“It’s never easy for one who is mated to lose their other half. Dad’s commitment to raising me though kept him from losing it. His clan also needed him, and we rely on his wise judgment and strength.” She looked deep into his eyes. “I’ve always felt torn, Iain. He’s given up so much to remain with me, and I’ve felt driven to give him the same commitment in return.”
“You harbor guilt?”
“Guilt, and love, and kin. They’re a powerful combination.”
“For the past five years, I’ve ached for what could be and for what’s always remained just beyond my grasp. But I want you to lay any guilt you feel aside. Going forward, we start fresh, with no recriminations or blame. There is only us, and how we intend to live our lives from this moment forth.” Being with her was all he’d longed for, and now the chance was here, he wasn’t about to lose her before he’d ever had the chance to know her. “Apart from your father, who’s your next closest?”
“Daniel.”
“Does he have a mate?” The man better have.
“Aye, and a wee son who is only six weeks old. Daniel holds the fae skill of telekinesis. With his mind alone, he can levitate objects or people.”
“Then I thank you for the warning.” He didn’t doubt that as close kin, Daniel would be as protective of Isla as her father would be.
“You’ll need the warning, although I’d never let Daniel hurt you.” She touched one fingertip to his chest then slid it between two of his shirt buttons and stroked his skin. “You’re very warm, almost too warm.”
“It’s been a few days since I last shifted. Being in the city prevented me from doing so and when I returned, I was busy preparing for the chase.”
“If you need to shift now, feel free to do so.”
“I’ll only shift if you do.”
She shook her head. “I want to talk to you and I can’t do that if I shift.”
A good sign. His bear settled at the thought.
“Every mated pair in my clan knew each other for years before the mated bond drew them together.” She popped another of his buttons, eased her entire hand fully inside and palmed his flesh. “We don’t have that same benefit going into our mated bond. I don’t want to move too fast, even though I can’t help but want to touch you. The need is strong.”
“As it is for me, and we’ll take things as slow as you need to. We’ll find the right balance. I like having your hands on me. It’s soothing.” It calmed him as nothing else could. “Touch me, wherever and however you please.”
“You are far too amenable.”
“I’ve never made the offer to another soul, just you.” He rested his hands on her hips, slid his thumbs under the hem of her white tank top and stroked her smooth skin. “And if I move too fast, rein me back in. I’ll understand.” Gazing into her eyes, he shared the words emblazoned deep on his heart. “What belongs to me is now yours, including all that I am.”
“You are also far too sexy for words.” A teasing smile lifted her lips. “Does that inclusion of what belongs to you go as far as your convertible?”
“The key is in the top drawer of my dresser and the car is parked in the lot out the back. You have to take the postern gate to reach it, but again, you’re not to leave without me. That is my one and only stipulation.” He caressed her back and pressed her closer. Five years of searching for her, of feeling incomplete and now she was here, right where she belonged. He closed his eyes as another wave of deep desire rushed through him. “Thank you for allowing this kind of touch. I need it, bad.”
“The urge to bond is strong.” She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. “The full moon is attempting to get its way.”
“We’ll control what will or won’t happen this night, not the moon.” He sank his hands into her hair and luxuriated in the slide of her dark silky locks slipping across his wrists and forearms. His bear fairly purred for more and carefully, he unleashed a touch of his control, lifted her up, scooted with her onto his bed and laid down beside her, one leg firmly over hers to hold her in place.
“Talking of control.” She touched her lips to his ear and whispered, “Stay very still. No more moving for you.” Hypnotically compelling words.
“You don’t need to compel me if you don’t wish for me to move.” Damn it. He couldn’t move a muscle. She’d restrained him, fully and completely. “How often do you use your skill?”
“When and as needed, but I just couldn’t help myself right now.” She nudged him onto his back and perched beside him then lifted one foot and unzipped her boot. She tossed it onto the floor then unzipped the other.
“How long does the compulsion last?”
“Do you mean when will you be able to move?”
“Exactly.”
“Until I free you.” She winked, shuffled to the end of the bed and unlaced his boots. She removed and propped them next to hers then crawled back up and straddled his hips. With one sensual move, she slid a weapon from the back rise of her jeans, checked the safety and leaning over him, placed it on the bedside table.
His fingers twitched, the bone-deep need to touch her clawing at him.
“Don’t try to fight the compulsion. It can become painful if you do.”
“At least you’re making yourself comfortable and not racing out the door.” Thank heavens for that.
“I just needed a moment, and you did say I could touch you, wherever and however I pleased. I do tend to take things literally.” She traced along his lower lip, reached the center then swept back to the corner. Her golden gaze swirled with desire, the same fierce emotion raging through him. “When I first saw your image from the footage my father downloaded from the city, I touched you just like this.” She stroked along his lip again and he nipped her finger then sucked it inside his mouth. Slowly, she leaned in, her lips a mere breath from his. “If you’re in any pain, then tell me.”
A surge of heat flared down his spine, rolled into his groin and hardened his cock. He groaned as his shaft rose and tried to spear through his pants. “Ignore that.”
“I’ve been celibate my entire life. I couldn’t ignore any part of you if I tried.” She stroked down his chest and along his waistband. “Would you like to move?”
“You compelled me for a reason, and not just to see how I managed not being able to move. I obviously came on too fast. I won’t have you fear me or my touch in any way. If this is what you need to do to feel more comfortable, then I can readily accept it.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, not in the least.” She pressed one hand to his chest, right over his heart. “I want your touch, Iain. I want to get to know you, to see what I’ve been missing out on since the chase began. I know my father would want that for me too. I release you from your compulsion.”
Even though she had, he remained perfectly still, his greatest desire now to unravel each and every intriguing part of her.
* * * *
Iain didn’t move even though she’d released him from her compelling command. She smiled. “I like you. You’ve surprised me at each and every turn so far tonight.”
“I like you too. I also want to smother you in my scent. Is that permissible?”
“Of course.” Her heartbeat picked up its pace. She wanted his scent all over her, for both her and her bear. She couldn’t hold back that need.
Gently, Iain rolled her onto her side then facing her, smoothed one hand over her lower back. Fingers splayed wide, he rubbed his body against hers, ensuring his scent encased her, just as he’d done outside in the forest when he’d slid his jacket off and zipped her securely within it. She liked it. A lot. Particularly when he slid his fingers underneath her shirt’s hem and stroked along her waist.
She nuzzled his neck, right over his tattoo. “Your mark is stunning.”
“Do you have any distinguishing marks yourself?”
“I’m the first female in my line to receive one.” She lifted her tank top a touch and nudged her jeans down an inch to expose her hip an
d the small tattoo of the claw-and-star mark symbolizing her dual shifter-fae blood. “Since my mother passed away only a week following my birth and my father knew I’d be his only child, he honored me with the mark.”
“It’s beautiful.” He stroked one thumb over it.
“Thank you.” She tucked her top back down and played with the last two remaining buttons holding his shirt together.
“Take my shirt off if you wish.”
“Are you reading my mind?” She desperately wanted to. Skin to skin contact was necessary between mated pairs and she was no different in her desires even though she’d run from him.
“I’d like nothing more than to read your mind, but it’ll keep.”
“You’re doing a fine job even without the merged link.” She lengthened one claw and sliced the buttons away then peeled the soft cotton back and licked her lips. His wide chest, so heavily muscled held a smattering of hair, the same dark shade as his head and a teasing trail led down and disappeared inside the waistband of his black jeans. She shoved his shirt off his shoulders, exposed his muscled arms and thick biceps. So beautiful, and all hers.
“Isla.” He groaned, his golden gaze heating to a molten hue. “You may need to compel me again. Your touch is only going to encourage me to want more.”
“What kind of ‘more’ would you like?”
“I want to kiss you.”
“A kiss would be nice.” She didn’t want to turn him away, not when she too craved what she’d been forced to give up for so long.
“Then I have your permission?”
“You do.”
He dipped his head, licked her lower lip then grinned. “You taste good.”
“That’s all you want?”
“Hell no.” He covered her mouth with his and licked her tongue. She swayed forward and he captured her lips in a deliciously scorching kiss, his hard body a powerful heat that carved warmth into her own. Mmm, he tasted good, so good. She melted against him, reveling in his scent as it swirled around and embedded itself deep within her.
Even as she’d run from this bond, she’d still yearned for it. She melted further into his touch. His breath whispered softly across her tongue, an incredibly sensuous caress that had her urging his lips apart and deepening their kiss to capture more of his essence.
This was so very right, and she indulged as her need for more rushed through her. She plunged her tongue inside his mouth and drank in his delectable taste, welcoming the raw intimacy she’d never experience with another. Only him. He was the one destined to be hers. “Oh goodness.” She pulled back a touch. “I really love the way you kiss.”
“And I love the way you respond.” He caressed her sides, roamed down and scooped her bottom. Then he kissed her again, so deeply, so wildly, that their breath mingled as one and completely scattered her thoughts.
“More, Iain.”
“What kind of more do you want?”
“For you to mark me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
He rolled her onto her back and rose over top of her. He nibbled along her jaw and down her neck. She arched into his touch as he scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin where her neck and shoulder met.
A scorching heat shimmered through her and pooled between her thighs. She wanted his mark, just as she wanted to give him hers. “Do it.”
“I’m just enjoying the ride leading up to it.” He slid one finger under her shoulder strap and eased her tank top away from her neck. A low rumble vibrated in his chest as he pressed himself against her and sucked on her offered skin. Then he teased her with his tongue, stroked one hand down her throat, over her chest and curved his palm around her breast.
“I can’t wait any longer.” Her pulse raced, so fast.
“Neither can I.” He bit down and arousal hit her hard and fast. She clutched his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh.
He licked her skin, soothing the spot where he’d bitten before lifting his head and looking into her eyes. “Are you all right? Your skin is so flushed.”
“I liked it, a lot.”
“As did I.” He rolled her into his side and pulled her tight against him, his hand firm on her thigh as he tucked his top leg between hers and ensured they touched along their entire length. Slowly, he slid her hair back from her shoulder and eased her other top strap to the side.
“Are you going to bite me again?”
“Aye, the same time you’re going to bite me. Since completing our bond must wait, we both need this.” Head lowered, he cupped the back of her head and drew her mouth to his neck. “Am I right? Tell me if I’m not.”
“You’re right.” She gave into the deep need burning within her, sucked his skin into her mouth and razzed his flesh with her teeth. Her nipples hardened into tight points and she rubbed her breasts against his chest to ease the ache.
“Now,” he growled.
She clamped down on him and he did the same to her. Pleasure coursed through her, sweeping her away on a tide of wonder. He was hers and she wanted everyone to know it, and this mark she’d given him would ensure it.
“Isla.” He hissed out a breath and rocked his leg between hers.
“So good,” she murmured, a tight need for more building deep inside her.
“What do you want? Tell me and I’ll deliver.”
“Make—got to have—I just need more.”
“I’ve got you.” He gripped her thigh, pressed his jean-clad leg even higher into her crotch and urged her to move on him. Sweet heaven. The seam of her jeans pressed into her clit and she couldn’t help but rub harder against him.
Dizzy and breathless, she kissed him, with all the passion and intensity taking her over and he rocked his leg harder into her and made her gasp as white-hot pleasure struck her. It ricocheted outward from her core and hardened her nipples even further. He’d driven her so swiftly and completely over the edge and she soared as bright lights sizzled behind her closed eyelids. “Oh goodness,” she panted as she slowly came back down. “That was totally unexpected.”
* * * *
“It was also beautiful to see.” Iain stroked Isla’s hair as her breathing returned to normal. Watching her soar skyward from an orgasm he’d given her had made him deliriously happy. She was so responsive to his touch and he adored it. He nuzzled her neck, her scent below sweeping up and over him. So intoxicating. “Are you all right?”
She opened her eyes, blinked and cleared her dazed gaze. “I can’t believe you just made me come, while I’m still fully clothed.” She rubbed the spot where he’d bitten her in a slow circle with her thumb then palmed the mark and held it to her. “No more biting me tonight. I’m not sure I can handle another episode like that without wanting to tear your clothes off you.”
“That was hardly a warning if that was your intention.” His cock throbbed for release. He’d never had sex before, but he’d certainly watched a few interesting movies and right now all he wanted to do was slide her jeans down her legs and feast on that part of her that had wept for him.
“I can see what you’re thinking.” She tapped his nose. “You need to stop it.”
“You’re torturing me.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, his mouth moving in a slow exploration that left them both ragged for breath when he pulled back. It would take every ounce of his willpower not to succumb to this desperate desire he had for her tonight.
It would surely be one long evening.
One he never wanted to have end.
He’d found his mate and his soul rejoiced in the fact.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” she murmured.
“My soul is in heaven.”
“Likely right alongside mine after what you just did to me.”
“Aye, what happens to you, happens to me.” He grinned, completely taken by the woman before him. The days ahead shone with a brilliance he couldn’t wait to explore. With her. Only with her.
Chapter 2
The moon, golden and so very full, hung low over the loch and sent its blaze of warmth across the castle and forest beyond. Sorcha tucked her hand inside Gilleoin’s as Kenneth and Ivan stood strong beside them. This night she’d lose one son even as she gained a daughter and so many emotions warred within her. Loss, sadness, yet also wonder and hope. ’Twas time for her sons to seek out their mates and claim them, to live the lives they were born for.
“All will be well, my love.” Gilleoin kissed the top of her head. “This is a night of celebration, and we will no’ consider it otherwise.” He clasped his youngest son’s shoulder. “Ivan, do you sense your mate?”
“Aye, I’m driven toward the east. She is far away, so distant ’twill take some time to reach her and with only this night of the full moon to guide me in the right direction.”
“Nessa warned you that ’twould be so. This night though will set you on the right course.”
“I will find her. Our souls are bound and I willnae be able to rest until I am with her.”
Sorcha stepped forward. “Ivan, dinnae forget what your grandmother has also asked of you.”
“To never disclose the location of this keep. I gave her my word I wouldnae. My descendants willnae merge again with my brother’s line until the time for the prophecy to unveil arrives.” He seized his father’s forearms in a firm hold. “An adventure awaits.” He released Gilleoin and hauled her into his arms. “Mother, there is naught I can say that will ever express what is in my heart. It overflows with love for you and I pray my wife shall be as you are, most wondrous and loving.”
“As my heart overflows with love for you too.” Tears welled in her eyes and slipped free, tears she hadn’t a chance of holding back.
Highlander's Desire (The Matheson Brothers Book 1) Page 4
