19. Kaila

When Turren described his desert and mountain homes, I tried to picture them. It was hard when all I could see was the forest around us, the canopy above, and the dense vegetation below. I’d lived all my life in the village with the woods looming around us. I’d played on the edge of the forest under the watchful eyes of my parents, and I’d dared to venture to the river sometimes to swim and fish. Everything in my world could be seen and touched if I stretched out my hand.

But a desert? Vast mountains and deep valleys? I couldn’t imagine living in places like that. Wide open spaces might frighten me. The height of the mountains might scare me. How would I hide from danger if there were no trees, no fortress walls, no tiny home to escape into? And caves? Creatures might lurk within them.

He mentioned dangers I couldn’t imagine, and the thought of facing the unknown made me feel exposed and vulnerable.

A part of me, what I called my adventurous Kaila, the one who would sometimes sneak to the river at sunset and dance through the shallow water, that Kaila ached to see these places Turren loved above all others. To take a chance at a life I’ve never imagined.

Could I find the strength to go to places like that?

I wouldn’t be alone. While I could suggest I travel there with him to see the desert or the mountains, to experience them with him, he would see that as me choosing him. I couldn’t do that until I was sure I would never turn back.

I . . . cared for him a lot already. Battling with him had shown me how patient he was. Watching him with my brother showed how kind. And touching him showed me how he could light my very body on fire.

He said we were fated to be together, and I could tell he believed that to his very soul.

Did I?

I swallowed, but there was a lump in my throat that wouldn’t go down no matter how hard I tried to force it. It hurt almost as much as my chest. I’d only known him for a few days. Was that long enough to know if I wanted to be with him forever? Saying yes to the questions in his eyes meant taking a chance, thrusting myself out into the open, into a place that, for a person who craved stability, could be considered a nightmare.

I did know one thing. I had tonight with him and tomorrow morning. I’d have to decide when we reached the village. But I didn’t have to make that decision right now. Perhaps, for once, I should live in the moment without worrying about what might come next.

And this moment was for Turren.

“You’re thinking,” he said softly. “Perhaps, instead, you should be sleeping.”

I could taste the vulnerability, the uncertainty in his voice.

He was beautiful in a foreign way, and already dear. How had I gone from snarling at him to finding him so perfect it made my lungs ache?

I focused on his mouth. I’d kissed him the night before, but it was quick, fleeting. I’d barely felt it. I wanted to know what it was like to kiss someone that only in my wildest dreams could belong to me.

No, not just someone. Turren.

I was beginning to believe there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to taste his mouth, to feel his body pressed against mine. My skin burned at the thought of letting all my inhibitions go. My heart thundered loudly in anticipation. Everyone in the forest must hear it.

“Have I stolen the words from your mouth, my bold mate?” he asked, a touch of humor in his voice. “Usually it was me who can’t find them.”

“You speak so eloquently.”

And even when it was clear he was as uncertain about where this was going as me, he could still find a way to laugh.

What would it be like to stand by the side of this male for the rest of my days?

“How can you call me bold?” I asked, still staring at his mouth.

“Look at you. You left the village.”

“I told you why. We had to leave.”

“You stepped away from everything that kept your feet solidly on the ground. While the world shifts now beneath you, and you’re facing the unknown, you’re still strong and determined.”

“I’ve survived because of that determination.”

“And I admire it very much.”

“I want to kiss you.” The words blurted out, cutting through the chitchat that was merely a distraction from the heat swirling around us.

His lips curled up before smoothing, and his eyes smoldered. They dropped to my mouth. “Then perhaps you should do so.”

His lips were a bit plumper on the bottom and dark green, not that the color or shape mattered. I didn’t care about anything like that. What mattered most to me about a person was who they were at their core, and I already admired everything about the person I’d found in Turren.

An undeniable need made me quiver. I could take what I needed for the night and decide what I wanted in the morning, or I could nudge him aside and continue . . .

Hiding.

That’s what I was doing. I had no problem admitting that to myself. There was comfort in the stability I needed more than anything else.

Stop thinking. Start feeling.

Still focused on his mouth, I rose up onto my knees and slid my fingers across his shoulder to the nape of his neck. I stabbed my fingers through his hair, something I’d wanted to do almost from the moment I met him, though I would’ve denied the craving back then. I urged his face down to meet mine, for his mouth to find mine as I found his and all of him.

And we kissed. A real one this time, not the tease I’d given him before.

Like he’d dropped a spark onto me, and I was the tinder, I burst into flame. It consumed me like he was consuming my mouth.

My heart pounded with desire, and I latched onto his shoulders, clinging to him in the same way I wanted to cling to whatever he had to offer.

I might be scared about my uncertain future, but nothing frightened me now.

This.This was what I needed more than anything. The feel of his mouth hungry on mine, the way his hands roamed my back before latching onto my arms and holding tight.

One hand slid to the nape of my neck and his fingers threaded into my hair, wrapping the strands around his palm and pressing to bring me closer. His other hand stroked along my jawline and teased down my neck to the top of my chest.

I moaned, pressing my breasts against him. He was made up of vast, warm flesh, and even if it took me a lifetime, I wanted to touch and taste it all.

Heat coiled up my spine, tightening and releasing, and I angled my head and parted my lips, inviting him to explore further.

His tongue dipped inside and glided across mine. He tasted like the herb he’d used to cleanse his teeth, a mix of mint and something wild. Our tongues entwined like I ached to be entwined with him.

With a groan, his mouth pressed down harder. His hand released my hair and slid down my back, pushing my lower body against his rigid cock. A thrill shot through me that I could drive him wild with such a simple touch. Drive myself wild too.

I tightened my legs around him and rocked my pelvis against his while he met me with furious vigor. His thick staff moved between my legs perfectly, sliding up to rub my clit with each thrust.

His mouth left mine only to trail across my jawline, and he delivered kisses, each one slow and with incredible care. As if he wanted to brand me with each and each had to be better than the one before.

With a quick thrust, he brought my blouse up over my head, and I almost laughed when he took the time to lay it gently across the branch holding our whisp lantern.

Then his mouth was on mine again, drinking and stroking while his warm hands glided from my belly to my chest.

Arching my spine, I begged for him to touch, to do everything he wanted with my breasts. I’d give the world to feel it all.

I yanked and tugged on his hair, urging him lower, and he did as I asked, lifting my breast with his hand to offer it to his mouth. He flashed a tusk-filled smile at me before diving down and sucking my nipple into his mouth.

My moan jerked out of me, and I thrust my hips forward, rocking against his cock that only seemed to get thicker. Longer. Harder.

He stroked his tongue across my nipple then rolled it between his teeth, gentle yet with enough strength it sent bolts shooting from my breast to my groin. I cried out, giving into this moment. Him. Because there was no other place I wanted to be but in his arms, feeling his mouth on me, his hands roaming my overheated flesh.

Leaving my breast, my nipple puckered and wanting, he moved to the other. “My passionate mate. My beautiful mate. My perfect mate.”

When he sucked the other nipple into his mouth, sensations rocked through my core. I frantically rubbed against him, everything building inside me to the point I was going to explode.

He lifted his head and gave me a crooked grin full of confidence laced with a hint of vulnerability. The latter endeared him to me to a point where I couldn’t imagine why I had doubts.

For now, I shoved those doubts aside. They were for daylight. Tomorrow, which felt like a lifetime away.

He eased me down onto the wide branch, and his gaze slid from my mouth to my breasts and lower. With his gaze locked on mine, he trailed his knuckles around each nipple before moving lower. Lower. Until he came to the waistband of my skirt.

“I want to taste you. Will you let me, my precious mate?” he rasped, his voice hoarse with emotion.

Sanity tried to crowd into my mind, telling me I was uncertain about him, of this situation, of everything, but I stomped it flat and nodded.

With my legs splayed to the sides, he bunched up my skirt, dragging it slowly higher. I lifted my hips to let him move it away. A few tugs, and my undergarment was gone, joining my blouse or fluttering toward the ground. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. All I wanted and needed was to feel.

While his mouth returned to my breast, his tongue gliding across my nipple, he stroked my thighs in broad circles. Each loop brought his hand closer to my core, to the place where everything had coiled tight. I wasn’t sure I could stand it.

He parted my thighs and when his fingers glided through my wetness, my moan roared up my throat. I rocked my hips up to meet his hand as he ran one finger over my clit. Others slid inside my passage, stroking my inner walls in a way destined to drive me out of my mind with pleasure.

“You’re so beautiful and perfect,” he said, leaving my breast and punctuating his words with kisses across my belly. His fingers slid deeper within me, coated with my wetness, my saturated need for his touch. “I can’t imagine how the fates could decide I was worthy of the exquisite joy I might find in your arms.” He hitched first one of my legs, then the other, onto his shoulders and looked up at me, his fingers stilling. “I’m going to do all I can to show them and you that they made no mistake, that what we have is sublime.”

This male said the prettiest things. Did the dirtiest things to my body.

And I wanted more.

As if he heard my words, though I hadn’t spoken aloud, he gave me a quick grin.

Then his head burrowed between my thighs.