Page 35 of Tempting the Tiger

“Impossible, stubborn woman.”

Grace smiled at him, tears silently rolling down her eyes. How the hell had she gotten so damn lucky? Her heart was full, her doubts exposed and destroyed, blown away with his words.

“Now, is there anything else we need to discuss before I start kissing you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good, because after I kiss you senseless, I’m going to love you six ways to Sunday and back again. And then, I’m going to claim you. Fuck that sweet pussy of yours until you scream my name.”

“Okay.” Grace licked her lips, waiting for him. She’d been waiting for him all her life. More tears streamed down her face.

“Damn it, Grace. Why are you crying?”

“Because I love you.”

Keair sighed and drew her in his arms. “And I love you, Grace. More than I can ever tell you or show. But I’ll try. I’ll try every day, every night.” One hand pushed her hair back from her face before cupping her jaw. “I will never lie to you, Grace. I will honor you with honesty.”

He lowered his mouth to hers. As he kissed her, she whispered softly against his lips, “I know, Keair. I know.”

He bent his head, placing a hard, almost punishing kiss on her mouth. She didn’t struggle, simply stood in the circle of his arms. He pulled her closer, kissing her again and again, his tongue, hot and heavy, taking what he wanted. As he continued to kiss her, she felt the anger slowly slip away from him, his body relaxing. Her anger had fled the moment he’d pulled her in his arms.

Tentatively, she moved. When he didn’t squeeze her tighter, she eased her hands up his chest, twining them around his neck. He tightened his arms around her, pulling her lower body closer to his. She gasped when she felt his hard cock pressing into her soft stomach. “I guess you do still want me,” she giggled, pressing back, seeking that hard ridge.

He placed his head on her forehead, their breaths mingling together. “I love you, Grace, and I want to make you my mate.”

Grace’s eyes grew wide. She remembered what he had told her the night at the gazebo. “Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” His eyes narrowed and she couldn’t mistake the dangerous glint sparking from their amber depths.

Grace licked her lips, gathering the taste of him in her mouth. She cleared her throat before speaking. “I guess this is where…”

Her voice trailed off as she swallowed and looked up at him, suddenly shy, as if their time together had been a dream, as if he had never made love to her before, never seen or touched her naked body.

“…I make you mine.” Incredibly, he seemed to instantly understand. Eyes smiling, mouth solemn, he placed his hands on the hem of her shirt. “May I have you, Grace?”

She nodded and he eased the cotton fabric over her head. For a moment he stood there, his eyes, again that beautiful amber color seeming to eat her alive.

“Such beautiful pale skin,” he murmured. He bent his dark head and kissed the top of her shoulder before tracing a finger down her throat to the top of her breasts. She shivered as she felt his tongue slide over her breastbone, leaving behind a moist trail.

“You are perfection.” His large hands covered her breasts the peaking nipples hard points against his palms. He touched her with his lips, just the tip of her breast, tracing its outline with his tongue. It began to feel swollen, tingly, on fire. She whimpered when he moved away. She felt the warm puffs of his breath when he chuckled against her puckered areole. She gasped in pleasure as his tongue laved the pink island around her burgeoning nipple. He paid strict attention to both her breasts. She didn’t know if he knew he was edging her closer and closer to climax with just the touch of his mouth. But he was and she wasn’t above begging.

“Keair, touch… me. Please, touch me.”

“I will,” he whispered back, his voice so deep and dark it caused a flood of moisture to form between her legs. “All over.”

He smiled at her. That bad-boy grin that made her insides melt like chocolate. She recognized the heat in his gaze and felt the answering flame ignite inside her.

Keair placed Grace in the center of the bed and her hair pooled like spilled chocolate across his white sheets. Her eyes searched his, heavy-lidded and slumberous. Hunger rode him hard, the sounds and the scent of his woman—aroused and wanting set his instincts humming—his tiger on the hunt. The animal needed its mate as much as the man needed his. Something he’d never thought he’d want. And now, he realized, something he could never live without.

He pushed himself against the mattress, gathering his control. He wanted—no needed to—take her hard and fast. He eased his way up her trembling frame, caressing her as he came over top of her. With firm hands he positioned her for his possession, bending her legs, gripping one firm thigh in his hand as he wrapped her leg around his torso. The head of his cock throbbed at her center.

“I’m going to take you now, Grace. I’m going to take you and spill myself inside you. Do you understand?”

She lay beneath him, her eyes opened, her breath coming in soft pants between her dark pink lips. He bent down, taking that mouth. He thrust his tongue inside, licking and sucking at her tongue. He pulled back, his breath now ragged.

“Answer me, Grace,” he demanded.

Her eyes were dark brown and he knew his were a solid amber by now. “I understand.” Her voice was firm. “I understand completely.” She shifted her hips, lifting them, taking the crown of his cock inside her. The bulbous head stretched her entrance, making them both moan.