AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t leave your protection to others now,” he warned her, the brooding, tormented sound of his voice striking at her heart. “You’re too important to me. You mean too much to me. And the part of my soul that has claimed you trembles in fear at the thought of losing you.”
“Hawke.” She wanted to shake her head, to protest his claim.
She didn’t know if she was ready for this. Didn’t know if she could handle the mating heat as well as the sudden threat against her life.
“I’ll be with you, day in and day out,” he told her as she stared back at him, silent, confused. “I’ll guard you with my life, Jessica, but you know as well as I do that the arousal burning between us won’t ease. It’s not a product simply of the mating heat; it’s a product of what we both wanted before we ever knew that was a factor. We belong to each other.”
We belong to each other. Her lips parted as she fought to find a way to deny it and couldn’t. Before she had betrayed the Breeds, before she had been confined, she had dreamed of the mating heat. She had dreamed of belonging to him.
Before the betrayal. Before she had lost herself in her father’s relentless quest to destroy Haven and everyone who lived there.
“This won’t work,” she whispered, though she couldn’t keep from leaning into his touch for just a moment. “It won’t work, Hawke.”
She had to force herself away from him. It was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. When several feet separated them she turned back to him, miserable with the awareness of exactly what she was turning her back on.
“If something happens to me, you’ll be alone.” She swallowed tightly at the thought. “You won’t find another mate. You won’t have the comfort of another woman.”
“Don’t, Jessica . . .”
“You’ll be alone,” she cried out furiously. “I know what alone is like, Hawke. I know how empty and bleak it can be and I don’t want that for you.”
Endless nights curled on the cot she had slept in. Months of agony, dreaming, wishing, crying for someone she couldn’t have.
“That won’t happen,” he gritted out, determination marking his face now.
“You can’t be sure of that.” She stepped back as he paced closer. “I won’t risk it. Not now. Not until we have a chance to clear things between us. Until we know if there’s even a future.”
“Oh, there’s definitely a future.”
Before she could evade him she was pressed against the side of the refrigerator, his body so warm, so inviting, touching hers. Heat seemed to surround her, to sink into her.
Pressing her hands against his chest, a breath lodged in her throat as she stared up into his dominant, hungry features.
“There’s a future, Jess.” One hand slid into her hair, the other gripped her hip. “And it starts now.”
FIVE
Jessica expected a kiss. She’d waited on his kiss for what seemed like forever. Her lips parted as his head lowered; her breath stopped in her chest in anticipation of the pleasure to come.
Once his lips covered hers, once his tongue slid against hers, she knew exactly what was going to happen. The mating hormone that filled the small glands beneath his tongue would release into her system. That hormone would spark a fire to her arousal that couldn’t be quenched. It would be an adventure in her own sexuality, as well as his. She knew what to expect. She had dreamed about it, fantasized about it. But it wasn’t what happened.
At the last second his lips pressed to the corner of hers rather than covering them. Breathing harshly, his heart beat heavy against her palms as they pressed against his chest. He stood stiff against her, obviously fighting for control.
She was having to fight for her own, and she was failing miserably.
Her hands moved from his chest to his shoulders. As he stood there with her in his grip, she let her hands slide into his hair, let them grip the thick, heavy strands and relish the feel of it. Finally.
How often had she dreamed of simply touching him? Just feeling him against her?
“I don’t want to take from you,” he growled as he turned his head, his cheek pressing against hers. “I don’t want to force this, Jess.”
“Then don’t,” she whispered.
There was no force needed. She let her fingers clench in his hair, rubbing it against her fingertips as she felt the heavy proof of his erection against her lower stomach.
She wanted. Oh, Lord, she wanted him. She shouldn’t. He had left her alone for over a year. He had turned his back on her. But he’s here now, another voice protested. The voice of hunger, of a need, that had whipped through her the first day she met him.
She’d scoffed at the idea of love at first sight until she met Hawke.
