She was breathing harder, tears sliding down her cheeks. It broke my fucking heart. I brushed them away with the pads of my thumbs, searching her face, feeling and hearing and sensing her truth.
“Ye’re the strongest creature I’ve ever met. Ye’re no’ powerless. Ye’re powerful.”
This time when she kissed me it was full and deep and thorough. I didn’t stop her, didn’t try to talk her out of this. Her arousal and the sweet scent of her need for me coated the air, one that my wolf answered with a roaring howl inside of me.
The rain started to pick up again, the mist turning into a drizzle, the fog increasing.
“I’m so…” It was clear she struggled for the right word. “I’m pissed, Odhran. I’m so fucking pissed. Make it all go away. Make me feel good.”
“Ach, my girl, my sweet and tender, soft-hearted girl.” I cupped her cheek. “I wish I could take it all away from ye, that pain and sorrow and anger. I’d take that burden for ye if it would give ye an ounce of peace. Gods, I wish that, lass.”
She shook her head slowly. “I’d never wish that on you. Never. You’ve been through your own hell too.”
She leaned in and was the one to press her lips to my mouth. It was a soft kiss, almost as if she were relishing the fact I had her in my arms. Larkin pulled back, breaking the seal of our lips, and I watched as a tear trailed down her cheek.
And then I was leaning forward, my tongue touching that droplet of salty water as I licked her, following that trail and taking her sorrow into myself. Her little inhalation of breath had me pulling back even more.
We stared into each other’s eyes, my wolf at the surface, wanting to protect his mate.
“I just want to forget,” she whispered. “I want to pretend nothing ever happened, that I was never taken from you, that we never experienced all the pain and sadness and hurt.” Her breath hitched and when her gaze dropped to my mouth, a low growl left me.
“My darlin’, how I wish that too.”
“Let’s make new memories.” She wrapped her arms more firmly around my shoulders, pressed her breasts to my chest, and parted her lips to sweep her tongue into my mouth.
I growled and curled my fingers around her waist, unable to stop myself from pushing her down on my thick length. My canines ached something fierce and my mouth watered. I wanted more.
I wanted it all.
We kissed even deeper until she was rocking back and forth on top of me, her soft moans fueling my desire and making me fucking primal.
“It feels so good, Odhran.”
I growled and nipped at her bottom lip until she gasped and ground herself against me even harder.
“I want tae make ye feel even better.” I gently bit her lip again and soothed the bite mark with my tongue before plunging it inside again and stroking her.
A second later she broke the kiss, her hands going between us as she gripped her shirt and started pulling it up. I leaned back and flattened my hands into the earth, curling my claws into the dirt so I didn’t tear the material off her in a frantic rush of carnal desire.
Staying still and keeping my hands to myself was damn near torture, but to see the firm peaks of her breasts revealed, how her nipples tightened from the chill in the air, and to watch as the fog swirled around her as if she were an ethereal goddess, had my cock jackknifing in my jeans.
“I want tae give ye sweet, slow, and easy for the first time.” Of course my wolf demanded I take her in the primitive, primal way of our kind, where my cock was deep in her virgin pussy and her neck was bared to me, my canines deep in her flesh. But that wasn’t how this first time could go.
We both needed to take things slow. And I could wait to give her my mark, because making this perfect for her was of the utmost importance to me.
She didn’t speak for a second as she stared at me, breathing heavily, her firm, perfectly hand-sized breasts shaking from the force of her respiration.
“I know you won’t hurt me—”
“—never,” I said, cutting her off and making that lone word rumble out of my chest so there was no doubt.
“And I won’t break.” She leaned in and was the one to kiss me now, once, twice, and on the third time deepening it and sucking on my tongue.
I groaned and had my hands back on her waist, knowing I smeared dirt on her, but the scent of the wilderness all around us, the feeling of my mate on top of me, and her need for me to finally claim her, clouded everything else.
“So I’m asking you to be with me. Don’t think of me as the girl who can’t handle her mate. I know you’ll take care of me. I know you’ll be gentle.”
I tilted my head and plunged my tongue between her lips, groaning at the same time we both started frantically working at each other’s clothing. Material tore apart, fabric being tossed aside like tissue, and then we were both naked and she was right back on my lap.