Aric leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was a chaste brush of his lips, but it touched her as deeply as the hottest meeting of their mouths. “You’re an amazing woman, Kaya Laurent. You’re also going to make one hell of a warrior. No, scratch that. You already are. The Order is lucky to have you.”
She smiled. “Is this the part where you try to make me feel good?”
His low, answering chuckle stroked her senses like velvet. “Yeah. This is that part.”
When she glanced at him, she found his eyes ablaze with amber sparks. Silently, he caught her around the nape and dragged her into a slow-burning, doubt-melting kiss.
Kaya reached for him, too far gone to pretend she had even the slightest trace of fear or reservation. They had made no promises to each other. No expectations that this desire that had erupted so swiftly between them stood any chance of becoming something more than just this one night.
She couldn’t give him anything more than that.
And he hadn’t asked her to.
He hadn’t demanded anything at all. His kiss right now was a study in control, too, despite that she could feel the power in his strong hands as he held her. She felt the sharp points of his fangs graze her tongue. Getting this close to the side of him that was pure predator and otherworldly should have given her some pause, but it only inflamed her more.
His fingers drifted along the side of her neck now, trails of heat radiating from his broad palm and long fingers. Her pulse throbbed as his thumb slowly caressed the sensitive skin below her ear. The unhurried melding of his lips against hers sent pleasure spiraling through her veins. It felt so good, heat pooled in her center, blooming into a deep, fierce yearning.
A growl rumbled in his chest before he tore his mouth away from hers. “Tell me if you don’t want this, Kaya. If you’re not sure--”
“I am.” She held his gaze, reaching up to stroke her fingers over his rigid jaw. “Right now, this is the only thing I’m sure of . . . that I want to be here with you. Just tonight.”
His eyes turned molten as she spoke, his pupils narrowed to thin black slits in the center of pure fire. His strong hands drifted to her shoulders, then down onto her breasts. Through the thin fabric of her shirt, her nipples peaked, the buds hard and aching as he kneaded each small mound.
Kaya moaned, wanting to feel more of his touch. She caught his hand in hers and guided him to the hem of her top. Aric understood what she needed, even without the use of the words she couldn’t find. His touch was sure yet tender as he unfastened the clasp of her bra and caressed her bare flesh with his heated palm.
Everywhere he touched her, she was in flames. He kissed a slow path up the length of her throat, then along her jaw line, until his lips found hers once more. Kaya welcomed his passion, opening to him as his tongue swept the seam of her mouth. He groaned as she sucked him in deeper, growled with pure male approval as she wrapped her fingers around the back of his head and held him more firmly against her mouth.
He caressed her naked breasts, then his hand slid down her belly and into the loose waistband of her jeans. His thick groan when he found her wet cleft vibrated all the way into her marrow. She shuddered, lost to the wicked pleasure of his fingers.
“You’re trembling,” he murmured, drawing away just far enough to study her face. “Am I going too fast?”
“No.” She shook her head, eyes riveted to all of the changes that were playing over his handsome, unearthly face and powerful body just from giving her pleasure. “You’re doing everything just right.”
Above the collar of his dark T-shirt and beneath the short sleeves that clung to the smooth power of his muscled biceps, Aric’s dermaglyphs pulsed with color. The Breed skin markings deepened from their normal golden hue to shades of burgundy, gold, and violet. Kaya ran her fingers along the swirling curves and tapered arches of his glyphs, awed by their inhuman beauty.
“I’ve never been this close to a Breed male before,” she admitted quietly. “I mean, not like this.”
“Never?” He grunted, a smile bowing his full lips. “In that case, I guess I’d better make this memorable.”
“It already is.”
On a dark purr, he claimed her mouth in another searing kiss. He kept touching her, kept kissing her and stroking her as he slowly removed her clothing, unveiling her body to him from the waist up.
His fevered gaze rooted on the tiny scarlet birthmark that rode her belly, just above her navel. Kaya moaned as his tongue traced the teardrop-and-crescent-moon symbol that had declared her a Breedmate from the moment of her birth. That mark had earned her only scorn and abuse from the people who called themselves her family. Now, Aric lavished it with worshipful kisses, his eyes crackling with care and respect and unfathomable desire.
“You’ll be my first too,” he said, his voice rough like gravel. “I’ve never touched a woman with the Breedmate mark before.”
“Why not?” She was almost afraid to ask, dreading that she’d misread him somehow. If he uttered a cold word now, it would crush her.
“Because, beautiful Kaya . . . I’ve never met someone I wanted as much as you.”
On a dark purr, he eased her down onto her back on the blanket. His
