Elias and I watched each other for a long moment. Then he seemed to make up his mind about something and strode across the field.
He came to a stop just inches from me, and we studied each other closely. I’d wondered if he’d still seem as handsome without the influence of our mate bond, and the answer was a huge, resounding yes. In fact, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His scent was wonderfully appealing too, even if he wasn’t registering as my mate.
I figured he’d probably yell at me, but instead he did the last thing I would have predicted—he pulled me to him and kissed me. It was hungry and passionate, and I sank into it, clutching the front of his wool overcoat with both hands as my cock swelled. I’d expected to mean absolutely nothing to him without the bond, so it was another surprise when he whispered, “God, I missed you.”
He liked the fact that I was getting turned on, and he nuzzled the side of my neck as he breathed in my scent. I yelped in surprise when he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder, and as he carried me to the house I blurted, “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed.”
I couldn’t even pretend it didn’t totally turn me on. He could smell it on me anyway, so even if I tried to claim I didn’t want this, he’d know I was lying.
Elias finally put me down when we reached a sitting room on the second floor. He pushed my ski jacket off my shoulders, and it dropped to the floor as his hands slid down my arms. I really hadn’t expected this much mutual attraction without the bond, but he was as aroused as I was. I hadn’t even expected him to like me. Then again, he could probably hate me and want to fuck me at the same time.
When he licked the side of my neck, a tremor went through me. My cock strained against my jeans, but I made a feeble attempt at slowing this down as I murmured, “There’s a lot I need to say to you.” Instead of replying, he claimed my mouth in another rough kiss, which short-circuited my brain and transferred all the decision-making to my cock.
Even if our so-called relationship was one huge disaster, on this level we were perfectly in tune. And what an opportunity! I never thought I’d get a chance at what was basically a free pass. The first time a mated pair had sex usually held all kinds of significance and sealed their bond. This time though, we could just enjoy each other without a million complications.
Okay, so this probably wouldn’t end up being totally complication-free, but I needed it desperately. I was starved for touch, for sex, for affection. For Elias. I grabbed him in an embrace and deepened his kiss as he caressed my body.
There was no way he was going to make this easy on me, not after I ran away and hid from him, so it didn’t surprise me when he said, “You need to be punished for ignoring our bond and making me live without my mate for a century.” He cupped my ass and gave it a squeeze as he whispered in my ear, “I’m going to wait for you in the bedroom. Take off all your clothes and come join me.”
A soft moan escaped me when he bit my earlobe, and I asked, “What are you going to do to me?”
“I’m going to spank you, and then I’m going to fuck you so long and so hard that you forget your own name. You have to come to me naked, though. That’s nonnegotiable.” He held the back of my neck as he kissed me again, and desire burned through me.
When he let go of me and went into the other room, I instantly missed his scent, his touch, all of him. I adjusted my hard cock and took a breath. There’d really been no point in suppressing the mate bond. Lust had just taken its place and obliterated all my higher brain functions anyway.
Even if this was a terrible idea, I wanted it desperately. All of it, including the spanking, which turned me on in ways I couldn’t explain and never anticipated. So, was I really going to do this? I’d hated him when we met, or I’d tried to tell myself I did. I hadn’t wanted a mate, so maybe I’d latched on to every possible reason to reject him.
But despite everything, he was a part of me. That became crystal clear the moment the bond was muted and I felt his absence. In all that time, all those years, I’d never been able to shake one inescapable fact—we belonged to each other. It was why I’d never been able to sleep with anyone else. I swore under my breath and started unbuttoning my shirt.