I tossed her into the center of the bed and climbed over her before she could argue. “Shush, Isabella. We’re done talking. All I want is to devour you.” I took her mouth again, silencing whatever she’d been about to say.
A low groan vibrated her throat, causing me to smile.
Yes, darling, I thought. Just like that.
Her fingers threaded through my hair, holding me to her as she returned my kiss with a fierce one of her own. And damn if it didn’t light my soul on fire for her.
Fuck.
This woman was going to kill me in the best way.
My palms slid up her sides, memorizing her svelte curves over the fabric of my shirt—which looked so damn hot on her that I wanted to rip it off. But I wouldn’t push her. The way she shivered as my hands brushed the swell of her breasts confirmed all my suspicions about her innocence. Ella had hardly been touched. Not surprising given her last few years of hell.
Mmm, she would require a slow introduction.
I could handle that.
I trailed my lips across her jaw to her neck, then kissed the hollow of her throat before nibbling her racing pulse. She jolted beneath me, her body recognizing my darker desire. “Don’t worry, little dove,” I whispered, licking the slender column up to her ear. “I won’t bite you.”
Not because I didn’t want to.
But because it would initiate our mating trial.
And she’d been through more than enough tonight.
“Tray,” she whispered, arching into me in a needy way that made it very hard for me to behave.
I slid one of my thighs between hers to provide the pressure she unknowingly craved, my mouth returning to hers. The heat radiating from her core went straight through the fabric of our clothes, branding my skin and setting my blood on fire for her. I allowed the intensity to fuel our kiss, my tongue claiming hers.
She groaned.
I growled.
The sounds of our passion were a prelude to our future. Our souls already knew our fates, the bloodlines tied in a manner neither of us could deny. I felt it that day I met her, the stark yearning to claim her as mine.
Most Midnight Fae never experienced the instant connection, our matings arranged by the Council or through familial pairings. Fortunately, my intended came from an acceptable bloodline even with her Halfling heritage tainting her fae essence.
Oh, there was still so much to explain to her.
So much to teach her.
And not just in the bedroom.
Although, I wouldn’t mind starting there.
I skimmed my hands up her sides again, this time beneath the shirt. Her overheated skin felt heavenly against my palms. My thigh flexed in time with her eager movements, her senses completely lost to the lust-driven cloud consuming us.
Instinct told me I could take anything I wanted from her like this, her body utterly mine in these precious moments.
Which meant I needed to proceed carefully, to maintain and earn her trust.
She raked her nails down my spine, grabbing my ass to pull me impossibly closer, her little mewls of satisfaction music to my ears.
This, I could give her.
But nothing more.
Not until she could think clearly and properly consent.