Every touch was a strange mix of weary release, and sexual tension. My skin began to pebble, waves of goosebumps washing down my body from wherever he touched—and when he leaned the heels of both hands on my spine and slid all the way up,his body dragged against mine—and I felt him, thick and hard, though he tried to keep space between us.
I couldn’t resist, and on the next pass when he pressed his hands from the hollow of my back, up my spine, I lifted my hips so he slid against my ass.
His breath rushed out of him. “I think you need to rest,” he said in a thick, deep voice that hummed in my belly.
“This is the best kind of rest, Jann.”
He rumbled, leaning down heavily so more of his weight pressed me into the mattress.
“Do you feel sick?” The words were broken and charged, barely more than a whisper, fluttering in my hair and sending a new wave of goosebumps down my neck.
“No. I feel… needy.”
He rumbled again, but still didn’t move. With me pinned on my stomach on the mattress, he dragged fingers up the back of my neck and into my hair, spreading them as he went, so that delicious tingling radiated out.
Then he grasped my hair and pulled,slowly.
I gasped with delight as my head was levered up and back, opening my eyes to find him braced over me. He released my hair, but only to claw his fingers back down my scalp to my neck, then start all over again.
I didn’t breathe the second time, and when he tugged my head back, he was watching me, eyes dark and avid.
I met that gaze, and prayed he felt the pulse of need that sang through me when our eyes met.
To my joy, he shifted his weight to my side, rolling me onto my back, and leaned over me on one elbow, his eyes still fixed on mine.
He no longer kneaded and pressed, now his fingers trailed from my side, down my thigh, then back up to my breast.
“Jann—”
“You’re exhausted and it’s already morning. We don’t have many hours to sleep—”
“I don’t care.”
Arching into his touch, so those teasing fingers were filled with my breast, I reached for him—delighted to find him so thick and ready—and began to stroke with one hand.
His breath shuddered, and for a moment his touch ceased as he planted his hand on the quilts and groaned, thrusting into my hand. The tendon on his neck, tightening, standing proud as his mind fought his body.
I rolled onto my side to face him and took him in both hands, leaning forward to kiss his chest as I stroked and circled him slowly.
His head dropped, his lips brushing the side of my neck. Still leaning over me on his elbow, he planted the other hand on my hip, his fingers digging into the soft flesh and muscle. I could feel him arguing with himself—wanting me, but also worried for me.
I opened my mouth on his throat and sucked, tightening my grip on him.
Jann groaned, a sound that vibrated in my belly and made me smile—and fueled the needy fire in me.
“Dee—”
“I want you, Jann.”
He grunted and grabbed my hands, pulling them up and pinning them to the pillow above my head, bridging himself over me.
My mate was a stunning sight—thick chest and rippling shoulders, tight with tension as he manacled my wrists, and held himself over me. But his eyes… his eyes were soft and full of love—yet blazing with fire too.
I tried to lift my head to kiss him, but he held me too tightly. We struggled, but he won—as he always would—and with hisknees straddling me, I couldn’t get a leg loose to hook around him.
He still pinned my hands, so I couldn’t tempt him with touches. Instead, I locked eyes with him and made my expression pleading.
“You said it yourself, we don’t know how much time we have. Shouldn’t we take advantage of every opportunity? Just in case?” I murmured, then arched my back, teasing my nipples against his chest.
