Chapter 4
Charli couldn’t really believe the sultry tone that came out of her mouth as she suggested that eating could wait. She’d never considered herself shy, but she’d never been all that forward either. She didn’t know what was going on between her and Arian, but the connection between them was touchable. They belonged together, as strange as it sounded in her head, and she didn’t want to waste any time.
Arian’s fingers skimmed up her sides and she shivered. He pulled her closer, and she hugged her legs around his waist. His mouth left hers, and she couldn’t stop the soft protest that left her lips. He chuckled and lifted her from the counter, carrying her into the family room and dropping to his knees in front of the fire.
He laid her down gently on the blankets and loomed over her. His fingers traced the line of her jaw as his eyes smoldered, flashing from dark blue to brilliant gold.
“Be mine, Charli,” he said with a husky tone.
“I’m yours, Arian.”
He gazed down at her and something unsaid passed between them. She couldn’t explain it, but their connection – still so new and unexpected – strengthened. She wanted to remember this moment forever, when she knew that love at first sight did exist. It was new love. Fresh love. But it was love all the same. She could see herself falling deeply for him as the days passed.
His mouth was on hers, his tongue teasing as he feasted at her mouth. His fingers moved slowly along her jaw and down her throat as the kiss deepened. Her body trembled as he stroked her skin.
He moved from her lips, kissing across her jaw and nibbling gently on her ear lobe. He kissed down her neck, sucking lightly on the flesh until he reached her shoulder and continued his downward trek. She touched his back, stroking the smooth, hot skin. His lips brushed across her nipple, and she bit her lip, her fingernails digging into his flesh.
He sucked on her nipples, alternating between the two, nipping and licking until the buds were tight and pleasantly aching. She couldn’t stop trembling as he kissed his way down her stomach and hooked his hands over her thighs to pull them apart so he could lie between her legs.
His face was inches from the apex of her thighs, and he inhaled slowly and deeply. A growl that sounded a lot like a deep, happy purr rumbled from his chest. He lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to her clit. Her sigh of pleasure slid into a gasp as he licked her bud. His hands tightened on her thighs as he licked and sucked on her clit. He pulled her thighs over his shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh as he licked around the entrance to her body, his tongue delving into her depths as he tasted the evidence of her arousal.
He growled softly and wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking gently and flicking the tip with his tongue rapidly. Her arousal peaked and she threw back her head and shouted his name as a climax wove through her.
Kissing her sensitive bud, he moved up her body, kissing her twitching stomach and her tight nipples and her thundering pulse. She caught his hips with her legs, hooking her ankles together behind his back. He slid his arms under her back and held her close, his lips brushing hers as his cock pressed against her pussy. She lifted her hips to meet his as he surged forward and both of them groaned as his thick, hard length pressed inside.
She’d never been so perfectly filled. When he was inside her completely, when their hips were pressed together as tightly as two people could be, she felt another, deeper connection snap into place between them. He gazed down at her, his eyes a luminous deep gold, and she knew that this was it for them. She was his and he was hers, and no matter that they were virtual strangers hours earlier, they were here now – together. Mates. A human and a reindeer.
His fingers bit into her shoulders as he began to move in and out of her, sliding slowly, deeply inside and then retreating until only the head of his cock touched her pussy. Each slide forward made stars light her vision, and each pull back made her clutch him closer. She wanted him to move slower so it would last forever, but she yearned for him to make love to her harder, faster.
He lowered his mouth to her throat and sucked on her flesh, and she arched under him, her nails dragging across his back as heat filled her.
“Arian,” she groaned.
He lifted from her throat with a soft snarl, and she saw his fangs.
“Mine,” he growled.
“Yes, I promise,” she said, panting for breath.
He pushed away from her, and before she could complain about the loss of him, he flipped her onto her stomach and hauled her up to her knees, plunging back inside her, hard and fast. She fisted the blankets under her as he took her with all the raw passion she’d wanted.
He covered her with his body, one hand sliding down her stomach to her clit and the other pressing over the top of her hand, twining his fingers with hers. He strummed her sensitive bud, and she closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sweet hum of pleasure that filled her. His lips caressed the place where her neck and shoulder met, and after releasing a growl filled with possession, he struck, sinking his fangs into her flesh.
She screamed as she climaxed, bucking against him as he snarled into her shoulder and his cock spasmed deep inside her. He lifted his fangs from her shoulder and licked the wounds slowly. She smelled the metallic tang of blood and knew she would feel the pain of the marks later, but at the moment, all she felt was complete and utter bliss.
They fell to their sides, and with his tongue, he continued to stroke the marks he’d made. She could hear everything in that moment – the crackling of the logs in the fire, the pounding of her heart, and the way Arian softly growled in contentment.
“I could stay like this forever,” she whispered.
“Me too,” he said. “We’re bonded, Charli. You’re mine and I’m yours. Nothing can separate us. Does that scare you?”
She turned in his arms and looked up at him. The firelight flickered over his handsome features. “Scared about being with you for the rest of my life? No. I’ve always believed there was something more out there, but I never knew what that something was. Now, though, I know it’s you.”