“I’m not sure we have another choice.” He sheathed the dagger in the hilt attached to my waist, then brushed a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. My breath caught at his touch, at the heated look in his eyes. I leaned toward him. He pulled me closer, his hand splayed across my backside. With the other hand, he cupped my cheek and scoured my soul with his eyes.
I smiled up at him. “I know what you’re thinking. Here?”
“Here, there, anywhere. On the highest mountain peak or in the deepest, darkest chasm, I would want you.”
I clutched his leathers and tugged him toward me. Our lips collided in a hunger-fuelled frenzy. I did not want to take things slow. Not this time. I needed him inside me. I wanted to scream his name until it was the only word I knew.
“Kalen,” I murmured against his lips, drinking in the scent of leather and steel.
He lifted me into his arms as his tongue dipped between my lips, tasting me. His groan rumbled through me, sparking the hair on the back of my neck. Desire tightened my core, and I arched against him. His hard length pressed into me, even through our leathers.
Kalen pulled back. With a delicious smile curving his lips, he picked at my leathers. “We’re bathing fully dressed. I think it’s time we remedy that, don’t you think?”
Even now, I blushed furiously. “You first.”
“Gladly.”
After I unwound myself from his arms, he pulled off his shirt, tossing it onto the shore. I palmed his chest to feel the familiar thud of his heart, relishing his slick skin. He unbuckled his belt and threw it toward his shirt. His trousers were the last to go, but not before he tugged off the leather vest I wore over my tunic.
Heat curled through me when he carefully lifted the shirt over my head, leaving me in my undergarments. The cool water lapped at my breasts, peaking my nipples. My fingers danced across the ridges of his abs. Mist whorled between us.
He cupped my cheek and dropped his forehead against mine. “Never leave me again.”
My heart pounded. I wrapped my fingers around his and clung on tight. “I only did it to save you. Andromeda was going to let you die.”
“My world will never make sense if you’re not in it.”
“I love you,” I whispered. “My husband. My mate.”
The word seemed to spark something within him, something he’d been holding back until now. With a growl, he pulled me back into his arms. I dug my fingernails into his skin and whimpered when his tongue dove between my lips. And when his cock throbbed against my core, I nearly shattered.
I’d wanted him before, but it was nothing compared to now.
“Fuck me,” I whispered against his mouth.
He pulled back and nipped my ear. “Be a good girl, and I will.”
My body slipped against his chest as I shuddered. Pleasing him felt like a higher calling I’d never known. I slid my free hand into the water and wrapped my hand around his cock. It was rock hard. A delicious smile curved his lips.
He rocked against me, his eyes locked on mine. I brushed my thumb against his tip and drove my hand downward, aching to feel his hardness buried inside me. A low groan rumbled in his throat. I could feel it in my chest. With desire pulsing between my legs, I dragged my hand up once more.
“Fuck.” He shuddered, hefting me into his arms and wading toward the shore. His lips skimmed mine as the water sloshed around us. “I can’t wait to make you come.”
Nineteen
Kalen
Ifinally had my hands on Tessa’s delicious body again. It had only been a week or two, but it felt like years. Decades, even. Her thighs felt so soft against me, and my length throbbed in her hand. When we reached the shore of the river, I lowered her to the grass. At the sight of her naked body beneath me, I hardened even more. She still wore a tight undergarment that accentuated her breasts, and the hardness of her nipples strained against the material.
I palmed the ground beside her head. “I want to bury my cock inside you, but I’m going to taste you first.”
She shivered at my words, gazing up at me with a love that took my breath away.
I tugged her undergarments over her head. Her breasts were even more perfect than I’d remembered, and her nipples begged for my tongue. I took her flesh in my mouth and sucked hard. She writhed beneath me, her entire body trembling from my touch.
And I couldn’t help but wonder just how wet she’d become.
I pulled back and gazed down at her, dragging my thumb across her swollen nipple. When she spread her legs for me, I growled in approval and knelt between her thighs, my knees digging into the soft ground. Her core glistened only inches from my face. The scent of her laced through my mist that was fogging the surrounding air.
