by Honor James
That had her grinning and asking, “Would you like for me to wear them?” That would mean no more touching like they had just done, but perhaps once was enough for him. She knew it wouldn’t be for her. Later when she had to be alone in bed, she would think of what had happened and replay it all over again, touching herself and replaying his words as she did so. “If you would like me to get them, I will trust you to help me find ones that won’t be uncomfortable.”
“I think you might enjoy them. Plus they can add to the desires you are feeling,” he told her quietly with a smile. “And I will gladly help you pick out some sexy underwear,” Talon said, his grin getting wider.
“How do you know what desires I’m feeling?” she asked with a grin. “Because I am feeling them, you know. I’m feeling such wonderful and deep need. I truly do like these feelings a great deal, and like the feelings that came earlier even more.” Cin was nothing if not completely blunt.
“Well those are repeatable, sweetheart, as long as we are alone where no one can see us. These new sensations will be for you as well, private, but because what is creating the sensations”—Talon spotted the place finally—“is hidden under regular clothing, it will give you a sense of empowerment and thrill all while looking serene and perfect to the outside world.” Pulling into a spot on the street, he peered at the store. “Remember, anywhere public be very cautious of what you say of our world and yours,” he said in a low tone, looking to her. Leaning over, he kissed her slowly, encouraging her because he hadn’t forgotten his promise to her. He’d never forget anything he told her.
Cin lifted a hand and placed it on his cheek. The other she used as a brace to keep herself close to him as she kissed him. Cinnamon kissed him with wild need and relish. She found she really, really liked kissing a great deal. When they parted, she licked her lips and tilted her head. “I really do very much like kissing. I think if I’m about to say something silly that I shouldn’t, you should kiss me, Talon. Yes, in fact I think that would be the best idea ever.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a crooked grin, his cheeks creasing as the other side slid up in a full smile for her. “It would be my absolute pleasure, and trust me, my little darling, I do so mean it.” Kissing her again quickly, he groaned and pulled back to get out of the truck. “Holy hell,” he muttered, walking around to open her door and help her out. Because he was into torturing himself, Talon slid her down his front side to feel the press of her lush form to his hard, very hard in places, body.
Licking her lips, she looked up and into his eyes. “I really like how hard you are,” she whispered. “But does it hurt?” she asked and let her hand trail down his chest to hover so close over his erection. “You are so large, feel so hard. Does it hurt?”
“Right now?” he asked, holding his breath to see if she would touch him even as he feared she would. “Right now it aches a lot from need for you,” Talon told her honestly. “It’s throbbing in time with my heartbeat and is full of blood, making it press against the zipper. Not very comfortable, but I hate wearing underwear, so it is what it is.”
Placing her hand over him, she stroked softly. “How can we make it go away? I don’t want you to hurt, Talon,” Cinnamon admitted honestly. “Should I touch you as you touched me?” she asked even as her fingers worked loose the button on the top of his jeans and found the zipper. “Would that help ease the ache you are feeling?”
Catching her hand, he lifted it from his jeans, the cool air around them brushing against the extremely hot skin of the head of his cock. “Not out in public,” he said softly. “Not where other women could see what you are doing and be jealous of you.” Brushing a kiss to her lips, he redid the button though it was tough. He so wanted to feel her soft hands on him. “Later,” Talon breathed out. “When we are alone in our spot for the night, then and only then can you touch me however you wish.”
“Do you promise?” she asked softly. When he nodded, she nodded as well. “Yes, I wouldn’t want anyone to see you. I think that I would be very”—she paused and tilted her head—“angry. Talon, I think I would be very angry if anyone else other than me saw you naked.” That didn’t make sense. She didn’t feel anger. She wasn’t supposed to feel love either, but she did. “What’s happening?” she asked in complete confusion.
“You’re feeling possessive,” he told her, watching the myriad of emotions racing over her face. She was so damned expressive. “We shared something intimate when you and I stroked you into an orgasm during the drive. You are feeling a little possessive toward me just as I am toward you. It’s perfectly natural, Cin. Don’t be afraid of the emotions. It’s all part of living here and will ensure you gain the full experience of it all.”
She felt the tears shimmering and ducked her head. “But I can’t,” she whispered sadly. “I can’t feel possessive of you, Talon, because I don’t have that right.” She pressed her face to his chest and felt the tears falling. “I don’t have that right because you have a bond-mate somewhere in the world. He or she is the only one who should be able to feel possessive of you. I’m feeling more than that, too, but I shouldn’t. This is going to break my heart when you find her. I can’t feel possessive because I will not want her or him to meet you, and I should never want to stand between bond-mates, but right in this moment, I do.”
Damn it all to hell and back again. He had to tell her, but he couldn’t. He needed her to want him for who he was, to need him as he needed her, and to realize the truth he had been given. Wrapping his arms around her, Talon cuddled her close. “Baby, I know you don’t realize this yet, but sometimes the heart wants what it wants no matter what the head knows. I feel just as strongly for you, Cinnamon, more so if you want the truth. So don’t pull away just because what you think you know is scaring you.”
Wrapping her arms around him, Cinnamon held him and cried all the same. “But I’m falling in love with you. That’s the emotion that I’m feeling, Talon. I know what love looks like, what it should feel like, and that’s what I’m feeling for you. I would give my wings for you,” she whispered in admission to him and pressed even closer to him.
Truth rang in her voice. She’d confirmed his suspicions with one little sentence. “And I will always catch you should you fall, angel,” he promised. “Should you ever want to fly, you have a King more than willing to take you anywhere you wish to go, no matter the heights, no matter the distance.” Come on, Cinnamon, cave, give in, come to me, damn it, he cursed in his head, very, very careful not to project, to keep everything buried down deep where she couldn’t possibly hear his thoughts.
It was too late. She realized that in that moment. She loved him. “I love you, Talon. Father help me, but I do,” she whispered and turned her face up to him. Her tears were diamonds falling from coal lashes. “I’ve seen it enough times I know what it is. I love you, Talon. I don’t think that I can ever give you up.” She sobbed. “Even when she or he walks into your life, I don’t think I will ever be able to let you go.”
Kissing her because he had to, needed to, Talon held her close to him as he devoured her mouth. I love you, too, Cinnamon. You’re the only one for me, he whispered into her mind. Thrusting his tongue into her mouth, he teased her tongue to follow his so he could suck on it for a time. Lifting his head because he was all too aware of where they were, he stared down at her. “You’re mine, little angel, now and forever.”
She didn’t speak. She just watched him. How did you speak in my mind? And why was she asking that question as if he would hear her? Only bond-mates could hear each other unless the other was a Magic User that could read minds. And how could you possibly know what I am? This time it was just a thought that flitted through her mind. “We should get to shopping. I know you had a destination in mind before the sun set.”
“Tonight,” he whispered quietly. “If you want to know, tonight when we are alone, I will tell you absolutely everything I know to be true, Cinnamon. But before that you get to play with a Dragon for a while an
d ensure you are really ready to hear it, because once it’s out it will come to be and won’t be deterred.”
“I want to see your Dragon. I look forward to playing with him,” she admitted softly. “I want to know. I need to know,” she confessed as she looked up at him. “So we should shop quickly so that we can find food and then get to where you need for us to be for the reveal of whatever it is that I’m so very obviously missing.”
Smiling, he nodded and kissed her again slowly before pulling back. Taking her hand in his, he squeezed her fingers. “Trust me, sweetheart, I think you might actually like what I have to say.” As long as she didn’t think too long or hard on the obvious fact that she couldn’t ever go home. Tugging lightly, he led her into the store and looked around as he pushed his sunglasses up onto his head. Finding what he needed, he headed for the section with her in tow, waving off the salesperson with a single singeing look of warning.
Cin looked around at the intimates section they were in with wide eyes. “They are so colorful.” Reaching out, she touched her fingers to the pretty material and looked to Talon. “All right. I will take some of the uncomfortable things. Help me choose and find the ones that won’t be as uncomfortable because of fit and material or whatever it was that you said.”
Chuckling softly, Talon pulled her close for a kiss. “Don’t move,” he ordered her. Shifting, he ran his hands over her hips, measuring her, and nodded before he cupped her breasts and judged the size. “All right, time to shop,” he told her, moving to pick out the right sizes in designs and materials he knew she would love to wear.
“Oh I like this one a great deal,” Cin said from behind the dressing room door as she looked at herself in the matching pink undergarments. “I want to wear these out of the store. I also would really very much like more of them in different colors. They are so soft, but they make my breasts look so amazing,” she told him as she ran her hands up under the cups of the bra and over her breasts. “Do you want to see?” she asked brightly.
“Later tonight, darling,” he told her as he collected a few more items. “Try these on overtop of the undies, babe.” Talon wandered off with an armload and left it with the cashier plus the two tags from the bra and panties she was wearing. “There will be more items,” he warned them before returning to keep picking out clothing for Cinnamon and tossing them over the door to her.
Choosing a soft and flowing pink shirt as well as a pair of pink jeans, she grinned. “I really like pink,” she told him happily and peeked over the door at him. “I need pink shoes now, too,” she told him with a nod. “Unless I should just continue to wear my sandals?” She would be decked head to toe in pink, while the love of her life was in black head to toe. It was enough to make her giggle.
“We have to go across the street for shoes, so let’s finish getting you clothing first. We’ll toss everything into the truck before we run over,” he said to her, passing her a couple more items to try on. “How did everything fit?” he asked her, looking at her piles of clothing. “What do you want to buy, sweetheart?”
“All of it,” she said happily. “I could really get used to buying clothing. I really very much liked it. I want it all,” she told him as she all but bounced on her feet. “What do you think? Do you like what I’ve chosen to wear?” she asked and held out her arms, turning so that he could see the back as well.
“You look good enough to eat,” he commented low, his voice a sensual rumble just for her. Grinning at her look, Talon kissed her. “Grab what you are happy with and want to keep so we can buy it and move on. We need to get you a jacket, so we will get you outfitted for that while they ring everything up.”
“But I like it all,” she said with a frown. “I’m happy with all of it.” She frowned. “Except for the purple and the black. I don’t think I look good in those colors at all.” The colors of the pile were all pastels, very light colors to blend with her light looks. “All right, you can take the blacks, purples and that weird blue color.” It was so vibrant she hadn’t even tried it on. The color hurt her eyes to look at.
Chuckling, he collected the clothing she wanted. “Come on darling, we’ll give this to the clerks so that they can start ringing it up. We need to get you a jacket and then we will buy you shoes of all sorts.” He had a feeling she was going to love shoe shopping. So many different types, so many choices. It was going to be a long day, he realized with a grin.
Chapter Nine
“Oh I would like to have a jacket like yours, but not so dark. Do you think that they have it in pink to match my outfit?” Cinnamon asked him happily as she stroked her hands up and down the silk of the shirt. “I’m glad that I got other colors as well. I don’t want to wear out my favorite colors too soon. Right?”
“They might,” he told her as he handed the huge pile to the clerk. “We’re taking these, too,” he said before heading across the store to the jackets. They wouldn’t have exactly his coat. It was custom made, but they might be able to find something similar. Flipping through the jackets he paused and pulled one out. “Try that on for size. Ignore the color for the moment,” he told her. “I just want to see the cut of it on your body.”
She wrinkled her nose at the dark black hue of the coat but slipped it on all the same. “I don’t mind wearing yours because it smells like you and feels like you, but I dislike this one a great deal.” She did, however, move obediently for him in it so that he could look. “Yes, it’s very comfortable. However, I dislike the color and will not wear it.”
Tipping his head, he eyed the lines. “It’s a little big, which was the real reason I wanted you to try it on,” he said, taking it back and checking the tag. Moving to another rack after hanging up the other, he dug through and pulled out a white one with pink accents. “They don’t have pink, but will this do?” he asked her, checking the size before holding it for her to slip into.
Looking at the jacket, she grinned. “This one is perfect for me. It’s so pretty and soft,” she whispered as she ran her hands over the butter-soft leather and enjoyed the feel of it.
Helping her into it, he turned her around and double checked the fit. “Looks good on you.” He smiled gently. “Let’s go and pay for it and everything else, little one.” Taking her hand, Talon guided her to the counter and indicated they wanted the jacket, too.
“Oh, do you have my card? I look forward to swiping it and paying for all of this with that little piece of plastic.” She didn’t understand why people wanted plastic instead of gold, but she wasn’t going to argue. “I would like to wear my new jacket out please,” she murmured when the woman was going to place it into the bag. “If you can tear off the little plastic things and throw those away for me, too?”
Digging out her card, Talon smiled when she plucked it from his fingers. Taking the jacket from the sales lady, all tags removed, he helped her into it. Looking up to him when he chuckled she tipped her head. “Better?” he asked her, pulling her in close to kiss her.
“Much better. It’s so very soft and so pretty,” Cinnamon said and looked up into his eyes adoringly. “I do love you so very much, Talon,” she whispered softly before passing her card to the woman. Grinning, she added, “I just got the card today. You are the first person to swipe it for me.” She then frowned, cocked her head to the side, and bit her lower lip to keep from blurting out what was on her mind. She looked up to Talon and then the woman who was smiling indulgently at them. She could feel it. The woman was very, very ill. She likely didn’t know it, but she was dying and would without proper care and treatment. How could she get the woman to go to her doctor? How could she steer her in the right direction?
Looking sharply at Cinnamon, he caught her worried look and turned his eyes to the woman she was staring at, the woman that was helping her with her purchases and the card. Inhaling slowly, he caught the scent of illness. Cinnamon must have picked it up. She was practically vibrating in her need to say something but was holding back because of his warnings. His little angel
was just something amazing and special. Reaching into the human female’s mind, Talon planted the suggestion of feeling off, not herself, and that she had to make an appointment as soon as possible with her doctor. Not to just wait, but to do it as soon as she saw them off and to insist on an appointment immediately.
Taking the bags, he smiled at the woman. “Thank you,” he said, taking Cin’s arm in his hand and leading her to the door and just outside. When she went to speak, he shook his head and watched through the window as the female picked up the phone. Letting the Dragon up nearer the surface, he listened in as she spoke to the doctor’s office and managed an appointment for later that day. Satisfied, he guided Cinnamon to the truck to put the purchases in. “Boots next.”
When they were at the truck, Cinnamon jumped into Talon’s arms and hugged him closely, tightly. “You are amazing, Talon. Thank you,” she whispered against his ear before kissing his ear and closing her eyes. She allowed her love for the man to flow freely around them. She didn’t try to hide what she was feeling. She just wanted to let it all out. “You knew what I needed and you ensured that it was taken care of. Thank you,” she whispered.
Shrugging, he held her to him with a single arm. “You are mine to look after, too, Cinnamon,” he said softly. “Besides, you were hurting not being able to say what you needed to say to help the woman. I just did what you couldn’t do little one, it’s what a couple does. They help each other by giving what the other can’t and accepting what they don’t have. It’s a mutual respect and companionship, darling. It’s how successful couples work together by knowing their own strengths and weaknesses, accepting them, and doing the same with their partner.”
That had her smiling and nodding. “Well I hope that I will be able to remember that and be able to give back to you all that you have given to me.” Pulling back, she looked at him. “I do hope that they will be able to help her. I don’t know if they will or not. I think the illness is one that has been brewing for a long time, and it’s something she has put off as a cold or stress. I hope that they can save her.”