"You planned this?"
"I am a Warlord," I replied. "Strategy is important.” I looked at her. “Especially when I need to win.” Winning her heart was literally life or death for me. Life or fucking death. Now that I’d found her, I couldn’t go on without her. Neither could my beast. “You have not eaten.”
“How do you know?”
“I pay attention.” Every movement. Every breath. “There was no food on the beach. And you did not eat when they dressed and prepared us for tonight. You must be hungry.”
“I’m starving. I could eat a horse.”
A horse? “I will endeavor to acquire one for our next meal.”
She laughed softly as she settled beside me on one of the pillows, tucking one leg beneath her. “It’s just a saying. I don’t really eat horses.” Her dark eyes lit with humor that made me want to kiss her even more. The sight of her seated next to me in the soft lights nearly unraveled me. The skirt she wore had ridden slightly higher, revealing the smooth curve of her thigh. Her top shifted when she moved, exposing another tempting strip of bare skin. My gaze lingered longer than it should have. Her cheeks flushed.
"You're staring."
"I am appreciating." My beast approved of that answer.
I pulled the bottle of wine from the basket and uncorked it with the twisting metal device—a trick I had learned from watching far too much human television since my arrival on this planet. Although now, I was thankful to speak my mate’s native language.
I poured two glasses. She picked hers up and held it out to me in a toast. “To new beginnings and second chances.”
She was my new beginning. My new life. My everything.
The liquid was sweet and sharp when I swallowed, warming my throat. Nothing like Atlan wine. But pleasant enough. I passed a small sandwich to her. Our fingers brushed. The contact lingered.
Tori leaned closer to me on the blanket, her shoulder brushing my arm. The warmth of her body made the restraint inside me tremble. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I've been thinking about being with you all night."
The confession slid through me like fire as she eagerly ate the sustenance I provided. My beast swelled with satisfaction. She needed. We provided. It was an honor to care of her. Our mate.
"I watched every woman flirting with you tonight," she continued, her fingers tracing absently across the back of my hand. "And I wanted to throw them into the ocean."
My beast purred with savage approval. "I wanted to break every male who looked at you," I admitted.
“What men? You mean the camera crews?” Her head tilted toward me slowly. Our faces drifted closer. The night air felt thicker somehow. Warmer. Charged.
“Any male. Even the elder fool waving his long wooden stick.”
She choked on a sip of wine and laughed wildly, her head back. Throat exposed. “Merlin? You wanted to kick Merlin’s ass?” Her laughter faded, her gaze dropping to my lips. "I guess we're terrible at pretending," she murmured.
"Yes. I hate every moment I can’t touch you." My hand lifted slowly to her face, my thumb brushing her cheek with the same care I would give a fragile weapon. "I think," I said quietly, "we should stop pretending.”
Her breath caught. And the longing between us tightened until it felt like the air itself might break. Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward and traced her full lower lip with my thumb.
She froze.
Fuck. Had I scared her?
For a long heartbeat neither of us moved, the warm night air pressing around us, the distant ocean rolling softly against the shore beyond the trees. Then her breath shuddered out. Her hand slid into my hair and tightened, pulling me closer.
"Egon." My name left her lips like a command.
The beast surged forward instantly. Mine.
"Yes?”
“Are you ever going to kiss me?”
I kissed her. There was nothing careful about it. Years of restraint shattered at once. Hours of watching her from across crowded rooms, of pretending we were strangers while other women touched me and smiled at me for the cameras. My mouth claimed hers with fierce hunger. I held her face in my hands as I deepened the kiss, tasting wine and heat and the unmistakable sweetness that was uniquely hers.
