Mari's Mistake - Ruby Dixon Page 0,89

the front, and he considers them for a moment before grabbing his knife out of his belt. I let out a squeal of protest, shaking my head. "No! This is new! Don't you dare!"

His mouth twitches, and I realize he's teasing me.

"Oooh," I mutter, even as I grab a handful of his thick, silky hair and tug. "You're a naughty one, T'chai of Tall Horn. That is just wrong of you."

He tosses the knife aside with a smirk, and then picks at one of the knots. "It is a sad, sad day when my mate chooses her tunic over her mate."

"Oh please," I say indignantly. "Use your fingers. I know you know how to."

T'chai's mouth twitches again and his shoulders shake, as if he's holding back laughter. Carefully, he undoes the first knot and pulls the material apart, exposing my collarbones. The next two knots are quickly undone, and then my breasts are in the open air, my nipples tightening at the chill. The playful expression disappears from his face and he gazes down at my body. "When R'jaal first brought you back to us, I thought he was hallucinating. That he was making up stories, because no females were on our island at all. But then he laid you down in the sand and showed you to us, and I could not believe what I saw." He brushes his fingertips over one aching nipple, then goes back to undoing knots. "I thought you were the most beautiful, most delicate creature I had ever seen, and in that moment, I hated R'jaal because you were his and not mine." He glances up at me, his expression rueful. "And then you resonated to me and R'jaal was left alone."

"I'm not sorry," I whisper.

"Neither am I…though I do regret that moment of hatred. He is a good male…but you are mine and no one else's." His expression takes on a possessive cast, sending shivers of delight up my spine. "These are my teats to touch, my skin to caress, my mate to fill with kit." He opens the last knot holding my yellow tunic together and then pushes the butter-soft leather aside, exposing my torso. "I vowed to myself when we resonated that if I had to leave behind my Tall Horn brothers, I would. You were mine and mine alone."

His words shouldn't be nearly as arousing as they are, but paired with the intense look in his eyes? I've never been more turned on in my life. "No one would come between us," I promise him. "They just want you to be happy."

"So they do." T'chai puts a big hand on my stomach, stroking it lightly. "But I cannot help but be possessive of you, Mari. My clan is my family, but when I met you, you changed everything." He leans down and presses a kiss to the valley between my small breasts. "I realized when you smiled at me that I would follow you anywhere."

"Then it's a good thing the only place I want to be is where you are," I tell him softly.

He leans over me and presses a kiss to my forehead, then my nose, and then claims my mouth. One big hand cups my breast, his thumb stroking the nipple back and forth, teasing it until I'm aching. I whimper into his kiss, squirming on the blankets. I want to wrap myself around him, but when I try to put a leg around his hips, he eases it back onto the blankets. "Mine to savor," he murmurs. "Let me taste you everywhere before I put my kit in you."

I moan at those words, shocked at how hot they make me. I've never been aroused at the thought of becoming pregnant, but something about it coming from T'chai's mouth makes it the filthiest of compliments, and I love it. "More," I tell him. "Give me more, then."

"You want more?" He pinches my nipple between his fingers, and I gasp. "You want me to claim all of you?"

Oh god, yes. I nod, my breath coming in sharp, jerky pants.

He moves down my body, tossing his long hair aside as he does, and I see the small, dark-colored bruises my mouth has left on his neck. I love the sight of them there, and I want to wear his on my skin, too. I cup my other breast, raising the nipple toward him as he kisses his way down my body. "Taste me here."

"So fierce," he tells me. "So demanding."

Maybe