She pulled in a deep breath. “It’s possible.” Why else would his assertion feel right? Why else would it settle and satisfy some elemental part of her?
Plenty of other things pointed to it being true—their elemental attraction, how hard it had been for her to walk away from him, how he had a way of making her feel safe, how strongly her devil had reacted to his failure to offer her more. And then there was the sense of betrayal that sat in the pit of her stomach at the knowledge that he’d almost mated with another.
“More than possible,” she added. “Probable, even.”
“Probable?” he echoed, a note of hope in his voice.
“Yes. I mean, I found it hard to believe initially—you threw me off-guard, and I already had so much going on in my head. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. And when I hear you say it, it … I don’t know, it just calms me in some way. Plus, my devil isn’t protesting, which is a telling point. I just can’t say it with all certainty, because I don’t feel the presence of the bond.”
“Yet,” he said. “You will in time. For now, it’s enough that you’re fully open to the idea.” He paused. “You’ll give me the chance to earn your devil’s trust? You’ll let us build on what we have?”
Havana sank her teeth into her lower lip. It was hard to reach for something you wanted so much when you didn’t feel sure to your bones that it was yours to reach for. But every instinct she had insisted he was hers, and her gut had never led her wrong before. She didn’t think it was leading her wrong now either. “I can agree to that.”
Tate studied her face for a long moment. One corner of his mouth lifted, and he hugged her tight. “If we hadn’t been true mates, I still would have come to you at some point and offered you more. I couldn’t have made you any promises, but I’d have agreed to try ‘more’ and see where it went. You probably would have decided not to take a chance on my cat, given his history of withdrawing from women. But I’d have asked anyway.”
“I would have taken the chance.” If for no other reason than that she’d have always wondered what could have been if she hadn’t.
His inky blue eyes warmed. “Yeah?”
She gave a slow nod. “Yeah.”
“Even knowing we could have crashed and burned?”
“You and your cat are worth the risk.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
You and your cat are worth the risk.
Framing her face with his hands, Tate pulled her closer and pressed his forehead to hers. “Baby.” Fuck, she was killing him. Killing him.
He lowered his mouth to hers, intending to only feather his lips against her own in a soft, barely-there kiss. But the moment their lips met, his entire system seemed to jolt. A shudder went through him, and there was no way to stop himself from taking that mouth he’d missed.
He swept his tongue inside and groaned. God, that fucking taste. It had always acted as his own personal aphrodisiac, just like her scent … and now he knew why.
Tate growled low in his throat and kissed her harder. They both caught fire in an instant. Greedy and frantic, they moaned, clutched, squeezed, grinded.
The drugging scent of her need fueled the fire that blazed within him and all but inebriated his cat. Naked. Tate needed her naked. Needed her wet and ready to take him, because he had to be inside her.
He whipped off her tank with a snarl. “The bra. Take it off.” Fisting the back of his tee, he yanked it over his head and tossed it on the floor. He let her stand long enough to shove down her panties and yoga pants. Then he yanked her back on his lap and once again ravaged her mouth.
This wasn’t about battling for dominance. This wasn’t a pitting of wills. This was about sealing a deal while reconnecting on the most basic level.
Banding his arm around her, he lifted her onto her knees and slid one finger inside her. Hot and slick, those tight inner muscles squeezed his finger. “Ride it.”
Ignoring how her pussy contracted at the sheer authority in his voice, Havana fucked herself on his finger, not possessing a single qualm about taking exactly what she needed. The whole time, he whispered encouragements and left suckling little kisses all over her neck. And when he curved that thick finger just right, she almost burst out of her skin.
With a desperate moan, she dropped her hands to his waist and snapped open his fly, letting his rock-hard dick bound free. “Want you in me.”
He didn’t make her wait. He lifted her, positioned her just right, and planted her on his cock.
She froze, her breath catching in her throat with the pleasure/pain of being abruptly stuffed full. “Holy shit,” she rasped.
His eyes glittering, he raised her again and then roughly impaled her on his dick once more. “Fuck me, baby.” He hissed as she began to ride him hard. “Yeah, that’s it, use my cock to get yourself off.”
It wouldn’t take long for her to come. A delicious tension was already coiling low in her stomach, making her desperate for more, rougher, faster.
Tate growled as she started slamming herself even harder on his dick. He filled his hands with her breasts, wanting to feel the round, firm mounds bounce in his grip. She really did have phenomenal tits. He wanted to bite them. Fuck them. Come all over them.
He pinched her nipple just right. She arched, and her head fell back. Not having that, Tate fisted one hand in her hair and tugged her head back up. “No. I want your eyes on mine when you come.” He also wanted to punch his hips up to meet each thrust; to drive into her until she screamed for him. But he got off big time on watching his mate take herself there, so the latter could wait.
His gut clenched when she made this distinctive, telling little moan just as her pussy warmed, tightened, and quaked around him. “Christ.”
A flush swept up her body. Her eyes widened. Her breath caught. Her pussy spasmed. And then she was coming. He used his grip on her hair to keep her head up so he could watch her orgasm take her; so he could watch as her eyes went blind, her swollen lips parted, and her brow creased like the pleasure was so good it was almost painful.
“Fuck, yeah.” Keeping his cock snug inside her, Tate stood, turned, and dropped the upper half of her body on the bed. Gripping her ass tight, he pounded into her, wanting to bury himself so deep inside her she’d choke on him.
“Oh God, don’t stop.” Havana curved her legs around him and gripped the bedsheet. Every savage thrust hit her so deep as he fucked her hard, his pace far faster than hers. Oh, and then he adjusted his angle, finding a decadently sensitive spot inside her. She fisted the bedsheet tighter. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
“Again,” he bit out, finding her clit with his thumb. “I want you to come for me again.”
Well, he’d get what he wanted, because she was already close. And as that very adept thumb rolled, pressed, flicked, and rubbed, the pressure inside her built and built and built.
He bent over her, his glittering eyes snaring hers. “One day, I’m going to leave a permanent brand on you, so the world knows you’re mine. Until then …” He sank his teeth into the crook of her neck.
She sucked in a breath as pleasure tore through her in violent waves, bowing her back. He closed his mouth over hers, swallowing her scream, and growled as he slammed harder, faster. Then he exploded.