“Look at me, kitten.”
Oh, God, that soft tone undid her every time. She opened her eyes, and the hand cupping her head gently tugged her so close her body was pressed to his.
“Why do you look so scared?”
She licked her lips. “In a very short space of time, you’ve gone from wanting a fling to wanting everything. How do I know you won’t change your mind again?”
“Baby, I’ve always wanted everything. Just didn’t think I’d ever be able to have it. I couldn’t change my mind even if I wanted to. As for my demon? I told you, it’s already formed an attachment to you. It will never let you go. Not ever.” His eyes drifted over her face. “You can feel I’m telling you the truth. Can’t you?”
Devon swallowed. “I feel it,” she admitted. But the fear didn’t leave her system, which made her feline roll its eyes, the heifer. It wasn’t in the least bit spooked by what it was hearing. It thought him a suitable, worthy partner for Devon; liked his demon’s strength and viciousness.
It sent her an impression of the feline standing in front of her, on guard. Not a reassurance that it would protect her; a reminder that it would never support any situation that it thought could later cause her harm.
“I’d be lying if I told you we’ve got an easy road ahead of us,” said Tanner. “I’ve never been in a relationship before. I’m gonna fuck up regularly, and there may be times when you’ll ask yourself why the hell you took a chance on me. But I’ll give this everything I’ve got, kitten, I swear that to you. Can you promise you’ll do the same for me?”
God, she wanted to. She really, really did. But how could she reach for this when she hadn’t yet told him that she might never be able to give him the kids he might later want? “There are things you don’t know, Tanner.”
“I don’t care. There’s nothing you could tell me that would change my—”
“I’ve never gone into heat,” she blurted out. “Not once.”
His face went all soft, and he stroked his free hand up her arm. “That doesn’t have to mean anything, kitten. A hellhound from my lair didn’t have her first heat until she was in her late thirties. She has four kids now. Even if that didn’t happen for us, it would change nothing. There’s no one else I could ever want.”
He flicked up a brow. “You hear me? No other woman could ever be what you are to me. That’s no word of a lie. You will never have to worry about me walking away. When I decide something belongs to me, I keep it close. I don’t share my possessions well. Never did.”
“Your possessions?”
“Yeah. You’re by far the finest one I own.”
Devon went to speak, but then his mouth dropped on hers. His tongue dove inside and licked at hers, coaxing it to play. He didn’t kiss her, he greedily ravished her mouth. Just like that, the air ignited with a need so raw and powerful it was almost palpable. That need punched its way inside her, coursed through her veins, and settled deep in her core.
She tore her mouth from his as he ripped open her shirt. “Wait—”
“Fuck, kitten,” he groaned, staring down at her breasts. “My kitten.” His eyes snapped to hers. “You’ve always been mine.” His warm, calloused hands roughly palmed her breasts as he again closed his mouth over hers.
She arched into him, moaning as clever fingers pinched and rolled her tight nipples, tugging on the piercings just right. Every erotic flick of his tongue pulled her deeper and deeper under his spell, until every rational thought in her head simply scattered.
Devon gave as good as she got, shoving her hands under his tee and digging her nails into sculpted abs she’d traced with her tongue more than once. He growled as she dragged her nails down, scoring his flesh. His strong hands were sure and confident as they roamed over her body, his fingers splayed wide, flooding her system with all kinds of delicious feel-good chemicals. She wanted … more.
She tackled his fly just as he whipped off his shirt. His cock sprang toward her, thick and hard. She fisted his shaft and squeezed, eliciting a deep groan out of him. God, he was so hot and heavy in her hand.
His mouth took hers with renewed vigor as she pumped his cock with a firm grip, having already learned exactly what he liked. His sleek, solid chest drew her eyes, and she just had to take a bite. She sank her teeth into one pec.
He hissed, tangling his hand in her hair. “Fuck, yeah, harder.”
She obliged him, deepening the bite so the mark would linger for a—