was still the fear that he might turn out to be someone really bad. There was also a fear for him. Her emotions were very jumbled.
He pressed a kiss into her belly button, still holding her gaze. “I wish you could see into my mind, Scarlet,” he murmured gently, allowing just a little of his mind to open to her so that she could see past the highly aroused feelings he had in that moment. “I’m not the nicest of men, not always. I’d hunt down whoever hurt you so much that you’re afraid to trust me and I’d probably fuck him up pretty bad or worse, but I can promise you, I would never intentionally hurt you. You would see that. You would see that I mean everything I say to you. Say yes to trying with me, baby. Give us that much of a chance.”
Again, he was careful not to push any influence into his voice, even though resisting the temptation was extremely difficult. He knew Scarlet Foley was made for him and he for her. He felt it with every breath he drew and every moment they were together. He did use persuasion with his gentle, velvet command he knew she had a hard time resisting, but he held back on using his talent, that gift that could take control even though she was the one. He knew it now more than ever, just glimpsing into her mind.
Her hands smoothed his shoulders and he saw the capitulation in the brilliant green of her eyes before she bit her lip and nodded. “Yes. I want those same things, Absinthe.”
The smile might have started in his damn cock—hell, he didn’t know, only that it spread through his body like a wildfire, culminating in an impossible-to-hold-back grin. He kissed her stomach, those very firm muscles already moving under his touch in eagerness, as he made his way to the very edge of those fiery red curls proclaiming her a natural redhead.
Very slowly, so she would feel the anticipation, he slid his hands over her hips, shaping that curve, the hollows, the sweet beauty of her feminine form. Absinthe took his time with her, paying attention to every little hitch of her breath. He was by turns gentle and then abruptly a little rough, watching her closely for signs of nervousness. Scarlet’s hips bucked, her back arched, her breasts swayed and jolted as she squirmed and moaned, but she didn’t ask him to stop or reach toward her weapons.
“Spread your legs wide for me, Scarlet, and put them over my shoulders.”
Scarlet’s green gaze jumped once more to his face, went so dark and vivid, she could have been born of the mythical fae right there in the redwood forest. Her ragged breathing turned up another notch as she slowly spread her thighs even farther apart, exposing her beautiful little pink pussy to him. Shit. She looked like a little flower, glistening with dew, just waiting for his attention.
She slowly lifted her legs and obediently draped them over his wide shoulders. His breath caught in his throat. She smelled like heaven. She looked like paradise. She did what he told her, exactly what he needed from his woman. Her red hair was slipping out of her braid with all the wind from the ride on the Harley and it spread out around her like a halo. She was gorgeous. She felt like his. She acted like his.
Absinthe rubbed his palms over her hips and then dipped his head to kiss his way up the inside of her left thigh from her knee to that sweet slick entrance just waiting for him. He found himself, for the first time that he could ever remember in his life, having to force control on himself. He desperately wanted to taste her. He liked to play. He liked to prolong and build anticipation. He derived pleasure from using his voice to command and control, to direct and watch reactions.
He could keep a partner on edge for hours sometimes until they were sobbing and begging him, willing to do anything for him. Those needs were now necessary for his own pleasure and were so deeply ingrained in him, he knew it would be impossible to ever be any different. He’d automatically used his voice to command those around him to do his bidding sexually in order to survive his childhood. Over the years, more and more, he had come to need every act of obedience. It was