Own me as I owned him, at least at this moment. On this night before it was too late because it would be soon, and I’d be lost to him all over again.
I knew that, but he didn’t, as I allowed him to scoop me up and carry me into our cottage. Where, at last, I let him lay me down on the fur-clad bed that smelled so deliciously of him and allowed him to come over me and for his lips to find mine again.
After that, everything faded away but him. All my worries and my need to flee. Instead, I lost myself to a moment that had been denied me,us, in my first life. A moment that should have been denied us in this one, yet our dragons were taking matters into their own hands. Or maybe, as our kisses deepened and we touched each other, our humans were more in control than we thought.
Either way, as he slowly undressed me, cherishing every inch of flesh he unveiled not just with his eyes but his lips, I came alive like never before. Alive in a way that felt born of both lives, and how much I loved him as his kisses trailed down my neck,over my bared breasts, and he fondled and suckled both. Alive as he seemed to unwrap me like a rare, overdue treat because I was.
Hewas.
And I made that clear when I tugged at his clothes, wanting to finally see all of him. Every part that always was and always would be mine, even if only in my heart and memory, as I suffered a lifetime of another man’s touch. Every part of Tavish was perfect and made for me as I ran my hands along his hard, muscular body. As I memorized his dimensions, so I could keep them in my dreams. In my memories and my every waking thought.
We said nothing as we explored and loved one another, but our thoughts were wrapped around every touch. The pleasure we pulled from each other was made for the other, just as we were, inside and out. We battled to taste one another, licking, biting, desperate, and inescapable.
Hewas yet again, inescapable.
So when his mouth found its way between my thighs, I had no choice but to spread them wide and surrender to him. Let him take everything. To bring me such immeasurable pleasure, I dug one hand into the fur beneath me and wrapped the other in his hair, trying to control the extreme crest he drove me toward, but there was no controlling the inevitable. No controlling the intense climax, which catapulted me over a cliff that was far higher than the soaring ledge overlooking the sea outside our cottage.
Yet still, as I let go and arched into the pressure slowly building inside me, I bit my lip and kept my cry of pleasure on the inside lest Dugal somehow overhear it. Kept the pleasure I’d found with my true fated mate a secret to protect not just Tavish but all MacLeods, because Dugal was known for letting jealousy rule him.
“Will ye be able to keep silent when I’m deep inside ye, mate?” Tavish murmured against my skin. He kissed his way back up my belly and freed his sizeable and very erect cock from his trousers, determined to use whatever it took to keep me by his side always. “Will ye be able to keep silent when yer true fated mate is buried deep inside ye and willnae accept anything less than screams of pleasure?”
Again, I remained silent because I was determined, despite having fallen so far. And Ihadfallen the minute I allowed him to kiss me, then carry me into the cottage and lay me on this bed. The moment I allowed our flesh to touch and knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do to have what had been denied us for so long.
Yet as his lips found mine again and he settled between my thighs, I sensed keeping silent was going to be one of the greatest battles of my life, and he soon proved me right when his eyes met mine and he pressed inside me. He didn’t claim me with one deep, eager thrust as I knew his dragon craved, but slowly eased into me.
There was no pain, only slight pressure that swiftly gave way to intense, fierce pleasure. So intense that when he filled me completely, it felt like sweet, sensual fire burned over my skin, and every inch of me came alive in a whole new delicious way.
After that, I couldn’t stop my groans of pleasure if I tried when we began moving together as if we had made love countless times, because we were destined for each other. Understood each other instinctually as he thrust again and again, and I wrapped my legs around him, taking him even deeper, and his groans mingled with mine.
I knew I loved him desperately, life after life, but had no idea the extraordinary pleasure that would ignite between us when we finally made love. It was like a million erotic bombs going off inside me even before I climaxed again. He set me on fire withhis every movement. With the way he looked at me, touched me, worshiped me.
And hedidworship me as I worshipped him.
It was in our every touch as our bodies became slick with sweat. Every thrust. Every bit of our flesh coming together and creating something so poignant and rich with sensation we were mindless in our pursuit, our pure need, to go over that ledge together. To soar together if not high in the clouds, then right here in each other’s arms.
I’m not even sure “soar” was the right word because what happened when he finally thrust hard one last time, burying himself deep inside me and locked up with a long, low rumble of pleasure, was so much more than that.
Right there with him, I couldn’t help but cry out as I transcended, expanding and blossoming in a seismic crush of pleasure that made tears trickle from my eyes because it felt so good. So full of love rolled with desire, speaking to all the untouchable moments like this, we would soon be denied. A lifetime of merging like this.Feelinglike this.
“We willnae be denied it,” he vowed, struggling for air. Struggling with not just the onslaught of pleasure but all the emotions finally being together invoked.
I didn’t answer because there was no point. We would just go in circles and end up back in the only place we could, and it wasn’t with me in his arms, as his fated mate. As his wife. As the mother of his children. Instead, I would be forced to breed with another, and my children would belong to a monster.
Iwould belong to a monster.
Yet I refused to think about it. Refused to let it taint our precious moments together. Right now, was for Tavish. For my true fated mate. For the man I would love until my last dying breath and into the Hereafter, whenever that may be.
When Tavish’s eyes eventually found mine, I wasn’t surprised to find them glassy with unshed tears, and I understood why. They weren’t just for what we had found together and these last fleeting moments, even though he fully intended to stop me. They were for the barriers even his dragon had put up between us, despite how much it broke his heart.
After all, even though he'd let go inside me, his inner beast had ensured I wouldn't become pregnant, whether I was in heat or not, and I could have. It could have claimed me, but knew on a level his human fought, that kin and country aside, it couldn’t risk its offspring ending up in Dugal Sutherland’s hands. No dragon in their right mind would want their child ending up in that monster’s clutches because it would mean certain death or worse yet, a lifetime of abuse.
Even though he didn’t put it into words, I knew it was true as his loving gaze lingered on my face, and he kissed me again. Kissed me until he swelled inside me, and we started all over.
We may not have forever, but we had tonight, and I intended to enjoy every minute of it. Every single second, as we continued making love for hours, cherishing the euphoria we brought one another because every stroke, every kiss, every climax we crested together time and time again was pure bliss.
Exactly what fated mates were supposed to feel together.
Yet as the eve wore on, I felt something else pulling at me. A calling across time from an ancient sorcerer and a pact I was destined to fulfill. And while I loathed it, I knew there was no escaping it.
