Guardian’s Bond Read online

  “No, you don’t.” He scraped his beard against her nipple, never taking his gaze from hers, then licked the distended tip. “But I do.”

  The wet heat of his mouth surrounded her, the incessant pull as he suckled deep spearing right to her core. Gone was the careful hunter, replaced with the predator consuming his prey.

  And she loved it. Welcomed it. Arched deeper into his mouth and surrendered to his tight hold. She was safe. Physically and emotionally. How she knew both to be true, she couldn’t say and frankly didn’t care. Only knew that this was the single most defining and enjoyable sexual experience of her life and it wasn’t even real.

  A ferocious snarl filled her ears and the landscape changed, Priest’s wicked touch disappearing with it.

  No, not a change in landscape, but her placement in it. The soft grass that had welcomed her cautious footsteps now cushioned her back and the brilliant blue sky flickered through thick treetops, her knees cocked to one side as though she were lazing in bed on a Saturday morning.

  And Priest towered above her. “Don’t think for a second this isn’t real, mihara.” He looked his fill, his slow perusal as powerful as his physical touch. “Everything you feel here, your body experiences with you.”

  “Yours, too?”

  His hand went to the sizable bulge behind his pants and stroked the impressive length. God, how she wished she’d seen him. Wished her mind could properly visualize what lay beneath. “Everything. Now spread your legs for me, kitten. Show me where you want my mouth.”

  Another push against her control. One even more terrifying than admitting her truth. But she’d found release in her admission. Intense pleasure. What harm was there in reaching for more? She straightened her knees, heels planted on the soft grass beneath her.

  Priest waited. No sign of impatience, only an implacable command on his face.

  It was all her. Her choice. Her pleasure. Her acceptance.

  Legs quivering, she let her knees fall wide, opening her to his hungry gaze.

  Man and beast growled together. “Mine.”

  Holy hell, that was hot. Insanely possessive and ridiculously primitive. So much so, her hips undulated as if to agree. To welcome his claim.

  He slowly dropped to his knees and palmed the back of her thighs, exposing her farther. “You’re going to come for me, Kateri. Hard. And when you wake up in the morning, you’ll feel it. Your skin will be pink from my beard. Your nipples will ache, and your sex will be drenched in your release.”

  Another flex from her hips, this time paired with a desperate moan.

  “Hmmm.” He splayed his hand on top of her mound, the heel of his hand insanely close to her clit. “My kitten wants to be petted.” He teased his fingers through her curls then dipped lower, boldly stroking his blunt fingers through her slit. “This is what I want. Your juices on my tongue. Sliding down my throat until it’s all I can taste. All I can smell.”

  “Yes.” It was more plea than agreement, her hips rolling encouragingly against each tormenting stroke.

  He chuckled and slipped his hands beneath her ass. “Then open your eyes, mihara. If you want my mouth, you have to watch. I want you to know who’s pleasuring you. Whose tongue is fucking your sweet pussy.”

  A tremor rocked her, the filthy words coming from his mouth nearly enough to push her over the edge. But she did as he asked, the sight that greeted her exquisitely erotic. Priest’s dark hair and skin contrasting against her pale complexion. His warm breath wafting against her damp and swollen folds. And his gray eyes locked on hers. “I can’t believe how much I like the way that sounds.”

  “I can. My kitten has a dark side I can’t wait to explore.” He grinned and nuzzled the top of her sex with his nose, inhaling deep. “But you’ll like this better.” He licked through her sex, a blatant swipe that promised he’d see her dark side and raise it by a thousand.

  She rocked against his mouth and fisted her hands in his hair, shocked at her boldness even as she reveled in it. “Priest.”

  He growled and tongued her deeper, the vibrations paired with the carnal image pushing her release that much closer. “That’s it, kitten,” he muttered against her flesh. “Let go and come for your mate.”

  It was too soon. Waaay too soon to relinquish such an exquisite buildup. And yet it barreled toward her. Implacably demanding her surrender.

  “Not too soon.” He lifted her hips higher and slid his thumbs up, parting her folds for his attention. “Just the first.”

  He thrust his tongue inside her, and she came apart. Splintered into a thousand shards she had no hope of putting back together. At least not as she had been before. The woman who’d dared to enter this dream was different than the one now open and vulnerable to the predator consuming her. Unfinished and sleeping. Waiting for this man to wake her and color in the missing pieces.

  Humming against her sex, he eagerly lapped her release, his dark head between her thighs the most beautifully wanton thing she’d ever seen. Yes, he was the hunter, but in that second, he was also supplicant. A devoted recipient of her release.

  Only when the powerful spasms ebbed to a slow and easy pulse, did he shift his attention. His tongue flicked her swollen clit. “That one was for you.” He circled the tight nub and raised his gaze to hers. “The next one is for me.”

  His lips closed around her and he suckled. Gently at first then building in intensity.

  The grip she’d loosened in his hair as her release left her, retightened. Part of her wanted to drag him away, to inform him any repeated attempts to orgasm would be utterly wasted. Especially since she’d done well in the past to find one, let alone multiples. But another, far more confident part of herself, held him in place. Encouraged him to work his dirty magic and let the encroaching storm have its way.

  But something was missing. Something she craved at the most primitive level. “I want you inside me.”

  With the odd, yet magic fluidness of dreams, he stretched out beside her, braced on one forearm and smoothing his hand along her upper thigh. “You’re only riding my fingers tonight, kitten. You’ll only earn my cock in the flesh.”

  She started to protest, but he hooked his hand behind her knee and guided her leg over his, opening her to the skies above. The sun warmed her core even as the air cooled her sweat-misted skin.

  “It feels good, doesn’t it?” he said, slicking his fingers through her slit. “Someday, I’ll bring you back here. Will toy with your pussy until you weep then pin you on your hands and knees and take you from behind.”

  The image came all too clearly and ripped a whimper past her lips.

  He answered by sliding a single finger inside.

  But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly the impact she craved. So, she covered his hand with her own and ground her hips against their hands. “More.”

  The loss of his languid smile was the only warning she got. In a blink, he pinned her hands above her head and the weight of his body anchored one leg high and wide. “You ask for what you want, Kateri. You don’t take.”

  She opened her mouth to dispute his claim, but closed it just as fast when he thrust two fingers inside her, eradicating what little arguments she could muster. And the way he worked her sex, she was inclined to agree that he was right. It was animalistic. Almost barbaric. But it was also freeing. A confounding concept her muddled brain couldn’t quite comprehend.

  “Because outside our play, you are your own woman. An alpha female in your own right.” He pumped deeper. Harder. His voice thundered above her to match the building tempest inside her. “But here, I’m stronger. Dominate. And most importantly, you’re mine.”

  As if to prove his point, his thumb circled her clit, the remnants of her release and his mouth creating a sumptuous glide for his rough touch. He angled his wrist and his fingertips brushed along the front wall of her sex. “Come for me, mihara.” Aga
in, this time more purposeful. Demanding her physical response with each stroke. “Come and show me how hard your sweet cunt will milk my cock when I claim it for my own.”

  Release.

  Instant and magnificent.

  Over and over, her core fisted around his unrelenting fingers, pulsing in time to her thrashing heart. With each thrust, she ground her hips up to meet his hand. Reveled in the heel of his palm against her clit.

  How the hell had she lived without this? Or more importantly, why had she avoided it?

  This was bliss.

  Liberation in the most literal sense.

  Yes, she was complete on her own, but in this moment, the two of them together were more. Something bigger than they could ever be apart.

  And she wanted it.

  Needed to explore the new terrain he’d shown her even if she didn’t have a clue how to go about it.

  “I’ll show you,” he murmured against her lips, slowly drawing her back to her dream body with his soft, questing kiss. His fingers glided in and out, guided by the softening rhythm of her hips. “Everything you want. Whatever you want.”

  Needing his strength as much as his warmth, she wrapped her freed arms around him, letting her hands play against the honed muscles of his broad shoulders. It was odd, this mix of vulnerability and newness. A strength borne from the deepest intimacy. “Now what do we do?”

  His smile was a sweet comfort. A soft and patient welcome from a man looking forward to the days ahead of him. “My logical mate. Always planning her next steps.” He framed one side of her face and traced her cheekbone with his thumb. “For now, you sleep. Deep.” He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips and muttered, “And in the morning, you remember.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  As views went, the one off Priest’s raised back porch was second only to the one off his bedroom. But for the first time since he’d built the modernized cabin on stilts, it wasn’t the view that held his attention, but the subtle rush of running water from the master bath upstairs.

  He kicked his bare feet up on the middle rung of the rail that surrounded the porch, set his nearly empty cup of coffee aside and checked the time on his phone.

  12:21p.m.

  He grinned and set the device aside. Good thing he had a big hot water tank and no one in the house to hog the water, because with Kateri nearing the thirty-minute mark, she seemed determined to bleed the damned thing dry. Though, he had to admit...imagining what could be taking her so long had definitely spurred him to pencil in a tankless unit to his list of home improvements.

  Three minutes later, the water shut off, followed by the steady drone of her blow dryer ten minutes after that. Since getting the darkness under control all those years ago, he’d spent countless mornings just like this. Alone and quiet. Either roaming the woods in his panther form, or sitting in this exact spot, letting his mind wander where it wanted. Not once had the practice been difficult. If anything, the stillness helped keep him balanced. The same as when he inked a talisman into someone’s skin.

  But today had been an exercise in restraint. He’d lost count of the times he’d nearly stood and given up all pretense of waiting in favor of waking Kateri up the same way he’d helped her fall asleep.

  The whole damned dream had been phenomenal, every detail as vivid as if it had happened in real life only seconds ago. But it was those last few seconds—the unguarded softness in her eyes as she’d sleepily smiled up at him, caressed the side of his face and let her eyelids slip shut—that had moved him the most. She’d been happy. At peace with what she’d experienced and easily trusting him to guide her back from her dream.

  And now he waited. Waited to see if the woman who walked out of his bedroom was the one who’d soared as she’d come apart, or the one determined to keep every emotion bound and locked down tight.

  A muted thunk sounded from upstairs and his cat stirred, his beast’s heightened hearing instantly zeroing in on the soft footfalls rounding the top of the stairs.

  Finally.

  He forced himself to stay in place, covering his need to move by finishing off what was left of his lukewarm coffee. He’d shown her what he could last night. The next step was hers and he’d be damned if he pressured her one way or another with his actions.

  A wood plank at the bottom of the stairs creaked and the electric awareness that always came when Kateri grew near prickled along his shoulder blades. And yet, she didn’t come out.

  She was there, though. Watching him. Probably overthinking way too much while she did it, but there all the same. He knew it the same way he sensed an imminent soul quest. Felt her stare as sure as a hand wrapped around the back of his neck. And she was nervous. Even without looking at her he could feel it. The aggravated emotion rippled through the open sliding glass door out into the still air in tiny waves, the same as a shock wave moving across a glass-topped lake.

  Giving her space to make the next move was one thing. Making her suffer with nerves was something else altogether. “You finally slept,” he said, breaking the silence, but keeping his gaze on the swath of trees ahead.

  She hesitated only a beat, then stepped out onto the wood porch. “Apparently well enough I missed everyone leaving the house.”

  Yeah, definitely nervous, the tremor in her voice holding more uncertainty than he’d heard from her in the whole time they’d known each other. Which was saying something considering how many new and strange things she’d seen.

  He stood, stuffed his phone in his back pocket and snatched his mug off the side table, still forcing himself to maintain some semblance of casual when all he really wanted was to wrap her up and hold her until she settled. “Naomi and Jade are working with the other seers in town. Tate is covering the shop.”

  “What about you? Don’t you have clients?”

  He turned and met her gaze. One second, and his plans for calm and casual were soundly wiped right off the table. This was the woman he’d loved in her dreams last night. Uncertain, yes, but ready to face him in the real world all the same. She’d left her feet bare and dressed in the same hip-hugging jeans as the night before, but paired them with a form-fitting tank. And from the tight points peaking beneath the white cotton, there wasn’t a damned thing else underneath.

  He prowled toward her. “My mihara needed sleep and my protection while she got it. Nothing is more important than that.” He cupped the side of her neck and fanned his thumb along her hummingbird pulse.

  Her eyes dilated and her lips parted, her breath coming just a notch faster than it had a moment before.

  Beautiful.

  A woman awake, alive and ready to explore. She just hadn’t quite figured out how to take that first step. But he’d help her. Just like he promised her last night.

  Slipping his hand up to frame her face, he tilted it for an easy, yet lingering good morning kiss.

  She sighed into it, a mix of relief and want as her hands tentatively rested against his bare chest.

  “Do you want your coffee, kitten?” he murmured against her mouth. The same intimate contact reserved for languid mornings in bed after an intensely carnal night. “Or would you rather run first?”

  She backed away only enough to meet his gaze beneath her lashes, a light pink creeping along her cheeks. “I think I’ll skip my run today.”

  He couldn’t help the smile that split his face, the unspoken I got plenty of exercise last night and feel like playing hooky today undercurrent too hard to ignore. “Then let’s get you coffee and figure out how to tackle the rest of the day.”

  Stepping away, he steered her into the kitchen and into the same quiet routine they’d developed over the last week. Since that first day when she’d tried to slip out of the house unnoticed, their mornings had always ended here. Her perched on a barstool behind the breakfast counter. Him making her coffee the way she liked it before he poured
his own. Only then would they settle into her endless questions about what his clan had been like before Draven.

  Except today, she didn’t wait. “Are we going to talk about it?”

  With his back to her, she couldn’t see the tiny falter as he poured the cream into her mug. He shouldn’t have been surprised by her head-on approach. Still, today was about her accepting not only what happened, but who she was underneath all that control, and anything worth owning was worth working for. “Talk about what?”

  The quiet stretched bold and charged between them, broken only by a few intermittent raps of the spoon against the ceramic as he stirred. “I dreamed about you last night.”

  He set the spoon in the sink and went about pouring his own cup, keeping his silence.

  “Only it wasn’t an ordinary dream.” So breathless. Less from nerves now and more on par with the sounds she’d made as he’d explored her body. “It was you guiding the whole thing, wasn’t it?”

  Mugs in hand, he ambled to her, slid her mug in front of her fisted hands and settled on the empty stool beside her. “What do you think?”

  “I think I’ve never had a dream like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “That real.”

  Talk about your revealing moments. The words themselves might have been innocent, but the sheer vulnerability behind them spoke volumes. As if in uttering her thoughts out loud, she’d finally dared to step outside her comfort zone and truly considered her heritage in the full light of day. He sipped his coffee. It was either that or haul her between his thighs and dive into a replay of last night until the rawness in her gaze spawned from another emotion entirely.

  “I felt it,” she said. “All of it. My body...” Her eyes widened as though she’d realized too late where she was headed, but then narrowed again with the same soft determination he’d grown to appreciate. “In my dream, you told me I’d feel it all today.”

  From deep inside, his cat paced, tail twitching with irritation at Priest’s inactivity. As far as his beast was concerned, she’d done enough. Said enough to earn his comfort. And surprisingly, the darkness agreed.