Page 28 of Tomlin

If only she could convince him that he wasn’t going to hurt her.

“Let me try something,” she whispered, then she leaned forward and kissed him, softly, almost teasingly.

He kissed her back, but she could feel the tension in his body. She could tell how tightly he was controlling himself. She wanted him to release some of that control, and she nipped lightly at his bottom lip.

He growled, and then he was kissing her with the hungry passion she had grown to crave. She grabbed his hand and slid it beneath the torn shirt to cover her breast. His hand immediately tightened, those clever fingers working her nipple.

Her breath caught as her still lingering arousal flared back to life, but as much as she wanted to give in to the delightful sensations coursing through her body, she had a different goal.

She pushed very lightly against his chest. He didn’t seem to notice. So she pushed again, a little harder this time.

It took a few more seconds, but then he pressed a last kiss to the taut peak and reluctantly raised his head. She gave him a triumphant smile.

“You see, you stopped because I wanted you to. I didn’t even have to say anything.”

The astonishment on his face would have amused her if she hadn’t been so anxious for him to acknowledge the truth.

“I did,” he finally admitted.

“Then trust yourself. And trust me,” she urged. “Trust me to let you know if I want you to stop. Stop making the decision for me.”

He still looked shocked, but there was a tiny spark of what might have been hope in those glowing blue eyes. She wanted to repeat the experiment, but she didn’t want to push him too far, too quickly. As long as he wasn’t running away, she could be patient, no matter how much her aching body resisted the idea.

“Again,” he demanded, surprising her, but she eagerly returned his kiss as his mouth descended over hers, hot and hungry.

The usual passion flared between them, and then she was flat on her back as he kissed his way down across her body. He hesitated over her breasts, but she buried her fingers in his hair and urged him on. He obeyed.

He found her nipple again, and the hot, wet suction sent a streak of excitement straight to her already swollen clit. She wanted to give in to the delightful sensations, but she had something to prove first. She tightened her grip on his hair, tugging him away while she also pushed at him with her other hand.

Once again, it took a moment before he responded. But he did respond, and there was that almost painful hope again.

“I stopped.”

“Yes, you did.”

He suddenly smiled, a slow confident smile.

“But you really didn’t want me to stop, did you?”

She smiled back.

“No - which is what I’ve been trying to tell you for the past week.”

His expression changed, those glowing blue eyes intent on her face as he feathered his thumb across her lips.

“Because you want to experiment?” he asked softly, and her breath caught as the realization swept over her.

This was no longer about experiencing sexual pleasure for the first time - she suspected it never had been - it was about the sweet, tortured, dominant male leaning over her and how much he’d become part of her life. How much she wanted him to remain part of her life, even if he deserved much more than a remote lab with a plain scientist who could forget about everything when she was working.

She was still wrestling with an answer when he tensed again.

“Because there is something else you should know.” His voice had gone stiff as well and she realized he was bracing himself for her rejection. “If I claim you fully, I will never be able to let you go. Perhaps you are right that I won’t hurt you, but you will be my mate, for life. That is the nature of Krythian biology and no amount of discipline or logic will overrule it.”

Her heart fluttered wildly as she realized exactly what he was offering her.

“Forever?” she asked softly and saw the flash of despair on his face. He so clearly expected her to reject him. She put her arms around his neck before he could pull away. “Is that what you want?”

“You are the one I have been seeking my whole life without even realizing it. Of course it is what I want.”

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