He can suffer for now.
I haven’t forgotten the question I’ve asked Nariko. I want to know everything about the woman I’m going to spend forever with.
A slow country song comes on, and I stand, a surprised emotion hitting my chest.
“You’re leaving?” Nariko’s surprise turns to sadness. “Already?”
I toss my hat on the chair and hold out my hand. “You’ll have to make me leave, Sugar. Dance with me.”
“I…I don’t know how to dance, Oklahoma.”
I bend down, caging her in by gripping the rocking chair, stopping it from moving, and those gorgeous fucking brown eyes round. Her breathing picks up. Lust infiltrates the air, mixing with the smoke from the fire, and it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever inhaled.
“That’s okay. You don’t need to know how. I only want you close to me.”
That earns me a shy, bashful twist of her lips. Her much smaller hand slips across my palm, her flesh warm from the fire and soft to the touch.
Fuck, I’m obsessed.
I don’t think there’s a part of her I don’t find captivating.
“No one else is dancing,” she whispers in warning.
I lean down, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I don’t care.”
Her cheeks pinken, and I can’t stop myself. I drag my lips across her jaw, inhaling the scent of her blood since it’s so close to the skin.
“You do that a lot.”
I pull away, slightly drugged from the aroma. “Do what?”
“Sniff me.”
“I do not sniff,” I scoff, leading her to a clearing in the field.
“You sniff,” she giggles, making that sound again that I’m obsessed with.
I spin her around the grass long enough to hide our feet. She cries out in laughter. The biggest smile I’ve ever seen overcomes her face, and it doesn’t fall when I yank her against my chest.
Instead, Nariko stares at me like I’m the only star in her sky. I’d darken every damn day if it means she looks at me like this all the time.
“Maybe I do sniff,” I admit with a bit of embarrassment. Taking her hand in mine, I sigh in content when our bodies give in to being so close after we’ve been forcing them to stay apart. Like two magnets finally finding one another. “I can’t help it. You smell so damn good.”
My hand tightens around her waist, yanking her closer, her body against mine.
“Maybe it’s my shampoo,” she says.
I shake my head, twirling her again. “It’s not your shampoo I’m smelling, Sugar. Although, I do love your hair.” I reach fora wild strand, wrapping it around my finger, consumed by how long and soft it is.
“Then what do you smell?” A small wrinkle forms between her brows in concentration, not understanding me.
I dip her over my knee, her breasts pressing against the thin material of her shirt. Her nipples harden, and I have to dig my fingers into her hips to stop myself from ripping her top off and sucking a delicious bead between my lips.
Lifting her up, I gather her hair, placing it all on the other shoulder so I can have a view of her neck. So flawless. So smooth. My thumb swipes over the spot that will hold my mating mark. My gums tingle as my fangs descend. I spin us away from the fire, my back turned so no one can see my face.
Only Nariko.
I let my eyes shine their true color, and I bury my face in the curve of her shoulder. “I smell you. Your blood.”
