Page 47 of Her Purr-fect Christmas Mate

*What else?*

“Uhh?” she said, sexily. He turned his face and laughed into the crease of her leg again. Oh god, she could live in this moment forever. Mordecai laughing. Mordecai holding her, caressing her, wanting her and taking her and not letting her go.

He sighed raggedly. “I should have done this from the start.”

“Yes. Yes. Definitely. Yes.” There. She’d said words. Whole words.

*Well done,*he murmured dryly.

*Blame yourself.*Telepathy was easier than convincing her mouth to make words. Especially since it turned out her psychic safeguards weren’t guarding her thoughts as safely as they were meant to. *I want you to keep doing that until I can’t even think whole words, let alone say them.*

There. She’d dangled the bait.

He took it, and her with it.

Mordecai rose up like a demon in front of her, hair tangled, eyes like blazing stars, mouth wet from…from me, holy shit, wet from ME.He kissed her, and she tasted herself on his lips and his hunger in her mind.

Mine,her cat said at that hint of Mordecai’s mind in her own. It chased the ghost of him—hot whiskey and sweet, rich caramel—as he picked her up, and she barely noticed him carrying her to the bedroom, too lost in the touch of her mate’s lips and tongue and soul to pay attention to the outside world.

Until her back hit the mattress and he was on top of her.

“Tell me again,” he whispered rawly, his body all heat and hardness and coiled, sensuous power above her. “Tell me what you want until you can’t tell me in words anymore.”

She didn’t even bother with words then. She sent her desire straight into his mind. *Touch me. Hold me. Hard and fast and NOW.*

He growled, even more wordless than he’d mocked her for being, and she told him that, too, as he pulled her dress up over her head and ran his hands over her body. She’d been naked in front of him yesterday, but this was different, this wasbetter, because he wasn’t holding back anymore. His desire for her flooded her mind. Each touch echoed through her—her own sensation, then his lust and wonder, blazing through the matebond like wildfire.

His pants were gone. She wound herself around him, body and soul, exploring every inch of his bare skin as he covered her with kisses. How had she denied herself all this, not stripping him off last night? He was glorious. Under his hands, his lips, she felt glorious, too.

She’d wanted touch; this was worship.

*You deserve to be worshipped.*His mouth was at her breast; he looked up at her, dark eyes sharp and glinting. *You deserve a mate who’ll give you everything you want.*

*I want you,*she told him. Her mind curled out, reaching for his.Oh.He let her in again, the breathless rush of intimacy almost too much. Something huge and scaly whirled overhead, just behind the corners of her eyes, gone before she could more than glimpse it.

Then she found the walls within his mind.

They were tall, dark, and forbidding, rising up beyond where she could see. She reached out, placing one hand against them. Her cat-self scratched, curiously, and he shuddered.

*I can’t—*His voice broke off, ragged-edged, but he didn’t draw back. *I want to give you everything. I want to make you happy. But I can’t make myself anything but what I am. This is why I couldn’t touch you first, before. Because if I show you who I really am, you won’t want me anymore.*

*Who you really are?*

Grief and wistful regret whirled around her. *A monster. A villain. But I can still give you this.*

He positioned himself above her. His weight anchored her soul; all her tumbling, flying thoughts and desires funneled in on this. Onhim.

She strained towards him. “I want—”

*I know.*

He thrust into her. She gripped him with her legs, holding him fully sheathed inside her, andclenched.He swore, his breath hot against her neck, and thrust again, driving her into the mattress. She met him movement for movement, writhing against him, until he held her down.

Yes.

Pinned her with his weight.

Yes!

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