AARYN

It was the most alive he'd felt for days.

Everything that was happening, every worry, every failure, just fell away at the sight of her smooth skin, the rounds of her breasts, and the flutter of her racing breath against his skin. He curled forward to open his mouth on that skin between her breasts first, groaning against her as, unwilling to wait, he grasped the two sides of her shirt and yanked them apart. The two or three buttons that were still closed pinged off his chest and stomach to roll on the cave floor. But they both ignored them.

When her breasts were bared he growled in approval, leaning her back over his arm so she was stretched, the peak of her breast pressed up towards him and he opened his mouth over it, sucking and rolling the flat of his tongue against the rivet of it.

Elreth gasped and clung to his shoulders, but didn't try to straighten, instead, she gave a shaky laugh when, without slowing his attentions on her breast, he took one of her hands and pulled it down to the buttons of her leathers.

She made short work of them and Aaryn growled again when he slid both hands in the back of her gaping leathers to cup her ass and slide the leathers down.

He jolted when she did the same, both of them stepping out of their leathers without breaking apart.

Then her hands were everywhere, exploring his back, his sides, his shoulders, his hair, and gasping, pulling his head down hard against her when he came off one nipple only to find the other and suck again.

"Oh… Aaryn,

" she whispered. Her eyes were closed and her head dropped back, baring her throat in a seductive arch that had his body trembling, yearning for her.

He answered by kissing his way up to her neck and opening his mouth over the arch of it, letting his teeth graze either side of her jugular.

Elreth trembled, her breath coming even faster and her hips bumped forward, seeking him. And that little thing, that little sign of her desire, coupled with the scent of her wanting him, tipped him over the edge.

He didn't just want her, he wanted to devour her. To take her inside him and hold her away from the rest of the world. To wrap her up in his arms and make her a part of himself. With a guttural moan, and without easing the pressure on her lower back that kept her arched, he straightened to look down at her.

Her breasts bobbed, rising and falling with her panting breath. Her eyes were closed, but they opened when she felt the cold of him pulling back.

"What's wrong?

" she whispered, putting her hands behind his neck and pulling up to stare at him earnestly.

He shook his head.

"Nothing,

" he rasped, then took her jaw in his hand and held her there as he plundered her mouth. Then he buried his fingers in her hair and kept kissing her, their hips beginning to rock and sway as they both sought to join.

Elreth gave a happy sigh and surrendered to him, loose and soft in his arms, leaning back again when he started to kiss down her jaw and throat, but keeping her hands in his hair, at his shoulders, touching and stroking, her fingers clawing down his back when he sucked on the skin where her shoulder met her neck.

For several delicious minutes they kissed and stroked, explored each other, their bodies warming and turning loose, languid under each other's fingers.

Aaryn wanted her desperately, his body aching, but they still stood just inside the door of the cave and a little, niggling thought wouldn't leave him alone.

Pulling her with him, he backed up and reached behind him to swing the door closed then, with a curse, whirled away from her for a second to place the bar across so they couldn't be disturbed—just in case.

When he turned back, she was standing there, the shirt draped off her upper arms, but otherwise naked. Her skin was flushed pink in the warm lantern light and her hands at her side. But when he turned she blinked and, hesitantly, lifted her hands into her hair and raised her elbows so her body became an hourglass.

Aaryn gaped at her, his eyes raking her from her beautiful blue eyes, all the way down to her toes that were the only part of her that showed the tension and uncertainty she still felt about being naked. They were curled into the cold rock, her knuckles standing white.

As he lifted his eyes back to her face and she stared back, her breasts rising and falling under the sides of the shirt because she breathed heavily.

How was it possible that this beautiful creature was his mate? Wanted him? Surrendered to him?

When he didn't move, Elreth blinked and her eyes widened.

"I… I thought males like it when you stood like that. I can—

"

"Oh, we do,

" he growled and took the two steps to bring their bodies together again, clasping one hand to the back of her neck, and the other cupping her ass. He walked her backwards just a few steps, to the cave wall.

"I can't wait, Elreth. Please…

"

"I don't want to wait either,

" she gasped.

Pressing her into the wall behind her, he kissed her again, eagerly, his breath thundering against her cheek, and Elreth met him, tongue-stroke for tongue-stroke, opening herself, whimpering, rolling her hips, reaching, searching for him with her body.

With a blissful moan, Aaryn slid the hand from her ass, down her thigh, pulling up until she took her weight on the other leg, opening her and rolling his hips until he found her core, rubbing himself against her again and again.

She sucked in, and her eyes flew open.

His breath shuddered, but he forced himself to smile.

"I want you right now, Elreth. Right here. Please?

"

"Thank the Creator,

" she gasped.

"Yes!

"

Aaryn spluttered a laugh, then positioned himself and, holding her eyes and with a groan that shook the cave walls, he plunged into her, thrusting until he was buried within her to the hilt.