Moon Burning - By Lucy Monroe Page 0,34
no man.”
“You are promised to me now.”
“No.”
“You spoke your Chrechte vow last night. It cannot be unsaid.” She looked away. He would not allow her to avoid this, however. ’Twas too important. “Do not deny me.”
Suddenly she rolled toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding tight. She trembled against him, her heart beating fast, a sense of sadness he did not understand surrounding her.
“Sabrine? Tell me what ails you,” he demanded.
She tilted her head back and met his gaze with deeply troubled eyes, his sweet Chrechte mate not one to hide from difficulty. “No other man has claim on me as you do.”
“No other ever will.”
“No other,” she agreed.
“You are mine.”
“While I am here.”
He shook his hair in fierce denial. “Always.”
She swallowed as if trying to hold back a deep well of emotion. “I will never give another what I give you now.”
She would learn she did not have to try to hide her emotions from him. Everything she was was safe with him.
“Nay, you will not.” Satisfaction surged through him.
Even knowing that as his almost certain true mate, she was not capable of physically betraying him, he liked hearing her promise.
She laughed softly. “You’re an arrogant man, laird.”
“And you are a woman of rare beauty.” He had never met a woman with such delicate features, put together so finely.
“No other thinks so.”
That he did not believe. “The males of your former home must have impaired vision.”
She tensed, but said nothing.
“When I found no mate among the Sinclairs, I gave up hope of finding one. Then Talorc asked me to come here and lead this clan until Circin was ready to take over and I hoped again. Never did I think I would find you naked in the forest.”
“I never thought to find one such as you at all, especially among the Faol.”
“No other man could be right for you.”
“I would never allow another this close.” The fierceness in her expression allowed no room for doubt.
“I am glad you waited for me.”
She shook her head, once again trying to hide emotion from him.
“Do not hide from me.”
“I do not hide,” she said harshly. Then her gaze softened, no mask covering the sorrow that should not be there. “I cannot promise you a lifetime.”
“No one knows what tomorrow may bring.”
Her body relaxed in obvious relief, giving him his first moment of real worry about their future. She did not believe they were true mates. That was all. Once she realized the truth, she would settle into her life with him.
Until then, he would reinforce his claim on her through the connection of their bodies.
He cupped the gentle swell of her buttocks, kneading them as he rubbed their bodies together.
“Mmmm . . . that feels nice.” She moved with him, her body arching like a cat. “You’re so warm.”
“It is my wolf.”
“I like it.”
A thought niggled at the back of his mind—why wasn’t she just as warm-blooded as he? But it was lost in the heat between them.
Their spent passion lay heavily in the air around them, now mixed with the perfume of their renewed mutual desire.
He leaned down and took her mouth in a devouring kiss. The need for her to know she was his drove his passion as surely as the consuming hunger between them. To taste her mouth was to want . . . nay, need another sip, and another, and another until their flavors were so mixed there was no distinguishing between them. Not even for his Chrechte nature.
She was every bit as involved, her hunger just as wild, her response unfettered by her recent innocence. It sent lightning arcing through him, the storm of craving growing until thunder pounded in his veins instead of blood.
The connection between them was unlike anything he’d experienced with his previous partners. He’d found release in sex. He’d even found a certain level of physical pleasure he thought worth returning to for more. He had not known what it meant to really join with another, to feel the connection of their bodies in that place where his soul must reside. This thing between them gave credence to the ancient legends about true mates forming a mystical bond that went beyond mindspeak.
No one had had such in his lifetime, but his gran-da used to tell stories of such things along with the tall tales about other tribes of Chrechte besides the wolves.
But he could feel her emotions, as if they were his own. However, he knew they were not. The