Chapter 1

A warble of classical music drifted from the banquet hall across the corridor, but I could hardly hear it past the thud of my heart in my ears. Only second to that was Mal’s abrasive breath against my lips—a sound of longing in each little huff of air that escaped him.

Kissing him was like swimming in a pool after a long and agonizing summer. I couldn’t get enough of him, and I didn’t have the willpower to peel away from his firm body or his tantalizing scent. I had my arms locked so tightly around his neck, it could’ve knocked the breath from him if he’d been a weaker man. But the only thing my Mal was weak for was…me.

“I can’t believe”—he pulled back, his breath rushed as his forehead rested against mine—“this is the first time we’ve had a second to be alone together.” He paused for a moment to bend down and lay a kiss on the side of my neck. I felt a jolt trill its way down to my core. I sighed, treasuring the closeness of him, my eyes heavy as I watched the handsome curl of his lips. “I haven’t been able to think about anything but getting you out of that dress,” he said.

I laughed. My cousin had had

particular rules in mind for her wedding—one being that everyone had to dress “period appropriate” for her historical romance wedding. The dress I had on looked more like a table doily than anything else.

I could feel Mal smile so close to my lips as he toyed with the lace hem of my sleeve. “Maybe later we can sneak you into my room.”

“Yes, please.” I nodded, feeling a little intoxicated by his warmth. Something about sneaking around made it seem all the more thrilling. Not only had Stephanie demanded that we all dress up, but she’d required family and all other guests to stay in separate sections of the hotel. Not that Mal was much of a stranger.

The pregnancy announcement had taken everyone a bit of…adjusting. Luckily, my family grew to love him just as quickly as I did. It had gone better than I’d hoped for—everyone was more than enthusiastic for our pregnancy. But this was my cousin’s wedding, and I had already garnered enough attention toting around this giant baby bump.

Mal wasted no time reaching around me and nudging down the zipper of my dress. I gave in, tugging at his cravat—a little too hard, I supposed, because it tore. I gasped, but Mal was laughing devilishly in my ear. “Good. I hated the stupid thing anyway.”

He cleared the zipper, and my dress fell from my chest, slipping down the round of my belly. Mal was gentle as his fingers ghosted across my ribs, soft and feathery, like I was a porcelain statue. He had a habit of being a little too careful with me ever since my body had started to change. My dark, insatiable beast had gone dormant somewhere inside him.

Ever since, he had been so considerate—so desperate to do whatever made me feel good. I didn’t think I could love him more, but when this tiny baby started to grow inside me, a side of Mal opened up that I didn’t know. He’d become someone more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

But I did miss that insatiable part of him. It wasn’t that we weren’t having sex—because we were. My libido had gone kind of haywire since getting pregnant. Except now he was so gentle with me. I didn’t always want gentle, but I did always want Mal.

I was reaching for him when a croon of cheers broke out of the banquet hall, and Mal and I turned to stone in each other’s arms. Quickly, I began to gather up my dress, fixing it over my shoulders and struggling for the zipper.

“What are you doing?” Mal asked with a shade of disappointment.

“We should go back out there,” I said, glancing at the door. The room we were in didn’t have a lock. In fact, I wasn’t even sure what type of room it was. It was dark with the lights off, and all I could see around us were empty chairs and tables. A meeting area for business gatherings, I presumed. “What if someone walks in on us?” I whispered.

“They should be so lucky,” Mal said, trying to coax me back into his arms.

I gave a small struggle, but gave in and let him take me by the hips. He heaved me atop one of the square meeting tables. Instinctively, I clutched a handful of his shorter hair as he ducked beneath the skirts of my dress. I was still getting used to how short it was since he’d cut it. I didn’t have time to think about much else when I felt his mouth against the fabric of my panties. I shivered as he tugged them down effortlessly with his teeth.

I wanted to ask.

But if I were honest with myself, I didn’t want to wait. I didn’t want Mal to stop. And in all honesty, the whole concept of having sex in a secret room at my cousin’s wedding was…incredibly hot. So, I leaned back, bracing myself against the table. I let out a loud, shuddering breath as I felt the heat of his breath against me.

“That’s it, baby,” he said. “Let me see you.”

Looking back on everything, I still couldn’t believe I was here. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be at my cousin’s wedding, hiding away in an empty meeting room with an Alpha werewolf—

Alpha werewolf—about to melt me like a candle with that magical tongue of his, I would’ve laughed. Going to that nightclub with Nikki had changed my life forever, and even with all the danger and madness that followed from that first meeting, I wouldn’t have given it up for anything.

Everything Mal did for me felt like a gift from fate. From the world he introduced me to, to the tiny child inside of me, to—

I gasped as his tongue made contact with my skin. I felt the shudder roll through my body and bit my lip to keep from crying out from the sheer pleasure.

This gift, he was

good at giving.

His mouth moved against me slow and wet and hot, his hands squeezing my thighs as he held them apart. I heard my heartbeat in my ears, felt the vibration of the music from down the hall, pulsing and buzzing through my bones. He had learned just which way to curl his tongue to set me off—just where to tease so I wouldn’t finish too quickly. He had mastered the art of it all, and I was helpless to his methods.

I gathered up the skirts of my dress and glanced over my belly to see him. I loved the way his brows furrowed with focus when he tasted me. How hungry he looked, his strong jaw flexing, his eyes shut. I was brought back to that twinge in his jaw—the same twinge I noticed back at the club when we first met. How irritating we found each other the first time. I never could have imagined back then that we’d be here. Somehow, even though it seemed impossible, it also seemed inevitable.

We were meant to be together.

We were mates.

He opened his eyes and looked up at me with something like a dare in them. Then his tongue moved in that way, that special whirl that always sent me over the edge. I gasped. His eyes stuck to mine with determination, his fingers squeezing tight on my thighs. My body stiffened as I felt the rush climb up from my core. My jaw fell open, and I held my breath, clutching his hair, thighs trembling.

He kept me going like he always did—teasing just the right spot so I wouldn’t fall over the edge. So I could tremble and choke a little longer on the pleasure. Then, as I deflated with trembling breath, Mal lowered my skirts and rose to his feet, a broad grin on his face. He leaned in to kiss me while I was hungry for breath, but I pulled back to look him in the eye. “How are you always so good at that?”

Mal’s smile tightened into a smirk. “Because it’s you,” he said, peering into my eyes. “You’re my mate. My Luna. I know exactly what you need because we’re made for each other.”

“I love you,” I said, my heart still racing.

“I love you too.”

I pulled him in and gave him an appreciative kiss, feathering his strong cheeks under my thumbs. I wanted more of him, but a sudden voice, thunderous and excited, boomed through the walls. “It’s time for the bouquet toss! All the unmarried women, please make your way to the dance floor.”

Mal and I parted enough to exchange a look. Then I sat up, quickly wiggling my panties back on the best I could and twisting around, trying to zip up the back of my dress.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

“What is it?” Mal asked, pulling the zipper up for me when I failed to do it on my own. “It’s not like they’re going to notice—”

I shot him a look. “Have you not seen what my cousin is like? You should’ve been at the bachelorette party. If I’m not on that floor in two seconds, Stephanie’s going to notice, and I will never

hear about how I missed her bouquet toss for the rest of my life.”

Mal helped me down from the table and straightened out my skirt, knowing I wouldn’t be able to see it under my bulging belly. I pointed to his cravat, which sat beneath the table, but Mal waved it off. “Forget it. Now I can be rakish or whatever.”

I laughed and took his arm as he held it out for me, and together we scrambled across the hall, back into the banquet room where Stephanie was carefully aligning herself with a crowd of our girl cousins—all eager to catch the bouquet.

Everyone was dressed to match the theme of the wedding, and it was a little funny to see all of my relatives looking like they belonged on historical romance covers. It was a lovely theme—albeit a bit over the top, but that was Steph for you—but it was hard to feel the ambiance with phones flashing and cameras shuttering all over the hall.

I separated from Mal and scurried over beside my other cousin, Jasmine, who had joined the gaggle in hopes of earning herself the next wedding. She grinned when she saw me, her smile quickly falling as I stumbled into her side. She caught me by the elbow.

“Whoa there. Are you okay?”

“I think I stood up too quickly,” I said with a laugh. Mal had left me a little shaky still.

“I’m glad you made it,” Jasmine said, glancing back toward our cousin. “Stephanie’s got that look in her eye.”

“Great,” I said.

Stephanie could be a little…much. Like the decorations tonight. She also hadn’t exactly been subtle that she felt like my pregnancy was stealing her spotlight. She had never seemed as thrilled as the others after my pregnancy announcement. I felt bad. I definitely wasn’t trying to steal her attention from our family, but it wasn’t like I could just simply stop being pregnant.

Jasmine flexed a suspicious brow at me. “Your bodice is open.”

I felt all the blood rush to my face as I scrambled to hook the top of my bodice back together. I found Mal somewhere in the crowd and caught his eye. It had gotten easier and easier to mind-link with him the past few months, especially when the situation called for it.

I could hear the echo of Mal’s laugh in my head.

Before I could snip out a reply, Jasmine nudged me. “Look, she’s about to throw it.”

Stephanie looked stunning as she smiled over the crowd and waved to the many girls awaiting her. Then she turned her back to us all and sent the bouquet flying over her head. I held my belly with one hand and reached into the air with the other as the bouquet came flying in my direction. I was a bit too short, so helplessly, I jumped to reach for it.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I gasped, gripping my stomach as I clenched my eyes shut. The feeling of something hot and wet trickled down my legs.

My eyes went wide. Did I just go into labor?