shoulders and head on the bed, and stared down into her eyes as he claimed her body.
Her golden irises glowed like fire as she stared back at him, as she moaned and surrendered to him and he pounded into her. Her face crumpled, screwing up as she began to tighten around him, as the need he felt in her reached a crescendo.
“Hartt!” she yelled as her hips kicked, as her sheath milked him, demanding his seed.
He groaned as he followed her over the edge, held her on his length and claimed her, marking her with the seed she had demanded from him. Her rigid body slowly relaxed as she breathed hard, as her eyes gradually opened and locked with his.
She giggled, sounding a little breathless as she toyed with her hair and said, “We really need to stop doing that.”
He chuckled too. “The thought had crossed my mind.”
Mostly because he feared Fuery would come looking for him if they didn’t return soon, and he didn’t want anyone other than him seeing his beautiful Mackenzie in a compromising position like this.
He pulled out of her and lowered her legs. She grinned and kicked up onto her feet, dropped a kiss on his lips and hurried around him, heading for the basin of water. He tucked himself away as she cleaned up, fought to believe this was real and that she was his mate, and that she loved him.
He fought something else too—the need to whisk her away to somewhere remote and private for a few days so he could be alone with her. As much as he wanted that, he had to put those plans on hold. Now wasn’t the time to worry their friends or lower his guard and invite an attack while he was distracted.
He still couldn’t believe she had claimed him.
He didn’t feel worthy of her, but he was going to move Hell, Heaven and everything in between to be a male who was, starting with protecting her from their common enemy.
Hartt grabbed his black tunic jacket and pulled it on, buttoned it as he listened to his female moving around behind him.
Mackenzie rounded him, a bounce in her step that he liked, together with that twinkle in her eyes. He snaked his arm around her waist and kissed her, sank into it a little when it was meant to be brief. She looped her arms around his neck and pushed her fingers into his hair, groaned in a way that got him going again.
He forced himself to break the kiss, before they ended up tangled in the bedsheets.
Once all this was over, he was taking her away to somewhere quiet where they were the only two people and he was going to spend a week or two worshipping her from dawn to dusk and back again.
And even then, he wasn’t sure it would satisfy this need for her that blazed inside him.
Hartt stared into her mesmerising eyes, meant to mention they should get back but those words fled his mind as she smiled at him, love shining in her golden gaze. An urge struck him, undeniable and so powerful that he had summoned the small wooden box to him before he had even considered what he was going to say. He rubbed his thumb over the delicately carved leaves and swirls on the box, nerves rising within him.
“What’s that?” She frowned at his hand.
Instead of trying to put his feelings into words that would never be good enough to convey the depth of his love for her, he simply opened the box and revealed its contents to her.
Her eyes lit up, growing a little unfocused as she stared at the ring nestled among black velvet. He stared at it too, gaze tracing the beautifully sculpted silver dragon that clasped a bright amethyst in its claws and wings, forming the band of the ring. A ring that he now felt belonged on her finger. It had never been meant for Iolanthe.
It had been made for Mackenzie.
Her right hand lifted and she edged it forwards, eased it back and looked at him. “I want it. I do. It’s so shiny and I love it, but…”
“But?” He didn’t like that word, wanted to growl as fear got the better of him, even though she had said she wanted it to adorn her finger.
“My flames. I can’t wear jewellery. My flames don’t exactly agree with pretty, shiny things. I learned that the hard way.”