His hands gripped the cheeks of her ass and hauled her up. Kaja wrapped her legs around his body as he walked her to the nearest tree and placed her back against the huge trunk.
“Gods, I really hope my cousin isn’t hanging around in this one,” Dante muttered as he took her mouth again.
She loved the way he kissed her. No one kissed on her plane. She allowed her mouth to flower open under his. His tongue caressed her own, and Kaja sighed. She was pressed between the hard bark of the tree and Dante’s body, but she didn’t want to be anywhere else. When he kissed her, they were the only two people in the world.
Of course, when he bit her, when her blood flowed into his body, it felt as if they were one person. She loved that above all else.
He pressed in, his erection shoving against her pussy. His hips moved as though they couldn’t help themselves. “Gods, I want you, Kaj. I want you all the fucking time. How can I want you so much?”
He kissed her, his mouth dominating hers. One hand found her breast, and he cupped her, playing with her nipples. His mouth ran down the side of her neck. There were still tiny holes from where he’d fed this morning. They seemed to close quickly, but the healing bumps were still there. He licked at them, seeming to find them endlessly fascinating.
Kaja’s whole body threatened to light up when he touched her neck. She’d never thought of her neck as being particularly sensitive, but now she squirmed every time he touched her there. When he licked her neck, she felt it in her pussy.
“Please,” Kaja said, well aware she was begging. She wanted that bite. She wanted to feel him. “Please don’t shut the door between us. Please.”
His head came up. “You feel it, too?”
She clutched his shoulder, staring into his eyes. The irises were wider, but the green hadn’t totally taken over. “I need it. I need to feel it. I’ve never felt so good as when I feel those flashes of you. I don’t know what it is, but I need it, Dante.”
“It scares the fuck out of me,” he muttered.
Maybe her soul wasn’t as nice as his. If she caught glimpses of him, then he most likely saw her. It wasn’t nice to be her. It was ugly and lonely. She was being selfish.
She let her legs drop.
“Kaja?”
“Just kiss me, Dante. You can teach me later how to keep our minds apart.”
His hands softened, cupping her cheeks. “What’s wrong, Kaja? Why did you shut down?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” she admitted. “I believed I was the only one who felt our joining in my mind. I understand. I don’t want you to see those parts of me. I am so sorry.”
His fangs suddenly seemed larger than before. “You want to hide yourself from me, consort?”
Yep, that other part of Dante had come out. His eyes were huge green orbs now. “You cannot wish to see me. It’s ugly. I didn’t understand. I will learn to shut it off, as you do. You can teach me.”
His hands tightened around her arms. “I will not teach you to hide yourself from me. You’ll be open. You’ll give me everything. You look at me.”
She got caught in those eyes. She felt her whole body relax. She knew she should fight him, but it felt far too good to let Dante take control. She trusted him not to harm her physically. Her heart was another manner entirely.
“It makes no sense, Kaj.” He sounded more like Dante now. “It scares the crap out of me, but the minute you start talking about putting up barriers and walls between us, I go a little crazy. Baby, you’re making me so crazy, but I can’t help myself. I fucking need you, too. Gods, you taste like sunshine.”
He gripped her hair and pulled her head back, exposing the line of her throat. Her heart skipped as he struck.
And there it was. She felt him, his soul and being brushing and mingling with hers. They tangled together.
He was beloved. His parents, his sister, his teachers. No one had been able to resist him as a child or even a teen. He’d been smart, so smart. He’d been like a magnet. Popular with everyone because everyone wanted to be near him.
When had it changed? When had his boyish charm become mere childishness?
He had his insecurities, too. What was he worth? Money? That could go away. He’d seen it a million times. What would he be left with? His intellect hadn’t gotten him far. He was lost, adrift without any real thing that mattered.
Her mind was assaulted with sex. Dante had begun young and hadn’t ever stopped. He loved to fuck, and he was good at it. But he didn’t take it seriously. He made very sure that none of the women he took to bed took it seriously either, until he’d met a wolf.
Kaja reached for those feelings. She was there in his soul, but her place was so uncertain. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to want her.
She was beautiful to him.