He only shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kat. I guess I never thought..." His jaw clenched. "She made it sound like I forced myself on you, and when you wouldn't talk to me, I figured that's how you really felt and I left you alone."
She couldn't look at him, not when he kneeled down again in front of her and took her into his arms, not when he whispered her name against her eyelids, not when he brushed his lips gently against hers in a kiss that reminded her of that first kiss, not even when his tongue found the mark that he had given her so many moons ago.
"You've always been the only one for me," he murmured. "I love you." His breath was hot on her skin, setting her blood boiling again.
"Then why my sister? Of all people, why Monique?" Her voice was quavered as she fought back tears.
He sighed. "I'm sorry. I wanted you, so badly I couldn't think about anything else. But when you made it clear you didn't want anything to do with me, I had to move on to take my mind off you. I admit, I hoped you would be jealous, but I didn't think you even cared. I never meant to hurt you, Kat, I promise."
Her mind reeled with his confession, and she leapt to her feet and fought against her desire to run. Just tell him how you feel, she chided herself. He loves you. He never meant to hurt you. Just believe him.
***
All the world was silent but for the occasional rustling of some nocturnal creature. Kat ached to touch Nathaniel and lose herself in making love to him, but she had her confession to make. It wasn't fair for him to do all the work.
Finally she began. "Nathaniel, I-- I'm sorry if I acted like I didn't want to be with you. I wasn't afraid that day, not of you. Maybe of how badly I wanted you, maybe of what I was feeling, but never of you."
She cleared her throat and pushed on. "I had never... I had never felt those things before. No one ever touched me like that or told me they loved me. It was like my whole world opened up that day. So when I thought it didn't mean anything to you..." She remembered bawling in her sister's arms, Monique's words of phony comfort, the months of misery she spent pining over Nathaniel when they could have been together, and she seethed with a rage so powerful she had to fight to suppress it.
She pulled Nathaniel close and twined her fingers through his hair. His face was so beautiful it hurt to look at him, and finally she felt the knot of fear unravel and flow from herself. "I love you," she vowed fiercely. "I'm yours. You're mine. We belong together."
He rose to his knees and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her by the hips and nuzzling her taut tummy. When his face pressed between her thighs, the heat flared again. She gripped his dark curls as he slowly unzipped her, shimmying her jeans down to her ankles. In that moment she wished she could capture the look of hunger on his face as he gazed intently at the slight swell of her mound, soft hair crushed under cotton, before burying his face against it and inhaling her scent. He growled, a quiet rumble in his chest, as he nuzzled and licked the damp patch between her thighs.
And then he tugged off her boots, one by one, and stepped her out of her jeans, one foot at a time, kissing each calf in turn and trailing his fingers along each thigh. He pulled her effortlessly to the ground and parted her thighs, continuing to nuzzle and nip and suck her through her thin panties, making her gasp and quiver under his skillful ministrations.
By the time his fingers finally probed behind the fabric, she was a puddle of need. He took his time with her, dipping his fingers inside her and rubbing the sensitive bud of her clit and nipping the insides of her thighs as he touched her. It seemed an unbearable pleasurable eternity before he yanked off her panties, leaving her spread before him in only an open sweater and socks.
Finally his face was between Kat's widespread thighs, his nose buried in the fragrant curls as his tongue worked her sensitive flesh. He probed and savored her with his tongue, at times sucking her clit so that the buzzing began in her head and other times plunging his tongue inside her soft folds to lap at her nectar, causing a sweet tingle that she wanted to chase to the end.
But when he began fluttering his tongue against her sensitive bud in earnest, sliding a finger in and out of her wet cunt in a steady rhythm, her entire body was suffused in sensation. "Oh, Nathaniel," she moaned. "Don't stop... don't stop..." She tossed her head back and forth and clawed his shoulders as he devoured her, rubbing his entire face in her wetness, making her pant and whimper and beg for release. Her thighs shook uncontrollably as she peaked and peaked and peaked but still didn't climax until he reached up to pinch one nipple. The little bite of pain sent her soaring over the edge. She came so hard she arched off the bed roll and cried out his name over and over again, spasms wracking her entire body.
Nathaniel crawled over her, stroked her hair, and kissed her, his mouth pungent with her aroma. Against her lips he groaned, "I need to be inside you, Kat."
She nodded, lost in thought of experiencing that sweet ecstasy again, that beautiful shattering bliss. She took in every inch of his lean body, his muscular arms and strong thighs and tight buttocks, as he undressed. The bulge in his boxer briefs was formidable, but she wanted every bit of him. She needed to be one with her mate, the way she should have been long ago.
When he lowered himself inside her she was aching, writhing against him, but he held her hips fast. "Slow," he whispered. "Plenty of time left for fast. I want to enjoy you." And when he finally positioned his cock at her lubricious opening, she gasped to feel him entering her so slowly, filling her up in infinitesimal increments. She moaned as he sank into her and she enveloped him in her tight clutch. He set the pace and she matched the thrusting of his hips with her own movements, rocking with him, urging him on, and when he lowered his face to kiss her she realized her every fantasy.
He moved in her like he'd been born to do it, his cock rubbing against every beautifully sensitive spot inside her. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and whimpered softly as he moved in her, her pleasure building again, incredibly. Her nails clawed his back and clutched at his ass as she took every thrust, relishing the sensation of his cock filling her to the hilt. She felt she could die with him inside her, so utterly filled and fucked and loved. Above her Nathaniel glistened with perspiration, his blood running even hotter with the exertion of his pumping, his eyes hazy with pleasure.
She could feel his restraint, but she wanted him to let go and feel the earth-shattering pleasure she had experienced. When he bit his lip and looked into her eyes, Kat whispered, "Come inside me. I want to feel you.... Please, Nathaniel, come inside me!"
With a strangled "Fuck!" he shuddered against her, burying his face in her neck and groaning softly as he spent himself in her. She felt him fill her, his breath hot on her mark. And as he lay on top of her, collecting his breath, Kat realized she had never felt so thoroughly a woman as she did in that moment, filled with her mate's hot seed, her body soft and relaxed in the afterglow of her orgasm.
***
But there was still the matter of the life they had left behind, the one they would return to the next day. While Nathaniel lay in peaceful slumber beside her, Kat couldn't sleep for a moment, thinking about her sister and the Council and what it meant to be mated to Nathaniel. She couldn't let him go, not again.
And then her hand traveled unconsciously to her tummy. Was it too much to hope that she was already pregnant? They hadn't used any protection. It was crazy, she knew, but visions of little curly-haired babies who looked like Nathaniel were too irresistible. Unconsciously she rubbed little circles as she wondered what it would be like to carry his child, to feel a part of him growing inside her.
When his hand covered hers, she realized he was awake. "I was thinking the same thing," he murmured groggily. "I was hoping... I know it's soon..." She could feel him thickening against her as he cupped her breasts and teased, "I want to see how big these get with my baby inside you." She giggled and slapped his hand away and just like that he was on top of her again, and then buried inside her, rocking her again in a sweetly familiar
rhythm. They were lazy this time, stopping and starting and kissing and touching, until Kat couldn't take it any more and bit Nathaniel's lip, daring him to be rough. He threw her legs over his shoulders and she cried out with the impossible depths of his strokes.
"I'm going to flood you with my spunk," he promised through gritted teeth. "I'm going to pump you full again and again until my child grows in you."
"Do it!" she begged, nearly lost in her own pleasure. He covered her mouth with his and Kat felt herself splitting apart just as Nathaniel stiffened and spilled inside her. He held her in silence until they both stopped shuddering and then rolled onto his back, drawing her head to his chest and wrapping his arm around her.
"Now what happens?" she ventured after a moment. She knew it couldn't be all sex and fantasy. Tomorrow they would go back home, and there was Monique and the Council to deal with. They hadn't even gone on a date yet and here they were mated and talking about children. Her insides tied in knots as she worried about what people would say about her. About Nathaniel, for that matter, moving from one sister to another so quickly.
"It's going to be fine," he reassured her.
"How can you say that? Nothing is fine. What about Monique? What about the Council?"
He was quiet for a moment. "Roman knows," he said finally.
"What?" She bolted upright. "He knows? About us?"
He nodded. "That's why we're here."
She blinked. "Wait... What do you mean? There's no threat?"
Nathaniel chuckled. "Nope."
"You made the whole thing up just to get me alone?"
Again he laughed and then drew her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "All summer I just assumed you really wanted me to stay away. But when I saw you yesterday, when I touched you and you looked at me like you did, I swore I saw something in your eyes. So I took a chance." He took her face in his hands then, and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Kat. You're the only one for me. You're mine now, and I'm yours. So none of the rest matters."
***
The next morning they walked back hand in hand, enjoying the crisp fall air as they chatted and laughed and made their plans. From time to time Nathaniel touched her stomach and kissed her, and they smiled at one another contentedly, lost in the bliss of being together again, everything else secondary to their joy. Though Kat worried about what would happen back home, Nathaniel's confidence was contagious. By the time they arrived at Roman's, it seemed very natural to tell him that they would be making the announcement of their official commitment the following month at the Full Moon Council Meeting.
And, as it turned out, they had two announcements to make.
Kat had brought Nathaniel to the apricot tree to tell him. She tipped her face up to his and asked him what he wanted more than anything in the world, and he knew just by looking at her what the news was. They sat talking under the tree for hours, with Nathaniel idly rubbing her belly and Kat musing over baby names, until they needed to be naked together again, and then they spent the rest of the evening in bed.
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With his enemies pounding down at the gates of Damascus to reclaim long overdue debt, Sheikh Bashar turns to one final hope for redemption: an old lamp housing a powerful Djinn.
But as it is with all Djinns, a wish must come with an appropriate payment and this time, the Djinn demands the flesh of the sheikh's youngest daughter Kamilah.
But what Bashar doesn't know is that the Djinn intends to do more than simply bed the virgin princess. Will Bashar trade his daughter's fertile body for his own salvation?
***
Lucille never believed in vampires until a coven descends on her town one night and slaughters everyone and she finds herself the prize of the coven's Millennial Hunt.
A lone vampire by the name of Jean-Herve offers to help her escape and Lucille has no other choice but to follow.
But there's something about Jean-Herve that doesn't seem right and Lucille must determine if this devilishly handsome vampire is truly helping her or if he simply wants to be the first to take her virginity.
***
Morgana always wants to be a princess but she is only the daughter of a dairy merchant, fit for her fellow peasants like Blaine, the handsome stableboy with whom she enjoys a few tumbles in the barn her father owns.
But one day, Morgana is summoned by none other than the king himself. Though she is hesitant to leave Blaine and her family behind, Morgana answers the summon.
But when the castle servants send her into the king's chambers as naked as the day she was born, Morgana learns the truth for her summon.
***
Lady Katerina Airington faces a dilemma. In order to make payments on her father's gambling debts, she is forced to hand over her family estate to their father's rival Lord Patrick O'Leary. Desperate to provide for her two younger sisters, Katerina agrees and has the papers signed.
But when Patrick O'Leary reveals a single line to the signed contract that changes the three heiresses' status to nothing but servants in his household, Katerina is ready to do whatever it takes to re-claim her father's estate.
Unfortunately for her, that's precisely what Lord O'Leary wants.
***
Ever since the first time Sophia Airington saw Lord Patrick O'Leary fifteen years ago at a party, her heart has belonged to him. Each night she went to sleep praying that O'Leary would remember her again when she is a woman grown.
When her father's debts forces her older sister to sign away the family estate to Lord O'Leary, Sophia believes that Fate is bringing the two of them together at long last.
Only, Lord O'Leary doesn't seem to remember her at all. With a dream fifteen years in the making crashing down around her, Sophia is willing to do whatever it takes to jog the Lord's memory.
***
The youngest of the three Airington sisters, Marie also happens to be the proudest. Because of her pride, she finds it particularly insulting that Patrick O'Leary makes her a mere maid for him when he takes ownership of her father's estate as payment for her father's debt.
The more controlling Patrick O'Leary acts towards Marie, the more rebellious--and daring--she becomes. Soon Marie is throwing herself at O'Leary, flashing him tantalizing views of her body before curtsying properly and walking away, though not before catching sight of the smoldering fire in O'Leary's eyes.
But how long can Marie continue her seductive game with the haughty Lord before he finally decides that play time is over?
***
Lisa always wanted children but sex was a different matter. To her, sex ruined everything and she couldn’t control herself when she got excited. Unexpectedly, as her dating life escalated, there was always that inevitable end.
Darren Holt had everything. Money, charm, and a wickedly handsome face that can make you swoon with a smile. But all of those things are meaningless to Darren. He wants a family, and he wants one soon.
When a blind date sets the two on a collision course, old desires will stir in Lisa as Darren brings her closer to him and terrifyingly close to that inevitable end. Will Lisa be able to overcome the obstacles in her own mind?
***
Ken Summey is not a nice guy. Ruthless, demanding, and with a penchant for hostile takeovers, he has never met anyone who so much as dared to look him in the eye.
At least, not until he meets Maya, who is like him in every sense of the way: primal, beyond intelligent. Cunning.
Maya needs him for something, something that she is not quick to reveal the full details to. The only thing she tells Ken is that it will be a personal project that requires a ruthless man who is not a nice guy.
***
Since the first day they met, Brom had always called Thea his dear sister, even if Thea had came to him a captive of war. They were inseparable and soon Thea forgot that Brom wasn't her real brother.
But when the barbari
ans from across the northern seas came with offers of kingship, Thea finds herself an unwitting pawn in her brother's mad game of thrones as she is wedded to the savage barbarian king.
Pawns, Thea had once heard, were meant to be sacrificed for kings. Will Thea learn to love the sacrifice she's become or will her own fears overpower her?
***
On her first day as an intern at a prestigious fashion design firm, Lillian receives a rather odd assignment from her enigmatic and irresistibly handsome boss Andrei Velo: come with him to his home to study a few vintage pieces.
But what Lillian doesn't know is that Andrei Velo has a different task planned for her, a task that will make her his, a task that will require her total obedience, a task for which she was the perfect candidate.
***
When the hunter Enzu takes Khaiara into his tent during the annual fertility festival, Khaira readily and happily gives herself to the hunter's desires.
But Khaira doesn't realize that Enzu is planning to give her to another man, a foreign man who is nothing like Enzu and who has a much more primal purpose in store for Khaira.
***
If there's a single word to describe Salina's life: it's boring. Every day she aches for a chance to leave, a chance for someone to sweep in and set her free.
When a sultry dream of a wolfish man penetrates Salina's thoughts, she feels something stirring inside of her, something powerful, lusty, and primal.
But one day, Salina suddenly finds herself standing face to face with this very man. Will she succumb to the desires clawing their way to the surface?
Reclaiming Her Alpha (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) Page 2
