I didn’t waste time as I pushed the towel up until her bare ass was exposed. The lush, creamy swells of her bottom made my beast howl and my cock harden.
She looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes narrowed. But she wasn’t moving. She remained where I put her and that boded well. She liked my dominant hand, my need to reestablish control. She needed this release as much as I did.
I climbed onto the bed beside her until my knee nestled the swell of her large breast. I placed one hand on her back and the other on her ass, to pet her, stroke her, get her ready. My eyes shifted from her perfect ass to her face. “Do you need to be fucked, Tiffani?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“Are you mine, Tiffani, my mate?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Are you certain?”
She frowned. “Yes, I’m yours and you’re mine.”
I reached behind her and lifted her cuffs from the bedding, dangled them in front of her face. I knew my eyes darkened, for the beast did not like her bare wrists.
“Then why did you take these off?”
Chapter Sixteen
Deek
She swallowed. “I had to.”
“You gave me to Seranda.”
Shaking her head, she came up onto her knees so we were almost eye level. “No, of course not. Did you think I wanted you to fuck her?” Tears filled her eyes, but didn’t fall. “Did you?”
“That’s three, Tiffani.”
“Three?”
“I’m counting the reasons why your ass should be spanked.”
“Did you fuck her?” she asked again, her voice so unsure, so unlike the fearless woman I had grown to love.
Holding up my wrists, I let her see that my cuffs were still on. “I belong to you and no one else. But you? You say you’re mine, but aren’t wearing my cuffs.”
They weren’t required by Atlan law for us to remain mated, but I wanted the sign, the outward proof that Tiffani belonged to me. Not all Atlans needed that level of connection, but Dax and Sarah remained cuffed and inseparable. Apparently, I wasn’t as independent as I’d once believed. I wanted her with me, beside me, always. I never thought I’d be the Atlan who needed his mate to wear the damn things, to tether me to her side like I was her pet, but apparently, I did. I needed that gold around her wrist not just to show the world that she was mine, but to assure the beast within that we belonged to her as well.
She grabbed them from me as if to put them back on, but I removed them from her fingers. Kissing one wrist, then the other, I locked the cuffs around her as gently as I could. The act was one of reverence, of complete devotion, and I wanted her to feel that from me. “Never take them off again, Tiffani. I beg you. My heart can’t take it.”
“I’m sorry, Deek. I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t let you die. I had to let you go. I had to give Seranda a chance to save you.” Tears fell from her eyes even as darker emotions filled them. Anger. Jealousy. Pain. “No matter the cost.”
Stroking her cheek—Gods, it was so silky soft—I offered her a small smile. “Yes, I know that now. But, woman, I never want to wake up to any naked female but you. Do you understand me? I’d rather die than lose you.”
“I couldn’t let you die.”
I shut her up with a quick kiss before continuing. “I do not want you facing down Atlan warlords, criminals, or any other threat on your own.”
“I wasn’t on my own.”
I growled then, warrior and beast.
She looked down.
“Yes, Deek.”