a simple changeling, after all.”
I laugh. She shivers at the sound, her hands gripping my biceps.
“You are anything but simple, my beloved. Even so, let me make myself abundantly clear. When I spied you, I wanted to get in that cage with you, lock the door, and make the beast with two backs while the rest of the prisoners listened to every grunt, moan, and whimper. You had hay in your hair, dirt on your face, and a wild look in your eye that you have even now. Untamed. Unbroken despite your shackles. A firebrand. And then you opened that mouth.” I glance to her full lips. “Clever and devious. Rancorous and pointed. Every word a war. One I’m happy to fight as long as we end up with me inside you and my name on your lips.”
Her breath catches, her eyes widening. “What?”
“You said layman’s terms, my beloved.” I run one hand down to her ass and squeeze. “Don’t mistake my adherence to honor as a barrier to speaking plainly with my mate. In short, I intend to have your legs spread and my face between them as soon as possible.”
Her wild scent perfumes the air with arousal as she blinks. “You are utterly filthy.”
I lift my hips so she can feel just how filthy I am. For her. Only for her.
Her eyes flutter closed. “You’re cheating. Our deal was no, um, no mating. And I—” She takes a breath as if to concentrate, then works up a scowl. “I meant to say, you avoided me after the Gray Mountains. You wouldn’t even be in the same room with me!”
“I avoided you on the way back from the Gray Mountains because I didn’t want to lose control. You think being near you is easy? You are maddening, changeling. Your scent, your mouth, your mind. You haunt my waking moments, my dreams, my thoughts. I wanted you so badly, I feared I would hurt you. Keeping you at a distance was the only way to retain my sanity and focus on my duties as Leander’s second in command.” I take a deep breath, the truth spilling out of me far more quickly than is prudent. “And, if I’m being honest, I feared I would give you my bond and thwart any future mating.”
Her lips are slightly open, her breasts pressing against me, the tips hard. “You’d forsake your mate for me?”
“I suppose I’ll never be faced with that decision.” I lean up and claim her mouth, taking her breath and giving me life.
She digs her little fingernails into my arms as I palm her ass and press her down onto my hard length. Her legs fall to either side of me, the heat from between her thighs making me hiss. The feral pushes to the fore and demands I take it all, claim her as mine and mark her so that no male can question our bond. Our kiss deepens, my hands roving her backside as she grinds gently on me. Does she even know she’s riding me?
Her little sounds are like sparks popping from a blaze, each one sending the flames higher. Pulling back, she takes a breath, but I follow her and drag her back. She moans low in her throat, the sound thick like honey and twice as sweet.
“Wait.” She pulls away again. “You’re cheating.”
“Cheating?” I squeeze her ass with both hands. “You said no mating. We’re not mating, though I certainly would not refuse you.”
“You know what I mean!” She pushes back and almost hits her head on the roots, but I slide my hand between them before she can hurt herself. With a huff, she eases off me and flips to her back. “You aren’t tricking me into mating with you just because you say things that are so, so …” She slaps at the nearest root. “Ugh. No. Thighs closed.”
The need to climb on top of her is so strong that I fist my hands and cross my arms over my chest. The feral roars, but I tamp it down. I will not take her. She has been forced before. That much I know. And I would never hurt her in that way. One day she’ll tell me the names of those who took what was not given, and on that day, I will set out to find them. Each one will suffer before I send them to the Spires. I will paint my hands with their blood and return to my mate with