His jaw clamped tight. “I’m your family now. We must look forward.”
Her brow knit and she staggered back. “Is that what you think? We’re mated now, so all other ties will fall away?” A huff of air passed her lips. “I can’t live like that, Eleazar. I’ve already tried.”
In his gut, he wanted to hide her away and spend an eternity getting to know her. He wanted them to share an obsessive love that no other could match. Why did she not want the same?
“You’re putting words in my mouth. I’m merely suggesting that we focus on our own challenges and let your family manage theirs.”
Shaking her head, her gaze fell to the floor. “You don’t understand because you don’t have any family. You can’t remember what it’s like.” Lifting her gaze, she looked at him through a wall of fresh tears. “He kept me away from them no matter how desperately I begged and cried. We visited on his terms, only when he needed someone to watch over me while he was preoccupied with other matters. And afterward, he’d spend hours trying to put thoughts in my head about them. He tried to poison my mind to make me believe my family didn’t love me.”
Her head lowered once again, and her voice nearly disappeared under the weight of her pain. “I never had the courage to tell them how awful my marriage really was.”
He wrapped his arms around her with incredible gentleness and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll never keep you from them, Larissa. This is only a temporary precaution. You will have your family in a few days. Once I clear our situation with The Elders and see your marriage annulled and your father has answered his calling and is no longer a danger, you can visit them as freely as you wish. I’ll never stand in the way of that.”
Accepting his logic despite her devastation, she sniffled and nodded. “Thank you.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her brow. “I sense your exhaustion.”
It was getting late and they both needed to rest. Tomorrow was going to be a draining day.
He walked her to his room and carefully removed the pins from her hair and apron. “I will find you a bonnet tomorrow.”
She nodded, unraveling her braids.
He brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek, grateful when she leaned into the caress. “I sense your hunger. Come to bed. Let me take care of you.”
She followed him to the bed, wearing only her chemise, and he lifted the covers. The sight of her there undid him and his tension from the day slowly faded.
Sliding beside her, he gathered her close, tracing the curve of her shoulder to her throat with his mouth and memorizing every inch of skin. She was such a temptation, such a thrill.
“I despise every interruption that keeps me from this bed.” His hands framed her ribs, and he pulled her body closer until her thighs straddled him. “I want to get lost in you, so lost, no one can find me.”
Gently, he coaxed fragile responses from her body, tenderly stroking her beautiful curves and lavishing soft kisses over her skin. Her sorrow wounded him and he wanted to distract her from the sadness. Slowly, their pleasure built and echoed, climbing out of them in gasps and hungry moans.
She was his escape, an unpredicted sanctuary. Every time he pressed his lips to hers, her soft tongue greeted with fragile curiosity.
“That’s it, my proud lioness, take what you need.”
Her hand curled around his neck, pulling him closer as her mouth explored. Little fangs nipped at his lips and her breasts pressed into the hard wall of his chest. His hunger grew, as did his arousal, as he stroked her folds and made her purr.
She arched into his touch with beautiful need. His hunger took hold and he stripped away her clothing, dragging his mouth over every bare curve. Adjusting their position, he rolled to his back and fit her over his hard cock, entering her in one sure thrust.
Her breath hitched and her head fell back as her pleasure hit him. He cupped her hips and rose to suckle her tempting breasts, distracted by her needy pulse.
She cradled his head to her, her own mouth seeking. As she nuzzled his throat, he gave her better access. “Take what you need.”
Her sharp fangs punctured his flesh and his body shuddered, hardening and rocking deeper into her heat. She fed greedily from his vein, her hips riding harder with every tug of her lips and tongue.
A hurricane of passion built inside of him and he savored every pull. There was nothing more satisfying than meeting her needs, nothing more erotic than filling her in every possible way.
His fingers trailed down her back as her spine arched and she pressed her wet sex over him. Her keening moans climbed through him, luring out his own masculine growls.