He jerked back, slipping his cock out of her tightening glove before he exploded, and hung his head. Rough breaths filled his lungs with the scent of sex, oranges, and spice. Sweet, tangy… His.
“Damn you.” She shoved against his chest. “Why did you stop?”
“Patience.” He cupped her face between his hands and stared deeply into her eyes. She would know the depth of his commitment before their loving ended. “I’m making love to you.”
Nose scrunched, she shot daggers at him. “No. Fuck me. Now.”
He flashed her a lopsided grin. “Isn’t this the same thing?”
She snapped her teeth together on a growl. The sound skipped down his spine, jerking his dick. “You know it’s not.”
Eyes cracked, he peered at the female spread out beneath him. At the moment, all he knew was that Harley fit him, better than any other woman ever had, and he wanted to enjoy her. Everything about her captivated him, lured him closer, and tempted him to indulge on her sweetness. Like an addict, he answered her call. He lowered his body and slid the head of his dick along her swollen cleft.
She whimpered, and he bent to take the sound into his mouth. His lips brushing hers, he dragged in another greedy lungful of her sweet scent. “I know every time I join our bodies it will bring heaven to me. After a lifetime of hell, would you deny me the paradise only you can offer me?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Then let me love you.”
He rolled his hips on a forward drive to prove it. She gasped. He repeated the screwing stroke, groaning with the tightness of her core.
“Calan.”
His softly spoken name dragged his attention back to her. He caught her gaze and drowned in blue fire. No words would form.
“But I need you to finish it.” She raised her hand, palm out.
He glanced from the incomplete symbol to her eyes.
“Please. I don’t want you to change your mind.”
“Never.” He grasped her hand and tugged her up. “I’m yours.”
Arms banded around her, he thrust into her, using the strength in his thighs to drive his shaft deep. She countered him, and they rocked together, loving each other.
Harley caught his face between her hands and kissed him. “Please, now.”
She pushed the words into his mind, and the emotion behind them broke his control. He impaled her on a rough, full stroke. The head of his cock kissed the mouth of her womb. He poised there and let the orgasm he’d denied her sweep over them. Her sex clenched and massaged him in milking waves. He didn’t fight the compulsion to join her. He let go and spilled his seed into his mate.
Another shock wave similar to what he’d experienced when she’d unlocked him shook him, the room, each other. Power rushed into his pores. He fed it to her with each jerk of his cock. Everywhere they touched, heat seared them, cocooned them, and wrapped them together. She cried out once more.
A loop of ecstasy formed. Her pleasure became his, just as his ignited within her. Their heartbeats shared the same rapid cadence. Their breaths matched, in and out, on a choreographed script they would forever share when they were together.
His life force bonded to hers in the same wondrous union the gods had enjoyed since the beginning of time. Her struggles, pain, and pleasure would be his. He’d share it all, bearing the worst and giving her every joy he could. Someday his emotions would be hers too. She only needed to accept him and finish their mating.
They’d be one, forever. The ultimate union.
As the last of their joint release eased, he lowered them to the bed, finally separating their bodies but not the tie he’d formed. He felt her in his heart, and he wanted her to feel him in hers.
Her devotion had to be freely given to finish their bond. He knew it and had sworn not to influence her. After experiencing passion in her arms, though? He wasn’t sure it was a promise he could keep.
At the moment, he’d do anything to hold her close.
The knowledge worried him. Hell, it scared him. A Huntsman could not betray his vow, his duty…for anyone. Damnation awaited him and the world if he did.
Chapter Fourteen
Calan brushed his lips over his mate’s hair, then snuggled closer. They’d loved each other twice more before falling to the bed together in a tangled heap. Never had he indulged in such a profound moment with another woman. The embrace they shared had nothing to do with lust and everything to do with intimacy—an emotional closeness he hadn’t known was possible. Certainly, he’d heard accounts from mated couples about the deep bond formed. All had failed to mention the peace it would bring him.
Harley’s touch, her scent, and her presence acted as a balm to his bleeding soul. For a thousand years, he’d cried for his siblings and the humans. Not literally, of course. The pain he’d endured stemmed from guilt and weighed heavily on his heart. He’d made a mistake, the worst of his existence. He had led his siblings into Dar’s trap, then had allowed them to face the fallout by themselves. Yet he knew he’d make the same choice again if given the opportunity.
What exactly did that say about him?
His brothers and sisters claimed it made him noble, worthy of his role as a protector. He wasn’t so sure. As the eldest son of Arawn, Lord of the Underworld, and the leader of the Wild Hunt, he should have been able to save everyone that night. He’d failed, but the past couldn’t be changed, and thanks to Harley, he would finally be able to right his wrong.
One more deep breath, and Harley’s sweet scent invaded his lungs. The tightness in his chest eased. He draped a leg over his mate’s thighs and let everything go. His eyelids drifted shut. He didn’t fight the pull of sleep. His hounds would reach
