Chapter 15 #3
I stood long enough to strip off my jeans and boots, watching her eyes widen as she took in my body. My cock was hard and heavy, already leaking at the tip, and when her gaze fixed on it I saw her bite her lip.
"Can I touch you?" she asked.
"Later." I climbed back onto the bed, settling between her thighs. "Right now, this is about you."
I kissed my way down her body again, slower this time, savoring every gasp and whimper I drew from her. When I reached the apex of her thighs, I paused, breathing in her scent. Sweet and spicy and intoxicating. My mouth watered.
"Ripplan." Her voice was pleading now. "Please."
I spread her thighs wider and put my mouth on her. She cried out, her back arching off the bed as I licked through her folds, tasting her arousal. She was already wet, slick and ready, and the knowledge that I did this to her made possessive satisfaction surge through me.
I took my time, learning what she liked. Long, slow strokes of my tongue made her moan. Circling her clit made her hips buck. And when I slid two fingers inside her while sucking gently on that sensitive bundle of nerves, she came apart with a cry that sounded like my name and a prayer all at once.
I worked her through it, gentling my touch as the aftershocks rolled through her. When she finally went limp, I kissed my way back up her body, settling my weight over her.
"Better?" I asked, brushing damp hair back from her face.
"I don't think I can move." Her voice was languid, satisfied, but her eyes were still dark with need. "But I want more. I want you inside me."
"Are you sure?" I searched her face, looking for any sign of hesitation. "We can stop if you need to."
"I don't want to stop." She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me closer. "I need this. I need you."
I reached between us, positioning myself at her entrance. She was hot and wet, her body welcoming me as I pushed inside slowly, giving her time to adjust. She was tight, so damn tight it took everything I had not to lose control and bury myself to the hilt in one thrust.
"Gods, Tammy." My voice came out rough, strained. "You feel incredible."
"More." Her nails dug into my shoulders. "I need all of you."
I sank deeper, inch by inch, until I was fully seated inside her. We both groaned at the sensation, the perfect fit, the overwhelming rightness of being joined like this. I held still, letting her adjust, watching her face for any sign of discomfort.
"Okay?" I managed.
"Perfect." She rolled her hips experimentally, and I nearly lost my mind. "Move, Ripplan. Please."
I started slow, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in. Long, deep strokes that made her gasp and cling to me. But slow wasn't enough. Not for either of us. She met me thrust for thrust, her body rising to meet mine, her breath coming in short, desperate pants.
"Harder," she whispered against my mouth. "I won't break."
Something in me snapped. I gripped her hips and drove into her with more force, more urgency, chasing the pleasure building at the base of my spine. She cried out, her head falling back, her body arching beneath me.
"Look at me," I said roughly, the same words I'd used before but with different meaning now. "I want to see you when you come."
Her eyes opened, meeting mine. They were still red from crying, but there was something else in them now. Something that made my chest tight and my heart race. Trust and need and desire all tangled together, and underneath it all, something that looked like the beginning of love.
"I've got you," I said again, my voice breaking on the words. "Always. Do you understand? I will always protect you."
"I know." Her hands came up to frame my face, her touch gentle despite the intensity of what we were doing. "I know you will."
I kissed her as I moved inside her, pouring everything I couldn't say into the kiss.
The fear I'd felt when Thurlee said she needed me.
The rage at Craig for hurting her, for threatening her, for making her cry.
The desperate, overwhelming need to keep her safe from everything and everyone who might try to harm her.
The certainty, absolute and unshakable, that she was mine.
Her inner walls started to flutter around me, tightening in a rhythm that told me she was close. I reached between us, finding her clit and circling it with my thumb. She gasped, her whole body going taut.
"Come for me," I said against her mouth. "Let go, Tammy. I've got you."
She shattered. Her orgasm hit her like a wave, her body clenching around me so tightly I saw stars. She cried out my name, like it was a lifeline, like it was everything, and the sound of it pushed me over the edge.
I followed her into bliss, burying myself deep as my release tore through me. Wave after wave of pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, and through it all I held her, kept her safe, made sure she knew she wasn't alone.
When I could breathe again, I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her scent. Sweetness and spice and mine. I felt something fundamental shift inside me.
This wasn't just sex. Wasn't just attraction or desire or even affection.
This was everything.
Mate.
The word whispered through my mind, insistent and terrifying in equal measure.
I'd never believed in it. Not really. The kind of romantic nonsense that made for good stories around the fire but had no place in real life. I dealt in facts, in evidence, in things I could see and touch and prove.
But this felt like proof.
The way my chest tightened when she smiled. The way her scent called to something primal and possessive deep inside me. The way I couldn't stand the thought of being away from her, of not knowing if she was safe, of anyone else touching what was mine.
The way everything in me had screamed to protect her, claim her, keep her from the moment I'd realized she was in danger.
But I couldn't let myself believe it. Not yet.
Because if Tammy was truly my fated mate, then everything changed. Everything became more complicated, more dangerous, more permanent. And she was human. She didn't feel what I felt, didn't understand the depth of what was building between us.
She didn't know that every instinct I had was screaming at me to mark her, to bind her to me so completely that no one would ever question who she belonged to.
And I couldn't tell her. Not when she was already scared, already vulnerable, already dealing with so much. Not when she might run if she knew the truth of what I wanted.
What I needed.
So I held her closer instead, breathing in her scent, feeling her heartbeat against my chest, and told myself it didn't matter what this was called. It didn't matter if it was the mate bond or something else entirely.
All that mattered was that she was here, in my arms, safe and warm and mine.
For now, that would have to be enough.