Merrily Mated(24)

“It’s stronger now,” she defended.

He nipped the curve between her neck and shoulder before licking a path up to her ear. Pulling the lobe between his lips, he sucked it. “And I know how to make it stronger.”

Leaning back on his knees, he let his gaze roam her naked body. She seemed to like his perusal as he swept from her beautiful eyes to her mouth that drove him crazy, and lower until he landed on her full dark-tipped breasts. They were perfect. More than a handful, and needing his mouth on them so badly.

His erection pushed painfully against the zipper of his jeans.

Ryan swallowed hard. He wanted them to be his. He wanted all of her to be his. And forever. But right now, this was about something else.

“You’re beautiful, Layna. So fucking beautiful it’s hard to breathe.” Shit. Could he do this? Could he do it without losing a piece of his soul?

She frowned, and it seemed out of place with the rest of her. The sex-kitten shouldn’t look so disturbed when he was about to make love to her.

“Ryan?”

“Yes, love.”

The creases around her eyes softened a touch. “Why do you look so sad?”

He tried to smile. “That obvious, huh?”

This only made her mouth turn down more.

“No worries,” he promised, bending to kiss her again. But she turned her face away.

“You forget. The bond is growing. It means I can feel your emotions. And I can tell when you lie. You can’t hide from me.”

He gazed at her, knowing it was true. He could feel her concern and suspicion almost as if it was his own. This was good. This meant they were making progress. He’d love to prove Doc wrong.

Layna’s soft hand curved around his cheek and it felt so right, he leaned his face into it.

“Tell me why you aren’t happy about our reunion  . Is it because I’m damaged now? Or… or is it because I pushed you away too many times without explaining my reasons? Or… I don’t know, Ryan. What is it? I expected your anger. I expected that, but this despair? I don’t understand.”

“It’s none of that.”

“What then?”

“This isn’t what I ever wanted for us.” He shook his head, finding the words to explain. “Forced together by circumstances beyond our control. I wanted the storybook romance for you and me. The kind that lasts forever and you spend Christmases telling grandchildren stories about it. The kind of love they make stupid sappy Facebook posts about. I thought if I was patient, if I gave you time… it could be that way for us. But it didn’t go down like that, and I couldn’t stick around and make you unhappy. It’s why I left. And now we have this thing between us that forces you to need me, when what I want…” He pulled his face away, frustrated with himself and the entire situation. “Goddamn it. What I want is for you to want me.”



Shit. The words were out there again. And more plain than they’d ever been before. She had the power to crush him right now, but even if she did, he’d still make love to her. He’d still make their bond as solid as he possibly could. Because this was love, and whether she really loved him back didn’t make him feel it any less.

He’d always do what he could to take care of her. He just would. Anything for his Layna.

“I do,” she whispered, those fucking tears filling her eyes again. “Can’t you feel it? I always did, I just didn’t want to hurt my clan by breaking the pact. Instead, I hurt you, and it’s damn near unforgivable. I didn’t realize what a mistake I was making. Blame it on our people’s fucked up traditions or Magic or hell, blame it on me. I can own it. But things have changed now. Our clan is changing, and we can have all the things we’ve wanted. We can have the storybook romance, because damn it, mate, that sounds really fucking nice.”

She reached up, gently guiding his face back to her. That shy look was in her eyes. The one reflected in her voice from the night before. So foreign, but something he was coming to like. This side of her felt like their little secret.

He liked having secrets with her.

“Remember what I said last night?” Her words were only a breath between them. “I’d already decided to come to Memphis and find you when that trap got me. I love you. It’s right here.” Her palm landed carefully on his chest where his heart was. “Can’t you feel it? With our bond, can you feel it? I can feel yours. Your love feels like the kiss of sun on a cold December day, reminding me there’s always a warm place to come home to.”

The confession, spoken with such conviction, such reverence… it threatened to bring him to his knees. Did his female really love him? His eyes darted away so she wouldn’t see the fear there.