“And now, you think I suddenly changed my mind?” I ask incredulously.
She blinks up at me as if she can hardly believe what I’m saying.
“I only stopped last night because you had nearly been killed. You were shaken. I didn’t want you to wake this morning and believe I took advantage of that.”
Vivienne steps closer, her luminous eyes searching mine. “You truly want me?”
Reaching out, I cup her cheek. How could she ever doubt that she is everything to me? “More than anything.”
For a moment, neither of us moves. She stretches up on her toes. Her gaze holds mine as she leans in and presses her lips to my own as she whispers against them, “Then you may have me, my Dark Elf husband.”
CHAPTER 31
VIVIENNE
Auren’s startled breath catches against my lips a moment before he wraps his powerful arms around me and captures my mouth in a searing kiss.
A soft moan escapes me as he slides his hand down my back, fingers splaying wide, dragging me closer, until there is no space left between us.
“Gods, Vivienne,” he groans as our kisses turn hungry and urgent. “You undo me entirely.”
The world around us fades as he pulls me even closer, his restraint dissolving into need. His hands are firm around my waist as I cling to him, my heart racing as his warmth spreads through me like fire. “I want you, Auren,” I breathe between kisses.
“Vivienne,” he growls low in warning. “Do not tempt me. My need is too great,” he says roughly as he pulls back. “If we do not stop now, I’m worried I won’t be able to.”
“I don’t want you to stop.” His eyes turn raven-black. “I want to be yours, Auren.”
His restraint shatters, and he lifts me effortlessly into his arms. I gasp, clutching at his shoulders as he carries me to the tent. He lowers me onto the bedding and crawls over me, his elbows braced on either side of my arms.
I part my thighs, and he settles between them, groaning as his hardened length presses firmly against my entrance, only a thin barrier of clothing separating our bodies.
“Tell me you want this,” he rasps. “Tell me you are mine.”
Reaching up, I cup the back of his neck and pull his mouth down to my own. His warm mint breath mingles with mine as I whisper. “I’m yours.”
He captures my mouth in a claiming kiss as he skims his hand down my body, mapping every curve of my form. Gripping the back of my knee, he guides my leg over his hip, opening me to him as he grinds against me, creating a delicious friction between us, a promise of what is to come.
Auren pulls back just enough to trace his lips along my jaw before kissing a heated trail down my neck. I tilt my head back to give him better access, and my breath hitches as his lips brush a sensitive spot just behind my ear.
“Auren,” I murmur, sliding my fingers into his hair.
His answering hum vibrates against my skin. “Tell me where to touch you, Vivienne,” he murmurs. “I want only to give you pleasure.”
I pull down the neckline of my nightshift. Taking his hand in mine, I guide it to my breast. Heat pulses through me as he brushes his thumb over the peak. One sharp claw grazes the tip, and it hardens beneath his touch.
“Kiss me here,” I whisper.
He dips his head and closes his mouth over my left breast, his tongue laving the sensitive bead.
I run my fingers through his hair as I writhe beneath him. I’ve touched myself before, but it’s never felt like this.
I trace the elegant points of his ears, and a deep growl of arousal rises in his throat as he begins a gentle suction on my breast. It’s almost too much, and I cannot decide if I should push him away or pull him closer as overwhelming sensation moves through me.
He moves his hand down my body and dips his fingers beneath the hem of my nightshift. He’s careful to retract his short, black claws as the tips of his fingers skim up my inner thigh.
Anticipation floods my veins. He’s so close to where I want him to be. Just as I think he’ll touch me, he lifts his head. “May I touch you here?”
My heart pounds as I somehow manage to whisper, “Yes.”
