Page 47 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

Eiji ran his hand over the bandage on her side, and his eyebrows bunched. She knew he imagined killing Kasen, but since she’d shifted, her wound was nothing more than a flesh wound. Her ability to heal defied logic, but because it did, she believed Eiji when he told her he was fine. He wore a bandage on his thigh where the bullet hit him, but he didn’t limp. Marcus and his people had cared for Eiji, and against their advice for him to stay still for a couple days, he’d insisted on coming to find Shae. She had to be grateful to them for that, and it said Marcus was at least a better man than Darryl.

“I’m okay,” she told Eiji.

“I know.”

“You said you were going to get my stuff in Venice.”

He nodded. “I will.”

“I want to go with you.”

“No.”

She turned in his arms and pressed her breasts against his chest. He hadn’t yet taken his clothes off, and she intended to drag him into the shower with her. “I think I made that sound like a question. I meant, I’m going with you. We’re not going to be apart from now on because…”

His gaze burned into her until she looked away. Her stomach muscles tightened. What if he’d changed his mind because of her being a Keith? He might be willing to look after her, but to be mated? No, she’d told herself this was it. She would admit her feelings.

She stared him in the face. “Because I love you, and I want to be your mate.”

Bravado drained to her toes when he didn’t speak.

“If you have a problem with that because of your family and all, I—”

He kissed her, hard and rough on the lips, and stuck his tongue into her mouth. His big hand engulfed her face as he nudged her chin higher. She lost the ability to breathe or think. He filled her heart, and her soul strained to belong to him.

When he raised his head, she teetered on tiptoe, but he held her close and stroked wetness from her cheeks she didn’t know was there. “Aishiteru means ‘I love you.’”

“Eiji,” she breathed.

He kissed her then, and Shae forgot everything, all the fear, all the doubt, and the uncertain future. She knew nothing other than Eiji, and a certainty that being with him was where she was meant to be. She clung to him, arching her back so she snuggled into his body. They fit like they were made for each other, and when he drew away, releasing her lips, she rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes shut.

“We’ll seal it,” he murmured, and she looked up.

“I’m ready.”

He didn’t question her further. Maybe he was too afraid she’d change her mind. She stood before him watching as he shed his shirt and tossed it to the floor, then peeled the button open on his pants. Her mouth watered to see him in all his glory once again. His lean hips came into view, along with the light smattering of hair at his crotch. When his cock, hard and rigid, came into view, she longed to suck it. Every other time except the first time, he’d denied her, and even then he hadn’t let her make him come.

Eiji took her hand, and they walked together into the bathroom. The shower warmed quickly, filling the bathroom with steam. They stepped inside, and Shae thought she’d orgasm when Eiji began soaping her body. He ran slick hands down the outsides of her legs, only to come back up the inside. He teased her apex with flicking fingers across her clit. She fell against the wall and scarcely held herself upright.

“Let me wash you too,” she offered. To her surprise, he handed over the shower gel. She squeezed the scented liquid into her palm, worked it into a lather, and then began exploring his body. Eiji’s shoulders were tight with tension, but she kneaded the muscle and rubbed from his neck to his tight ass. “Damn, you’ve got a fine ass, baby.”

He started when she smacked it, and she laughed. She stroked his thighs as he’d done her and ran greedy palms over his big cock. The tool twitched under her ministrations, and Eiji put his head back, allowing her control. She wanted to climb him like a monkey and ride him right there, but she held off. After a little while, Eiji made her focus on him.

“I’m going to bite you—small bite—and I want you to do the same to me. At the same time, open yourself. Let me in like when you changed before. Let us be one.”

The process was simple and so easy. Once she’d determined she wanted to be his mate, she had no real qualms about opening her heart, and she felt him come in as if they bonded, two people becoming one. The steam rose around them, cocooning them from the outside world. Eiji held her so tight where he touched. She ached, and yet she wanted the same, to blend with him.

At first she’d thought mating meant giving up her independence to her man, to follow him without a choice. Now she knew it was so much more. Yes, she gave up herself, b

ut so did Eiji. He would walk with her, and she would do the same for him. This bonding meant they could not—would not—subsist without each other. Now she knew, humans could never understand the level of commitment they shared.

“Eiji,” she cried out.

“Shae.”

He kissed her until her lips ached, and he pushed fingers between her legs to tease her bud. She whimpered his name out loud and in her head at the same time. He strummed her like an instrument, and she rose to her tiptoes, arching her back, clinging to his arms, as he brought her to a trembling orgasm.

When it ended and Shae’s breathing settled, she kissed his shoulder and then dropped to her knees in front of him. His cock bobbed and bumped her cheek. She waited for him to say no and make her move, but he stared down at her—if she read it right—ready.

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