“What feeling?” she whispered. Her arms slid around him. Holding him to her.
“That you belong to me. That you’re giving me you. I want you to belong to me. Not just for now, Scarlet. I want us to have a future together.” He kissed her right nipple and then her left, his tongue curling around the hard pebble.
Her body shuddered in response. He felt the answering reaction in her mind to his statement. She wanted the same thing. She wanted a future with him, but she feared it. She didn’t trust yet that he meant it, but she wanted to. Something in her especially reacted to belonging to him. She didn’t just want, but needed to feel as if she was his. He picked that easily out of her head as he swept his hands under her breasts, cupping them possessively.
“I want these breasts to be only for me.” He took her nipple in his mouth and sucked and then bit down gently, pulled and tugged and then sucked her breast into the heat of his mouth while he kneaded her other breast. “I like to play, baby. A lot. And you have the perfect breasts for it. Very responsive. But they’re mine. For me.” He tugged and rolled her nipples, pinching and then using his tongue to soothe her.
Scarlet gasped and arched her back, thrusting upward, pressing herself into him with a little startled cry. Pleasure burst through her mind, through his. She liked not only what he was doing, but what he was saying.
“I don’t share well with others,” he murmured, licking at her nipple again. “I’m demanding in bed, baby. I’m not going to lie about that, but I’d be damned pissed if you ran around on me.” He wanted her to know the truth of who he was, but he was also feeling his way with her. He needed to know what was in her mind. “I don’t cheat. I don’t tolerate my woman cheating.” He worded that one a little more harshly, punctuating each word with either his teeth or his tongue.
Scarlet by turns gasped, squirmed, bucked her hips or cried out. He switched his attention to her left breast.
“My mark looks so fucking sexy on you, ledi.” He kissed his way around her breast and then under it, down her belly to her ribs, his hands on either side of her waist. God, she was small in comparison to him. His fingers, spread wide, could just about take in her entire belly.
He nipped the skin just below her belly button and then swirled his tongue over the sting. Lifting his head, he waited until her green eyes met his. She looked partially dazed, but he had her attention. “I need an answer before we keep going, baby. You with me so far? We on the same page? Looking toward a future? No cheating. Either one of us? Exclusive all the way.”
His palms lay flat on her stomach, fingers spread wide to take her in, to feel everything she was feeling. Immediately chaos erupted in her mind, so many emotions. Most were sensual; desire and pleasure were uppermost. Scarlet wanted to please him. She would do whatever he demanded of her. They were alone and she didn’t fear anything he would ask. She wanted it all with him now because she was afraid she wouldn’t have this opportunity with him again. There was still the fear that he might turn out to be someone really bad. There was also a fear for him. Her emotions were very jumbled.
He pressed a kiss into her belly button, still holding her gaze. “I wish you could see into my mind, Scarlet,” he murmured gently, allowing just a little of his mind to open to her so that she could see past the highly aroused feelings he had in that moment. “I’m not the nicest of men, not always. I’d hunt down whoever hurt you so much that you’re afraid to trust me and I’d probably fuck him up pretty bad or worse, but I can promise you, I would never intentionally hurt you. You would see that. You would see that I mean everything I say to you. Say yes to trying with me, baby. Give us that much of a chance.”
Again, he was careful not to push any influence into his voice, even though resisting the temptation was extremely difficult. He knew Scarlet Foley was made for him and he for her. He felt it with every breath he drew and every moment they were together. He did use persuasion with his gentle, velvet command he knew she had a hard time resisting, but he held back on using his talent, that gift that could take control even though she was the one. He knew it now more than ever, just glimpsing into her mind.