The single word undid him. His cock was so hard it hurt, pressing against the confines of his pants, demanding freedom, demanding her.
“I need—” He couldn’t finish the sentence. Need was too small a word for this all-consuming hunger.
“Me too.” She arched up, pressing every inch of available skin against his. “Please.”
They still had lower layers on—her thermal leggings, his work pants—but that distance felt unbearable. He wanted skin. All of it. Wanted to taste every inch of her, learn what made her gasp, what made her moan, what made her come apart. The fabric barrier only heightened his frustration, his erection straining against it, craving the wet heat he could scent between her thighs.
But not yet. He kissed her instead, pouring everything he couldn’t say into it. Everything he’d been holding back. All the want he’d been fighting. The need that had been eating him alive since she’d walked through his door with her Christmas cheer and her stubborn optimism.
Her legs tangled with his, trying to get closer. She touched his back, finding sensitive spots he didn’t know he had. When she dragged her nails lightly down his spine, he had to bury his face in her neck to keep from losing it entirely. The scrape sent jolts straight to his groin, his balls drawing tight.
“You’re going to kill me,” he muttered against her throat.
“Good way to go though.” Her voice was teasing but breathless, her pulse racing under his lips.
He bit down gently where her neck met her shoulder, just enough pressure to make her gasp and arch. The small indentation from his teeth would fade soon, but his primitive brain liked seeing even that temporary evidence of his desire on her skin, imagining marking her elsewhere.
“I should tell you.” Her voice was soft, serious suddenly. “It’s been a while for me. A long while. And never with someone...” She gestured at his body. “Like you.”
Like him.
He knew what she meant… Latharian. Huge. Dangerous.
“Then we go slow.” He pulled back to meet her eyes, his hand gentle on her face. “As slow as you need. And if you want to stop?—”
“I won’t want to stop.” Certainty in her voice, in her eyes. “I want this. Want you. Have since you caught me when I fell off that stupid chair.”
That felt like a lifetime ago. When he’d been trying to maintain distance, trying to keep her at arm’s length. Now she was in his bed, under him, skin to skin, and distance was the last thing either of them wanted.
“No stopping then,” he agreed, voice rough with promise. “But slow. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” The trust in her eyes undid him. This tiny female who should be terrified, looking at him with nothing but want.
He kissed her again, slow and deep, his thumb circling her nipple until she writhed under him. The pebbled bud rolled under his touch, her moans vibrating against his lips, fueling the relentless need in his veins. When he replaced his thumb with his mouth, she cried out, fingers tangling in his hair. He suckled greedily, the taste of her skin intoxicating, his erection grinding against the bed for any relief from the building pressure.
“Goraath, please?—”
“Soon,” he promised against her skin. “Very soon.”
* * *
He lifted his head from her breast, and the loss of his mouth made her whimper.
His eyes met hers. Dark amber, pupils blown wide, with heat in them that made her breath catch.
“Last chance.” His voice was all gravel and deep, dark need. “Tell me to stop.”
“Don’t you dare.” She hooked her fingers in the waistband of her thermal leggings. “These. Off. Now.”
A sound came from his chest—half growl, half laugh—and then his hands were on her hips, helping her shimmy the fabric down. Cool air hit her overheated skin as he peeled them and her underwear away. She was naked. Fully, and completely naked under his gaze.
His hands stilled on her thighs. Just stopped, holding her, looking at her like he couldn’t believe she was real.
The silence stretched. His gaze traveled over her slowly—her breasts, the soft curve of her belly, her hips, her thighs—and everywhere his gaze touched, her skin heated.
“Beautiful. So draanthing beautiful.”
Heat flooded her face, her chest. She started to cover herself but he caught her hands.
