And she loved him.
Perhaps it was time he stopped running from his destiny and accepted that God alone could determine the future of the Chrechte. Making love to Emily completely would determine if she was his true mate. If she was, who was he, a mere mortal, to thwart providence?
Emily woke to the sensation of her naked body being caressed by the sun.
Her eyes fluttered open.
Lachlan was watching her with his wolf's eyes, his hands the sun against her sensitive skin. 'Good afternoon, sweeting.'
She yawned delicately, arching into the delicious sensations he evoked. 'I fell asleep.'
'I did, too.' He sounded bemused by that fact.
She felt his hardness surge against her thigh. 'You're not asleep now.'
'Far from it.'
She smiled, his obvious desire for her and the beautiful dreams she'd woken from putting her in a very good mood.
She'd dreamt of being in the water, of all things, but there had been no terror. Lachlan had finished teaching her to swim and then they had made love. Parts of the dream were vague and unfocused as if even her sleeping mind could not conjure up how to accomplish such a feat in the water, but the remembered pleasure of his caresses still pulsed through her body.
It was easy to slip back into the fantasy that his touch and affection were born of deeper feelings than lust. She had no regrets for allowing him such liberties with her body or taking equally ardent ones with his. If that made her more wanton than a lady, so be it. She was at least happy for this brief moment in time.
She smoothed her hand down his naked flank, loving the feel of hair-roughened skin over muscles as ungiving as a rock. 'You are so hard.'
'Aye.' He thrust against her hip. 'Very hard.'
Giggling, she pinched his backside, which was as solid as the rest of him. 'I meant your body, you wicked man.'
'I did, too, but mayhap we each meant a different part of my body.'
'You know we did.' She moved her hand to his manhood, caressing its length. 'Though this is probably the hardest bit of all and that is saying something.'
'At the moment it is.'
She laughed and he kissed her, his mouth swallowing her expression of joy.
Unlike before her nap when everything had been overwhelming passion and harsh carnal delight, they caressed each other languidly, learning the secrets of one another's bodies while the tension between them built. He touched her everywhere and in doing so gave her permission to do likewise. Her own arousal at a fever pitch, she made him roll onto his stomach, so she could explore his back.
Pushing his long black hair away from his neck and shoulders with one hand, she brushed her fingertips down his nape with the other. He shivered beneath her.
'You like that?' she asked, her voice impossibly husky.
'Yes.'
She did it again, but she wanted to touch all of him. She started kneading the bulging muscles of his back. It was a good thing she was used to working bread and had strong fingers because he was so hard everywhere. When she got to his backside, she pushed his thighs apart so she could trail her fingertip down the center of his cheeks to the soft spot just before his scrotum.
He made a harsh sound and then that pleasure growl that made his chest rumble. She bit her lip wondering how she could increase the sensation. She pressed lightly against the tender skin, reaching under him with her other hand to gently cup his stones.
'Yes!' he shouted into the furs on the bed.
She pressed deeper into that small area of flesh between his bottom and his scrotum and he bucked, his entire body jerking. She bent down and kissed him there, reaching with her tongue to tickle his stones.
He erupted from the bed, yanking her onto her back and under his heaving body. He stared down at her, his eyes almost wholly gold and so serious she caught her breath.
He reached down between her legs and caressed her wet heat, gliding his thumb along her sweetest spot. 'You offered me your virginity. I ask formal permission to enter your body now.'
She moaned and his words took several seconds to penetrate the haze of passion surrounding her. When they did, the sweet fantasy she had created shattered around her. She could not breathe. He did not love her and the last thing he really wanted was to make love to her completely. She did not understand how this time he had lost control so much when their touching had been so much more tender and slow, but he must be nearly out of his head to suggest such a thing.
She should not have touched him like she had, but she had not foreseen the consequences.
She shook her head wildly.
He stared down at her, his brows drawn together in a scowl. 'You're denying me?'
She forced words from her suddenly tight throat. 'I'm denying you. You don't really want it.'
One blunt, man-sized fingertip penetrated her opening. 'But I do, Emily. I want to bury myself in your body very much.'
It felt so good, but she could not hide behind the physical ecstasy when he threatened his own future. With strength born of desperation and gut-wrenching pain, she shoved him off of her and rolled from the bed, landing on the hard floor with a bruising thump.
She scrambled to her feet. 'I won't trap you that way, Lachlan. I won't! Was it sleeping together that broke your control? We can't do that again. I think it would be best if I left. If we share our bodies again, I will be careful not to touch you the way I did just now.'
Tears burning her eyes, she searched for her clothes. She spied her shift on the floor and grabbed it. She had started yanking it over her head when it was torn from her grasp.
With a hard hand on her shoulder, Lachlan spun her to face him. 'What is the matter with you?'
Wild with grief for the taste of happiness she had lost, she gave a convulsive sob. 'I promised I wouldn't trap you with your own lust. Please, I'm sorry, but I must leave.'
If she didn't, she was going to give in, and once his lust had subsided, he would never forgive her. Especially if they turned out to be true mates.
He grabbed her upper arms with both hands, his grip strangely gentle, and pulled her close. His eyes were filled with warmth. 'Your conviction to adhere to your promise does you credit, sweet Emily, but I do not require that promise of you any longer. I would much rather you followed through on your promise to give me your body.'
'I did not promise that!'
'You offered me your virginity. Do you deny it?'
'No,' she choked out, 'but that was before I realized how against any sort of lasting attachment between us you are.'
'I may have changed my mind about that.' He sounded rational, but his member protruded hard and throbbing between them and his body vibrated with tension that belied his calm tone.
'That's lust talking, not you.' And she almost hated him for giving in to it. Didn't he know how hard it was for her to tell him no? To refuse her deepest desire? 'You don't want a human wife. If we make love and find we are true-mated, you won't have a choice. You'll end up hating me.'
'If we find we are sacred mates, that tells us that God created us one for the other.'
'You don't believe that. I know you don't. I've got to leave. Please, let me go,' she pleaded brokenly.
He shook his head, his expression no longer warm, but implacable. 'I want you, Emily. I don't want another woman or a femwolf. Only you.'
'That will change after I leave.'
'I'd sooner kill Talorc then let him take you back.'
'Don't say that! He is Cait's brother, remember.'
'But not your mate.'
'No. I already told you I won't marry him.'
