Page 54 of Tamed By Her Touch

“No,” he said firmly.

“Okay. Three times?” she offered.

Kaelus's expression was becoming increasingly dark.

Clair found she was enjoying this enormously.

“Every other day?” she asked.

He growled.

“Oh, come on, big fella. You said to pick an answer,” she said, laughing.

“Choose a believable one then,” he growled.

Clair's eyebrows rose.

“Okay, this ought to be interesting. What would you consider believable?”

Kaelus got a brooding look on his face but said nothing.

Clair smiled wickedly.

“Once a day?” she teased. “Twice a day? My, my—we’re really getting into can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other territory here.”

His golden eyes shifted to hers and something in them made her smile fade.

“If you were truly my mate,” he said in a low voice, “Twice a day would be insufficient. Because you’re right—I would not be able to keep my hands off you.”

Clair’s breath caught in her throat. The cabin of the long-range shuttle suddenly felt much smaller.

“Oh,” she managed. “Is…is that right?”

Kaelus's eyes remained locked on hers and she found she couldn’t look away.

His pupils had narrowed into thin black slits surrounded by glowing gold, and for the first time Clair understood exactly what Kat had meant all those months ago when she'd said Kindred males worshipped their females.

There was naked hunger in Kaelus's face. Not the crude, demanding kind Clair had become accustomed to seeing in James whenever he decided she owed him sex. There was nothing petulant or selfish about the way Kaelus was looking at her.

If anything, the intensity of his gaze made her feel as though she would be the one receiving instead of giving. It was almost as though he wanted to eat her up. Which was a crazy thought—wasn’t it?

Crazy or not, that thought sent a rush of heat through her.

Clair shifted in her seat, feeling suddenly hot and wet between her legs.

“Well,” she said, trying desperately to sound casual. “That’s, uh, good to know.”

Kaelus looked away first.

“We should tell them once a day,” he rumbled. “They won’t understand a Kindred’s hunger for his mate—his need to taste her and fill her.”

Clair felt her cheeks get hot all over again.

“Who said anything about ‘tasting’?” she asked, her voice coming out breathless.

Kaelus gave her a steady look.

“Tasting your woman is one of the greatest pleasures a male can have,” he rumbled. “Kindred males actually have a biological need to taste their mates. So if we were mated, yes—I would want to taste you often. I would want to spread you with my tongue and feel you tremble and hear you moan as I pleasured you with my mouth.”