Page 24 of Eternally Bound
When he realized he was still holding her and she didn’t seem about to jump up and run off, he removed his arm from her waist and leaned back against the headboard. Her haunted eyes met his, her raw anguish evident in her gaze. He’d give anything to take the hurt from her, but that was impossible.
“You should lie down before you make yourself sick,” he said.
“I don’t get sick,” she mumbled as she slid back onto the bed.
“Exhausted then.”
She rolled toward him. “It was a tiring night.”
Kadence’s heart leapt in her chest when he gave her a darling, lopsided smile. She may be exhausted, but she doubted she’d get any sleep with a half-naked Ronan lying in the bed with her.
She bit her lip as she thought about what her brother and the other hunters would say if they could see her now. They’d probably believe she went crazy and lock her away, just as they’d locked away some of the other hunters who had broken their laws or lost their minds over the years.
Nothing she’d revealed to Ronan could be used against her or the hunters, but she was lying in bed with him, and she found herself content to be there. He brought a strange sense of calm to her, one she hadn’t experienced in years, if ever. Her kind would consider her a traitor for her actions. She kind of considered herself one by staying beside him, but she wouldn’t crawl out of this bed, and she didn’t ask him to leave it.
She inched subtly closer until the heat of his body warmed hers. Maybe tomorrow she would get her mind together enough to realize the situation she was in and plot a way out of it, but for now, she didn’t have the energy or the will to fight this draw to him.
“I imagine that it was,” he said.
“That what was?” she asked as she stifled a yawn.
“A tiring night.”
“Oh, yes.”
The tips of his fingers briefly caressed her cheek, causing her eyelids to close as she turned into his touch. She smiled when he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before tracing the outer shell.
“This is all so strange,” she murmured and opened her eyes as he ran his finger over her bottom lip.
Her heart rate accelerated when he leaned toward her. Would he kiss her? She wanted that so badly, yet she remained unmoving as she waited to see what he would do next.
Ronan heard the hitch in her breath when his finger stilled on her lip, and he lifted his gaze to hers again. She watched him as one would a predator, afraid to take her eyes away, but he sensed no fear from her. Leaning toward her, he slid his finger away to brush his lips over hers.
Kadence’s eyes crossed as she watched him. The butterfly caress made her body melt, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him as she waited to see what he would do next. Out of everything she’d been anticipating, it was not to have him abruptly pull away from her.
“You must sleep,” he said gruffly. “You are not at full strength.”
And if he kept touching her, he would be inside her. She may not be aware of where this would lead, but he was, and she was a temptation he wouldn’t refuse. He could be a heartless prick on his best days, but not even he was so callous as to take advantage of her now.
Kadence refused to let her disappointment show as she gave a brisk nod. She should feel relieved, not as if she’d missed out on something.Blood loss, it’s screwed up your brain.She told herself this, but she knew it was wrong.
Kadence closed her eyes and feigned sleep. It was at least an hour before sleep claimed her again; she knew he was still awake when it did.
CHAPTER 13
Ronan woke with the hardest erection he’d ever had. Gritting his teeth, he glanced down at the cause of his raging hard-on. Sometime during the remainder of the day, Kadence had rolled over and draped herself across his chest. Her head was tucked beneath his chin, her hand resting against the side of his cheek.
She’d hooked her leg over his waist so that her thigh rubbed against his cock, and her breasts were pressed to his chest. He realized, not only had she sprawled across him, he’d also draped his arms around her and held her against him.Idiot!
Stifling a groan, he resisted running his hands over her until she woke as desperate for him as he was for her. If he could convince himself she wasn’t an innocent, he would have done just that. But, the hunters kept their women too locked away not to make sure they were virginal when they were ready for breeding.
The seconds of the clock on the wall gave way to minutes before his conscience finally won the war with his dick. Easing his way out from under her, he shifted her over a little to get free. She settled in with a murmur that caused his heart to constrict. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he launched to his feet in his rush to be away from her. She whimpered and curled her hand into the pillow his head had been on.
Stepping back, he ran his hand over his face and winced when he realized his fangs had also extended with their need to be inside her. With wooden movements, he turned and strode into the bathroom. A cold shower, some blood, and he would regain control of himself. Having a woman in his bed again, and the unfinished fight with Joseph, had him on edge.
Turning the shower on, he tugged off his jeans and stepped beneath the icy spray. While Kadence remained here, he had a feeling he and cold showers would be getting to know each other alotbetter. Leaning his forearm against the wall, he rested his head on the tile as he grappled to get himself under control.
The more he tried to shut them out, the more images of Kadence moving over his body, kissing him, and sucking him off flooded his mind. The feel of her breasts against him had been burned into his flesh. He found his hand wrapping around his shaft and giving it a long stroke as he recalled the way her breath had warmed his skin.
