Chapter 24

Lana bares her body to me. Her beautiful skin shimmers with moisture, light from the window licking across it like starlight. I cannot breathe for wanting her. The door to the bathroom shuts behind her, and I watch as she latches it. As if I could look away.

I scent her desire on the air, and my cock immediately goes hard.

"Lana." Her name rips from my lips like a prayer. I want to worship; I want to drown in her. I am lost. I close my eyes. "I will not take what you do not freely give. I felt your reticence only this morning."

She is temptation incarnate.

When I open my eyes, she's standing right in front of me. Her blue eyes are dark with need, and her teeth worry her lower lip.

She doesn't say anything. Her hands skate over her body, and fire burns through me as I watch her caress her breasts, tugging at her nipples. I grow even harder, groaning as she lets out a soft moan, her eyes closing.

"You're torturing me," I manage. Her hands keep moving though, down, down to the patch of golden hair between her legs. She shakes, perching on the edge of the bed. I lick my lips.

"I trust you," she moans, her fingers running across her slick, pink folds. A muscle twitches at my temple. She leans back, spreading her legs wide. Her sex glistens with moisture, and I growl. "Ras."

I wrestle for control. "I do not wish to make things harder for you."

The guilt I feel intensifies, the guilt at taking away any chance, no matter how slim, at returning to her home world.

Because that's the truth I've remembered, the one I've held from her: now that she has taken me as her mate, she can never leave Vraya.

And I took that choice away. I took her only chance at returning to her world, snapped that cord in one night, and the knowledge is eating me alive.

"I know how you felt this morning, remember? I can feel it through the bond." My breath comes in quick pants, and I drag my eyes back to her body.

"Are you feeling me right now?" She circles her clit, stroking, stroking. I follow the movement with hungry eyes. Finally, I realize what she's asked, and I open my mind to her. Her lust splashes across my awareness.

"It's the bond," I tell her. My control is skating a knife's edge, but I refuse to take unless she knows the whole of it. "The mating bond. I would not push you to do something you do not want, my Lana."

"Goddammit, Ras, I don't care. What do I have to do to get you inside me?" She sinks one finger into her core, arching off the bed.

I unleash myself, ripping off the pants Dabin found for me. My fingers circle her wrist, and I pull her hand off of her, licking her moisture off of it. She moans, reaching for my cock. I close my eyes as pleasure builds.

"I want you," she repeats, her eyes wild. "I need you."

"Shh, I know." I press my mouth to hers. There is no softness in it, not this time. It's a clash of teeth and tongues. Her hands arc around my neck, and I roll her already hard nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Lana moans my name, and I growl my approval.

"Let me." I run my hands over her waist, her hips, her lovely body. I kiss her slower now, small tastes that leave her breathless.

"Ras, I need you."

Suddenly, I don't want to fuck her. I want to make it slow, and sweet, and draw it out until she can't think for the pleasure. I want her to be mindless with pleasure.

I want her to be mine.

I break off the kiss, smiling down at her. Her hair is wet, and I sift it through my fingers, cupping her cheek, kissing the lobe of her ear. Every part of her is perfect.

She grinds her hips against me, making a small noise of protest.

"Needy, needy," I admonish, but I fucking love this. I love how brazen she is, this evidence the bond affects her as much as it affects me.

"Please," she moans.

I pull away, arching an eyebrow at her. "You said you trust me."

"I do, I do."

"Then you must be quiet. Can you do that for me, my mate?" My pulse is racing. Her breath is coming in small pants, and her breasts quiver as her chest rises and fall.

She nods, biting her lips again. I bend to kiss her, tugging her lip with my own teeth. She's driving me out of my fucking mind.

I drag a finger around the soft curve of her breast, making small concentric circles. She's writhing under my touch, and I scrape my fingernails over the sensitive skin of her nipple. Lana arches off the bed with a low moan.

I capture her nipple in my mouth, and her fingers curve into my scalp as I suck. I tease it, licking slowly, then nibbling. Her hand dips between us, but I catch it before she can pleasure herself again.

"No," I tell her. "That's mine."

Using one hand, I gather her wrists and hold them above her head. The sight of her beneath me, mouth parted in anticipation, has me feral with need.