“I can"t stop you. ” Her voice shook.
“Is that a yes?”
She swallowed, hesitated, then nodded. “For tonight. ”
It was a start. Ronan grabbed Kari tight and thought of home. If he was going for the fantasy, he would embrace it completely, have Kari in the one place he"d never taken another woman: his own bed.
When he opened hi
s eyes again, it was to Kari blinking.
“Where am I?”
“My bedroom. ”
He hoped she understood the significance, though he could hardly expect it. She steadied herself against him—the aftereffects of her first teleportation—then looked around the room.
“Amazing,” she breathed.
Ronan smiled at her wonder at what seemed everyday to him. “All right?”
She nodded solemnly.
Without pause, she resumed unfastening her buttons. Ronan watched, sucking in a breath, his heartbeat spinning out of control, the sensation totally foreign.
Finally, she parted the thin fabric to expose a lacy ivory bra that was bloody near transparent. Ronan nearly died with the need to swallow her on the spot.
As much as he loved the notion of her undressing for him, his restraint wouldn"t survive.
With a flick of his wrist, he divested her of every stitch. She gasped. Kari had a butterfly tattoo on one of her gorgeous, lush hips and a perfectly wet welcome waiting for him.
With another swipe of his hand, his own clothing melted away. “I need you so badly. ”
He eased her down to his bed, and she propped herself on her elbows, her legs falling apart fractionally.
Ronan had to have more.
Kneeling in front of her, he cradled a thigh in each hand, then pulled them wide. And he inhaled. Uniquely Kari, sweet, clean, enthralling. And best of all, free from another wizard"s touch. If Tynan or any other wizard had bedded her recently, he would scent the other male on her.
He leaned in to kiss her abdomen. Her stomach trembled under his lips. But a need to taste her completely compelled him. He wasn"t about to deny it.
Ronan put his mouth to her wet core, laving his tongue over her silken folds. She cried out, hands fisting in his hair. Like Kari"s kiss, her flesh was intoxicating. Her gasps and moans merely urged him on, tasting, exploring, lingering until she tensed and trembled, screaming his name.
Now. Right now. It was a chant in his head.
Scrambling to cover her body with his own, he tried to work his way inside her. Damn, she was tight. But he persisted, easing in little by little. The mindbending friction nearly made his head explode. Kari"s nails dug into his back as she screamed his name again. His only thought, when he completely sheathed himself inside her and felt her waning orgasm ramp up once more into a tight vice of pleasure, was mine.
Kari writhed against him, nearly sending him careening out of control.
“Ronan!” she panted as he thrust deep.
Kari. Finally, he had her under him, crying out for him. No pretending anymore. Her embrace, her flushed cheeks and angelic beauty, her dedication, loyalty, and big heart were all his for the taking. She was real.
His blood surged, churning. Sweat covered him as he thrust again. Hot and snug, she surrounded him, made him dizzy.
More. He needed more of her. Now.
Forever.
Ronan withdrew, then surged deep again. “I want to give you everything. ”
“Yes…” She wrapped her fists in his hair and titled up so he slid in deeper.
He gripped her tighter as her lips burned a fiery trail up his neck. She tightened around him, close now. He gritted his teeth, fighting to hold on.
Cradling her face in his hand, he pressed her head into his pillow. Her lips were swollen, red. Her lush lashes drifted open to reveal dilated blue eyes—and a willing desire he"d craved on her face for over two empty years.
His heart leapt as he surged into her again, sliding against her most sensitive spot. Kari gasped. Her body tensed. Impending bliss exploded across her face.
In this moment, she was totally his, and he vowed to show her exactly how good he could be to her. For her.
Ronan set a hard, steady rhythm. She tensed, gasped, clawing his back until she tightened around him and screamed. Her sex fluttered, squeezing him until he couldn"t breathe or think—just feel ecstasy as he followed her into pleasure—and saw deep into her soul.
CHAPTER FOUR
Kari woke at once, the feel of a hard, hair-roughened body draped across her back quite foreign. As she inhaled a clean pine scent, she knew the man—the wizard—was Ronan.
She peeked over her shoulder at his closed eyes, relaxed face. His breathing remained deep and even. Truth told, she hadn"t known for certain that magickind actually slept. They ate, drank, breathed… just like humans. The additional similarity should have soothed her. But nothing about Ronan set her at ease.
Especially when memories of the previous night flooded in.
She shifted, then winced. Tynan hadn"t been joking when he said wizards possessed more stamina than the average human. Ronan had been more than eager; he"d been relentless. After their first encounter, Ronan had awakened her four times, passion seething in his kiss as he clutched her and drove deep, his gruff whisper in her ear praising her beauty and kindness, even as he cursed the fever in his blood.
But despite kissing and tasting her repeatedly, he"d never uttered anything that sounded like ritualistic mating words. Dejection weighed upon her, a drag on her limbs, a ball of pain in her abdomen. If Ronan thought for a moment that she was his mate, he would have said something. Or given her some indication that she was more than the usual shag, right?