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I took another step forward, and she instinctively took one step back. I could smell she knew I wouldn’t hurt her, but her apprehension over the situation had her retreating.
And that turned me on even more.
The hunter always likes to chase the prey.
But she couldn’t retreat any farther, not when her back was now pressed to a tree, a blockage that allowed me full appraisal of her without her escaping.
Be gentle. Go slowly. Take my time.
With every passing second of being so close to my mate, my sanity was unraveling even more. I didn’t know if I’d ever be a good enough mate to her, especially with how long I’d been on the brink of complete lunacy, but I swore to all the gods in this realm and others that I’d try to do right by her.
But right now, I need to make it known she’s mine.
“Tell me your name, mate.” I leaned in another inch and heard her inhale sharply.
Of course I already knew her name, had gotten it from Ren before I left for the Highlands. In fact, I’d gotten all her information from my brother, all the details about her family. I’d researched before coming after her, needing to know what I was up against, how to win her over, woo her.
But despite knowing all these details, I wanted to hear her tell me her name. I wanted to hear how it sounded as it rolled off her tongue. And that had me thinking of other words and phrases she’d say to me, sexual things, wanton things that she’d whisper in the throes of passion I gave her, as I claimed her.
“Tell me, little one.” I was growling, unable to stop myself as every primal instinct in me demanded that I mark her. “I know I look frightening, but I’d never hurt you.” I reached out, wanting to touch her hair, but before my fingers reached the locks, I curled them into my fist and dropped my arm to my side.
“I know,” she whispered, and I heard the truth in her words once more, in the tone of her voice. “It’s Ainslee.” Her warm, sweet-smelling breath brushed along my neck so powerfully that I actually shuddered at how good it felt.
I found my hands on the trunk on either side of her head, my claws digging into the bark, pieces breaking away and falling to the ground around us. I wasn’t thinking rationally, hadn’t for centuries, but even more so after laying eyes on Ainslee for the first time in over four hundred years.
“Ainslee,” I all but purred and leaned in closer. She was breathing so hard, her little pulse racing beneath her ear, the sound of her beating heart filling my head. It was going so fast, how I’d envision a frightened rabbit would if it was running away from the very creature that stalked it.
And then I leaned in another inch, her chin tipped up so she could look at me, her head pressed to the tree, some blonde strands getting tangled in the bark.
Her throat was arched, bared for me. I stared at her collarbones, then dragged the tip of my nose all the way up the length of her throat, inhaling deeply. I ran my nose up and down her neck, groaning, “I can’t help myself.” My canines sharpened impossibly more, stabbing the bottom of my lip, blood welling from the small puncture wounds.
I leaned back and heard her heart speed up even more, her expression now showing shock, wonder, and … arousal. I moved my face closer so my mouth was just an inch from hers. I stared into her eyes, letting her see what I had to offer her without saying a fucking word.
“Is my little mate hungry?”
She opened her eyes, dipping her gaze to my lips where that blood welled.
Everything in me wanted to slam my lips against hers, plunging my tongue inside her mouth, making her take a part of my essence within her, because I’d take all of hers within me.
She started breathing harder as she stared at the blood, and I sensed her hunger as strongly as if it were my own. The Linking Connection made it so we were two halves of the same whole.
I leaned in another fraction, willing her to take the lead and lick the blood off. Gods, how I wanted that.
I could see how sharp her fangs were, twin points that were pressed to her bottom lip. She was so very hungry, but not in the way that she needed it satiated in the most elemental sense.
She was starving for me.
12
Ainslee
This certainly wasn’t how I saw the night progressing, but I’d be lying if I said this didn’t feel exactly how it should’ve gone.
With my back pressed to a tree.
With my mate caging me in with his hands on either side of my head.
