12. Zariel
Chapter twelve
Zariel
I could hear her breathing and shifting in my room.
In my bed.
She was curled up on my pillow, that perfect body spread out under my sheets, covered in my scent. That brilliant hair was strewn over my pillows like golden rays. That silky night robe was tight against her in the most perfect places. I no longer had to imagine certain curves, and my imagination was more than happy to fill out what it was missing.
Meanwhile, I laid alone on my couch, a thin blanket tossed over me—and stiffened, pushing against the limits of my robes. Before I could think my hand slipped between the folds of fabric—
And then I yanked it away.
I couldn’t. Not with her so close that she could hear. I’d respect the boundaries she had set. That we had set. Besides, we had a mating bond—nothing would satisfy me until it was her clasped around me, taking me inside her. Rumor was that the urge to complete the bond would only get worse if I tried to seek pleasure without her. I didn’t want to test it.
With a frustrated sigh I adjusted my pillows, maneuvering wings that weren’t meant to rest on something so small. I told her I slept out here all the time. I lied. But uncomfortable sleep was the least of my problems.
What had I done to deserve this?
I had a mate that I could never be with. She was human and wasn’t going to stay in the mountain. She had a home, a life, and her own society. She had a brilliant, curious mind and dreams that didn’t deserve to be trapped here. And here was the bond, driving me to fantasize about each and every thing I wanted to do to her. At least she didn’t seem as affected as me. One small mercy.
I wanted what I could never have, and every bit of my body craved for it to be otherwise. To drink from the cup of my desire, to consume her and make her mine in every way.
And beyond that, why did I have to like her so much? Some people detested their mates, even as they were compelled to be together. This was so much harder to bear with her being so delightful to talk to. To admire …
I closed my eyes. Tomorrow. I had to think of tomorrow. And the library. The places we were going to see. The things we were going to discuss. All the knowledge and books I could provide her .
I was absolutely not going to think about how it would feel to have her sliding up and down my length, calling out my name …