A giggle slipped out at how ridiculous I was being as Lucan stopped in front of me. He rubbed his hands reassuringly up and down my arms.
“Is this okay?” Lucan searched my face. “We don’t have to do anything here. We can just relax.”
That was one thing I loved about him. He always checked. Every step of the way, he paused to make sure I was still with him. Not because he doubted me, but because he cared enough to ask.
“Lucan.”
“Yeah?”
My throat tightened. “I’m falling in love with you. I didn’t plan on it, and I wasn’t looking for it. It scares the hell out of me, but I am.”
His jaw worked, and for a second, I thought he might not say anything at all. Then his hand came up to cup my face, his thumb brushing along my cheekbone. “I’ve loved you since the moment you sprayed me with bear spray.”
A laugh burst out of me. “That’s a terrible origin story.”
“It’s a very romantic origin story.” His eyes were glassy, and he blinked hard.
“You were naked.” I laughed again, and this time the tears came with it, sliding down my cheeks.
Lucan pulled me into his arms as his shoulders shook with quiet laughter. “Every man dreams of the day he meets his soulmate, and she runs away screaming.”
“We’re a mess,” I mumbled into his shirt.
“We’re perfect.”
I tilted my face up, and he was already there, his mouth meeting mine. The kiss started soft, his lips warm and gentle against mine. He moved his hand from my cheek to the back of my neck, fingers threading into the short hair at my nape, and I melted into him.
His tongue swept against my lower lip, and I opened for him, tasting him as his grip on me tightened. He walked me backward until the blankets were under my feet, then lowered me down with a controlled strength that made my pulse race.
He hovered over me, his forearms braced on either side of my head. His body was close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off his skin. My whole body lit up with need for him.
His lips trailed along my jaw to his mark beneath my ear, and I shivered.
I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it off, briefly breaking the contact between us.
His exhale came out ragged. His eyes tracked down my body as if he'd never seen me like this before. And maybe he hadn’t. Not like this. Not after completing the final piece of our bond. And definitely not in a place where he kept his treasure.
“You’re stunning.”
I ran my hands down his stomach, feeling every muscle tighten under my palms. My fingers trailed along the waistband of his shorts, and he sucked in a breath when my knuckles grazed underneath.
“Liz.”
“Shh.” I pushed the elastic down, and he helped with the rest, kicking free of the shorts.
The rest of my clothes came off in a tangle of hands. Then there was nothing between us but skin and heat and the bond humming in my chest like a second heartbeat.
He kissed down my throat, his mouth hot and possessive, each press of his lips leaving a trail of fire in their wake. He lingered at my collarbone, tasting the hollow there as if memorizing me, his short beard scraping deliciously against my sensitive skin.
His mouth traced the curve of my breast with agonizing slowness. When his tongue finally circled one nipple while his fingers skillfully rolled the other between them, my back arched off the blankets.
“Lucan.” I gripped his hair, holding him there. He groaned against my skin, and the vibration shot straight through me.
He moved down past the softness of my stomach, the brush of his lips and beard making me clench my thighs. As he parted my thighs and settled between them, he looked up at me. The raw hunger in his eyes made my breath catch.
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life showing you how fucking sexy you are, Elizabeth.”
Then his mouth was on me, and the world shrank down to the feel of his tongue and the grip of his hands holding me open. He was unhurried, as if he had nowhere else to be and nothing else to do but take me apart, one slow stroke at a time.
