Page 43 of Been There Dragon That
“This marriage was arranged by your parents?” Wrath moved back to her other foot and started all over again. His hands slid up and down her calves. Each stroke was tender and possessive at the same time. A promise to protect and a promise of belonging twined together so tightly there was no way to separate them. He certainly made the fantasyfeellike reality.
“Not arranged, but recommended. My parents love me. They would never have encouraged me to marry a man like Jeff if they’d known what he’d turn into. And I’m not sure he was bad at the start, but working in politics is hard on the soul.”
“You’re making excuses for the man who would see you in a cage until you die.”
Rylee snapped her gaze to Wrath’s. Violent, piercing amber eyes burned like flames and fury lived in their depths. Not toward her, but for her. “He used you. He wanted you for your family, for your connections, for your name? Did he ever show you he loved you? Did he ever make you feel that he treasured you?”
Rylee wiped her wet cheeks and sniffled back a sob. “I don’t make good choices when it comes to men. I never have, and I’m terrified that—”
“That what? That I’m also going to be another mistake?” He rose from the floor, still on his knees, and pushed between her legs. “Did you choose me,shuarra?”
She shook her head and looked down at this man who’d dropped into her life as suddenly as the tree that had smashed her parents’ house in the storm.
A chunk of his brown wavy hair had come loose from the ponytail he usually kept it tamed with. He was sexy without even trying. Rugged. Handsome. Utterly capable of incapacitating her ability to think in any direction other than what he might look like naked.
His fingers tightened on her thighs like he could sense her heated thoughts.
She couldn’t keep from looking at his mouth and wishing he would kiss her again. She wanted to get lost in him again and in the promises he kept offering.
“If I told you how I know you belong to me, you’d think I was crazy. So I will remain selfish and shrouded in mystery a bit longer because I want you to love mebeforeyou think I’m crazy.”
She couldn’t help the snort of laughter. “I told you my ex is stalking me. Tried to kill me. Is still trying to either kill me or punish me for leaving him. He blames me for ruining his political career or embarrassing him or both. And you think telling me why you believe in a magickal soulmate connection or something is worse?”
He tipped his head up and slow-grinned at her with a confidence that suggested he knew exactly how charming and irresistible she found him. “You don’t love me yet.”
She put her arms over his shoulders and leaned her forehead against his. They were so close. She could feel his warm breath on her face. He smelled like pine trees and a campfire. “Are you saying that youloveme?”
“With every breath inside me, Rylee.”
She couldn’t say it back. She couldn’t love him. She barely knew him. She was still reeling over Jeff’s betrayal.
How was this man so centered and calm and sure?
“You’re safe with me,shuarra. I know you don’t love me yet, but I’m not going anywhere. And one day, you’ll wake up and realize that your heart is healed and whole because mine has joined with it. And that’s the day you’ll tell me you love me.”
Her heart caught its breath. The picture he painted with his words made her want nothing other than the future he was envisioning. He wanted her, problems and all. He was all in, even with her crazy stalker.
“I want that, too,” she said, her voice a whispered prayer.
A soft sound rattled deep inside his chest in response.
She moved a hand to his chest, intrigued by the sound and the feel. It reminded her of her mom’s cat. She almost asked him about it, but she didn’t want it to stop. The way the sound vibrated through her hand into her body. It felt like she was waking up for the first time.
She pulled back her head a few inches and met his gaze. The way he looked at her—like she was everything. Like he was starving and she was his next meal. Like she was the most precious thing in the whole world and he would burn the world to keep her.
“I want you,shuarra.”
“Tell me.” She was baiting him, but she wanted him to do more. She wanted to feel him all over her. He said she belonged to him. He called her his shoo-ar-ah. She knew it was a word for mate or woman or something important.
His eyes raked over her like he could see right through the sweatpants and baggy hoodie. “I want to taste you, Rylee. I want to spread you out on this bed like a feast.”
She shivered.Need. Need. Need.That's what her whole body was chanting. Her skin tingled and burned. Anticipation skipped along her limbs, making her blaze from the inside out.
Wrath bent his head, and his lips touched the outer shell of her ear. His breath caressed, hot and close. “Just say yes, Rylee. One word.”
The hum in his chest was the only hum she could feel now. Now her own body was joining the song. “Yes,” she whispered. She wanted to feel his mouth on hers again. Feel his arms around her, blocking out the world, the fear, everything. He was a solid wall of male muscle and hardness.
She wanted him with a deep ache she didn’t understand. And she was ready to give in completely.
