She wet her lips and nodded. I curled my fingers deeper into the trunk, hearing the bark split as I watched the slide of that small pink tongue dragging across her full bottom lip. Gods, my cock was threatening to burst free from my leathers. I tried to make myself smaller, praying to the gods she wouldn’t look down and notice what I was sporting. Surely that would frighten my wee girl.
I cursed low. “Bollocks.” I looked down at the ground and lifted my free hand to rub it over my face. I could feel the beard covering my cheeks and jaw, the days upon days of me in the wilderness probably having me look more feral than I really was.
Although right now, I felt like a primitive beast wanting to take my mate to the forest floor and claim her until there was no doubt in anyone’s mind she was mine. But I was more civilized than that—or at least that’s what I told myself. I would never scare her, never want to force myself upon her. When she gave herself to me, it would be with moans on her breath and her hands on my body.
“I’m fooking this all up.” I ground my back molars and looked up at her.
Her head was slightly tilted to the side, her eyebrows pulled down low as she stared at me. “Who are you?”
I closed my eyes and felt my body sway at the sound of her voice. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard, and it went straight through me like a shot of heat, lighting up every dead, hollow part of me. My blood sang, my heart raced, and I felt the sweat bead across my brow.
“Odhran,” I said gruffly and cleared my throat. “Odhran of the Scottish Lycan clan, lass.”
Her English was impeccable, with only the slightest accent from whatever her native tongue was. “You’re far from home, Odhran.”
Ah gods… the way she said my name. “Aye.” That lone word was gruff and serrated from my lips.
“I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before,” she said softly but kept her distance from me, her hand still clenching her shift. “Yet… I have the strange and inexplainable sensation that we’ve met before.”
Her brows were pulled down even lower, and the tone of her voice suggested she was speaking to herself, confusion thick in the melodic tone.
“But that’s impossible.” Those last few words were whispered so low that if I hadn’t been a Lycan with supernatural hearing, I wouldn’t have caught them.
“No. Ye donna know me in the sense we’ve met before,” I said harshly and exhaled, willing myself to calm down, ordering my Lycan to stay back lest we scare our tiny female. “But even still… no’ impossible. Lass, donna ye recognize me for who and what I am tae ye?”
The delicate, dark arches of her brows pulled down once more, a little furrow between her eyes. The confusion on her face was thick but adorable. She didn’t speak for several long seconds, and I didn’t pressure her, didn’t rush.
I had all the time in the world. Everything I’d ever done, experienced, felt, was for this one moment, when I finally looked at my mate, when I finally felt the Linked Connection solidify in me. Finding your Linked Mate had a sensation moving into every cell, seeping into bone and marrow, making me fully whole for the first time in my life.
Gods, the loneliness, hollowness, and the deep-rooted ache of suffering I’d felt for over two hundred years just… vanished as I stared into her cerulean eyes.
“Are you a warrior?” Her voice was soft.
I was a warrior, but that wasn’t what I was anymore. I took a small step toward her. “I’m yers.”
She slowly shook her head. “Mine? I don’t understand.” Her little hand went to her chest, right over her heart. “It’s beating so fast,” she whispered and stared at me with wide eyes. “I should be terrified of you.”
I took a step forward. “I’d never hurt ye.”
“I know.” That furrow between her eyes deepened. “That is what scares me the most… that I can feel you’d never harm me.”
I was moving closer to her, and a roar of triumph sounded in me that she wasn’t retreating. There wasn’t any scent of fear from her, only curiosity and confusion.
I was only a single meter from her now, and I stopped, inhaling deeply, smelling how sweet she was, how perfect. There was a hint of sea salt that surrounded her, and when the wind picked up and her hair ruffled behind her, I got another shot straight up my nose and into my body.
I swayed again, never before feeling this type of intensity. Adrenaline rushed through my body, one that not even battle could mimic. My Lycan, although pacing and wanting to come out, knew we had to tread lightly. One wrong move could ruin everything, could break the fragile bond I could grow with her.
“What is yer name, a shùgh mo chridhe?” My sweetest. I couldn’t stop myself from saying the endearment.
She licked her lips again, and I forced myself not to groan at the sight. It took her several more seconds before she answered, but I was in no rush. I didn’t have to be anywhere but here, never again for the rest of my life.
For the rest of my days, this female owned me.
“Larkin,” she finally said. “I am called Larkin.” She finally loosened her hold on her shift and smoothed her hands down the material. It billowed softly around her bare feet. “What are you? Of the Otherworld, yes, but I do not know of all the species and have never met one such as you. So—” she paused, and on her face I could see her trying to figure out how to say the words, “—big and fearsome.”
A low growl of pleasure left me at the compliment. Nothing had ever sounded sweeter than my female speaking of my virility.
I puffed out my chest and said, “I am Lycan.” I brought my closed fist to the center of my chest and slammed it against my rib cage once. I wanted her to see how strong and powerful I was, how I’d protect her and provide for her, care for her above all else.