Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Hearing those words leave her mouth, the dam broke inside me. She responded to my plea, and that cracked open something wide in my chest. Whatever blood flow remained that wasn’t already in my cock hastily made its way there.
I don’t know if Harlow realized the power she had over me, what her words had unleashed, but my focus tunneled. There was nothing but the desire to feel her, consume her, and claim her as my lifelong mate.
My hand slid from the side of her face to the back of her neck. Supporting her head, I drew her to me, meeting her halfway before my lips crashed onto hers.
A small voice in my head said to be gentle. The primal instinct that had my cock throbbing told it to go fuck off even as Harlow’s surprised gasp was lost against my mouth.
She could have rejected me, kneed me in the balls, screamed for help, or even attempted to inflict blunt force trauma on my skull.
I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had, but she didn’t.
Instead, there I was breathing her in and drinking her down like the smoothest whiskey while relishing in the intoxication.
Tasting her mouth, my tongue lashed against hers in a frantic need to explore all the places that I never knew I craved. My brain was muddled with thoughts of all the sins we could share between us.
My body lowered onto hers, still maintaining enough awareness to brace myself so as not to crush her beneath my weight.
Still cradling the back of her head, my fingers threaded through her silken tresses.
My hand clenched and unclenched around the handful of hair, fighting the urge to control her fully as I ravaged her.
Time slipped away, our connection remained unbroken. Her gasps came out muffled in the clash of our tongues, teeth, and passionate exploration. Harlow’s hands were anchored on my shoulders, one moment pulling on my body and the next pushing.
There was something about the way our bond strengthened the more I indulged.
Or maybe it was just freedom from all the restraints I had placed on myself over the years.
No one had ever possessed the key to these self-imposed shackles inside me.
The ones that refused to acknowledge anything beyond the physical.
Even now, there was a profound shift inside me just by a kiss alone. I had never been one for lingering on this particular act of affection, yet here I was willing to spend all night just tasting her. I let my mouth silently do all the talking of how much I wanted her.
My body trembled from a raging storm of feelings like a leaf caught in a tornado of shared moments.
Behind my eyelids, vivid memories were seared into my brain of all our interactions.
Every spark that had danced along my skin from the brush against each other outside the bookstore, the heated breaths we shared inside the general store, and the way our fingers weaved together at the festival.
That moment, standing by the tractor, our heartbeats synced while the world bowed to the rotation of our combined axis.
Her spirit had felt like the cool illumination of moonlight spilling over the black and glasslike surface of my sea.
The effect was calming even when the waters violently crashed against the distant shore.
Now, here she was like a dark dream, as I prepared to cement our bond.
Forced to break away from her mouth, I choked on the rush of air into my lungs. Reaching behind my head, I hastily tugged at my hoodie, drawing it over my head until the jerky movements shed it from my body.
Harlow’s initial spike of fear, which had been prevalent before the kiss, seemed to have resolved itself. A wariness still lingered beneath the surface, perhaps her inner feline assessing if any real danger lingered.
“Corbin,” she whispered my name. The sound of her saying it with the same lips I had just left swollen branded me just as much as her bite had at the festival.
I couldn’t bear for her to finish whatever thoughts were going through her mind. If she rejected me right now, my soul wouldn’t just be crushed, but it would never take flight again.
Stopping any more words from being spoken, I swallowed her down again with my mouth. This time, the kisses were slower, but no less demanding in their urgency. I dragged my hand down the center of her chest, finding where the material lay against the top swell of her breast.
Pulling the fabric down, I exposed one perfectly round tit to the cool air of the room.
Fuck, the way it filled my hand. It was enough to knead, enough that my hips pressed down against hers in appreciation of the smooth skin that gave way to the stiff peak of her nipple. My thumb brushed over the tip several times, delighting at the way it made her body squirm wildly beneath me.
I broke away from her mouth and hungrily lowered my mouth between her cleavage. Growling appreciatively at the sight, I yanked the top of her camisole down even further, disregarding the sound of fabric tearing somewhere at the seams.
My teeth sank into her breast, enough to leave impressions but not break the skin. Maybe one day I’d mark her that way like she had done to me. But tonight, this was about knowing how her body yielded to mine.
A sharp gasp came from her pretty mouth, her hands both flying to my head and grabbing hold of my long strands. The tugging burned at my scalp, but it only drove me to continue. My mouth now closed over her rosy nipple, sucking while my tongue flicked at the pebbled flesh.
Harlow’s chest rose and fell with her breaths; the whimpers she made were answered by my groans against her skin.
Was there something the fuck wrong with me? Maybe, but I didn’t care. Cause everything about her was right.
“Please, Corbin. Just—” she moaned mid-beg as I dragged my teeth over her tight little peak, “—fuck.”
Releasing her breast, I looked up at her to see pupils enlarged enough to eclipse the mossy green hues. Still, I could see how the heady feeling of our souls speaking to one another was weighing on her. Her teeth worried at her bottom lip.
“Stop fighting it.” My words designed to encourage, not to demand. “Let whatever this is take hold. Just let go, for me.”
The power arcing between us was designed to consume in order to grow, not to destroy. Sometimes, even flames burned to salvage something beautiful.
She drew in a shaky breath, releasing her grip on my hair to tangle in her own. “I’m trying.”
My gaze was locked on hers as I pushed back onto my heels. I stripped out of the T-shirt that had been under my hoodie, leaving me bare-chested before her.
“Listen to what is calling to you, not what your mind is limiting you to.”
I lowered myself down on top of her again, this time my hand hiking her leg up until it wrapped around my waist.
Rocking my hips against her center, the unforgiving heat of her core could be felt despite the layers of clothing preventing the contact that I desired more than life itself. The bulge of my cock sought more friction, communicating my unmistakable intent.
Her breath hitched on a moan that slipped out.
Lowering my lips onto hers, I tasted the temptation on her tongue now. She was coming around to letting fate rightfully take its reins.
Whispering against her lips, I confessed the dark thoughts swirling around inside my head. “You know what calls to me?”
I paused to make sure I had her attention with another slow roll of my hips against her parted thighs.
My voice dipped lower, using a tone that sounded like honey dripping over gravel. “Splitting you open on my cock until you strangle it into submission.”
Let her think on that while I struck like lightning along the shore—quick, scorching, and expansive. I claimed her mouth again, this time pairing my tongue’s movements with those of my hips. Each filthy grind of my confined cock against her core had me groaning in sensual torture.
The strangled sounds she made into the kiss were fuel to my fire. There was no rational thinking. My hands went to work over her body. I found the weak seam in her camisole that had already been compromised, further ripping it until it was nothing but a useless scrap.
Pulling away, I stared down at those perfect breasts below me, now fully exposed. God, she was so fucking beautiful. I couldn’t wait another second; I needed to feel just how beautiful she was when she took every inch of my cock.
“You’re damn perfect, Harlow,” I rasped out while I quickly pulled her sweats down over her legs, dragging her panties along with them.
Seeing her spread out on the bed like this, looking up at me with flushed cheeks, was like staring at a priceless piece of art.
Her legs narrowed, closing the gap between them until I halted their closure with a hand on one thigh and my knee wedged against the other.
“This is all happening really fast, Corbin,” she admitted as I undid my belt one-handedly.
The tone of her voice gave me pause. Slowly, I finished sliding the zipper down on my jeans.
She propped herself up on her elbows. “Being here with you right now makes my head spin. Like I’m caught in a vortex, unsure of where the sky meets the ground.”
I knew the feeling all too well. But to me, she was the calming center of my chaos.
“Then, let me be your anchor. Let me ground you.” My hand massaged over the silky skin of her inner thigh, coaxing her to spread herself open for me. “Just make sure you hold on tight, baby girl.”
Uncertainty of how to weather this storm between us played out on her face. My eyes never left hers during the long stretch of silence as she lay there trapped in her thoughts.
Before she even responded, I knew how this was ending. A subtle release of the tension in her legs told me everything.
“Let me see you.” I nudged her legs open wider for me. Seeing her open and exposed to me, it stole my breath away. She was godsdamn dripping for me, her pussy glistening with arousal.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Look at you. All that for me.”