Burning Dawn (Angels of the Dark #3)(60)
Author: Gena Showalter

Her features softened. “I get that you’re trying to protect me, and I appreciate the effort, but I’ll be with Bellorie. She’s tougher than any of your men.”

“Even the toughest soldiers require backup,” he insisted.

“I don’t care.” A stomp of her foot. “I need a break. Your men have been following me everywhere. I expect one of them to burst into the bathroom the next time I’m doing my business. I can’t take it anymore.”

He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Where do you want to go?”

“The dodge-boulder game a few clouds over. I missed the last two, and that isn’t fair to my team.”

“You’re actually going to play? Even though you haven’t improved?” He knew, because he’d watched her practice on more than one occasion.

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded.

“There will be blood. Lots of blood.”

She shuddered but said, “No big deal. The girls have been working with me to get over the fear.”

Should have been me. I should have worked with her. Instead, he’d tried to wrap her in a protective bubble, he realized. He’d avoided her, giving her space. A mistake, on both counts. Time to rectify. “If you get hurt, I will be very displeased.”

“I’m strangely okay with that.”

Seeing no other way, he said, “Very well.” Anything else would alienate her completely. “I’ll allow you to leave without an armed escort.”

She brightened, and his heart actually skipped a beat. Gorgeous girl. “Thank you, Thane.”

“If you allow me to establish a link with you,” he finished.

The brightness dulled. “No. I don’t want to link with you. Your majesty,” she added, just to be difficult, he was sure.

He used to taunt Zacharel this way. Had his leader found it as aggravating as Thane did?

“You will link with me anyway,” he said, “so that you can reach me if there’s any trouble.”

“I can reach Xerxes.”

The reminder angered him. “You shut him out.”

She gave another stomp of her foot. “So? What makes you think I won’t be able to shut you out, too?”

“Unlike my friend, I won’t let you.” He would cut through her shields if she tried.

Wrong of him? Yes. Going to stop him? No. Her safety came first. Always.

“My answer is no,” she huffed. Her pique added luscious color to her cheeks.

“This isn’t a debate.”

“Gah! You and that phrase. Just so you know, you’re both beyond annoying.”

Someone had a sassy mouth today.

He stepped into her personal space, and she gulped.

“This is not happening,” she said. “I’m not giving permission.”

“I’m not asking.” Her nearness…her scent…her beauty…her temper… It was one punch of lust after another. But…more than that. He admired her. She knew he could destroy her in a physical altercation, and yet she charged at him anyway, demanding her way.

He placed his hands at her temples, such soft, warm skin. She tensed at the moment of contact, but still he closed his eyes.

“I don’t want a bond with you,” she croaked.

“Elin,” he said, smiling for the first time in weeks. “I can taste your lie.” And never had he been so pleased.

Through the connection of flesh against flesh, he swept himself into her mind. He caught a memory-flash of her laughing up at her husband. A male of average height, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a classically handsome face. Her eyes were filled with love and tenderness.

Then a flash of the warrior Orson, calloused hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her.

The images burned away, there one moment, gone the next, mental flames leaving nothing but ash. She was blocking him. Intrepid human. But she was too late. The bond was in place.

Thane broke contact and jolted back, creating distance.

“If you encounter any problems or threats,” he said, “just think of me. Reach for me with your mind as you would reach for me with your hand. I will do the rest.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “Xerxes explained how it’s done.”

Jealousy struck—and struck hard. He breathed in and out with deliberate slowness, hoping to calm. He stoked his desires, instead. The scent of cherries roused his deepest hunger.

“I’m gonna go now,” she said with a tremor, and backed away. Could she sense the change in him?

“Not yet.” He cupped her shoulders, stopping her. “There’s one more thing you need to do.”

Her gaze got caught on his, and they peered at each other, silent, for a long time. The air seemed to thicken, as if they’d just stepped into a sultry midnight bayou. She began to pant. Her pupils dilated.

He rejoiced.

“What?” she finally asked, breathless. “What do I need to do?”

“This.” He yanked her against his body and kissed her.

He didn’t start soft, and he didn’t ease her into it. He thrust his tongue hard and demanded entrance. Surprised—or willing—she opened. He took full advantage, thrusting again and again, taking her mouth the way he wanted to take her body.

She melted against him and moaned his name. Want him. Want him so much. Can’t fight this. Don’t want to fight it anymore.

Her voice drifted through his mind, snapping what little remained of Thane’s control. He devoured her mouth, sucking, biting and thrusting. Basking in all that was Elin. Little mewls escaped the back of her throat.

He cupped her under the thighs and lifted her, fitting her core against his erection. “Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” he whispered. “Anything.” Just don’t leave me.

She gasped, as if she’d heard the words he hadn’t spoken. Maybe she had. He was past the point of caring. All that mattered was what came next. Her needs and his ability to meet them.

A moment passed; she stopped kissing him. He ground his teeth. She wiggled free from his grip, stood, and stepped away from him. He ground his teeth harder. When the back of her knees hit the coffee table, she met his piercing stare. It wasn’t regret that he saw—but passion. She licked her lips…and he began to hope. Slowly, so blessedly slow, she stripped from the waist down.

Lust like he’d never known hit him, and it hurt. But it was the best kind of hurt. She wasn’t leaving him.

He drank in her beauty, trembling with the need to touch her.

Steady. Wait for her direction.