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A second later— “We need this.”
He was right—I knew it. The ache in my chest had been building steadily for days, demanding release. I recognized it now, knew it was the mating bond demanding satisfaction.
Maybe it wasn’t just the mating bond.
Maybe when he saidwe, he didn’t mean the primal thing in our chests. Maybe he just meantus—the male and female who’d forged a trust amid a court of lies and deceit.
I needed this… because I needed him. And the only way I could admit it was with my body. The words were too painful, the emotions too raw. I’d promised myself that after Arthur, after the pain of his loss… I would never open myself up to that kind of pain again.
I’d let in my friends, my Knights of the Round Table. But though they were my friends, the part of me that Arran threatened was entirely different.
It was a place entirely untouched, even by my beloved brother.
The love of a male who was my equal, my partner.
My everything.
Today, in those terrible moments when I’d thought him dead… I’d known what he felt when I disappeared into the void. I understood how easy it would have been to kill everyone in sight, just to try and quell the roar inside.
I could almost see the word forming, feel it in my chest…
But I refused. Even now, even as I pressed up into him and let his fingers work their magic, my climax already so close, my soul reaching for his… I couldn’t do it.
Couldn’t think it.
Couldn’t say it.
The wall I’d erected around my carefully healed heart had to remain intact. Otherwise, I was too vulnerable. I would not be in control. I would not be able to protect myself or Annwyn.
I pressed my eyes shut again.
I filtered out the sounds of the crackling fire and the murmurs from nearby tents.
I needed this escape.
I needed Arran.
Admitting that was enough.
He slid a finger inside of me and I forgot about everyone else. But Arran covered my mouth with his, devouring my moans, the ones that were for him alone.
“Hush,” he breathed against my lips. “Or everyone will hear just how wicked you are.”
I bit down hard on my lip. “Just like that,” he said, dragging his canines over my chin. “Keep quiet while I worship you.”
A challenge. A distraction.
A male who might know me and what I needed better than I knew myself.
His teeth caught on the top of my tunic.
“Don’t rip it,” I hissed. “We don’t have a palace full of seamstresses.”
I felt the soft rumble of his beast, but he obeyed, tugging the tunic up instead so he could feast upon my breasts.
We were both exhausted. It ought to have been quick.
But maybe because of that, there was no frenzy. Our movements were slow because this was the last muster of our energy and we were giving it to each other.
