[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.She wept for a few minutes, unable to stop.Nothing in her life had prepared her for such violent need.What would have happened if she’d been with a male other than Drake and her leopard had been so needy? She couldn’t just blame it on her leopard.From the moment she’d laid eyes on Drake Donovan, she’d wanted him.She couldn’t help it—maybe because he was a handsome stranger with some undefined power clinging to him.Maybe she was just a raw country girl who had no real experience with such a man, but whatever the reason, he’d set her blood rushing hotly and her pulse pounding.That had to have added to the clawing hunger entrenched inside her.Drake stood at the edge of the doorway, watching Saria as she leaned against the bed and wept.The T-shirt rode up over the curve of her bottom, revealing small pink-striped underwear.The material fit lovingly, showing the smooth undersides of perfectly rounded cheeks.His cock, already pulsing with urgent desire, dripped, the tightness intense.Every nerve ending seemed centered in his groin.She was everything he’d ever dared to dream of.He wanted a woman of courage.Of passion.One who preferred the outdoors and was unafraid to be his partner.He wanted a lot of sass and a little ferocity.Saria was the embodiment of all those things.He knew she belonged to him, but she was young and inexperienced.The idea of being a shifter was new to her and the intensity of the mating cycle of their species had to be frightening.“Saria?” Drake kept his voice gentle, tried—without much success—to keep the lust and passion from his tone.The craving for her didn’t let up, not for a second, and he knew it never would even if she rejected him.Saria slowly turned, sliding to the floor to sit with her knees drawn up and her back to the bed.She sent him a tentative smile and his heart did that strange stuttering.He knew what courage that little smile had to have taken.She didn’t flinch away, but looked him straight in the eye.“I think you’re safe now.I’m not goin’ to jump you.”He gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh.“I’m not certain that’s good news.I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more in my life than I want you.It’s not going to go away.” He wanted her to hear the ring of truth in his voice.“I’m afraid we might be in a little trouble here, honey.” He pulled a water bottle from his pack, opened it and handed it to her.Saria took the bottle and patted the floor beside her.Drake hesitated, afraid of what could happen that close to her, but she didn’t drop her gaze from his and he couldn’t resist the temptation of her trust.He sank to the floor beside her and drew up his knees.Their hips and shoulders touched.One soft thigh rubbed along his as she shifted a little, taking a long drink and handing him back the bottle.“This is goin’ to happen again?”“Yes.And next time this will end far differently.” He set his mouth over the rim of the bottle, where hers had been.He could taste all that pent-up lust—or maybe it was his.“How many times have you been through this with a woman?”He frowned at her.“I’ve seen a woman go through the Han Vol Dan, and of course my leopard was affected, it sets males on edge, but she wasn’t my woman.I didn’t have to fight like this for control.This is.beyond imagining.”“Do you want this to happen again—with me?”He shook his head over the absurdity of the question, his gaze drifting possessively over her face.“I think of you as mine.Of course I want it to happen and if we’re together, Saria, it’s inevitable.You have to face that and I meant what I said.The next time you’re in that state, I’m going to be inside your body.Once I take you, I’m not going to stand aside, so know what you’re getting into before you make a decision.”She reached for the water bottle, took another sip and licked her lips.Her dark eyes met his again.“Kiss me.”He studied her face.“You like playing with fire?”“I don’ understand.It’s a kiss.”He took her hand and curled her palm over the large bulge in the front of his thin cotton pants.Heat spread through both of them.An electrical current surged through both of them.“It’s not just a kiss, Saria.Don’t try to fool yourself.”“I have to know.”He arched an eyebrow at her.“You have no sense of self-preservation.If I were any other kind of man.”“But you’re not,” she pointed out.The confidence in her voice shook him.He swore and took another cooling drink.She hadn’t removed her hand and damn him to hell, but he didn’t want her to.He curled his fingers around the nape of her neck and tipped her face up to his as he brought his mouth down on hers.He tried to be gentle, but he didn’t feel gentle, he felt raw and desperate and she tasted like heaven.“Open your mouth.” He growled the demand.She obeyed, her lips trembling, and his tongue slid against hers, drawing her sweetness deep inside him.The room spun away as he indulged himself.It was all he could do not to devour her.Her mouth seemed to have a direct connection to his every nerve ending.His groin hardened impossibly, an ache he feared would never go away.She melted into him, so that he breathed for her, exchanging something intangible as they devoured one another.He was the first to pull back, afraid they would burn out of control again.They stared at one another a long time, gazes locked, breath coming in ragged, harsh gasps, with that strange electrical current sizzling between them.“Does that answer your question?” If it didn’t, Drake wasn’t certain they could ever touch one another again.His mouth on hers was like lighting a stick of dynamite.She nodded, touching her lips with trembling fingers.“I’ve never liked kissing,” she explained.She pressed her lips together, as if holding on to his kiss.“That was definitely not my normal reaction.”“Thank God for that,” Drake said, meaning it.The thought of her kissing any other man like that was enough to make him want to commit murder.“I had to know.” Saria looked a little dazed.She looked up at him expectantly.“So, okay then.”Her lashes were incredibly long.He leaned close and brushed the corner of her eye with his mouth.“Okay what?”“Do it.I want you to do whatever you said that leopard did to me.I don’ want him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]