Page 50 of Taken By Raider Kings
It wasn’t a gentle kiss, but he tried.He pressed against her, seeking comfort and attempting to give it all at once.His fingertips found the edge of her shirt and slid under, and her skin was so warm and smooth underneath wet cloth that he made a low sound of approval deep in his throat.The purr transformed halfway into an inquiry, because his fingers described the cathedral arches of her ribs and ached to touch more—like the soft hot underside of her breasts, wonderfully, precisely created for cupping his hands around.
She broke away, gasping in a short deep breath.He kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, even the wet edge of her jaw, flavored with salt and rain.And a part of him wanted to drag her down to the floor right there, get rid of all the irritating sodden cloth in the way, and show her just how much he appreciated each curving inch of her softness.
And how much closer he wanted to get toher.
“Stop,” she whispered, and he was almost distracted enough not to care.Her hands were athisshoulders now, pushing ineffectually; Zach froze for a long moment, trembling with the urge to kiss her again so she couldn’t repeat the denial.“Please.”
He let her push him away, slowly.Arousal was a heavy lead bar with roots sunk in his belly, and the beast was not satisfied with just rubbing his scent all over her and a tiny bit of foreplay.It wanted a few hours to mark her thoroughly as his, and many, many more to begin learning how to enjoy her.
For once, he and his animal wanted the same thing.But it wasn’t time yet, and he wasn’t a savage.He was Carcajou, and she was drawing in deep flaring breaths, staring at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Youstopped.”Her hair was tangled, a glory of damp sandalwood curls.He wanted to bury his face in the cloud, inhale, and let his hands rediscover that beautiful little curve below her ribs and above her hips, just made for his fingers to do a little skimming and skating on.
No shit.“You told me to.”He swallowed dryly, imposed control.“I’m not going to force you, Sophie.”You’ve been forced enough.
“Just kidnap me?”But she smiled when she said it, a private little curve of her pretty lips, and he about lost all his good sense right there.High color bloomed on her cheeks, signal flags on distant hills.
“I’ll kidnap you as many times as you like,” his mouth said, independently of his brain.Shit.Dammit.What’s wrong with me?
Amazingly, the smile broadened.She actually lookedamused.“Did you just make a joke?I think that’s the first one I’ve heard.”
“Step a little closer.Or let me go back to what I was doing about thirty seconds ago.”What was it about her that could make him smart off like a teenager?Maybe it was the way she blushed, or how she tipped her head down and looked over the top of those cute little steel-rimmed glasses.Which made her mouth look nice and soft, giving him all sorts of ideas about getting her to take the spectacles off and?—
The front door rattled and he whirled, chin rising, a different tension snapping through him.Sophie sucked in a short, shocked breath.
But it was only the twins.“Rainingbucketsout there,” Julia announced.“What?Oh.Whoops.”
The air was full of musk, his and the shaman’s.Good thing she was completely triggered, or he might not have had any luck stopping.He relaxed, swung back to face her.
The smile had dropped from Sophie’s face.She hugged herself again, cupping sharp-skinny elbows in her palms.Her eyes were huge, and he caught the instant jump of fear, her pulse turned hard and hammering.
Even a door opening did that to her.Jesus.
They stared at each other for a long moment, Zach ignoring Julia’s snigger and Brenn’s low whispering.There was a crackle of plastic—grocery bags.Both the young ones smelled like cold water and high healthy spirits.They were more relaxed now, and she’d officially been their shaman for less than a day.
She was theirs.The longer she spent with them, the more she would grow into them, smoothing over the jagged edges, making them whole.
No other Tribe could take her away now.Not unless she went willingly, and was willing to undergo the discomfort of getting used to another Tribe.Which didn’t happen often, not unless another shaman could remain with their Family.
Then why am I so afraid she might vanish?
Sophie inhaled, closing her eyes.The fear from her glands didn’t recede entirely, but she did manage to mute it.She raised her chin a little, and finally her eyelids rose again, the force of that pale gaze threatening to rock him back on his heels.
“Is that better?”The words trembled; she was anxious, now.
He wondered what it cost her to suppress so much fear, to live with it just under the surface of every day.“It’s just fine.”The idea of doing something, anything, to lift that burden sounded equally ridiculous and irresistible.“Look, Sophie?—”
She was past him so fast he almost suspected superhuman speed, except a shaman couldn’t use that particular Tribe gift.“I’m going to help,” she said over her shoulder, and left him standing there in the living room, frustrated as a kitten tied in a yarn snarl, aching with the need to hold her.Just… hold her, instead of pinning her to a wall and sucking half her face off.
But she’d initiated it, hadn’t she?
Conflicting desires caught the animal living inside him, made it snarl, and turned into a serious ache below the belt.
“Damn.”It was the only thing he could say.How the hell could a man have wanted to hit her instead of holding her?
And how could a man get a volcanic kiss like that without wanting more?
twenty-one
