She’d sat up now, holding the comforter to her chest, studying me. “It sounds romantic.”
I shrugged. “There is a knowing. That’s what we’re taught as children.” AknowingI could feel with more certainty each passing hour. Still, I crept through the explanation, not wanting to overwhelm her. “When we find our Mates, we’re connected—mind, heart, body,soul. Both of us feel the pull, and we’re connected to that person for the rest of our lives.”
Her eyes had gone wide, and now she reached for me, placing her small fingers on my arm. “That’s beautiful, Kardok.”
I dropped my gaze, mesmerized by the sight of her skin against the black-and-green of my tattoos. When she began to stroke me—gentle movements I doubted were supposed to be as erotic as they were—I had to bite down on my groan.
“Yeah, well,” I rasped, then shrugged again. “Korrad found his Mate years ago, but she died. His marriage sounds happy, but…”
“But he’ll never have another Mate?” Her fingers curled around my arm. “That’s depressing.”
“I guess.” Fuck, we could be talking about outer space for all that I could concentrate on anything other than the sweet scent of her arousal. “Why don’t you come over here, Princess, and I’ll give you something to feel good about.”
With a chuckle, Lila did as I suggested. The comforter fell away from her as she climbed over, straddling my thighs until the wet of her pussy bracketed the bulge in my boxers.
“You’re still wearing your underwear,” she said impishly, sliding her palms over my chest. “Why don’t you take care of that?”
“Because tonight is supposed to be aboutyourpleasure.” And because, if we were really Mates, then I wasn’t sure if I should keep claiming her untilshewas certain.
She merely laughed and reached for the elastic waist. “And how do you think I’m supposed to do that, Kardok, without your cock inside me?”
With that, her small fingers wrapped around my thick length, and I gave up fighting. With a groan of surrender, I pulled her mouth down to mine, fitting her curves against my skin.
Where she belonged.
Whether she knew it or not.
Chapter Eleven
Lila
I don’t thinkI’d ever been this happy before.
I could remember, when I was seven and I asked Daddy for a pony, how ridiculously happy I’d been for him to tell meno but,and instead send me off to horse camp for the summer. Three months of brushing withers, cleaning hooves, and riding Sunshine and Loopy.
But even then, I’d missed my father and my home.
Right now? There wasnothingI was missing, which was kind of bonkers, if I stopped to think about it.
Kardok was…everything I’d always wanted, and not just in a sexual way—although that was going swimmingly, thank you for asking—but in basically every other way that mattered.
He made mehappyin a million little ways.
Yes, that was it.
And somewhere along the way, somewhere between the teasing and the dinners and the incredible orgasms—instant or otherwise—I’d fallen in love with Kardok the Wicked.
In the last few weeks, we’d spent every night alternating between our apartments, and the second time I returned to his, I discovered that Kardok had stocked his bathroom with my brand of shampoo and bodywash, and he’d purchased a box of my favorite tea, without me saying anything to him. And the second time he stayed atmyapartment, I woke up to find him making me that tea exactly the way I liked it—a packet of sweetener and a splash of cream—after apparently having fixed all the squeaky hinges in my kitchen.
In the mornings, when I was so chilly, Kardok would just reach for me and pull me onto his lap as I sipped my tea, warming me without breaking our conversation.
And our conversations? Helistened. Not like the way most people listened; just cataloging my words in order to think of what they were going to say when it was their turn. Kardok would go completely still, his eyes tracking my expression, as if I were the only person in the world. As if my words were the only things that mattered, and thenafterhe would ask thoughtful questions.
And he remembered what I answered.
Was it any wonder I loved him?
Once, I was complaining about a problem with work—a legal matter I couldn’t get a straight answer on—and he nodded and kissed me and told me I wouldfigure it out. Then a few days later, he asked me about it and how I’d managed to resolve it.
