Page 176 of Primal Bonds

“I don’t know,” she repeated miserably. “I haven’t been kissed for so long. Not in that way.”

“Why don’t we take it slow? If you don’t like it, just tell me to stop and I will. Any time—you just say the word.”

All the spit left her mouth. But it was only a kiss. She trusted that when he said he’d stop at any time, he would.

“All right,” she whispered.

“Mm.” His hum of approval was almost a purr. He gathered her closer, one arm around her waist, while his other hand kept up those soothing strokes on her nape. “You’re so beautiful.”

She traced her fingers over his high cheekbones, touched his full lower lip. His jaw was covered with dark, grainy stubble. “So are you.”

“You think?” He chuckled—and then his mouth touched hers. She stiffened, but he merely brushed his lips over hers, soft and easy. His breath was coffee-scented.

He traced his tongue over the seam of her lips and she closed her eyes. He touched his mouth to each lid, and then continued to her earlobe where he sucked the small gold hoop into his mouth along with the lobe. He gave it a nip, and when she gave a shiver of delight, licked his way up the rim of her ear before bringing his mouth back to hers.

A glow filled her, a warm, easy sensuousness that she floated on like a summer river, afraid to dive deeper.

Afraid even to think about it for fear it wouldn’t last.

His tongue slipped into her mouth, sliding along her still closed teeth. She opened them and swayed closer, and he swept inside. Her tongue rose to meet his, and for the first time in forever, she was kissing a man.

Wonder filled her, mixed with the warmth.

He gave a sexy growl that sent tingles up her spine and raised his head long enough to say, “You taste like peaches.”

Then he slanted his head and gave her a deep kiss. The kind a man gives a woman he wants to take to bed.

She rose up on her toes to get closer, fingers digging into his shoulders.

The position put her lower belly against his erection. He pressed against her, hard. Insistent.

She stilled. Not pulling away, but not participating any longer either.

He loosened his grip on her and lifted his head. “That’s enough, I think.” He pressed a last kiss to her forehead and set her away.

Her eyelids lifted slowly, reluctantly.

A smile tugged at his mouth. She felt a slash of hurt—he found this amusing?—until she saw how his eyes had darkened to midnight.

“Best not to start anything we can’t finish.”

She gulped. She longed to tell him she wanted to finish it—but she didn’t. Not really. It was enough for now that she’d kissed a man without freaking out and going clawed on him.

Her mouth trembled around the edges.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He tapped her nose.

Her cheeks heated. She clenched her fists and blew out a breath. Both Adric and Suha, the clan healer, had told her repeatedly that she had nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn’t her fault she’d been kidnapped and drugged, then forced to submit to the four men in the den. They’d even smashed her quartz so she couldn’t shift or draw on its energy.

There was no way she could’ve stopped them. Four against one just wasn’t fair.

She knew this—in her head, and maybe even in her heart.

But sometimes the shame still threatened to swamp her. She was a trained fada soldier and her brother’s second. She’d helped Adric win control of the clan against impossible odds. More importantly, she was a Gifted strategist, someone who could plot things out so far in advance it was almost like she could predict the future.

So how in Hades had she got caught in Corban’s fucking trap?

Fane turned away. She sent him a sad look, but his attention was on the white mist forming in his palm.

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