“That sounds dangerous.” She seized his biceps and held on. “We really need to cease touching.”
“Allow me one kiss before we leave. I’ve yet to taste your lips and I fear I’ll be overcome with the desire to do so and at the worst possible time.” He was quite serious. “I’ve been searching for you for the longest time and I can’t seem to hold back any of my desires, which are growing rapidly the more time we spend together. It’s also best we test your limits well away from your kin.”
“That is a terrible proposition.” Yet a glimmer of hope flared in her eyes. She wanted his kiss, and with a little nudge, he might be able to claim one from her.
“We’ll take things slowly. I promise you I will. This time I’ll be far more careful.” He caressed her sides, roamed down and scooped her bottom. Lifted higher, he pressed his hips against hers. “Say, aye.”
“You are one very pushy bear.”
“Is that an aye?”
“One kiss, then you shall see we are a terrible match and hopefully head straight for the hills.”
“Perfect.” He’d take her agreement for a kiss no matter how it was offered. Gently, he carried her to the bed and laid her across the soft brown fur bedcovering then nudged her knees apart and with his legs between hers, sank down on top of her. “I will never desire any other than you.”
“Must we lie down for this kiss?” She wriggled underneath him, her breath catching.
“Aye, that would be my preference.”
“I feel too hot.” She closed her eyes. “And there are butterflies taking flight in my belly. Can we hurry and be done with this?”
“We can, the moment you look at me.”
She opened her eyes and frowned. “You are completely relentless.”
“Because losing you is something I’ll never survive, not now that I’ve finally found you.” He lowered his head a touch and completed the trap. “After this kiss, I want the right to sleep in your bed, each and every night.”
“You are beyond relentless.”
“If you need me to taper my needs back, just ask.”
“As if you’d listen.” She rolled her eyes and he chuckled.
“You are already coming to know me so well.” Slowly he brushed his mouth over hers, her lips so achingly soft as he joined them together. Playfully, he nipped her lower lip, sucked it into his mouth then licked her tongue. Desire swarmed his senses and as her breasts swelled under his chest, a raw and primal sensation speared through him. He rubbed his body against hers, until his scent surrounded her and hers enveloped him.
“I cannae believe we’re kissing.” Her breath whispered softly across his lips in a teasing caress he hungered for more of. “A little more, Finlay, please.”
She nibbled on his lips and he groaned, deep and throaty before capturing her mouth and offering her the kiss she’d asked for. An intense need he couldn’t resist flooded him.
“Arabel, I love how you feel underneath me, all soft curves and glorious heat.” With painstaking slowness, he grazed a finger along the upper swell of her breasts where her heart-shaped neckline dipped.
“I shouldnae be allowing this.” She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, she gazed into his eyes. “One more kiss since I have no’ burnt you just yet.”
“Do you feel the depth of need our bond demands?”
“Aye, and ’tis most frustrating.” She kissed him, a deep and devouring kiss that made his heartbeat pound and hers flutter into a frenzy against his. “This is bad, very bad.” She nipped his earlobe before trailing her lips down his neck to the very spot where she’d bitten him earlier. She laved the mark she’d made and he bent his head to her neck, trapping and keeping her locked in place.
“I give you my oath, Arabel. You will always have my protection, my absolute devotion and undying loyalty. Whatever you need, I intend to provide.”
“I feel—I feel too much.” She scrapped her teeth back and forth over his skin. “I should be able to deny what’s happening. Your very life is at stake if I dinnae.”
“You’re my mate and we are soul bound. What you desire is what I desire, and that is the completion of our bond.” He lifted one arm and his skin rippled with the Change. Soft fur, the same color as the hair on his head, shimmered then retracted. “My bear rides me hard. He knows you’re ours.”
“When did you first know, that your mate wouldn’t be easy to find?”
“Very young, maybe six or seven. There were no female cubs of a similar age to me within my clan.” He slid her hair back from her shoulder and eased the sleeve of her gown to the side.
“Are you going to bite me?”
“Aye, if you’ll permit it. Until you’re ready to complete the bond and join fully as one, we both need this, to hold each other’s mark.”