What his mate needed was comfort. She needed reassurance. She needed him.
Dom drew her in close. Gently pressing her cheek against his chest, he curled his arms around her and bent his neck to plant a kiss on the crown of her damp head. Charlotte might not have been a demon, but she melted into him all the same.
Her little claws curled into his back when she whispered, “Yeah, it is.”
He rubbed his lips against the silk of her hair, back and forth. All of his senses focused on her: how she felt in his arms, the sound of her breathing, the smell of her skin, the low buzz of her wings, the feeling of his shadow, an extension of himself, coiled around her ankle. Everything worth having rested in his arms.
“You’re safe,” he whispered. “I promise you’ll never have anything to fear again, Charlotte.”
“Because I’ve got a big old demon to protect me?”
It was a half-hearted tease, but Dom didn’t take it as a joke. “Yes.” He pulled back just enough to slip a knuckle under her chin. Tilting her face up so he could look her in the eyes, he said, “I’m your old demon, Charlotte, and there’s no being on this Earth who loves or protects more fiercely than a demon. You’ll always be safe with me.”
Charlotte stared up at him for several long seconds, her lips parted with surprise. “What if I don’t want a mate?”
Everything in him tensed. Dom breathed through his nose and tried, in vain, to get his erratic heartbeat back under control. “Then…” He cleared his throat. “Then that’s your choice. But I’m not going to give up, not unless you tell me to, and I’m not going to stop looking after you.”
He couldn’t. He didn’t want to. Being with Charlotte, no matter how she aggravated him or forced him out of his comfort zone, made Dom feel alive. It had been so long since he felt that way that he’d forgotten just how lonely he was, just how lost he felt in a world that didn’t see him as anything more than a bad omen or a causality of a brutal conflict.
Charlotte gave his world purpose and vivid color. Even if she never let anything progress between them, he would still feel that way. Even if she said no to being his mate, he would care for her with everything he had.
Because he belonged to her. His fate, aimless since he was just a bloodied boy on a battlefield, belonged to her.
That didn’t mean he was a pushover, though. He’d fight for her. He’d back off if that’s what she really wanted, but until then, he’d do everything in his power to prove they were meant to be together.
His arms tightened around her just as a coil of shadow seeped from his skin to snake around her waist, an instinctive response to the acute fear of watching her walk away from him.
“Charlotte,” he grated out, “I understand that being mated to a demon probably isn’t how you saw your life going. I'll even understand if you're scared of me. Especially after what you saw today— After seeing what I am, but I swear, I can make you happy. If you’d just give me a chance, I could—”
He was silenced by Charlotte stretching up onto her tiptoes to press a swift, gentle kiss to his lips. Just a peck. No more than a tantalizing brush of petal-soft skin and warm, sweet breath.
Dom felt her begin to pull away, her intent to give him a quick peck all too clear, but he didn’t let her go. He couldn’t. Following her retreat, he wrapped his hands around her waist and bent over to deepen the kiss. He traced the seam of her mouth with the tip of his tongue, matching the rhythm of his stroking thumbs moving over the delicate bones of her ribs.
He was gentle but insistent. Determined. Open up for me, he silently urged her. Let me in.
Dom wanted everything from Charlotte. Everything she had to give. Every touch, every flaw, every breath, every tear. He wanted to cup her in his hands and keep her with him always, if only he could convince her to give in to him.
Charlotte gasped and clutched the side of his neck for support as he slowly dragged his tongue against her lower lip in a sensual caress. When her little pink tongue darted out to meet his, Dom shuddered with equal parts relief and pleasure.
Gods, but she tastes like every wild and beautiful thing.
She tasted alive; like light and sweet, fresh water and berries straight from the forest. He wanted to taste every inch of her — once, twice, a thousand times. It would never be enough.
Dom felt the sharp bite of her claws as he began to walk them back towards the wall. Keeping one hand on her waist, he slid the other up to cup her jaw and tilt her head back, allowing him to kiss her with everything he had. Charlotte, for all that she was a small thing, gave as good as she got.
She stretched up to meet him and, using her grip on him as leverage, kissed Dom with a wild energy that burned him. Pin-sharp fangs nipped. Quick, flirty touches of her tongue set his blood ablaze. The sounds she made were soft, breathy, and made desire a hot, heavy thing in him.
Dom felt the scrape of her sharp little fangs against his lower lip all the way down to his cock. It sizzled across every nerve, a shock of pain-pleasure that made him want to get his itchy hands on every perfect part of her.
He took two more steps to press her back against the wall. The hand on her waist slid down to skim the elastic band of her sleep shorts. “Glowbug,” he breathed against her mouth, “let me touch you. Let me show you what I can give you.”
Charlotte made a soft noise in the back of her throat. Her hand moved down from his neck to rake at his chest. “Dom, I…” Her voice was a husky whisper, barely audible over their harsh breathing.
Unwilling to let her start over-thinking things, he slipped his fingers under the hem of her shirt to feather them over the soft warmth of her stomach. Her muscles fluttered under his exploratory touch. “You don’t have to commit to anything. You don’t even have to do anything.” He trailed his lips down over her cheek to skim the length of her throat. Speaking into the luxurious softness of her skin, he said, “Just let me show you how good it can be, glowbug. Let me take away your worries for a little while.”
Charlotte’s chest rose and fell fast. He could feel her pulse thudding hard against his lips, but Dom didn’t push her. Instead, he gently skimmed the sensitive skin of her lower stomach with his callused fingers, coaxing her, and lavished her throat with attention.
He waited patiently. When she tilted her head to give him better access, he knew he’d won. Dom pressed a triumphant kiss to the base of her glowing throat. “Okay,” she breathed, “okay.”