He should push her away and order her to run. He’d nearly killed her tonight, but now that she was in his arms, he wasn’t going to let her go.
Refusing to let her go made him a selfish prick, but he wouldn’t part from her. He’d always been a selfish prick, and he wasn’t about to change when he was holding the biggest temptation he’d ever encountered in his arms.
He pushed aside her robe and his hand bunched in her T-shirt as he pulled it up. When he slid his hand down to cup her ass again, his cock became rock-hard as his fingers traced the lacy edge of her underwear.
He slid his fingers over those edges before tugging her underwear down to cup her firm ass. She was so right and beautiful, and he couldn’t believe he was holding her. After what he’d done to her tonight, she should hate him, but instead, she’d come to him.
Growing frustrated with her underwear, he carefully sliced them from her silken skin, and the ruined material fell to the floor. Sensing her uncertainty, he cupped her ass again before sliding his hand down and between her legs.
He would keep her so aroused she wouldn’t have a chance to change her mind. She gasped as she swayed toward him. His fingers slipped between her thighs and touched upon the wetness spreading between her legs.
He’d considered himself hard before, but now his dick throbbed with its need for release. Plucking her from the ground, he lifted her and settled her on his lap.
He could be inside her in seconds, something he wanted more than his next breath, but he didn’t take her. Instead, he planned to cherish every bit of her and this moment before entering her.
By the time he finished teasing her, she would be mindless and panting with need. When he finally did enter her, he would ensure the pain of her first time was minimal.
He teased her clit until she trembled against him. He teased her until her legs were trembling around him.
Rising from the bed, he broke the kiss while he lifted her. She locked her legs around his waist and clung to him as their eyes met.
The hunter and emerald green mixture of hers had darkened, and her pupils were dilated. Her lips, swollen from his kisses, were as lush as her. She licked them as her gaze fell to his mouth.
“You should run, Lexi,” he said.
He didn’t know where the words came from; he certainly hadn’t expected to utter them, but he had to give her one last chance to leave. She had to realize that once he possessed her, he would never let her go.
It had been a while since he fed, and the fae was hungry, though he wouldn’t take from her tonight. Tonight, it would be about her.
For the first time in his life, he planned to deny himself. The realization would have been shocking, but he was far too lost in her to absorb it fully.
When her beautiful green eyes continued to hold his, he didn’t see any sign of her changing her mind. There was apprehension in her gaze, but it wasn’t of him. How she didn’t fear him, he didn’t know, but it only made him care for her more.
And he did care for her, he realized with a start. He didn’t want to protect her because she was Del’s daughter; he wanted to protect her because she was his.
Excitement pulsed through him at the realization. She was his, and he was not going to let her go.
He squeezed her ass before turning to lay her on the bed. When he set her down and stepped back to gaze at her, her eyes fell to his erection.
He thought she might change her mind and bolt then, but she bit her lip and looked to him again. Her fangs had extended until the sharp points showed over her bottom lip.
With tender care, he traced the tip of one of those fangs, and when it pricked his thumb, he ran the blood across her lips. When her tongue darted out to taste his blood, a spark of hunger flared in her eyes.
He smiled as he pulled the robe from her before gripping the bottom of her T-shirt and sliding it up to reveal her belly. Tugging it higher, he exposed her pert breasts before pulling the shirt from her.
He tossed the clothing aside and gazed down at her. She was long and lean, and her time working on the manor had toned her body. However, she still possessed shapely thighs and luscious curves that begged to be explored. And he was more than eager to do exactly that.
His mouth watered as he climbed onto the bed beside her and cupped one of her breasts. It filled his palm and spilled over a little as he ran his thumb around her nipple before bending to suck it into his mouth.
Her fingers entwined in his hair, and she pulled him closer. He ran his other hand down her stomach. It slipped between her legs where he rubbed her clit before dipping a finger into her. She arched beneath him as he turned his mouth to her other breast.
Her hips rocked as she fucked his hand until her breath came faster. Releasing her breast, he lifted his head to gaze at her as her head fell back.
While she was so focused on the pleasure he gave her, he slipped another finger into her. He stretched her further in preparation for his invasion when it came.
As she rode his hand, he drank in the beautiful sight of her while he pushed her closer and closer to orgasm. When she came apart, he muffled her cry with his kiss as the walls of her sheath contracted around his fingers.
He broke the kiss and leaned back to savor her beauty as her eyes fluttered open. A sexy smile curved her swollen lips while the lightning bolts illuminated her sun-kissed, silken skin and exquisite beauty.
She was the most stunning woman he’d ever seen, and she was his. The wolf within him bellowed this knowledge over and over again.
Always the more subtle part of himself, he wasn’t used to having the primal lycan part of himself seeking to take control, but it had been asserting its dominance since she walked into his life.
He had no idea what would happen if the beast broke free, but he was willing to find out if it meant making her his.
• • •
Lexi floated on a haze of passion as Cole remained kneeling beside her with a look of wonder and something more on his face. She couldn’t quite place what that something more was —confusion, disbelief, a dawning understanding that seemed out of place—but when his silver eyes met hers, the wildness in them made her breath catch.
He was magnificent, powerful, and on the verge of losing control. After what transpired earlier, and her still sore throat, that should frighten her. However, when his fingers skimmed her belly and the tips of his claws grazed her skin, she felt no fear of him.
He’d been lost to a nightmare earlier—no, not a nightmare, he was trapped in a memory when she tried to wake him. He was with her completely now. And he would never physically harm her while awake.
He might end up breaking her heart, but that would be her fault as much as his. She’d walked into this knowing what he was, yet she was still here.
“You should have run, Lexi,” he said in a gravelly voice distorted by his fangs.
She probably should have run, but she hadn’t, and she was glad. There was nowhere else she’d rather be.
Gripping her legs, he shifted until he knelt between them. When he leaned over her, the thick wall of his muscle and the heat of his body encompassed her. He propped his hands beside her head as he held himself over her.
His silver eyes flickered, and for a second, she was staring into their Persian blue depths again. There was something so open and honest about that gaze, something so vulnerable it dug its way into her heart, and though her heart might end up shattered, she would never run from him.
And then the blue was gone and the silver was back. She ran her fingers over his high cheekbones as he lifted one hand and grasped his shaft to guide it into her. The head of it parted her and pushed inside.
Biting her lip, she kept her attention focused on him as sweat dampened his skin and the powerful muscles surrounding her vibrated with his barely leashed restraint. As he moved deeper into her, she tried to ignore the discomfort their joining created.
And just when she believed he was going to bury himself inside her, he stopped moving and put his hand beside her head again. They stared at each other before he bent and reclaimed her lips.
The tender caress of his tongue was so different than his demanding kisses earlier that she didn’t know how to respond at first, but when his tongue entwined with hers, Lexi relaxed beneath him.
Her arms slid up to wrap around his shoulders, and she pulled him closer. She marveled at the differences between them. He was so unyielding and massive.
He made her feel small and fragile but also cherished and safe as his thumb rubbed her cheek and the tenderness of his kiss dug its way deeper into her heart.
Her fingers bit into his back, and as she adjusted to having him partially inside her, she lifted her hips invitingly toward him. She wouldn’t accept anything less than all of him.