7. Iris

SEVEN

He lowered me to my feet beside the bed and stroked my face, his touch so gentle, it made tears well in my eyes.

"You're sure?" he asked, his voice cratered with emotion. "I never want you to do something unless your whole heart is in it. I'm not a human like you."

"You're special. Yes, we're different, but," I placed my palm over his chest, "but in here, we connect. We're one, Lordek, and skin color or language or where we come from isn't going to change that."

Once he left, I'd never see him again. I wasn't sure how I could go on without him, though I would. I'd survived the loss of my parents. The breakup of my marriage. I'd moved to a new town and built a fresh life all by myself, connecting my family's past with a glorious future.

At least all that waited for me to slip back into once he'd left.

I nodded, but I wanted to be sure he knew I consented. I wanted to be with him so much. "I'm yours, Lordek. I want to be with you even if it's only this once. Show me everything. Please. I think with you, I'll discover what I've been missing all of my life."

His arms slid around my waist, and as he held me, emotion rushed through me. So many feelings. I couldn't define them all. Love in plenty. Lust. So much of that. Joy that I'd be with him if only once. And the taint of sadness because I knew we'd have to part soon.

There was something about him that made me feel more alive than I ever had before. I felt as if I'd been incomplete all my life. He stepped into my home and my heart, and he fused all my good parts together, making me better than I was before.

I stared into his eyes and could see the same feelings reflected back at me. We both knew what was going to happen next, and yet neither of us wanted to hurry this along. We wanted to savor this moment, to make it last.

Slowly, he unfastened the top button of my long-sleeved shirt. Each button that came undone sent a jolt of electricity through my body. Goosebumps formed on my skin in anticipation. I wanted him so much. My body trembled with need.

He reached the last button and slid my shirt off my shoulders, revealing my bra barely containing my breasts.

"You're precious." He ran his fingertips over the fabric, teasing my nipples through the thin material. "Beautiful. I'll never love another after you. Never."

"Don't say that. I want you to live. Promise me that."

"I can't. Don't ask it of me." His gaze bored into mine. "You're the only one, love. For always."

When he stroked his thumbs across my nipples, I released a soft moan and leaned into his touch, my eyelids sliding closed. My nipples formed hard, greedy buds, and I wouldn't be satisfied until he touched them with his hands and his mouth. Sucked on them. He leaned in and brushed his lips over the exposed tops of them, and my gasp echoed around us.

With a snap, I undid my bra and tossed it away. I didn't need clothing. I needed touch. His fingers traced across my flesh, his thumbs gliding across my nipples, turning them into tight peaks.

I ached to be with him fully. More than anything. I'd never felt this way before.

"Take this off," I said, tugging on the hem of his shirt. He ripped it up over his head, flinging it aside. I ran my hands across his chest, savoring the feel of his muscles and the scratchiness of the device fused to his shoulder. I still hadn't had the chance to ask him what it was. Would that time come?

His breathing quickened as he glided his knuckles across my belly, his fingers dipping lower and lower.

I did the same, stroking downward until I was running my fingertips over the bulge in his pants.

I couldn"t take it anymore. I needed him, needed to feel his skin against mine, needed to be with him.

"True mate," he murmured. "You're the only one I"ll ever love."

I sensed something powerful in his words, but I was too far gone with lust and excitement to ask him what he meant.

In a fever, we ripped off the rest of our clothing.

I paused to take in his gorgeous body, to stroke his thick, long cock with a curious bulb on the end. Would that part of him fit inside me?

He scooped me up in his arms and laid me on the bed, following me down, caging me with his arms and his chest, treasuring me with his weight. His lips fell hard on mine, and I clung to him as our legs entwined.

He was so much bigger than me, broader and heavier, and I adored him.

It was going to kill me to tell him goodbye.