Tula didn't doubt that. "So, what will it be, big guy, should I do it?"
"Oh, Tula." He leaned to kiss her lips. "You can do whatever you please with me, and I will love every moment, but throwing me over your shoulder might not be advisable because of the baby."
"I suppose." She stepped closer, feeling the heat radiating from him.
Her breath hitched when his hand slid along her hip, fingertips grazing the silk of her gown. He didn't rush, didn't tug, didn't push. He simply waited, letting her dictate the pace despite her goading.
He brushed the line of her lower lip with his thumb. "Can I take this beautiful dress off you?"
She nodded.
He slid the straps down her arms, and the silk fell away, sliding off her shoulders in a whisper until it pooled at her feet.
Esag's breath left his throat in a harsh exhale.
She stood before him in nothing but her flimsy undergarments, belly rounded, breasts heavier than they had ever been, and skin flushed and sensitive in ways she was still getting used to.
Tula forced her shoulders back. She was beautiful. She knew this. She had been told so often enough that it had lost all meaning.
But Esag wasn't staring at her like she was merely pleasing to the eye.
He was staring at her like she was worthy of worship, his eyes glowing and his fangs elongating.
"Tula…" He tried to close his mouth and hide the evidence of his desire.
"Don't hide from me." She stepped toward him, taking his hands and guiding them to her waist. "And don't look at me like that."
"How am I looking at you?"
"Like you're afraid you’ll scare me away. I don't scare easily, and seeing your fangs makes me want you more, not less."
"You are a dream come true." His fingers traced her hip, feather-light, hesitant.
Heat rushed through her.
She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders with impatient fingers, revealing a torso that looked as though it was carved from granite. When the fabric hit the floor, she ran her palms along his chest, marveling at the warmth, the solidity of him.
He shivered under her touch.
"You keep doing that," he murmured, "and I'm going to forget all my plans."
"Good." She lifted her gaze to his. "I'm not interested in your plans."
The corner of his mouth lifted. "Do you have some of your own, or do you just want chaos?"
"I want you."
His restraint snapped.
He pulled her against his body and kissed her again, letting his hunger manifest. There was no more hesitation, no more second-guessing. His hands slid across her back, caressing, demanding, pulling her even closer, and she gasped when shefelt the evidence of his desire thick and long against her abdomen.
Heat pooled low in her feminine parts as his tongue teased hers, slow strokes that alternated between coaxing and claiming.
She had been starving for this.
"Tula," he breathed against her mouth.
"Don't stop."
