by Amelia Jade
“Now that’s a compliment!” Marie pronounced.
He laughed and nodded. “Yes. It smells delicious.”
Marie looked down demurely, her alabaster skin pinking. His heart nearly turned inside out at such an adorable look. His mate was so often confident and in charge that to see her like that, vulnerable and blushing, just made him want her even more. He longed to see how far down her neck the blush extended. His eyes drank in every detail: the pair of freckles on her left cheek and the bumps of her collarbone that were visible in the V-neck of her purple shirt.
His eyes traveled even farther, over the large curves of her breasts. He imagined himself ripping the fabric away from them, exposing the hardened tips to his hungry mouth. He could gently suck on them while his fingers kneaded the tense skin of her back, stripping her of stress and worries. She would be free then, free to focus only on him, and on what he was going to do to her.
A muted cough clued Garath in to the fact that she was looking at him. The pupils of her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open ever so slightly. Garath knew his eyes were full of heat and that the fire burning inside him was proving harder to resist than ever. But he must. He had to if he was going to keep his mate from running away.
Without a treasure he was going to be hard pressed to keep her to begin with. Pushing the boundaries too far too soon would dim his chances more than he cared to admit. Swallowing his arousal, he kept himself leaning against the island, the edge digging into his lower abdomen, keeping hidden from Marie the rather large evidence of what he truly wanted just then.
“Garath, I…”
He cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. He tried to speak, but was forced to clear his throat, lest it come out too husky, too throaty. “Let us focus on dinner, shall we? I cannot apologize for my eyes speaking what the rest of me wants, but perhaps I should have waited for a more opportune moment.”
Marie’s headed bounced up and down shakily, and she turned back to the meal she was making. Her hand picked up a plastic spoon, and he could see that it was shaking as she tried to stir a sauce of some sort.
Dammit. He’d gone and scared her off with his draconic intensity. His eyes had probably gone all black, reflective of his other half as he’d sized his mate up and down. Her thoughts now were probably only about how to cut dinner as short as possible and then get the hell out of his apartment. Garath cursed himself viciously. Just moments earlier he’d been proclaiming to himself how he needed to take it slow, to let Marie come to him when she was ready. Then he’d gone and ignored all that and tried to fuck her with his eyes.
The only positive to all of that was that his anger was sending blood pumping into his arms and chest, and away from certain other parts. It allowed him to move away from the island at last, giving Marie some more space lest she become even more intimidated by him. He wished desperately for something to fight. A wayward pack of wolf-shifters perhaps, or some cranky bears emerging from their winter hiding and ready to fight anything that got in their way of food.
Or, best of all, the motherfucker that had stolen his treasure. What Garath would have given to have that dragon in front of him right then and there. It wouldn’t have been pretty.
Marie called out to him in her beautiful alto. “Dinner is ready.”
Arousal surged through him once more without warning or permission. How was he supposed to sit through an entire dinner without doing or saying something and making the situation worse?
Chapter Nine
Marie
Garath spoke gruffly as he sat, though it wasn’t anger in his voice. “Thank you.”
Approaching his end of the table, she set the plate down, thankful her trained experience prevented the plate from shaking—mostly. Her heart was still pounding from the way her body had reacted to him though, and while her hands weren’t shaking she was definitely rattled.
She’d caught him eye-fucking her, and for once in her life, she wasn’t disgusted or annoyed by it. His stare had been so intense, so hungry, that she’d become swept up in it. The reaction in his body alone would have been enough to make her blush. The pants he wore didn’t leave much to the imagination, and she’d seen his reaction to her body almost as plainly as if he were naked.
To know that someone as gorgeous as him could become aroused by the sight of her curvy, overweight body was a heady experience indeed. She’d known it was possible; her ex had an excellent physique as well, though he wasn’t anywhere near as hot as Garath, but they were of similar size and build. Where Liam had been dark and brooding, Garath was light, almost innocent despite his size and strength.
And yet with the way he’d just looked at her, the entire evening had changed in the span of perhaps thirty seconds. Although she felt relaxed and at ease around him, until that point it had simply been a date. She’d expected they would cuddle after dinner, and that would probably lead to some heavy kissing. It wouldn’t be the first time, but until then Garath had always held himself back, never pushing farther. She’d not had any reason to think tonight would be different.
After seeing his eyes darken until they were nearly the color of midnight, his chest and arms flushed with blood and desire, Marie now knew that more was on the table. Much more. The question now was would she let it? On a purely physical level, the answer was unequivocally yes. A shouted yes!
Garath was gorgeous. She loved his nose and the way it accented the whiskey-brown of his slightly wide-set eyes. His lips were thin but red and lively, and she knew that they could kiss her with a passion that belied their size. She loved the slightly longer length of his hair. It was enough that she could push her fingers through it, but not so long that it hung down.
His ears were kind of big, but she loved it, thinking it suited him just perfectly. Garath was a listener. He always wanted to know more about her, and paid patient attention to all of her stories as they rambled from one point to the next without any clear ending. It was a reflection of his personality, and to her that added to his attractiveness, instead of detracting.
The tight royal-blue shirt he had on was snug across his chest and arms, showing her every curve and swell of his muscles, and when he hunched over something she thought his back was going to rip through it like he was some sort of superhero.
All in all, he was hot.
Marie wasn’t the type to sleep with someone just for the physical pleasure of it all. She needed something more. Something deeper. Spearing a piece of pork tenderloin, she dipped it in the homemade salsa verde sauce, savoring the tangy parsley, lemon juice, and zesty garlic flavors as they mixed with the tender meat for a blast of deliciousness as she chewed.
Was there something deeper with Garath? The initial answer seemed to be yes. He was quirky, and there was something about him that, even despite his sheltered upbringing, didn’t quite add up. Something mysterious. For her own part she was attracted to the mysterious men, always had been. Every guy she’d dated, up to and including her ex, had had some sort of mystery to him.
He was protective, and had the strength to back it up. She’d seen him do things like lifting a Jeep and pushing it over a wall, a feat of strength she found astounding. He could keep her safe.
Every action Garath took when she was around seemed guided to ensure that she was treated like a queen. He hated seeing her do any work. There should have been a mild annoyance in that, based on her own outspoken independence, but for some reason there wasn’t. She found it sweet and endearing, and sometimes she even pretended that he was useful when she could have done something herself. It was worth it for the look of happiness on his face, even if it perhaps made her seem less capable.
That. That was it then. Marie was willing to sacrifice things about herself if it made him happy. Was there truly any better way to know that things between them were bordering on—if not already—getting serious? She wasn’t about to change who she was on a fundamental level of course, but that was never part of the agreement. It was simply willing to do
what the other person wanted because you knew that doing so would make them happy. That was something she knew took time to develop in relationships.
Time that hadn’t truly elapsed between them. This was only their fourth date, if one didn’t include the disastrous initial meeting or their grocery store meetup. But in that time she’d come to care for him, and while it scared her to realize how quickly things were moving, it wasn’t stopping her. Marie was falling for this man and hard, but she wasn’t putting the brakes on. Things were going so well. So smoothly. Why should she?
“Do you want more?”
Marie was surprised to see that she’d finished her entire meal while she’d been thinking. Garath’s plate was likewise empty, devoid of any little droplet of food. He was staring at her now, his face attempting to appear relaxed. It was his eyes that gave it away. They were dark, absorbing any light, and yet somehow filled with need at the same time. Marie had never seen anything like it. She wanted to get closer.
“I don’t know,” she said to answer his question at long last.
Without speaking, Garath rose from his seat and cleaned the table. His fingers brushed over her palm when he took her plate, and by all rights the tablecloth should have burst into flame from the sparks that flew from their brief connection.
The instant that happened he jerked his hand away, moving hurriedly into the kitchen, putting the island between them.
“Is something wrong, Garath?” She got up and stood facing him, the four-foot-wide marble slab the only thing between them.
He wasn’t acting the way she’d expected. He was supposed to want to draw closer to her, to make things more heated. She was waiting for him to make a move, to kiss her, to touch her. Anything that might lead to the next stage.
Her body was crying out; it wanted him. Her skin prickled at the imaginary sensation of his fingers sliding up under her shirt, the tips digging in deep as he pulled her into him. They both waited immobile, like bull and matador with the countertop like the bars of a cage.
Marie began to feel uneasy as their standoff increased in length. Why was he now trying to keep his distance? Was something wrong with her? Maybe that was it. Maybe he’d made a mistake, or perhaps after looking her up and down he’d come to the conclusion that he didn’t want her. Now all Garath was doing was trying to remain polite until he could flee.
“I don’t have to stay if you don’t want me to,” she told him, giving him a way out if he wanted it.
“You wish to go? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you earlier.”
“What? That’s not what I mean, Garath. I mean if you no longer want me here, I will leave. I don’t want to be a burden to you, to hold you back. If I’m not what you want, then just say so. It won’t hurt me. I’ve already been hurt before. Being cast aside again won’t hurt anymore.”
“Anyone who casts you aside is an imbecile and not worthy of you in the first place,” Garath growled. “I would never do something so dumb. I pushed too hard, letting my hunger for you show, letting you see my desire to pleasure you. I understand if you no longer want to stay.”
“Why do I get the feeling we both think the other one wants to go?”
Garath stood straighter, the fire rekindling in his eyes as he caught on. “I didn’t bother you?”
“No. I was, um, flattered.” She was blushing now, but Marie had already let herself come this far. She wasn’t about to back down now.
“You were?” His expression turned almost leering, but without the ugly, lecherous aspect to it that she despised from others. No, this was purely sexual in nature, and a look she welcomed from him.
“Yes. It’s not often someone like me gets looked at like that by someone like you.”
Though I’ve been fortunate enough to experience that twice in my life. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out the same way.
This time would be different though, she was confident of it. Garath was no Liam. Besides, she didn’t have anything left to be stolen besides her dignity, and he wasn’t going to take that from her. Marie couldn’t explain how she knew, but she just felt it. This man was entirely different than the last, despite some similarities.
“Then the men of this world don’t know what they’re missing out on.” Garath spoke with a weird emphasis, almost as if he felt he didn’t belong with the class of people he was talking about.
Of course, by his own words he didn’t, did he? Since he seemed to somehow find her lumps and bumps attractive to the point that she was fairly positive he was once again hiding a huge hard-on in his pants.
“I’m not sure what you see in me either,” she said, stepping back and spreading her hands. “It’s mostly rolls—”
“Curves,” he corrected.
“Fat—”
“Soft, sensual skin.” His voice was dripping with arousal.
“And not much muscle.”
Garath grinned. “That’s why you have me. I’ve got the muscle.”
He was right about that. His entire body was covered in it, even the parts she’d not been able to see just yet. She wondered just how strong he really was.
“All kidding aside though Marie, you are stunning. It’s all I’ve been able to do to know my place, to keep my hands off you in anything resembling a sexual manner. Hard doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
No, I bet it doesn’t. The pun curled her lips upward. “I respect you for taking your time, Garath. I don’t think I would have been ready.”
His eyes lit with that weird darkness at her choice of words as he leaned over the island once more. “And now?” He spoke with the utmost quiet, and in the aftermath nothing made a sound in the room as he waited for her answer.
“Now? I don’t know,” she admitted truthfully. “But I’m still here, Garath. I haven’t left. And I swear if you don’t come over to this side and start making good on your promise of pleasuring me right now, then I still might.” She finished her speech out of breath, despite not having spoken many words.
Garath practically vaulted the island, and she suspected if there was any room between her and its edge he would have. The huge man that had just proclaimed his desire to please her as best he could all but attacked her.
He took her to the floor right there, resting above her on his elbows and knees, his body all but covering her. Lips covered hers and though he’d just eaten, he pushed his tongue inside her hungrily. She moaned at the soft warmth as they battled back and forth for a moment before he withdrew.
“Do you want to go to the bedroom?”
She couldn’t help but smile at his desire to do whatever was necessary for her comfort.
“No,” she said, pushing him to the side.
Garath thought that she wanted him off her, and started to move, but she hooked around his leg and with some effort, rolled them over so she was on top.
“This is what I want,” she told him, knowing her eyes were probably glittering like sapphires just then.
Tingles ran down her spine as he began to knead his fingers into the tight muscles on either side, working his way up from her tailbone with machine-like precision, leaving a wake of endorphin-like bliss behind him.
Tugging at her shirt, he announced his desire for her to remove it. Not wanting him to stop, she straightened and removed the skintight purple shirt in one move. Garath reached up and undid her bra without waiting. It fell away revealing her breasts to him, and this time she felt the growl of approval in his chest, the vibrations running up the insides of her legs in a very pleasurable manner.
“Gentle,” she hissed as he took one nipple into his mouth. “They’re sensitive.”
His stomach was taut, easily holding himself partially off the ground while she sat up straight, hands running up her head as he sucked on her breasts, his lips soft and his tongue swirling easily around her nipples.
The pleasure he’d stated he wanted to bring her was rising, the heat of his touch filling her body from the outside in. Her hands pushed up through her
hair, gathering it up. Her back arched from one deliciously hard suck of his lips, and she let the long tangles of chestnut hair fall away, her arms shuddering.
“Your turn.” She tugged his shirt up and off him, revealing the swath of flat, hard muscles she’d expected to see. It was a sight to behold, and set more than just her mouth to watering. There was no denying her arousal now. It was so thick she wondered if he could smell it.
Two huge hands slid down her back and grasped her bunched cheeks, giving them a soft tap as well, the motion setting off a jiggle throughout her entire lower body. Marie instantly wanted to cover up, horrified at the way her fat was bouncing around, but a low groan distracted her. She saw the way Garath, his eyes somehow nearly black now, was looking at her. There was no mistaking the sudden swelling between his legs as it strained against his jeans.
“No,” he whispered. “Don’t. You’re perfect.” Then he rolled her onto her back, his fingers easily slipping the buttons of her jeans undone. “Besides, don’t you dare think I’m not going to spank that perfect ass of yours.” The seriousness was replaced by the cocky attitude she was starting to see a bit more of.
“You think so, do you?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’m going to bend you over the island that stood between us for too long, and I’m going to pull your hair and spank your ass while I’m inside you.”
In any other situation the vulgarity of his comment would have repulsed her, or made her giggle. But now, with his powerful arms pinning her arms out to the side, and his mouth lowering to cover hers, it was a pronouncement of sexual power that made her tremble with a desire to experience it.
“You had better not go back on your word,” she said, nipping on his lower lip.
Garath slid off her, and in one smooth move picked her up by the waist like she was a sack of feathers and deposited her on the countertop. He pulled the jeans from her body, and she gasped as the cool marble pressed against her skin.
