“You compelled me for a reason, and not just to see how I managed not being able to move. I obviously came on too fast. I won’t have you fear me or my touch in any way. If this is what you need to do to feel more comfortable, then I can readily accept it.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, not in the least.” She pressed one hand to his chest, right over his heart. “I want your touch, Iain. I want to get to know you, to see what I’ve been missing out on since the chase began. I know my father would want that for me too. I release you from your compulsion.”
Even though she had, he remained perfectly still, his greatest desire now to unravel each and every intriguing part of her.
Iain didn’t move even though she’d released him from her compelling command. She smiled. “I like you. You’ve surprised me at each and every turn so far tonight.”
“I like you too. I also want to smother you in my scent. Is that permissible?”
“Of course.” Her heartbeat picked up its pace. She wanted his scent all over her, for both her and her bear. She couldn’t hold back that need.
Gently, Iain rolled her onto her side then facing her, smoothed one hand over her lower back. Fingers splayed wide, he rubbed his body against hers, ensuring his scent encased her, just as he’d done outside in the forest when he’d slid his jacket off and zipped her securely within it. She liked it. A lot. Particularly when he slid his fingers underneath her shirt’s hem and stroked along her waist.
She nuzzled his neck, right over his tattoo. “Your mark is stunning.”
“Do you have any distinguishing marks yourself?”
“I’m the first female in my line to receive one.” She lifted her tank top a touch and nudged her jeans down an inch to expose her hip and the small tattoo of the claw-and-star mark symbolizing her dual shifter-fae blood. “Since my mother passed away only a week following my birth and my father knew I’d be his only child, he honored me with the mark.”
“It’s beautiful.” He stroked one thumb over it.
“Thank you.” She tucked her top back down and played with the last two remaining buttons holding his shirt together.
“Take my shirt off if you wish.”
“Are you reading my mind?” She desperately wanted to. Skin to skin contact was necessary between mated pairs and she was no different in her desires even though she’d run from him.
“I’d like nothing more than to read your mind, but it’ll keep.”
“You’re doing a fine job even without the merged link.” She lengthened one claw and sliced the buttons away then peeled the soft cotton back and licked her lips. His wide chest, so heavily muscled held a smattering of hair, the same dark shade as his head and a teasing trail led down and disappeared inside the waistband of his black jeans. She shoved his shirt off his shoulders, exposed his muscled arms and thick biceps. So beautiful, and all hers.
“Isla.” He groaned, his golden gaze heating to a molten hue. “You may need to compel me again. Your touch is only going to encourage me to want more.”
“What kind of ‘more’ would you like?”
“I want to kiss you.”
“A kiss would be nice.” She didn’t want to turn him away, not when she too craved what she’d been forced to give up for so long.
“Then I have your permission?”
“You do.”
He dipped his head, licked her lower lip then grinned. “You taste good.”
“That’s all you want?”
“Hell no.” He covered her mouth with his and licked her tongue. She swayed forward and he captured her lips in a deliciously scorching kiss, his hard body a powerful heat that carved warmth into her own. Mmm, he tasted good, so good. She melted against him, reveling in his scent as it swirled around and embedded itself deep within her.
Even as she’d run from this bond, she’d still yearned for it. She melted further into his touch. His breath whispered softly across her tongue, an incredibly sensuous caress that had her urging his lips apart and deepening their kiss to capture more of his essence.
This was so very right, and she indulged as her need for more rushed through her. She plunged her tongue inside his mouth and drank in his delectable taste, welcoming the raw intimacy she’d never experience with another. Only him. He was the one destined to be hers. “Oh goodness.” She pulled back a touch. “I really love the way you kiss.”
“And I love the way you respond.” He caressed her sides, roamed down and scooped her bottom. Then he kissed her again, so deeply, so wildly, that their breath mingled as one and completely scattered her thoughts.
“More, Iain.”
“What kind of more do you want?”
“For you to mark me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
He rolled her onto her back and rose over top of her. He nibbled along her jaw and down her neck. She arched into his touch as he scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin where her neck and shoulder met.