“And that likely won’t change.”
Goodness. How was she to argue with him when he was like this?
Instead, she closed her eyes and breathed out, silently seeking a much needed reprieve.
“Rest well, my sweet.” His possessive hold tightened. “I shall be here when you awaken.”
Since she couldn’t argue with him, she allowed the dark to envelope her and slowly flittered toward sleep, his hold so heavenly warm. How frustrating.
The early morning sunshine beamed through Arabel’s narrow window and stirred her from her slumber far sooner than she wished. She stretched and burrowed her nose deeper into the covers, which had suddenly become more like firm flesh with a delicious pine and fresh water scent. She lifted one eyelid and gasped.
Her legs were tangled with Finlay’s and she lay half over top of him. She should move away, only her heat hadn’t arisen at this very intimate contact when it should have. Unable to help herself, she spread her hand fully over his solid chest and reveled as his muscles flexed under her touch. He looked so rumpled and delicious with a razz of stubble on his jaw and his black hair catching the morning light and gleaming like silk. “Finlay?” she whispered.
No answer. He slept soundly, his tunic gaping at the top and half off his shoulder. A stunning Celtic mark etched upon his bicep peeked out.
She slid her hand under the fabric and eased his sleeve farther down his arm. With one finger, she gently traced over the woven mark. So beautiful. Oh, and so was all the golden skin she’d exposed. She caressed his flesh, her heartbeat pounding as she did. ’Twas wonderful to touch him so freely. She leaned in, pressed her lips against the woven mark then nibbled up and over his shoulder toward the delectable looking hollow where his shoulder met his neck. Mmm, he tasted delicious too, an intoxicating mix of hard man and smooth skin. She razzed her teeth back and forth over his flesh then sucked his skin between her lips.
“Arabel?” He spoke her name, so softly, so sensually. “Hell, I love the feel of your mouth on me. Do it.”
“Do what?” she murmured.
“I want your mark.” His long black lashes swept up and his golden gaze met hers, so smolderingly hot. Then slowly, succinctly, he palmed the back of her head and brought her mouth back to his neck. “Bite me, my sweet. There is nothing you need to be afraid of.”
“I wasnae about to bite you.” Drat it. There she went again nibbling on his flesh. She needed to pull away, only everything within her cried out at the thought of stopping.
“Harder,” he pushed. “Don’t deny me what I want.”
Beyond frustrated, she bit him, just as he’d asked and the moment she released his skin, he flipped her over onto her back, buried his head at her neck and pressed his entire body against hers. Every inch of him was aligned with every inch of her and his manhood, so very hard and hot, dug into her belly. “You make me lose my mind,” she gasped. “We must cease this nonsense.”
“There is no stopping the mated bond when it takes form.” He licked her skin, right over her pounding pulse. “My bear is raging at me, demanding I take you and make you ours.”
“Wait.” She gripped his shoulders, fingernails digging into his flesh. She wanted to push him away, but she couldn’t, actually whimpered when she tried to. “Demanding this bond will ensure your death, Finlay, and I will never take the life of another, especially yours.”
“You’ve given me a reason to live, not taken my life away.” He tipped her head back farther, exposed her entire neck and scraped his teeth back and forth over her flesh. “Say aye. I need to mark you as you just marked me, but I need your permission first.”
“’Tis sheer luck my fire has no’ yet flared. Usually I cannae handle this much touch with another.” She shuddered in his arms and heat rippled through her and pooled between her thighs, the wrong kind of heat.
He breathed deep with one sensual grin. “Mmm, you smell like honey, one of my favorite treats. It’s like liquid gold to my bear and I could eat it by the tubful, just as I could eat you.”
“I want to say aye, but there is too much danger in doing so.” She couldn’t deny the need that had rolled through her to mark him, and the sheer pleasure that had taken hold once she had.
“Those who are soul bound to one another can’t harm each other. I can guarantee you your fire will never singe a hair on my head, ever. It’s impossible.” He licked down her neck to the top rise of her breasts and her nipples beaded into hard, pulsing points. “There has also never been another woman I have ever touched as I’ve touched you, and even without the aid of the current full moon, everything within me screams that you’re my mated one.”