Page 65 of The Stone Secret
“It’s a beautiful night,” Jana says, joining me at the window.
“It is indeed.”
She turns her body toward me and lifts her chin. It’s an invitation that I would usually accept. Beneath her lastonflex, her body is a beautiful connection of planes and dips that I’ve lost many hours exploring. I’ve had many lovers in my time, but Jana was the most frequent. We shared a tenderness that bordered on affection, and that affection is still present. The desire, however, is not.
“Serath?” She lightly touches my arm. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not, Jana. It’s simply been a long day.”
She slips between me and the barrier, her body brushing mine, and places her palms on my chest. My pulse jumps because this is familiar.Sheis familiar, but my beast tenses.
She pushes up on her toes and kisses my jaw, her breath hot on my skin. If I close my eyes, I can imagine she’s Cameron. I can have her right here while the fantasy plays in my head. Bury my aching cock in her while Cameron’s face fills my mind and her gasps fill my ears.
I can have this and relieve the tension just as Selas suggested. It will take the edge off my need and make it easier to be around my mate. It will keep her safe.
Jana’s breath comes faster, and her hands move to my waistband, fingers skimming my cock which is hard and thick at the thought of Cameron.
“Oh yes,” she says. “Nottootired, then.” Her voice is thick with desire, and the base of my spine goes tight. My body needs this. It needs the release.
But my heart.
My heart won’t condone it.
My heart belongs to another.
I gently grip her wrists and draw her hands away from my crotch. “Jana…”
Her dark gaze shoots up to meet mine. “Oh…I’m sorry. I…” There’s hurt and shame on her face.
“It’s not you.”
“There’s someone else?” Her eyes narrow, and I catch the edge of suspicion in her dark gaze. Jana may be willing to bend to my will during sex, but as a warrior, as a guardian, she’s unyielding. Authority matters. The law matters.
She knows I’m a sigma. If she gets the impression I’m too attached to another female, so attached as to reject her now, then she may start to wonder if I’ve found a mate and then…
No.
I can’t put Cameron at risk like that.
I grip her nape and haul her close.
“There are a few others.” I smile, bringing my lips closer to hers. “But none I favor as much as you.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Her voice is breathless and hopeful.
“You deserve more than a few moments of my attention. Willowman is almost done.”
She strokes my jaw. “A kiss, then…”
Fuck. This is the last thing I need. “Of course.” I press my lips to hers in a kiss that’s soft and filled with promise. The air spikes with the scent of her arousal, and my beast snarls its displeasure.
She isn’t our mate.
She isn’t Cameron.
I summon an image of Cameron’s face and deepen the kiss, imagining that Jana’s moans belong to Cameron. That the body pressed to mine is my mate’s.
I kiss her for long minutes, and when I break contact, her expression is dreamy and soft.
