Page 83 of Mated Exile

"Come here," I tell him, drawing him closer with my legs. "You smoking hot, sexy thing you."

Kieran smirks and grabs my ass, jerking me tight against him until our lower bodies connect in a way that makes me gasp and squirm. He shudders too, his hips jerking forward as I sit up and drag my calves against his back, locking him to me.

"You're absolutely stunning, Dee." Reaching down, he traps my left nipple in his fingers. "I can't believe I get to be with you. Even if it's only this, even if for only tonight... you're stunning."

Reaching up, I curl my fingers around his ears and confess, "I know it's not the same as being mated. But I hope it's enough, for now."

"Every moment with you is more than enough, and more than I deserve."

He dips his mouth to mine and kisses me again, his hand stroking his length as it's trapped between us. Reaching down, I curve my fingers around his shaft and nudge his aside, reveling in the strong, sure feel of him. Kieran's displaced fingers move towards my apex instead, nudging my lower lips aside to dip within my body.

His thumb finds my clit and draws circles around it. I gasp and squirm against him, whimpering as I stroke him harder, enjoying the way his hips twist up towards me. His free arm curls around my back and draws me down to the mattress as he thrusts his hips between us, body surging and stroking against mine. Each twist and thrust of his hand draws sparks of pleasure across my skin. My hips surge up against him, back twisting up off the mattress, mouth open wide on a cry of ecstasy.

Still, it's not enough. Even as I twist my fingers on his length and his moan fills me with heat. Even as his fingers delve inside me and twist up, making my legs tremble. The threads around us dance and shiver, and I wantmore,I want it all.

So I twist my hand around on his length, and reach down with my free hand to snag his wrist and draw it away. Kieran glances up at me, brows furrowed, lips parting for a moment—then he freezes, hips stuttering as I draw him within me.

My entire body feels alight with pleasure and satisfaction at the way he fills me, his body connecting with mine. Moaning, I draw him in until I have all of him within me, arching up off the mattress and gasping.

Kieran's head drops down to my neck, his hands spasming on my legs. He gasps and shivers, voice low as he mutters, "Delilah—"

"Kieran." The shiver that dances across his skin at my voice is beautiful agony. "I want you."

"I know, I know." Twisting his head around, he drops a kiss on my neck—then digs his fingers into my hips and... pulls out and away. "But not like this, Dee. Not yet."

Groaning, I grab at him, but he holds me away with his strength. Then he reaches down between us, his eyes meeting mine, and puts his fingers where he just was a moment ago. I shudder and clench around them as he uses his skillful hand to draw me to the edge of orgasm and off the cliff's edge, even as my body cries out for more.

As I come down, I reach between us and grab his length. It takes only a few tight, skillful strokes to draw him to the edge. Once he's there, I lean up to kiss him and suck on his lips as he shivers and falls apart between us.

At the moment of his climax, a thousand shining white magical threads draw around us and pull us together, until our bodies are as close as they can be without being fully connected.

We're not mated yet, I realize as I pull his sated body against mine. Kieran grabs my hips and twists us around so that I'm resting against his chest, and I feel a hollow ache inside me, even though I'm glad he stopped me in my lust-fueled state.

I've wanted him for so long that just having him near me, in a pleasure-filled stupor, feels like a monumental victory. Especially as I trace the hollows along his ribcage and hips, promising myself that I'll help fill them with healthy flesh and muscle. He was right when he said not yet—but I feel the wordyetlike a promise skittering across my skin.

After a long moment, Kieran says clearly, "It's not that I don't want to be your mate, Delilah. But I want to deserve it, and do it in front of everyone, because we chose to. Not because we're horny lust-fueled idiots."

Burying my nose against his neck, I nod, a little smile curling up my lips. "You're right. It's better to wait. I don't know what I was thinking."

"I do." He drops a kiss on my cheek, fingers drawing circles on my back. "Soon enough, Dee. Just not yet."

Not yet. But soon.

Settling onto his chest, I let the promise of the future spread through me, warm and hopeful. My eyes slide closed, and for a moment I'm at peace.

Only a moment, though. As Kieran dozes off, something makes me carefully disentangle our limbs, get up, and pad over to the window. A shiver crosses my skin, and it's not because I'm naked, or because of the cold.

The office window provides a perfect view of the distant mountains and the waxing moon.

Along with a growing sense of foreboding, one I'm realizing now isn't just in my head. Something dark, devious, and truly evil is lurking in the darkness, waiting for its moment to strike. Any day it will come, and reign destruction down on us.

I feel it in my breath and in my bones.

Thirty-Five

Delilah

One Week Later - Just Before the Full Moon

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