eyes didn’t leave her for even an instant as he walked around the bed and approached her. She remained still, clutching the towel in her fingers. She had a sense of déjà vu, that this had happened before, but she knew this time would be different.
Zevris stopped in front of her and lifted a hand. The pads of his fingers brushed her shoulder as he caught some of her dangling hair, stroking it with his thumb. “Did you think of me, Nykasha?”
Seventeen
Before Tabitha could respond, Zevris leaned a little closer, and his nostrils flared with a deep inhalation. A deep growl vibrated in his chest, and his pupils dilated. “You did.”
Tabitha’s sex clenched, and slick gathered in her pussy as his deep voice resonated within her. She shivered; it had nothing to do with the slight chill in the air.
“I did,” she admitted, dropping her gaze.
He swept her hair back over her shoulder and slid his hand up to her neck. His touch was everything she’d craved from him—firm, confident, callused. He curled his fingers around her throat and pressed his thumb beneath her chin, tilting it up and forcing her to meet his gaze.
His eyes searched hers. “But you found little satisfaction.”
Not a question, but a statement.
Cheeks burning with shame, Tabitha caught her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded once.
Zevris gently pried her lip free using his claw and soothed it with gentle strokes of his thumb. He raised his other hand and skimmed his claws along her arm, making her flesh tingle delightfully. “Let me give you the pleasure you desire, Tabitha.”
Tabitha’s lips parted, and she released a shaky breath. That ache in her core intensified, spreading outward to her breasts to harden her nipples.
Zevris slipped his hand into her hair, clutched it at the roots, and tilted her head to the side before lowering his face. He brought his mouth to the place where her neck and shoulder connected and brushed his lips over her skin, at first in a caress, then more firmly in hot kisses. She felt his warm breath and the wet flick of his tongue, felt his tail as it slid up and down her calf, as it teased the sensitive spot behind her knee.
Tabitha’s breath quickened. His touch was electrifying, and his mouth made her flesh buzz with pleasure in places she’d never thought possible. She felt drugged, lulled into euphoria, unable to resist his allure. “Zevris...”
“It does not mean you are accepting me as your mate,” he rasped. “I only wish to pleasure you. To feel you tremble beneath my touch, to taste you upon my tongue, to revel in your cries of ecstasy.”
She curled her toes into the carpet, barely containing a whimper. Then he nipped her with his fangs.
Her pussy contracted with sudden, unbearable need. Tabitha gasped, her body rocking toward Zevris, and she released the towel with one hand to clutch his forearm. The mingled pain and pleasure of his bite was overwhelming.
She tried to come up with reasons to stop this, to stop him, but those reasons vanished as swiftly as they came. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol clouding her judgement or if it was simply the haze of lust, but in that moment, she didn’t care. He’d offered to give her pleasure, and Tabitha…she wanted it.
She wanted him.
Like he’d said, this didn’t mean she was taking him as a mate, it didn’t mean she was making an important life decision on a whim, it didn’t mean she was committing to anything… To anything but pleasure, anyway. This was just a single moment she could embrace.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Zevris groaned, sliding his arm around her and settling his palm on her lower back, just above her ass. His body tensed around her, and he drew her just a little closer. He grazed the tender flesh of her neck with his teeth as his mouth worked its way up behind her ear, sending thrills through her that made her eyelids flutter shut.
His tail coiled around her leg and squeezed. She could feel the hard stab of his erection against her belly. She leaned into him, sliding her hands along his sides, running her fingers over his muscles, feeling his heat. His scent enveloped her; she greedily breathed him in.
He drew back from her abruptly and crouched, dropping one arm behind her legs. He rose in a smooth motion, sweeping her feet out from beneath her and lifting her against his chest.
She gasped, eyes wide, and