Page 55 of Mated Exile

He reaches up and skims his fingers across my cheek, then down to my neck, where his thumb lightly settles on my pulse. I shiver, barely able to walk a straight line beside him. That one touch—just a single connection, a tiny bit of skin-to-skin contact—is enough to electrify my skin.

Something about it is more intimate than if he'd stripped me naked and touched me from head to toe.

Lance steps forward to face me and places his free hand on the other side of my neck, until he's gently cupping the most vulnerable part of my body in his large, strong hands. His eyes search mine, the strength and tenderness in his gaze overwhelming.

"You're amazing, Delilah." His voice is rough and low. Stepping close to me, he dips his chin down, his nose brushing my forehead. "After everything you've been through, and all you've learned, you have every right to break down completely. To curl up in a ball and never get up again. Or worse—go ballistic, get angry, and destroy things. Instead you've found a way to move past the pain, to look to the future, and find your place in the same pack that exiled you. Nothing could be braver."

Swallowing, I admit, "I don't feel brave. All I feel is scared. And inadequate."

"Which just makes it that much more impressive that you don't show it for a single second." His touch moves down my neck to settle at my clavicles, fingers pulling at the collar of my shirt, stretching it to make room for his warm and hungry touch. "When I look at you, I feel so overcome by your beauty and your strength. It makes me want to find those vamps and tear them limb from limb."

A raw laugh leaves my throat, and I admit, "I thought you were going to end that sentence some other way."

"Oh?" His lips curve up, and he nuzzles my cheek. "Were you thinking I might describe the ways in which I want to fuck you in the middle of the Mating Circle? I could do that. Or I could show you a preview."

My breath hitches, and I reach up to twine my hands behind his neck, my fingers curling towards the shocking white of his textured hair. "I wouldn't say no to that."

"Saying no isn't enough for me." He moves his lips to my ear and nips my earlobe, making me shiver all over. "I want you to say yes, Delilah. I want you to beg for me. When I move inside you for the first time, it will be because you want it more than anything—because the thought of not drawing me in is so agonizing that you'll yearn for nothing else."

I shudder, his words twining around me and curling heat between my thighs. His words, his description of exquisite agony and lust, are all I've wanted for years without knowing how to voice my desire. The ease with which he takes over and tells me what I want, with no hesitation whatsoever, is alarmingly seductive. He's barely even touched me, his lips hovering just above my skin without pressing a kiss to my lips, yet I already feel desire coursing through my veins.

"Please, Lance." My voice shakes, and when I look up into his eyes, I see the desire in them. I can smell it too, a heated, musky scent that lingers beneath the evergreen and mint of him. "I want you to..."

"To what, Delilah?" He raises a brow, pulling back to stare down into my face, his eyes searching and roaming. Those broad hands of his move down to my shoulders, strong fingers curving around me yet somehow keeping me at a distance, just barely. "Tell me what you want me to do, and know that I will do it. And then some. But I don't waste my time on women who don't want me—I have to hear it in your own words."

I lick my lips, feeling his eyes follow the motion. There's this wall between us, almost like a dam, and I know that if I dare to break it down, an entire river of water will course down on me. I'll either float in the sensual waves, or get lost in a flood of emotion.

A lump forms in my throat, and for a moment I can't find the words. My desires are too large to speak aloud. The fears inside me keep them at bay, none stronger than the fear that as soon as I open up completely, no one will want me anymore.

But Lance is staring at me steadily, without any pressure in his hands or his face, and something about the strength of his body and the assuredness in his eyes makes it easy for me to move past my fears. I place my hands on his chest, fingers stretching towards the brown skin at his collarbone, and let myself tell him what's inside me.

"I want you to stop holding back and show me all your desires."

Twenty-Four

Delilah

Lance draws me against him, crushing my hands between our bodies as he pulls me to my tiptoes and presses a passionate kiss to my lips. His tongue effortlessly pries my mouth open and delves inside, stroking fire everywhere it touches, sending a rain of sparks down my back. Desire coils in my middle and drops low in my body.

His hands drop down to my hips and he walks me back until my head hits the smooth bark of a nearby tree. Broad fingers draw down the waistband of my loose athletic pants, and dip beneath them. I gasp against his mouth as his fingertips press between my thighs and surge against the warmth and wetness, nothing but a thin layer of underwear between me and his skin.

Pulling his mouth from mine, Lance trails hot, sharp kisses against my jaw and neck, interspersed with little nips that make me whimper. A growl leaves his throat, and he brings his free hand down to my thighs, yanking them wide. His hand presses further between my thighs, fingers rubbing at my clit, and my hips rolls towards him with a hitch of motion.

All of it happens in mere seconds, like a sports car going from zero to sixty, no delay. Lance pulls his mouth from my neck and looks down into my face. I blush and lick my lips, breath shuddering, fingers curling around his biceps. I have to lean on his strength to stay standing, my body fighting the urge to press against him for more, now, harder. My eyes drop low and I see the curve of his arousal through his pants, mere inches from my thigh, our bodies not quite touching below the hips.

His voice is low, his eyes half-closed in the evening darkness. "If I could, I would strip you naked right here and fuck my way inside you until your legs gave out. Trust me when I tell you, Delilah, that I'm not holding back because I don't want you—but because I'm afraid that the moment I have a taste of you, I won't be able to stop myself from claiming every inch of your body."

Shuddering, I ask him, "Would that be so bad?"

"No." His chest rumbles with a growl, and his thick fingers draw the edges of my underwear inside. The connection of his skin against mine makes me press down against him, lips parting. "I would make you my mate in an instant, hold you close and keep you safe, and tear anyone who ever threatened you limb from limb. But it has to be your choice, and I'll only let you make it once you know all of me."

"Let's start getting to know each other better, then." I reach for his waistband, but he stills me with his free hand, even as his thumb slips beneath my bottoms and rubs a slow circle around my clit. "Let me touch you, Lance."

"Soon." He curves his tall body downward and drops a kiss against my forehead, nuzzling my cheek. "First, I want to break you apart in my hands and hold you as you turn to liquid in my arms. And I'll do it without letting you touch me even once—because I don't want to come until you have."

I shiver, and Lance makes good on his promise to claim me. He draws his hands back from my body for only an instant, then grabs my hips, yanks my bottoms down to my knees, and pulls my half-naked legs apart. Stepping into the loose circle of my pants, he tears my underwear apart with a casual flick of his wrist, then grabs my thighs and yanks me up against the tree.

Groaning, I put my hands on his broad shoulders and wiggle against him, heat flaring in my cheeks at the sudden exposure even as my body responds with pleasure. There's no chill between us, no breeze hitting my skin, because his warmth is instantly pressed against me. Drawing his mouth down to mine, he supports me with his left hand and reaches between us with his right. Those broad, calloused fingers find my clit and rub circles around it until I'm shivering and bucking against him. Then he reaches down further, parts my lower lips, and delves his fingers into my warm and willing body.

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