lips hovered right at the level of his thick-muscled neck. At the same time, her nose pressed close to the hollow of his skin, sending the masculine, exotic scent of him pouring into her lungs, offering no quarter.
Equally as noticeable was the heavy, hard bulge beneath his covering that pressed between her thighs, an insistent, massive, silent demand.
Everything about him was overwhelming.
“You’ve been treated bad and it’s not fair,” his words were a low growl, “but I can’t just let you go. You have to tell me what I need to know. I have people counting on me. I can’t let them down. But I won’t let you down, either. I won’t let Malin touch you.”
She didn’t know what a Malin was, but she did recognize the harsh bite to Grif’s tone was gone, replaced by a resigned note. As if he wanted her to understand that duty, not cruelty, drove him now.
It made her belly flutter and heat in a different way than when he put his hands on her skin, but the reaction was no less potent. She comprehended duty. She knew loyalty.
Her pack was counting on her, too.
Another commonality between them she hadn’t expected. It made her feel a little bad for lumping him with the other savages. He was fierce and aggressive, but also different than she’d been taught to believe of his kind.
Questions about his behavior and his people crowded at the tip of her tongue, but she held them back. She couldn’t expect him to tell her anything when she refused to do the same. For the first time, the thought made her ache for a different way.
“Do you need to eat something more?” He almost sounded tired.
She shook her head. Sitting in his arms had replaced her hunger with a different craving. One she’d never admit.
“Okay, then.” His voice rumbled with determination and command. “It’s time for your next session.”
She rocketed upright in his hold, knocking his chin. “N-now?”
“Do you think I need rope restraints to take what I want from you?” He pressed his mouth to her ear. “I don’t.”
Her eyes widened, heart beating fast.
Yet, a shameful, secret part of her wanted exactly this. Craved the sensation of his hands on her.
It was all so new and wonderous and terrifying. In the past, she’d always crept to the edge of the highest cliffs and looked over, even when the view made her dizzy. The same reckless impulse seethed inside her now, desperate to know if the fire he’d sparked inside her would roar to life, the need coiling tighter and tighter even without the restraints.
“Who is the pack male out looking for you?” He gave her no more warning. His legs widened beneath her, spreading her own.
The cool air caressed her slick center.
She bit back a moan.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks, making her need flame higher.
He liked touching her. Maybe almost as much as she liked his hands on her. For someone who had always been despised and ostracized, it was a heady sensation.
She wondered if he felt as empty as she did when he pulled his touch away?
Her skin flushed pinkish gold at the thought of another commonality between them.
“Tell me his name.”
She expected his demand to be followed by the slide of his rough hand against her skin. Instead, he stroked her hair. His thick fingers gliding through the strands, caretaking, grooming.
The tenderness of the gesture was so shocking, she spoke without thinking. “Ramm. His name is Ramm.”
“Why were you surprised he would be looking for you?”
Her heart slammed harder against her ribs. How had he picked up on that?
But the slow, gentle stroke of his palm against her scalp soothed her once more, each slight tug of his fingers through her hair sending a sizzle of wonder humming down her spine.
She knew he did it on purpose. She knew he sensed her weakness and used it against her. It didn’t matter. Unable to help herself, she leaned into his touch.
She felt pampered. Hunters groomed their pets, but she had never seen one do such things for a mate. They should. It was wonderful.
Pleasure shimmered from her scalp down to her fingertips. “N-none from pack supposed to be this deep in Other territory.”
“Except you.” His fingers were featherlight, his thumb circling her scalp slowly, as if he had all the time in the universe. Her breasts grew heavy. Her nipples hard. A low moan rose in her throat.
He hadn’t even touched her anywhere but her hair, and yet the fire