Midnight Awakening (Midnight Breed 3)

Incredibly, his fingers were shaking as he put his gear down on the settee's velvet cushions. His vision was going sharp, his field of sight taking on a hard edge as his pupils narrowed and a flood of amber fire bathed everything in a hunter's light. His gums ached with the emergence of his fangs, his mouth watering with the hunger he'd barely been able to stave off before Elise arrived in his room.

Now that she was here, provoking him with her mere presence, he didn't know how long he could hold the beast at bay. It had been snapping at its leash since the moment he first laid eyes on her.

Behind him, he heard the thick Persian rug crush with the subtle movement of her feet. He closed his eyes, his senses flooded with awareness of her.

With the keen, aching want of her.

You say you don't play games, but you're a master at it, Tegan. In fact, I think you've been playing at them for so long you can't remember how to be real anymore.

He was hardly aware of his own movements as he whirled back on her with a furious roar. Distance closed in fractional seconds--a blink of time between the moment he'd been turned away from Elise and the next, when he was bearing down on her like a train in motion, pushing her with both the force of his will and his body until they both slammed up against the closed door.

He pinned her there, between the hard, unyielding length of him and the thick plank of oak at her back.

Is this real enough for you, sweetheart?

He hissed the words at her, his lips curled back from his fangs. Desire had him livid, fully transformed into the savage side of his nature. With a growl, he bent his head and took her mouth in a hot, demanding kiss.

She cried out, startled, her hands coming up to brace defensively against his shoulders. He only kissed her harder, thrusting his tongue past her teeth as she gasped to take a breath.

Christ, she was sweet. So warm and lush against his mouth.

So soft against the scorching rigidity of his body.

He didn't want to feel this arousal. Wanted like hell to reject this consuming need. But he was burning up with it, and there would be no denying it now.

No stopping the pound of his blood as everything Breed in him--everything elementally male--awakened to the delicious taste of Elise.

When he broke their kiss, she was panting. He was too. His whole body heaved with the force of his hunger, his every pulse point pounding with a beat he felt echoing in Elise as well.

Last night in the boathouse, I felt your fear, he whispered fiercely, holding her wide gaze, pressing the front of his body deeper into hers. His cock was rigid, growing harder just at the feel of her. I let you go instead of taking what I wanted. I'm not going to be forgiving this time. So, fear me if you will, Elise, but don't expect me to fucking care--

I went back last night. A breathless little sound curled up from her throat, but when she spoke her voice was steady. I wasn't afraid of you, Tegan. I went back for you.

The words sank into his brain slowly, stilling him as he registered what he was hearing.

Last night, after you told me to leave you...I had gotten as far as the main house and I realized that I didn't want to leave. I wanted to be with you.

She stared up at him without the slightest tremor of uncertainty now. Where his hands held her arms, he felt only pliant acceptance, knowing surrender. Through the connection of his touch, he read her desire. Felt it radiating out to him, seeping into him.

I wanted to be naked with you, Tegan. I wanted you inside me, so I went back. But you were already gone.

Holy hell.

He knew he should probably say something, but he had no voice. Only a dumbshit muteness like he'd never known before. His weight settled back on his heels, and the urge to shove her away from him in defense--remove her from his reach--was nearly overwhelming.

But he found he couldn't let go of her.

He couldn't stop looking into the clear lavender pools of her eyes. The unwavering honesty--the guileless need--that he saw in their depths floored him.

I want to be with you now, Tegan...so if you want me, even a little bit--

He pulled her close and silenced her doubt with another kiss. She put her arms around him and held him to her, parting her lips and taking his tongue as he swept inside her mouth the way he intended to be inside her body. He guided her around, away from the door and toward the waiting bed, their lips never parting. Hands roaming, clutching, trembling.

Clothing was stripped away quickly under the force of their need. Tegan drew off Elise's jacket and made fast work of the white silk blouse beneath it, slipping free what seemed like a hundred tiny buttons until he had unveiled her satin-and-lace-covered breasts. He ran his hands over the gossamer white fabric, watching with a hungry gaze as her nipples rose to his touch.

Easing her back onto the bed, he unfastened her tailored navy trousers and slid them down her pale, slender legs. Her sex was hidden behind a small scrap of white satin. Tegan followed the line of thin triangle with his fingers, softly stroking the warm velvet of her hip and inner thigh. His thumb traced beneath the satin to something even more silky. The slick, wet heat of her made him groan, compelled him to delve deeper into that searing, moist cleft.

Elise sucked in her breath as he stroked the dewy petals and the tight little nub nestled at the top of her sex.