Page 34 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

He was quiet for a long moment, thumb circling my palm. “And if you don’t survive that long?”

“Then at least I died trying to protect others.” I squeezed his fingers. “Isn’t that what warriors are supposed to do?”

He made a sound between a laugh and a growl. “You’re impossible.”

“Part of my charm.” I tried to smile, but another tremor hit. His arms came around me instantly, pulling me against his chest.

“I can’t lose you.” His lips brushed my temple. “Not when I’ve just found you.”

I turned my face up to his, and his mouth met mine with desperate hunger. His fangs scraped my lower lip, sending heat pooling in my belly despite my exhaustion.

“Let me take care of you,” he murmured against my throat. “Let me claim you. Make you mine.”

His teeth grazed the spot where neck met shoulder, and my whole body shuddered. “Tyrix...”

“I can feel how much you want it.” His tongue traced the same path. “How much you want me to mark you, change you.” His hand slid under my shirt, splaying across my ribs. “Make you stronger. Faster. Mine.”

I arched into his touch, breath coming faster. “Please...”

His lips trailed fire down my neck. “Nalina,” he breathed, hands finding the hem of my shirt. He peeled it from my body with agonizing slowness, leaving me shivering in the cool cabin air.

Tyrix’s gaze darkened as he took in my bare skin. He cupped my breasts through my bra, thumbs circling until I gasped, arching into his touch.

“You are exquisite,” he murmured, reaching behind me to unclasp my bra. The garment fell away, and his mouth replaced his hands, tongue teasing each nipple until I was writhing beneath him. “My perfect, beautiful mate.”

“Tyrix, please,” I begged, tangling my fingers in his hair, my nails scratching at the base of his horns.

He shifted, hand skimming down my stomach to undo my pants. I lifted my hips, eager to be free of the last barriers between us. His fingers found my center, already slick with desire.

“That’s right,” he growled. “You’re so wet for me.”

“Yes,” I moaned.

“You drive me mad,” he growled, the sound sending fresh heat pooling between my legs. He slid two fingers inside me, stretching me perfectly while his thumb circled my clit. I clung to his shoulders as he built a rhythm that had me gasping his name.

“Come for me, Nalina,” he commanded, and I shattered, crying out as waves of pleasure crashed through me. He held me through it, catching me as I floated back to earth.

His chest heaved beneath my palms, the raised patterns of his markings catching my fingernails as I dragged them downward. I pressed my lips to the hollow of his throat, tasting salt and the faint metallic tang unique to his species. “Still think I’m impossible?”

“Infuriatingly so.” His hands flexed against my hips, claws pricking through the fabric of my pants. “Nalina, we shouldn’t?—”

I silenced him with teeth against his collarbone, relishing the way his breath hitched. My tongue traced the ridge of a scar earned during our last skirmish with Consortium guards. “You were saying?”

His growl vibrated against my mouth as I worked lower. The contrast of smooth skin and rough battle marks beneath my lips made me linger, cataloging every twitch and suppressed groan. When my teeth grazed the sensitive junction of hip and thigh, his claws shredded the mattress padding.

“Look at you,” I murmured against the straining outline in his pants. The heat radiating through the fabric seared my lips. “All this fuss about claiming bites, and here you are?—”

The rest dissolved into a gasp as I freed him, the thick length springing against my cheek. My thumb swiped the bead of moisture at his tip, spreading it in slow circles. “Still want to argue about who’s protecting whom?”

His answering snarl lacked conviction. “This changes nothing. You still need?—”

The first long lick along his shaft stole his words. I took my time, savoring the way his hips jerked when I hollowed my cheeks around the head. The taste of him—spiced and slightly bitter—flooded my senses as I worked lower, fingers tightening around the base.

“Fuck.” His claws found purchase in the wall paneling, metal screeching. “Nalina, if you don’t?—”

I pulled back with a wet pop. “Patience, warrior.” My palm replaced my mouth, stroking in time with the frantic pulse at his throat. “You wanted to claim me? Then let me claim you first.”

His protest died when I swung a leg over his hips. The first brush of him against my entrance drew twin gasps. I hovered there, watching his control fray. “Tell me you want this.”

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