It took two seconds, and a heart-thudding rush of fear, for my body to realize those thick hands on my arms were my beloved’s, and the dark growl was heavy with desire, not malicious intent.
I tensed—then relaxed as Donavyn descended on me, hands in my hair, lips on mine, his body tight and warm against mine.
“Thank God, I thought they’d decided to keep you overnight,” he growled against my skin as I dropped my head back to give him access to my neck, and goosebumps prickled down my side.
“No, just training, and I had to eat.”
“I’m hungry,” he purred, nipping at the sensitive skin under my ear and sending shivers down my spine.
I curled fingers into his hair and almost gave in when he started unbuttoning my jacket, but as his breath grew heavier,and the cool evening air met the skin on my chest, I sighed again and nudged him away.
“I’m sweaty and dirty and I stink. I need a bath,then—”
“No,” he muttered, sliding a hand under my shirt and kissing me deeply. “It’s been hours. I’m not taking my hands off you now.”
“But I need to get clean!” I laughed, though his touch and kiss were making my insides as molten as the dragon’s flame.
“Then we bathe,” he growled as he leaned down to hook an arm behind my knees and swing me up to his chest.
I shrieked, my stomach dropping with the sudden movement, but I didn’t complain.
Instead, I found a lovely little patch of stubble under his jaw that he’d missed with the razor, and I nibbled at it, playing my fingers through his hair as he carried me through the spacious sitting room of the apartment, into the bedchamber, and through it to the bathing room.
When we reached that warm, little room, damp because he’d bathed himself already, he put me back on my feet. I couldn’t resist nipping his earlobe and clawing hands over his chest on my way down.
With a muttered curse, Donavyn pulled me against him, his breath hot and already short as he took my mouth more deeply, while his hands traveled my body, unbuckling my belt and pushing my shirt and jacket off my shoulders, throwing them to the side.
Smiling, forgetting all the frustration of the day, I let myself relax, bowing back over the hand he splayed in the hollow of my spine.
“Widen your stance,” he growled as he reached for the buttons of my leathers.
“Yes, Commander!” I whispered through a grin, delighted by his obvious need. “Whatever you—”
His head snapped up and he froze.
I hadn’t actuallyseenhim since the dark of this morning. Drinking in the sight of him soothed something in my chest that had been aching, even as it made my heart swell, and lit an inferno behind my navel.
He stood over me, a full-foot taller, eyes locked on mine, his face lined with need. His long, brown hair was pulled back into a leather tie. But I’d loosened dark strands with my pawing, and pieces drifted against his cheek and over his eyes, fluttering in the wind from his breath as he stared down at me, eyes dark with arousal, but piercing, searching mine.
“Donavyn, what’s—?”
“What did you call me?” he rasped.
I frowned. “Commander? I was being silly, I just—” I cut off, laughing with relief when he muttered a filthy curse and dove for my throat.
“I told you, I don’t pull rank behind closed doors.”
“I know, I just—”
“I think you meant,yes, sir!”he growled as he descended on me.
“Yes,sir,”I whispered through a smile, arching into his marble-body as I gave myself up.
7. Soul Need
SOUNDTRACK:Three Steps Aheadby Jared Benjamin
~ DONAVYN ~
