It should be humiliating, but instead I felt…safe? A sense of certainty settled over me. I now belonged to Kragorn of the Bloodfire Clan, and I would be his captive forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kragorn
MyKteerhowledwith pride as I felt Lillian come undone on my hand. The scent of her arousal and release filled the air of the little clearing, and I wished the weather was warmer so I could lay her on the ground and lift her skirts andtastesuch a sweet flavor.
As she rode my palm, I murmured praise and promises I half-hoped she couldn’t hear. How could I have lost my head so completely over a female in such a short amount of time?
All I knew was that Lillian wasmine, and I would never let her go.
Mate.
The word slammed into me so hard that I jerked, pulling her closer to me, causing her to gasp.
There is a kenning.
Nan had told us that our entire lives; we would each know our Mate when we met her, that certainty settling into our souls.
And I felt that now.
In shock, I stared down at the little human in my arms, the one who gripped my cloak and shook with the aftereffects of her orgasm flowing through her.
Mine.
I’d been saying it—thinking it—for days now.
But I hadn’t realized what it meant.
Mate.
I would be bound to this tiny, perfect human for the rest of my life.
“Mine,” I growled.
“Aye,” she murmured, her forehead pressed to my chest again, and I allowed myself a proud grin as myKteerrumbled approval. ‘Twas good she saw the truth of our future. She would not fight me on this. Lillianknewshe was mine, and I was hers.
Mate.
I exhaled and felt my tension leave with my breath. Soon I would be home with my Mate at my side, and we could put this nightmare behind us. Soon. The stones were on the other side of this wood, in a clearing in the valley. Lillian and I would be waiting in the shadows when midnight struck and the veil parted, andwe would be safe.
My nightmare was over.
Mayhap, had myKteernot been so distracted by the feeling of my Mate coming apart in my arms, I would have had warning sooner. But as ‘twas, the first indication something was wrong came not from that primitive part of me, but the sound of boots crunching in the snow at my rear.
I forced my attention away from Lillian, from what mycockso desperately urged, and spun about.
“Kragorn?” she whimpered.
My fingers curled into fists as I lifted my arms, danger dashing my desire like a handful of snow down my kilt.
“Climb, Lillian. Up on top of the boulder.”
“What?”
I could hear the confusion in her tone as she gripped the back of my cloak. “Why?”
“So ye’ll be out of danger.” With a grunt, I wrenched my arms wide, the weakened muscles of my arms fighting against the strength of the steel links of the chain.
