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What if...what if he’d made a mistake, andNeekawas his fated one? He’d told himself it was impossible, but was it?
The mere idea awoke a possessive beast inside him. It snarled and clawed, demanding its due. Her, only her. Him for her, and only him. No one else should hear these delicious noises she made. No other should hold and touch her like this. Rathbone the Only for Neeka.
He kissed her harder. Deeper. Desperate to leave his mark. Whatever she was to him, he—they—were done with their old ways of doing business. Pretending to be unaffected by each other. And he knew she’d pretended. Being draped on her neck today, he’d felt her pulse hammer with arousal. He’d also felt the heat of her silken skin and scented the fragrance of tart cherries and sweet almonds with every breath. He’d gotten locked in a constant cycle of arousal, too. Need her, calm himself. Need her, calm himself.
Now, his awareness of her reached new heights.Despitethe windfall of truth that had been unleashed and the magnitude of events taking place around them. World-changing things he must deal with once he could think past the enigmatic beauty he longed to make scream in his bed.
Bed. Yes. Growling, Rathbone gripped Neeka by the waist and tossed her on the mattress. He covered her body with his before she ceased bouncing, pinning her with his weight. As she coiled her limbs around him, he let himself sink into her. He sucked air between his teeth. Hardness pressed into softness, and it maddened him.
“I want you,” he all but snarled, bracing on his elbows. Panting breaths left him. “All of you. Everything. Nothing held back.”
Dark, luminous eyes met his, somehow confident yet vulnerable and so haunting he might see them in his dreams for the rest of eternity. “Why do you want me so much when you’re in love with another?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Let’s not talk of her. There’s only you and me in this bed.”
She groaned, saying, “Dang you. That’s a good answer.” Softening against him, she moistened her lips. “I won’t give you everything, but I will give you more. Remember, anything but the ultimate penetration.”
“Very well.” He would take whatever she offered and make it count.
Though the storm continued to whip inside him, Rathbone gently cupped her cheek and traced the pad of his thumb over the dip in her bottom lip. Her inhalation hitched. He lowered his head, kissed her brow, one eye then the other, then the bridge of her nose. The tip. She seemed to stop breathing entirely. Tremors rocked her against him. His? Hers? Both?
“Prepare yourself foranything,” he commanded.
Her lids hooded. “Preparemyself?” Tendrils of curly black hair had escaped confinement and framed her face. “I’m supposed to do your job for you?” she teased, a siren he couldn’t resist.
He gave her what must be a big bad wolf smile. “The oracle likes to play with her male. Noted.”
The claimher malereverberated in his head, and it wasn’t panic he experienced but satisfaction.
Their gazes met. Had she noticed his words?
With a ragged cry, Neeka lifted her head and claimed his lips. Oh, she’d noticed. She fisted his hair and thrust her tongue against his. Any gentleness in her had evaporated. Her ferocity sparked his, the kiss becoming frantic.
As she dragged her little harpy claws along his scalp, heat rushed over him. Thoughts dissolved one after the other. The hottest, sweetest desire raged. A potent blend of sensation, frenzy, and bliss.
Driven by primitive instinct, he slid his hands over her body. Learning her hollows. Kneading her peaks. Marveling. Her every curve dawned a revelation of rapture. And her reactions to his touch...
Guttural growls erupted from him. She responded with unabashed euphoria, moaning and writhing, urging him on and on and on. So on and on and on he went. And still the kiss continued. Still hands wandered. When he slipped his fingers beneath her panties, he thought he might never get enough.
Rathbone teased and tormented her until she gifted him with a string of ragged cries. As he slid a digit into her wetness, he licked her lips, her jaw, and ran her ear lobe between his teeth.
Eyes closed, panting and writhing as she chased his touch, she tilted her head, baring her vulnerable neck in offering. His chest clenched at the sight and feel of her. Pleasure in its purest form.
Heart a thunderous boom, he traced his tongue along her carotid, where hot blood rushed. When he reached the top of her transparent tank, truth spilled from him. “I don’t think I’ll have the strength to ever let you go.”
She moaned and squirmed, sending his fingers deeper with their next inward glide. “I know you’re talking, but I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Good. He didn’t want her to know. Not yet. He wasn’t sure of her reaction—wasn’t even sure of his own.
“Was it sexy, what you said?” She rocked her hips, straining the limits of his control. “I bet it was sexy.”
“It was truth.”
She chuckled, the soft sound washing over him. “There you go, talking without letting me know what you’re saying.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” He sucked her racing pulse. As she treated him to another exquisite moan, he pulled from her, climbed to his knees, and straddled her thighs. “Look at you,” he said, and lapped at the honey coating his fingers.
Amber eyes dipped. Lips plumped from his kisses parted.
