The truck was a world unto itself, sealed away from the silent lake and the watchful moon. Caleb’s body filled her, a perfect, burning anchor. They didn’t move for a long moment, just breathed together, locked in that first, staggering union. The mate-bond wasn’t a whisper now; it was a roaring river flowing between them, carrying sensation, emotion, and intent in its current. Selene could feel the taut control in Caleb’s muscles, the trembling restraint as he held himself still inside her. She could feel his awe, his fear, his overwhelming love—all of it, raw and unfiltered, washing over her own soul.
“I can feel you,” she whispered, her voice trembling with the revelation. “Inside me. And… around me. In my head.”
“It’s the bond,” he murmured, his lips brushing her forehead. “Open. Raw.
