back of his head, one he’d cultivated the last three months as he clawed his way from the depth of darkness to an almost life, told him to release her. Yelled at him that the soft professor shouldn’t be mauled by an animal like him. Just as he almost let that voice take hold, Promise groaned. Softly and sweetly.
That sound slid from her chest, through her throat, and into his mouth.
Every still living nerve he had flamed into a hunger so raw it burned. In that second, more so than any other, the voice of reason was flattened and shut off. All that remained was the creature inside him that he truly was. That he’d always be.
He lifted his head, gratified to see her eyes unfocused and filled with need. “You like routine, and you fucking love rules. So let’s get a few straight right now.”
She blinked, confusion wrinkling her eyes.
“Yes. Rules for you. As my mate.” He didn’t give one whit that she’d been on her own most of her life. That had just changed. “There will be no teleporting without me. There will be absolutely zero teleporting off of this world until we make sure it’s safe to do so, and even then, you will not go without me in front of you.” He slid his hand into her hair, jerked, and held her head in place.
She sucked in air while her sexy neck elongated, a vein pulsing rapidly in it. “Ivar—”
“In the likely event that I end up taking Quade’s place, I will return. Don’t know how or when, but I’ll be back. While I’m gone”—he tightened his hold, and her eyes widened—“you will obey the rules the entire time. You can continue being theoretical until I return. That’s the path you chose, and you’ll stay on it.” If nothing else, he had to keep her safe. If they mated, it was his duty and his right.
He expected an argument. A logical, probably irritated, explanation of why he was wrong.
Instead, her gaze darkened. “Or what?” she whispered.
It was a challenge of the most primitive of sort, and he felt it to his battered soul. He knew this woman. She followed logic over safety and experimentation over health. But, without a doubt, she knew no other way than to be loyal and honest. And he knew exactly how to secure her agreement. “There is no ‘or what.’” He leaned in, and her breath caught. “You will obey me because that’s what you’ll agree to do.”
Her nails bit through the skin of his shoulders, right above his torso shield as if she knew exactly where to strike. “Humans have evolved past that,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to his lips.
“You might have. We haven’t,” he said, pressing his raging cock against her softness.
A tremble that he could feel wound through her legs. Color slid up beneath her dusky skin. “Are we going inside?”
“Yes.” He pushed open the door, keeping his hold firm and her attention on him. He’d wanted to follow her path of logic, and he’d wanted to allow her naïveté about him and his people to remain. But it wasn’t possible. Not if he wanted to keep her safe. He moved then, backing her into the main room of the cabin, automatically lifting his nose and searching for threats.
She grabbed his flanks to keep from falling. When they’d finally stopped in the middle of the room, she slid her hands over his abs. “So. Any threats here?”
He liked that she was so attuned to him. That she knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, she was about to know him a hell of a lot better. “Just me, Professor.”
* * * *
The chilly night air wandered into the darkened room, and in that second, Promise knew she was safe. She’d gain the precious moments she needed to calm down her body and approach the mating with the logic it required. She tried to keep the triumph out of her expression—she really did.
By the flaring of his nostrils and the straightening of his shoulders, she realized she’d failed.
Even so, he released her, gracefully walking backward and kicking the door shut with one boot. It slammed hard, and she jumped. When he reached behind himself, that impossible gaze still trained on her, and engaged the lock, a shiver took her.
She tore her gaze free and studied the one-room cabin. While the outside had appeared rustic, the inside was all luxury. High-end fireplace with patterned stone, nice sitting area in front