Page 72 of Primal Bonds

“I like to take things slow.” His voice was warm and a little rough. It stroked over her nerve endings like coarse silk. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

Her head moved from side to side against the pillows. “Yes. No. God, Jace.”

He chuckled, and then—finally, blessedly—he moved so that his knees were between hers. She gave a whimper of relief and bent her knees, opening to him. He slid a finger over her curls, and she lifted her pelvis, straining toward his touch. His finger slid lower, brushing over her most sensitive flesh so that she clenched her jaw at the pleasure of it.

He played with her, sliding his finger in and out of her, teasing her clit, until she was wound so tight, a single touch would’ve set her off, and then he lifted his hand.

“Jace.”

“Hm?” He brushed his fingers over her again.

She narrowed her eyes. “Stop teasing.”

He nipped her ear. “You do know that I’m a cat?”

“So?”

“We like to play.”

She gasped as he touched her again. “Oh,” was all she could say as he slid two long fingers into her and then out again.

He nuzzled her collarbone. “You know you like it.”

She angled her head so that he could kiss her throat. “If I say yes, are you going to tease me more?”

“Yeah.” He nipped her skin. “But remember, I can scent a lie.”

She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Then yes. Do your worst.”

“Oh, angel.” His breath rasped in. “I’m going to make you scream.”

He brought his hands back to her face and lowered his body onto hers, keeping himself propped on his forearms. His legs came between hers and she automatically widened her thighs. He was still wearing his shorts. His hips settled against hers, his cock hard and thick against her through the thin layer of material separating them.

“So soft.” He cupped the base of her skull in one big hand and nuzzled her cheek. “Everything about you is soft. Your hair, your lips. Your skin.” He moved his mouth to her ear, sucking the hoop with the silver disc into his mouth, tonguing and nipping the sensitive lobe. “Soft. But strong where it counts.”

“Mm.” She wrapped her hands around his shoulders, exploring the round, hard muscles. His quartz lay between them, smooth and warm against her breast bone. It felt almost alive, like a bird’s egg.

Jace lifted his head. The pendant hung from his chest, the smoky gray and purple infused with a faint green glow.

“May I?” She reached for his quartz but didn’t touch it, recalling how he’d recoiled the night he’d been stabbed.

He shook his head. “It hurts if anyone but a close relative touches it…or my mate, if I ever take one.”

“But it doesn’t hurt when it rests on my chest?” she asked, and ignored how her heart constricted at the thought of his someday taking a mate.

“No. And don’t ask me to explain why—it’s not logical. Magic has its own rules.”

“Why is it glowing?”

“Is it?”

He looked down, frowning, and then shrugged. “Thing has a mind of its own. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah—I was talking about how soft you are. Here and here.” He pressed a hot kiss to each of her nipples, and then licked the undersides. “And here.”

Her legs writhed beneath his. She reached down and tried to push off his shorts.

His hand went to his waistband. “You want these off?”

When she nodded, he murmured agreeably and got out of bed to remove them. He grabbed a handful of condoms from the nightstand drawer and dropped them on the table next to the amethyst before crawling back on top of her.

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