Wild Instinct (26 page)

Her hands pressed against his chest. He prolonged the kiss. She moaned. The scent of her desire increased, but her mind didn’t touch his.

He allowed a breath of air between them. “Don’t you hold back from me. Rant, rage, but don’t hold back.”

Her hands cupped his cheeks. Soft, delicate. Hands that held his world without even knowing it. He caught one and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss deep into the palm. “That scares the hell out of me.”

“What?” she asked.

He squeezed her fingers. “You hold my world in your hands, yet you worry about meaningless words like ‘love’ when I’ve proven there’s nothing I won’t do for you, nothing more important to me than your well-being.”

She frowned up at him. Her calf slid up the outside of his. “You have?”

“I bonded my life to yours.” He placed his palm over her mark, the moment vivid in his memory. Pure potential. Pure emotion. Pure perfection. He wouldn’t take it back. “My soul to yours, in this life and the next. We are bound.”

She shivered and then froze. “Heather said that means you die when I die. And vice versa.”

“Yes.”

“Yet you bonded to me when I was dying.”

He slid his hand under the edge of her gown. The hollow of her back beckoned. “Yes.”

“Because there was no choice?”

“Because after feeling the touch of your energy, seeing your face, I couldn’t go back to nothing.”

It was a statement of fact every werewolf understood. A mate was light, hope, a gift from God. Precious. Teri reacted as if he’d given her a prize. Her energy surged over his; her mind thrust into his. Her scent spiked with excitement.

“You wanted me.”

He lifted her up. Her legs went around his waist. Her groin pressed against the ridge of his cock. He growled in frustration as the long skirt of the nightgown bunched between them. There was too much keeping him from her. “I’ve waited centuries for you.”

She smiled and tugged his tie out from his hair. The sting in his scalp only added to the excitement of holding her. “You’re an old man.”

Did that matter? “I am closer to the end of my life than the beginning.”

She kissed his chin. The darkness pressing in on him lightened. “You’re just ancient.”

“Yes.”

She smiled. “We have to work on your literal interpretation of everything. I was joking.”

“I was not. I offer you less time than Garrett offers Sarah Anne.”

“I was only looking forward to another sixty years anyway.”

He brushed his lip over her eyelids. He could probably give her a hundred and fifty. “Then maybe you won’t be disappointed.”

“I think you were the one who was more likely to be disappointed. You didn’t know what I looked like.”

“But I knew how I would feel when I was with you. I knew I’d no longer be alone. There could be nothing more beautiful to me than you.”

“And when you met me?”

“You were more than I ever dreamed would be mine.”

And he’d almost lost her in the same moment. There was no other word to describe the pain of that moment other than anguish. He carried them to the chair and a half in the corner of the room and sat, needing to hold her to abolish the memory of the feel of her slipping away to the darkness he couldn’t see into. . . .

“Daire!”

He winced as her gasp blew past her ear. He was holding her too tightly. “I’m sorry.”

Her arms wrapped around his neck. “It’s all right.”

“I forgot myself.”

Because he loved her, Teri realized, reading his mind. It wasn’t an emotion that came to Daire slowly. It was the equivalent of love at first sight, something she believed in. But more. So much more. She’d been in his mind when he’d recalled the first time he saw her face. She’d felt his shock and wonder. His despair when he’d recognized her condition. The fierceness with which he’d fought for her life.

The words welled out of memory, hoarsely growled, ripe with emotion, the one clear recall she had amid the chaos of that night. The spot on her shoulder burned hotter, as if it absorbed the energy of his emotion. She touched it. “Will you really die if I do?”

“Yes.”

“And if you die, I die.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

She waved the apology away. He had nothing to be sorry for. She hadn’t been any more ready to die then than she was now. He’d given her back her life. “And there’s no way out?”

“Do you want one?” He was always doing that. Answering her questions with another.

“I don’t know.” There was certainly a lot to admire about Daire, but there was that one little sticking point she couldn’t get past. “I don’t like that I didn’t make the choice.”

“You did.”

“When?”

“When my energy touched yours, you could have pushed me away or let go anytime afterward.”

“And if I had?”

“You would have died.”

He said it without inflection, despite the instinctive lash of denial she felt from his energy.

“You couldn’t force me to stay?”

“The will to live is a primal emotion. Too individual to force.” He pushed the hair back from her cheek. His fingertips lingered against her jaw. “The best I could do was try to persuade you you had something to live for.”

Him. The price for her life was a future with him. Handsome, sexy Daire with the will of iron, the core of honor that went soul deep, and the ability to love that was as deep anything she could have wished for. And he claimed it was for her.

“For the record, it freaks me out that you can pop in and out of my mind at will.”

“I know.”

Again that emotionless statement of fact. “I’m also jealous that you can be so certain about us.”

That gave him pause. It might be small of her, but she liked that she could do something to shake his confidence.

She started unbuttoning his shirt. “It’s grossly unfair and leaves me feeling like I’m missing out on something.”

“Werewolves are born with the knowledge that they will have instant recognition of their mate.”

“News flash.” The third button gave her trouble. “I’m not werewolf.”

“I’m aware of that.”

She imagined he was. She imagined that, since he was born with this knowledge, he’d made quite a few plans on what he’d do when he found his mate, imagined a few passionate scenarios that all led to happily ever after the wolfie way. And she probably wasn’t living up to any of them.

The button didn’t give. “This whole finding your mate thing didn’t go like you imagined, did it?”

He smiled ruefully. “I did think it would go smoother.”

She considered just popping the button off. “That’s because you’re a control freak.”

In the familiar way that heated her from the inside out, his fingers slid around the back of her neck and pressed. Such a sexy way to demand his kiss. Such a sexy man period.

“I think you’re sexy, too.”

If her smile was a little shaky, tough. What she was contemplating was scary for her. “A good place to start, don’t you think?”

His gaze searched hers, but to his credit, he didn’t probe her mind. She appreciated that. “What are you saying, seelie?”

She took a steadying breath. The button popped off in her hand. She closed her fingers around it, unsure if it was a good sign or bad. “I’m saying I’d like to start there and see where it takes us.”

Eleven

TERI held her breath. Daire didn’t. He smiled, his expression softening. Tenderness infused his touch as he took her hand away from her mark and replaced it with his lips. Heat suffused her body until she was burning.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” she managed.

His smile spread against her skin. “For giving me the chance you need.”

His lips slipped lower. Her pulse throbbed. Her breath caught. A squeak destroyed her knee-jerk “You’re welcome” as her breast swelled with anticipation.

“You won’t regret it. Please.” She arched her back, offering him her breast, offering him everything. “Please, don’t let me regret it.”

His lips closed over her pouting nipple, pressed . . .

“Daire!”

“I’m here.”

For now.
The thought popped into her head, a legacy from the past where she’d never been the one wanted for keeps.

The pressure released. Cool air wafted over her skin as the bodice tore under the pass of his claw.

The correction was immediate. She watched as he separated the edges of her blouse, letting gravity dictate the speed of its descent. Those deadly claws grazed her skin as he slid the delicate lace to the side. She should have been terrified. She wasn’t. Being touched by Daire was exciting, wonderful, different from anything else she’d ever experienced. He touched her with a reverence that was so much deeper than passion, but the passion was a close second. She closed her eyes and let it roll over her, absorbing the wonder of the connection, the perfection of his mouth closing over her nipple. Hot. Wet. Burning.

“Oh.”

Daire’s laugh vibrated down the sensitive nerve endings as she arched up. “Yes, give to me.”

She couldn’t help but give. Whatever he wanted. No lover had ever made her feel like this before. As if she was the most desirable woman on the earth. The only woman who could sate his passion. The only woman he wanted.

“You are.”

A curl of his tongue around the hard nipple jolted her forward. He was ready for her, taking more of her breast in his mouth, kneading the plump firmness with his hand as he sucked hard. Lightning shot down her spine. She cried out, twisting away. It was too much.

“Stay,” he growled.

That low rumble just excited her more. Everything about him was exciting, the brush of his hair on her skin, the addicting fragrance of his natural scent, the flavor of his kiss. Oh, his kiss. Tugging on Daire’s hair, Teri tilted his head back. From there it was only a slight shift to have his mouth on hers. He tasted so good. Like an exotic spice made just for her.

“Seelie.”

Another warning growl that excited her more. She scooted down on the chair, needing to be closer. Her knees hit the back. She tugged his hair again, this time in frustration.

He shifted down on the chair until she was riding his cock. Even through his jeans it was impressive. She moaned and rocked on him. He moaned and pressed up.

“Do you want me, Teri?”

“Yes. God, yes.” Her pussy spasmed; her womb clenched. She needed every inch of that thick cock buried deep within her. And the longer he kissed her, the more she needed. The more she wanted. Damn, she loved his kiss.

“Then take me.” He lifted, the ridge of his cock pressed into her clit. She cried out, bearing down, needing to be closer.

“Mine.” The claim welled out of nowhere. Primitive, possessive, hungry. So unlike her but now so right. Daire was hers. She’d waited her whole life for him to show up, and now he was here and the waiting was over.

“Always.”

Yes. He’d always been hers; she just hadn’t understood. But it was so clear now, with his energy wrapping around hers, his mind blending with hers. His body pressing into hers through the layers of clothing. The clothing. She reached down and unzipped his pants. He jumped and laughed, his lips biting into hers. “Careful.”

She noticed he didn’t pull away. “I’ll be very careful.”

She had to swing off his lap to work his cock free. When she tugged, he lifted and his jeans slid down. Looking at his boots, she decided that was good enough. She couldn’t wait until he got his boots off to touch him.

His cock was beautiful. Long and thick. She licked her lips. Maybe too thick. Unwelcome memories intruded. The pain of her rape. The devastation.

Oh, hell, no,
Daire thought. Catching Teri’s face in his hands, for the first time since Teri had come awake, he overrode her mind, blocking out the memories.

“There’s no one here but us, baby.”

He looked around. There was a chair; no wonder she was having flashbacks. He couldn’t even keep his mind straight long enough to get her to the bed. Kicking off his right boot and then the left, he stood her by the bed, holding her with his mind while he shucked his pants. Releasing his mental hold, Daire scooped Teri up in his arms. She bit her lip and curled against his chest. When he laid her on the bed, her hands lingered on his shoulder, sliding down his chest. He came over her before they could drop away.

“It’s just us, baby, and we’re beautiful.”

Her fingers spread wide. “It’s just that you’re so big.”

He pushed the hair out of her face. “And you couldn’t help but remember.”

“Yes.”

“They will never be a threat to you again.”

“You can’t know.”

Yes, he could, because as soon as the Carmichaels were under control, he was going hunting. “Trust me.”

Her eyes were big as she stared at him. Her lips slid between her teeth, and there was that pause that said she was thinking on things. He pressed his advantage. “Just for tonight. Twelve hours, that’s all. You just have to trust me for twelve hours.”

“And then what?”

“And then you can make a decision whether you want to stay or go.”

“You’re giving me a choice?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re right. Every woman should have one.”

“What happens if I want to go?”

Sliding his hand under her nightgown, he cupped her hip in his hand. She was so delicate compared to him. His world, and he’d promised her the opportunity to leave him. He needed his head examined. “We’ll deal with that if it happens.”

“But you don’t think it’s going to happen.”

“No.” He tugged her gown over her head. “I have faith.”

“In what?”

He could see her pussy, the pink inner lips unfurling in wanton invitation. “Your common sense.”