Chapter 14
For once, the future didn’t terrify Marigold. It shone with promise. With hope. The rest of the world could wait just a minute while Gavin helped heal her soul with his gentle touch.
His lips brushed hers again, softer now, coaxing instead of demanding, as if reminding her she could slow down if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to slow down. Every brush of his mouth felt like sunlight on frozen skin, melting years of numbness she hadn’t realized had taken hold of her.
Her fingers slid into his hair, clutching lightly. He responded with a low rumble of approval, his warmth seeping through her everywhere they touched. The sound of it shivered through her, fierce and protective, yet tender in a way that undid her completely.
“Gavin…” She breathed his name like a prayer, tilting up into his kiss as if she’d been waiting for this moment her entire life.
His weight pressed her gently into the bed, not trapping, but shielding, his presence a barrier against every shadow that had ever haunted her.
His hands traced her sides, skimming the curve of her waist as if memorizing her shape.
Each touch stole a little more of her fear, replacing it with aching want.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, but she didn’t care. All she could focus on was him. On the heat of his body, the rasp of his stubble against her skin, and the way his beautiful eyes blazed with something she had never seen directed at her before.
He kissed her again, slower this time, lingering, as though to prove this encounter wasn’t fueled by desperation alone. This was a choice. A connection between two souls. The promise of something that could be lasting. His thumb brushed her cheek, gentle in stark contrast to the hunger in his kiss.
Marigold’s body arched into his instinctively, chasing the comfort and the fire he offered in equal measure. She wanted to lose herself in him, to forget for a little while that she’d ever felt anything other than wanted by this man.
“I’ve got you,” Gavin whispered against her lips, his forehead resting against hers. The roughness of his voice vibrated down to her bones.
Tears stung her eyes again, but these weren’t tears of grief or fear. These were born of relief so sharp it was almost joy. She pulled him closer, holding him as if she could anchor herself to him, as if she could pour all the fragile, burgeoning feelings swarming through her into her touch.
Their kisses deepened, the world narrowing down to the rhythm of breath and heartbeat, to warmth and need and the fierce tenderness that wrapped around them both.
Her hands roamed over the broad planes of his back, discovering the strength there, while his mouth traced the hollow of her throat, her collarbone, each kiss drawing a shiver from her.
When he turned her onto her side, she wondered what he had in mind, but it didn’t take long to find out. He slid into her from behind, making her gasp at the unexpected intrusion, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Not by a long shot.
Her body was wet and ready and surprisingly no longer sore from their first encounter. She was ready for him. Greedy for him.
“Is this all right?” he asked, nibbling on her earlobe as he pulled her back against him and lifted one of her legs back, placing it over his hip so he could slide even deeper into her.
She answered with a moan of delight, unable to form coherent words as her excitement hit an all-new level.
Gavin’s large hands cupped her breasts from behind, plying her nipples with gentle tugs and steady pressure that drove her wild.
One hand moved lower to tease her clit with glancing touches that sent her senses into orbit as she climaxed.
When she came back to Earth, he was still hard inside her, his motion not having changed.
“I like the way you come for me, Goldie. I love your little cries and panting breaths. Let’s see how many times I can make you sing for me before I join you in the stratosphere.”
His growly voice near her ear almost made her come again right there on the spot, but he changed their positions so that she was kneeling on the bed with her ass in the air as he slid in behind. His big body covered hers at first, then he rose, sliding even deeper.
“I love watching you take my cock,” he whispered.
She looked back over her shoulder to see his gaze trained on the place where their bodies joined, and she felt her inner muscles clamp down on him. She couldn’t help herself. That act seemed so…intimate.
“You like that?” he asked, moving faster within her, driving her higher.
“I think… I think I do,” she rasped out as another climax approached.
“I’ll have to get you a mirror so you can see too. But not right now,” he said, then shocked the heck out of her by slapping her ass.
She squealed, unprepared for his move and unsure what it meant, besides the fact that it excited her more than she ever would have guessed. He did it again, and she climaxed hard around him, loving the feel of him inside her, and the way he possessed her.
When she came back to herself, they were in another position.
He’d moved her around so that she was flat on her back, but her legs were raised high in the air, her calves resting on his broad shoulders while his cock rammed into her with increasingly powerful thrusts.
She was ready and willing, up for anything this amazing man had to show her.
Already, her senses were gearing up for another climax, and she almost feared this one would be even more powerful than those that had come before.
Feared it and anticipated it. She wanted everything Gavin could give her. She wanted to experience everything with him and return the pleasure to him, if at all possible. This time, she wanted him to come with her when she fell off the edge of the world.
“Come with me, Gavin. I want you to feel good too,” she begged as her passions rose ever higher, along with his increasing pace.
He didn’t reply in words, but when she reached the highest yet plateau, he was there with her, falling over the edge into oblivion with her.
He shouted her name as she cried out, clenching around him as he pulsed into her.
They were one in pleasure. One in body. One heartbeat shared between two hearts for that moment out of time.
A short while later, they were together in sleep, exhausted from their exertions.
Marigold wasn’t really sure how long they’d slept, but at some point, her stomach growled. Gavin laughed and hugged her closer, spooning her as they woke from the après-sex stupor they’d been in.
“Either you have a hungry lion trapped inside you, or your body’s trying to say it needs food.” He rubbed one hand over the soft swell of her tummy, and she felt heat blossom inside once again. This man was lethal. He could excite her with his slightest touch.
She was so curious about him, especially after sharing pleasure with him. He was entirely outside of her experience, and she wanted to know everything about him. She was especially fascinated by the idea of him becoming a lion.
“Would you show me your lion sometime?” she asked, gathering her courage to pose the question. The moment felt intimate, and she thought he just might indulge her if she asked nicely.
Gavin smiled. “Is now too soon for you?”
Her breath caught. Without a further word, he shimmered with magical golden sparks and went from his gorgeous naked human form on the bed next to her into the shape of a reclining lion.
He bared his teeth as she sat up, but she wasn’t afraid.
She rather thought he was smiling, even if his gigantic teeth were totally intimidating.
She wasn’t scared. She knew him well enough by now to believe that he would never hurt her.
“Can I?” she asked, reaching out toward his mane, wondering if it wasn’t too rude to ask to stroke him in his shifted form.
In answer, he ducked his head under her open palm and made the connection.
She was touching the side of his face, stroking her hand through the lion’s mane that fascinated her so.
The man was beautiful in either form, but his lion was both stunning and lethal.
Those teeth, she knew, weren’t just for show.
Nor were the incredibly large claws she saw when he reached out with one big paw and flexed for her.
“Now you’re just showing off.” She laughed, surprised by how unafraid she was of him in this deadly form. He chuffed, and she felt the joy in the sound right down to her toes.
Her hand went from his mane, down to stroke over the much shorter and sleeker fur on his side. Goddess, he was a feast for the senses in either form, but his fur felt downright decadent. All that warmth and softness with hard muscles just under the surface. Delicious.
A shower of golden sparks blinded her momentarily, and her hand went from soft fur to warm human skin. He was back in his human form, and he was smiling at her.
“Did you like my lion form?” His grin was downright sexy.
“I think you know I did. You’re a handsome beast, Gavin, no matter what shape you choose to wear.”
“A compliment?” He reached out to run the backs of his fingers over the curve of her cheek in a move that made her feel so special. “I’m flattered. Especially coming from a beauty such as yourself.”
She felt the heat in her cheeks and knew she was blushing. She’d never received compliments from a man before and wasn’t sure how to handle it. Maybe he was just being nice?
“I’m no beauty,” she mumbled, lowering her eyes.
He coaxed her to look back at him with a finger under her chin. “I’ll have to convince you otherwise, Goldie. Give me time, and I’ll do my best to show you how lovely you are, inside and out.”
He might have said more, but her stomach growled again, and her blush increased. It was becoming very obvious, indeed, that she was hungry.