rubbing her swollen cunt against his dick and pulling a ragged groan from him.
    He used one hand to lodge his cock at her opening and slammed back home. God, she fit him perfectly. She dropped her torso to the bed, turning her head to the side, cheek pressed to the covers as she glanced back toward him. He met her gaze and held it as they both rode the heights of pleasure again.
    This was what he’d needed. He’d tasted her dominance, and now he needed her complete submission. The soft whimpers leaving her throat, the look of total trust in her eyes, and the way her body softened in acceptance gave him exactly what he wanted. She moaned, and he gritted his teeth at the hard contractions of her pussy as she came again. This time he went with her, roaring as he filled her tight channel to overflowing with his semen.
    He reached under her to press a hand against her stomach, holding her to him as he shook with release. His gaze calmed as he stared at her, and the steel tendrils around his heart became a cage that only she held the key for. He pushed his hips against her ass then slowly slid back until his softening cock slipped free. Her hips lowered to the bed, and she sighed in utter contentment, the sound soothing him. He eased down beside her, pulling her back against him. He brushed his lips over her neck and finally gave her something he’d never anticipated giving anyone. His submission.
    “Yours,” he murmured and knew with complete certainty he’d never leave her again. It would be like ripping out his soul and leaving it behind.
    They dozed on and off for the rest of the day, surfacing only long enough to make love with the same exhausting ferocity before falling into slumber once more. He held her every time, either spooned behind her or with her half lying across his chest. Each time left him more wrapped in her in ways that would never leave him even when she wasn’t next to him.
    He was stroking his fingers up and down her side when she shifted her arm until she could prop her chin on her fist and meet his gaze.
    “Did you mean it?”
    He heard the need in her voice, and it made him feel a hundred times the fool for what he’d done. “Yes,” he vowed. “I’ll never leave you again, Kenzie.”
    She seemed to soak that in then asked another question. “Who’s Laura to you?”
    “A friend, more like a sister, actually, and no, I’ve never slept with her.”
    She stuck out her tongue at him then laughed at the look on his face. He swatted her playfully on her spectacular ass.
    “Do you really not like Holt?” she finally asked, and he heard the need in her voice. Holt was important to her, and she wanted him to accept him.
    “It’s not that I don’t like him,” Gabriel told her honestly. “It’s knowing he’s seen you like this, touched you like I do.”
    She scooted onto her knees beside him, hair tumbling over her shoulders as she leaned forward. “Never like this. No one has ever touched me like you do. He’s my friend, and I won’t give him up. You’re my mate, and I’ll never do anything that makes you uncomfortable or jealous. I need you to trust me to have both of you in my life.”
    “I’m not jealous,” he grunted, and she laughed. He loved the sound of it, just as he loved the grin that lit her whole face up.
    “You’re so jealous,” she teased.
    He sat up, pulling her astride his hips.
    “You’re mine,” he growled. “Jealousy has no place in my heart.”
    She smiled and cuddled into him. “You’re mine.”
    “Completely,” he assured her.
    “This is what