Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

KILLIAN

Once she's safely in my quarters, I take the time to inspect every inch of her. I treat her wounds, which are thankfully superficial, and force her to rest, setting her carefully on my bed. There's only one torch lit in here, so it's dim. She should be able to sleep.

Finally, she laughs. "Killian, I'm fine. Why are you fretting?"

"How can you ask that? You were attacked twice."

"And you treated every little scratch. I'm okay. So why are you being so…I don't know, intense?"

I take a deep breath.

I need to tell her. She has to know. And then she can decide what she wants to do about it.

"Because." I stand and pull off my shirt, pointing to the mate mark. "Remember when you asked me about this?"

"Sure." She nods.

"I told you it signifies when a male is mated, which is true. What I didn't say is that we have no control over when it appears. This one showed up on my chest the instant I saw you."

She gapes at me, looking positively stunned. "What…what are you saying?"

"I don't know how it's possible, but you are my mate, Natalie. And I will be yours for the rest of my life. I will care for you, protect you, and make you mine." I clear my throat. "If that's what you want."

"What if I want to go back home? Or date human men?"

I close my eyes, breathing through the actual pain her words cause. "Then that's what you should do. I would never stop you."

Her pretty eyes, which remind me so much of the gemstones we sometimes mine, go wide. "But that wouldn't break the bond, would it? I'd still be your mate? So you'd just be here, alone, missing me."

I shrug. "Yeah, pretty much."

"And you'd be okay with that?"

I grip her hand. "Not for a second. I'd be tormented every day I was apart from you. Hell, I've been in torment since I first saw you. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything. But I will never force you to stay with me. It has to be your choice." My voice comes out ragged, but I can't help it. It's what she does to me.

Her eyes are shining with unshed tears. Is it possible she's as affected by the mate bond as I am? Could she possibly want me as much as I want her?

"But what about the council? You're protecting me because they decided to kill me, right? I can't imagine me wanting to live here permanently would go over well."

"Yes, that was their initial vote, but I haven't revealed to anyone but you that we're mates. If I tell them and show them the mark, they'll change their stance. I have enough friends on the council to make sure of that."

"And then…what? I'd just live here? What about my life on the surface? My family and friends? I know I can't just go back and forth—the risk of people finding out about you and your kind would be too great."

I nod. I've wondered about this too. "Yeah, it's something we'd have to figure out. I can't leave—my people need me here. I know I'm asking a lot, asking you to give up your life as we know it. But if we can think of reasonable compromises, I'm open to them. Anything that you want, that's in my power to give? It's yours."

This time, one of the tears spills free and rolls down her cheek. "I can't believe I'm your mate. I was so jealous of whoever had managed to claim your heart. I wanted to ask you so badly who it was, but I figured it was better that I didn't know, because I might have clawed their eyes out. But now that I know you're mine? I'm never letting you go."

Her words send a rush of warmth through me, and before I realize what she's doing, she has her arms around my neck and her lips pressed to mine.

That's all it takes to unleash me.

We sink together on the bed. I lick the seam of her mouth, and when she opens, I invade her. Licking at her tongue, nibbling at her lip, devouring her until she moans. When I pull back, she shoots me a wicked grin and ducks her head, drawing her tongue across my mate mark, sending sizzling pleasure up and down my spine.

Fuck. Nothing has ever felt so good. I've never been so hard. I've never been so desperate.

"I need you," I mumble. When we got here, I removed her boots and borrowed trousers so I could treat her wounds. But it's not enough. I need everything off. I yank off her socks and then get to work on Sloane's complicated top. With a laugh, Natalie sits up and helps me. I finally pull it away, revealing her in all her glory.

She's long and tan and curvy, with toned muscles. Her thighs are thick and strong, her hips are round and inviting, and her tits are perfect. Two luscious handfuls with pretty pink nipples that are pointing straight at me.

I need to lick them.

So I do.

She writhes beneath me, making sexy little mewling sounds. Her taste is so sweet, and I can't get enough. I need to lick her everywhere.

I drag my tongue down her sternum and to her stomach. I dip into her bellybutton, which makes her shiver, before moving to her thighs, licking and nipping at the insides of them.

She moans.

With a heated grin, I kiss her right between her legs, making her scream.

NATALIE

Oh, my god. I've never had sex before. I mean, I'm not a virgin, but nothing I've ever done has felt remotely like this. So I guess I've never had good sex before.

Kill's head is between my thighs, and he's lapping at my center like he needs. It's not neat and tidy; it's hot, wet, and squelching. He's humming and nudging his nose against me, all while he sucks my clit and curls two fingers inside me.

It's filthy.

I love it.

I gasp when his finger strokes my G-spot, and my hips lift against him. "Killian," I groan. He just grunts against me, sucking harder, stroking faster.

I explode.

The orgasm crashes into me like a semi, flattening me with pleasure that zings through all my limbs. My pussy is pulsing and gushing against his mouth, and he doesn't stop. He just keeps sucking on me, dragging out the pleasure until I beg him to stop.

"Please. I need you inside me."

He looks up from between my legs, his gaze hooded, and growls against my heated skin. Then he's up and moving, shoving himself over me. I finally manage a good look at his cock. It's unusual but beautiful. A slightly darker shade of turquoise than his skin, it's longer and thicker than most humans', with an interesting sort of bump at the root.

"What's that nub for?" I ask, pointing.

He grins. "You'll see."

He lines himself up at my entrance and plunges deep, shocking me, even though I knew it was coming. I gasp as he fills me, his thrusting smooth and even. Every time he pushes inside me, the nub on his cock presses into my clit.

Oh, damn. I get it now. And I can just imagine where it would rub me if he took me from behind. We'll have to try that.

I yelp when he drags his dick along my G-spot, moving with exquisite slowness. A long, unhurried drag that lights up all my nerve endings and makes me want to scream. I grab onto his shoulders and lock my legs around his waist, trying to pull him even deeper into me. He picks up the pace of his thrusts, somehow stimulating every sensitive part of me all at once.

I just came a moment ago, but I feel another orgasm rushing toward me. It feels different, though. I feel deeper inside, like an insistent pulse in my pussy instead of on my clit.

"That's so good," I gasp. "So good."

He moans in agreement. "You're so tight. So wet. I want to feel you come. I want your hot pussy to drag my cum out of me."

He shifts his angle, just a bit, and that's all it takes.

The climax rips through me, hard, deep, and more intense than any I've felt before. I feel the wetness gushing out of me as my inner muscles clamp onto his cock, and he grunts his approval.

My eyes roll back as pleasure swamps me, so extreme it borders on pain. Desperate for an anchor, I lean up and sink my teeth into Killian's shoulder.

He yells and bucks against me, his cock twitching inside me. I feel it swell and then his own wet heat joins mine as he comes.

He collapses down on top of me, and I welcome the weight of him. We lie there, stuck together with sweat, gasping for breath. We're both still spasming and twitching, assaulted by aftershocks that won't quit.

"My god," I mumble. "I've never felt anything like that."

"Me either," he says, his lips in my hair. He presses a light kiss there.

I sigh, content, and drift off to sleep.

NATALIE

Hours later, we're still naked, still in bed. He's on his back, hands behind his head, and I'm curled against him, tracing circles on his skin with my fingers, playing with the mark on his chest..

"We have to do that again, you know."

I laugh. "Obviously. Probably on a daily basis."

"Daily might kill me. But I'm willing to try." He tips his head down and drops another kiss in my hair.

"Hey, I'm in if you are. If we die, at least we die happy."

"Does that mean you'll stay with me? Live here?"

I swallow. It's such a big commitment. But it's what I want. What we both want. What we need .

I look up at him, meeting his gaze. "Yes. I'll stay. Assuming the fainne will allow it."

He growls, and I feel the vibration in his chest. "They will. I'll make sure of it."

"If they do…do you think the council would consent to a few more humans knowing about your existence?"

Kill frowns. "What are you thinking?"

"We're mates. We have to be together. I can't even fathom being separated from you now, even though it's been, what…three days?" I ponder that in my mind. How can someone fall madly in love in so short a time? Enough that they're willing to change their whole life for it? It seems crazy, and yet…it's happened.

"I'm willing to stay here with you. More than willing. I want it more than I've ever wanted anything in my life." The arm around me tightens as I say that, and I can't help my grin. "I even have an idea of what I could do to help your clan. But I can't just disappear—my family would be worried sick. And I can't tell them I'm moving away, because what if I bump into them at some point. In the caves, or if I go to the surface? I'd have to tell them the truth. But we're only talking four or five people. People that I trust with my life."

My parents would have to know, of course. Griffin and Aerin too. And Haven. She'd appreciate my situation more than anyone, I think. But no one else. Those few would be enough.

Killian lifts his shoulder in a half-shrug. "Maybe. I don't think it's unreasonable, but the council isn't always predictable. They won't fight us on you living here, but anything more than that…it's hard to say."

"What about you? Would you be okay with me telling my family?"

He gives me a soft smile. "Natalie, I already told you. Anything you want that's in my power to give…it's yours. I'd be honored if you told your family that you're mine."

I poke him in the side. "Hey, you're mine, too. This goes both ways."

He looks at me with a glint in his eye. "Oh, is my mate the possessive type?"

I wouldn't have thought so, but here we are. "You better believe it. Possessive and jealous. All those pretty female goblins better keep their hands off you."

"Or what?" he asks, laughing.

"Well, first I'd make you stop wearing shirts, so everyone could see that you're marked. And if that didn't work…let's just say it's a good thing I brought a hunting knife with me." I'm laughing too, now. The idea of me going up against one of these big goblin women is ludicrous. I'm strong, but I still think any one of them could crush me. But still, if I catch them flirting with him, I'll think of something devious.

I bite my cheek, trying to stifle the giggles. "When do you talk to the faille?"

" We talk to the faille in the morning. Don't be nervous. Everything will be fine."

Will it, though? Everything has happened so fast. It's not like I've had the time to earn their trust.

He curls his arm tighter around me. "Go back to sleep, Natalie. We'll deal with it all tomorrow."