“I’d appreciate that.” She tossed the blanket she’d wrapped around herself onto the bed then gave him her back.
Carefully, he unlaced her stays. the damp velvet separating and her soft creamy skin exposed. She clasped her bodice to her chest as it loosened all the way to her waist then done, he lightly placed his hands on her shoulders, slipped the sleeves to her elbows and turned her around until she faced him. The fire’s reddish-orange flames flickered bright and cast a heavenly glow across her high cheeks and the length of her slim neck. Her pulse point thumped and he skimmed the back of his knuckles across the spot. “May I?”
She raised a cautious eyebrow. “May you what?”
“It’s best I show you, rather than tell you.” Head dipped, he nuzzled her neck and the deep desire to bite her flowed even stronger through him. He pushed her back against the wall and sucked on her neck, his teeth grazing her flesh.
“Hunter?” She moaned his name as she tipped her chin higher and angled her neck for more of his touch.
“Aye.” He plucked her skin with his teeth, so close to biting her, his mouth watering.
“Danger abounds whenever we’re alone in a bedchamber together. Have you noticed that?”
“It’s a danger I’m becoming quickly addicted to.” With one palm sliding around the back of her head, he brought her mouth to his and kissed her. He swept his tongue over hers then delved deeper. More. He needed even more. A surge of desire flooded him and an ache pulsed in his balls as they tightened. All his thoughts scattered as the woman before him let out a low and needy moan.
She rocked her hips against his hips. “This is dangerous territory we enter.”
“Not for a mated pair it isn’t.”
“That’s if”—swaying, she wrapped one hand around his neck, her other still clutched in the folds of her bodice—“we’re mated.”
Chapter 8
Fierce desire rushed through Ailith as she slid her fingers into Hunter’s silky black hair and gently dragged her nails over his scalp. All signs pointed to a mated bond forming between them, his decree within her visions that they were soul bound and the sheer magnetism that had drawn them together from the beginning, undeniable. Added to that, she found it immensely annoying how she couldn’t halt from touching him.
“You are my chosen one, Ailith.” He took one step back, gripped the back of his navy tunic and drew it over his head in one smooth move before letting the cotton slip through his fingers onto the bed beside them. He removed his wrist dagger, set his weapon on the nightstand next to the bed, then unbuckled his sword belt and propped his weapon against the chunky wooden headboard, one carved with the form of the bear. Then ever so gently, he caught her free hand, brought it to his bare chest and let out a savage rumble. “I want you to mark me.”
An overwhelming need to do just that roared through her, a need she couldn’t fight any longer.
Another fierce rumble vibrated under her palm, his shifter eyes blazing a formidable golden shade and his claws slicing out. “You have until the count of five to do it. One—”
“You are very annoying.” She blew out a long breath.
“—two—”
“Extremely annoying.”
“—three—”
“Grrr.” She flexed her fingers, the light smattering of hair on his chest tickling her fingertips.
“—four—”
“Would you cease counting. I’m getting there.” Aggravated, she scraped downward until she reached the waistband of his tan breeches.
He lifted his head and roared. “Give me more.”
“Does this hurt?” Five deep gouge lines ran down the length of his chest.
“Nay, and those gouges will heal quickly. I also need to shift. My bear is too close to the surface and since I detest shredding my pants, these have to go too.”
“Wait. We cannae both be undressed at the same time.”
“Wear my tunic. My shifter blood runs far hotter than a mere human’s does and it’s already dry.” He scooped it from the bed and slipped it over her head.
The fabric, most definitely dry and warm, slithered over her shoulders and rippled to her knees. She stuck her arms down the sleeves, toed off her slippers, wriggled her hips and scooped her gown from the floor. Barefoot, she hopped across to the wooden rack and draped it over one rung.
Thump. One of his boots hit the floor.
Thump. The second.
She faced Hunter with a frown. “I should go while you make the Change.”
“No, stay right where you are. If you move beyond my bear’s sight right now, he’ll chase you. I know he will.” His arms rippled with fur as he stepped up to her, his pelt as dark and as silky as the hair on his head. Claws sliced from his fingers and the golden skin of his chest gleamed in the firelight, the marks she’d clawed down the front already gone.
His body was so magnificently male, his hard muscles honed to perfection, with deep grooves framing each of his heavily defined abs. Her toes curled. For centuries, she’d desperately hoped for a mate, and if he was hers, then she could no more leave this chamber than he could.
Slowly, he moved closer, as if he didn’t wish to startle her, then he worked the fastening of his breeches loose. “You ready?”
“I’ve seen plenty of men without their clothing on.” She crossed her arms, tapped one foot. “If you must insist on Changing afore me, then strip.”
“Who are all these men you’ve seen without clothing?” He pushed the rawhide past his hips to his feet and tossed them onto the wooden rack beside her gown. His powerful thigh muscles were most impressive, his legs planted wide and his cock waving at her high from within a thatch of dark curls at the apex of his groin.
She hauled her gaze back to his. “Ah, warriors I’ve trained with. They strut about naked at times, as if I’m no’ even there.” She maintained her standoff, motioned one hand for him to continue. “I’m waiting. Release your bear.”
“You are a very spirited woman. I love that about you.” He stepped closer, clasped her face between his hands and brought her mouth closer to his. “Kiss me.”
“You’re naked.”
“Are you scared to kiss a naked man?”
“Never.” She’d show him she wasn’t. Staring him straight in the eyes, she hooked one hand around the length of his cock and gave it a squeeze. “Where would you like that kiss?”
“I wasn’t aware there was an option.” He shuddered in her hand, his breath whistling out and his cock stiffening even further.
“You arenae supposed to be enjoying this, Hunter.” Another squeeze.
“You’re touching me, intimately. Of course, I’m going to enjoy that.” Pressing his forehead against her forehead, he grazed his knuckles along her cheeks. “I need to mark you again.”
A long pull of his cock, and another shudder.
“Hell, that feels so good.” He clamped his teeth on her lower lip and hissed out another breath as she swept her thumb over the plump head of his cock.
Not on her watch was he marking her again, not right now. She kissed him to keep his mouth on hers rather than biting into her flesh, and he gripped her backside through the thin cotton of his tunic.
“Mine,” he rumbled.
“I belong to myself, and no one else.” She kissed him deeper, her breasts swelling and her nipples scraping against the cotton of his tunic. His delicious scent was entrenched in the fabric and when she caught another breath, it sent her mind spinning into a frenzy. Heat gathered in her core and flushed between her thighs.
This moment was sublime and she leaned into him, rocked her hips against his hips.
“Ailith, I need to Change, right now.” His breath came harder and faster, then he dropped onto all fours and in a fiery display of brilliant lights, bones popped and his bear ripped out of him.
Frustration filled her and she lowered to her knees and wrapped her arms around his furry head. “I hate you, you big oaf.”
He stuck his
muzzle into her belly, pushed and knocked her over.
“Hunter!” On her back, sprawled on the blue and burgundy mat before the fire, she shoved her elbows underneath her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He stepped in over top of her, his front legs planted either side of her torso and his rear legs either side her thighs. He sniffed the air, his head cocked toward the door as if checking to ensure they remained alone.
“There’s no one else here, other than us.” She pushed her hands into his thick pelt, right along his belly, his fur a stunning shade of brown, his paws tipped with white and his underbelly a mix of brown and white splotches. She hadn’t noticed those splotches before, but then again, she hadn’t yet been lying right underneath him.
He grunted, dipped his head and prodded her neck with his wet snout.
“Stop that.” She giggled. “I’m ticklish.”
His tongue lolled out and he licked across her cheek.
“Hunter, I’m supposed to be getting drier, not wetter.” She squirmed about on her back and tried to scuttle out from underneath him, only he stamped his paws on the mat and moved with her. “You’re being persistent again.” She smoothed her hands along his belly, her fingers sliding through his decadently soft fur. “Let me up.”
Another wet lick, across her other cheek this time.
“I said—”
“A third lick, this one swiping across her nose.”
“Hunter.” She couldn’t halt her giggles. “I’m ticklish, remember?”
A fourth lick, along her chin, which made her laugh so hard.
’Twas a shame her chuckles weren’t helping to get her stern point across.
A snicker as he pressed one paw over the V-neckline of his shirt, then flicked his claw underneath the navy cotton and sliced down, right between her breasts down to the hem. The sides fell open.
More giggles. She couldn’t contain them now, no matter he’d rendered her as naked as the day she’d been born.
Bright lights shimmered then Hunter was back on his hands and knees over top of her, a lock of his silky dark hair curling across his forehead and a mischievous grin slashing his handsome face. “I love hearing you laugh.”
“Your bear is as feisty as you are.” She clapped a hand over her mouth to help stifle her laughter, but it didn’t help one bit. “You shifted too fast. I was about to ask if your other half would like a tummy rub.”
“You were not, but I’ll take one anyway.” He lowered himself until his belly brushed her belly, then he rubbed gently back and forth, his cheek smooth against her cheek. “You smell exactly like me now.”
“Hunter, I may be one of the ancient fae, but I’ve never been in this kind of position afore, directly underneath a man that is, except for this morning with you.”
“I’m not just any man. I’m your mate.” He bounded to his feet, scooped her from the mat, and before she could draw a breath, he dropped her lightly onto the bed then loomed over her on his hands and knees again. His heavily muscled body, all firm angles and hot flesh, seared her own. “Ailith, I’ve waited a lifetime to find you. I want you and my bear wants you and together, we’re going to stake our full claim. Are you ready?”
“Nay, I’m nowhere near ready.” Although her body screamed differently. Her hands, of their own accord, were already planted on his chest where the smattering of dark hair thinned as it weaved between his defined abs and led downward in a teasing trail before thickening around his stiff cock. She raked down his front, over his trim hips then lifted up and pressed her nose into his neck and drew in his deeply masculine scent, the pine freshness of the forest and the crispness of a salty ocean breeze. He was the only man she’d ever touched in such an intimate way, the only man she ever wanted to touch, and he was right, all signs led toward a mated bond forming between them, but still…they wouldn’t have absolute proof until the next full moon rose. “Perhaps we can love each other without fully joining as one?” She wanted to know his touch. She couldn’t deny that. “Although this does no’ mean you’re traveling with me to the past.”
“We could love each other without any joining. Whatever you’re comfortable with, so am I.”
“Aye, for now that is all I’m comfortable with.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, his hard body emitting a powerful heat that embedded right into hers. “Give me all that you are, without compromising your choices should we discover that in three weeks, you do in fact belong to another.”
“Only those who are mated can abide the touch of another. Never forget that.” He pushed his knees between her knees, nudged her legs apart and eased down her body until he lay between her thighs on the bed. Another deep breath as he swirled one finger over her belly and through the golden curls covering her womanhood.
“What are doing?”
“Following my instincts. You smell incredible right now, like a pot of honey. My bear loves dipping his paws into honey. There will only ever be you.” He raised her knees, hooked them over his shoulders and touched the tip of his nose to her inner thigh. Flexing his fingers, his claws slicing out then retracting, he growled with a low rumble. “I can’t touch my mind to yours like I need to right now. Forge a connection with me through your telepathic skill.”
“Of course, allow me.” She sought out his mind and swarmed inside as if that was right where she belonged. Tunneling deep, she cemented their link and whispered into his mind, “I’m here now.”
“I can feel you.” He softly nipped her inner thigh, grazed his teeth along her skin then with his wicked gaze on hers, sank his teeth into her flesh and bit down. Not hard, just perfectly right. “Marked,” he murmured, his grin wide, “and only where a lover could ever mark their other half.”
“Do that again.” She stretched languorously, wanting and needing more.
“Now that’s what I want to hear.” He scraped his teeth along her other thigh, then nipped in a series of small bites all the way to the crease of her groin. Gently, he spread her folds and licked his lips.
“You cannae bite me there.”
“I certainly can.” He dipped his head, his smile a challenge as he swept his tongue along her slit, and when she lost her grip on the mattress and slithered back down onto her back, he squeezed her nub between his lips and nipped it.
Tingles raced out from that highly sensitive spot and moaning, she rocked her head from side to side. Oh my, perhaps he could bite her there. Hunter laved attention on her, kissing her so intimately below and she thrashed for more. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined the sheer beauty of such an intimate moment. He suckled on her nub and folds, until an ache pulsed between her thighs she couldn’t ignore. “I cannae hold on, Hunter.”
“Neither can I.” He lifted his head and scented the air before diving back in and consuming her.
All her thoughts scattered, every last one.
He kissed her, plucking at her lower folds with his lips, then spearing his tongue deep inside her channel. Heat radiated through her blood and turned her insides into mush. Her heartbeat thumped like thunder in her ears and she needed this, needed him with an intensity that could never be appeased. She pushed her fingers into his hair as he made love to her with his mouth and held on as well as she could.
“Don’t come yet, Ailith.” He rose, swept his hands over her ribcage and fastened his gaze on her breasts. “I’m not done with you yet.” He lunged at her mounds, licked first one puckered nipple then the other before using his teeth and nipping all around her breasts and leaving her flesh dotted with his marks.
Sweet heaven. Never had she known such sheer pleasure as this.
Pressing into his delicious touch, she cupped her breasts and lifted them more fully to his devouring touch. Kisses and bites. She rubbed the achy tips against his teeth and he razzed over both sensitive peaks before drawing one aureole deep inside his mouth. He sucked, hard, his devoted attention making her entire body flood with heat and when he pinched her other nipple, she arched into
his body and pleaded for even more.
More, he gave her. Gorging and kissing and licking her breasts, he rolled his tongue around her nipples, then he trailed upward, along the curve of her neck and she stretched her head from side to side so he could cover her neck in delectable bites. Such an intense claiming, one that intensified their need for each other and tugged her heart ever closer toward his.
Her hips swayed into his hips and she clutched his wide shoulders, stroked over his muscled biceps and down his firm forearms as he rose over top of her. So immensely strong and virile. Good grief, she needed to mark him in return, however she could. She raked her nails down his sleek back and tapered waist, gripped his backside—which tightened deliciously in her hands—and dug her fingers into both lower cheeks. She pushed against him with her body and he gave into her demand and rolled over.
She hoisted herself on top of him, straddling his thighs, his shaft rising hot and hard between them. She cupped his balls and his cock lengthened even further, then she dipped her head and licked him with one long teasing stroke from root to tip.
“Ailith, wait. I’ll never be able to hold on if you keep touching me like that.”
“I need this, Hunter.” She settled her lips over the head of his cock and took him deep, just as she’d seen the wenches do when they’d lain with their men.
“Ailith.” He shuddered as he gripped her shoulders. “Hell, this is sheer torture. Halt,” he croaked.
She sucked harder and he rocked his hips, his cock sliding deeper into her mouth and she took advantage of her heavenly position, gripped the base of his shaft and worked him with her fist as she laved attention on him.
“No more.” He jerked out, tipped her onto her back, dived over her and shoved his cock into her hip. He stroked one finger through her heat below before plunging that finger in and rubbing a spot that had her body humming with even more need.
She gasped and bucked against him, his cock pulsing with heat and twitching against her hip bone. She was so slick and close, her soft cries impossible to withhold. Oh, how she wanted him to ground his cock deep inside her instead. “Hunter, I need you.”
Highlander's Claim: Time Travel Romance (The Matheson Warriors Book 2) Page 9