“Exactly what I was thinking.” He pushed his hands beneath her shirt to run it over her soft skin, loving the way she arched into his touch.
He found her nipples through the lacy fabric of her bra, teasing them until they were hard and sensitive and Chiara was moaning, her eyes closed as she abandoned herself to his touch.
He was so hard it hurt, his body on fire with the need to claim his mate.
They said that whatever you dreamed your first night in a new home would come true. And there was a dream that he wanted to come true more than anything...
Jared popped open the button of his pants, his erection eagerly pressing forward when it was freed. He pulled off his shirt, then his jeans. And then, at last, he reached out for Chiara.
With gentle hands, he began to undress her, trailing his lips across every inch of soft, warm skin he uncovered. By the end of it, she was gasping softly as he licked wickedly at the crease where her thighs met her hip while he pulled down her panties.
Then he got up.
“Hey,” she gasped, “come back here immediately!”
“One moment.” He held up the lighter, loving the way her eyes followed his every movement.
She wanted him. He cou
ld feel it through the mate bond—but he could also see it. Her skin was flushed with desire, her eyes dark and warm.
He wanted to claim her right this minute. He wanted to make love to her until she moaned his name and trembled around him, make love again and again until they’d have that baby they both wanted.
But the view of her stretched out on the bed, completely naked save for the rose petals tangled in her mermaid hair and scattered over her luscious breasts and soft belly, was too good to not enjoy for a minute or two.
Or for as long as he could last.
He swallowed, his senses filled by the scent of desire and crushed rose petals.
It took him two tries to light the first candle. Between candles, he kept looking at Chiara, who in turn was watching him, her eyes wide and dark with need.
His shaft was aching, his entire body burning. The griffin inside him, who didn’t understand about the finer points of romance, was hissing at him to claim his mate.
But Jared kept denying his own need for her until at last, the final candle was lit.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Chiara
Chiara couldn’t look away from where Jared stood, outlined by the soft glow of candles. He looked stunning, the hard, masculine planes of his body gleaming in the light.
She realized all of a sudden that burning in his eyes, she could still see a spark of the light that had chosen him as its champion. The incredible blue seemed lit from within, the intense azure of a summer sky.
With his new powers, he wouldn’t have needed to light the candles. He could have probably summoned the eerie light that had filled the cave with the lift of a single finger.
But she loved that he’d lit all of the candles instead, one by one. And she loved that his friends had prepared this little surprise for them.
It really did feel like coming home, even though she’d only just arrived. But not once had she’d been made to feel out of place. Instead, all of Jared’s friends had made her feel welcome—and more than that.
Wanted.
They wanted her here, as Jared’s mate. Her, Chiara, who’d turned her back on her small, sensible life to hunt aliens and werewolves instead, and who’d scraped out a living writing articles for conspiracy websites.
But no one in Mountain View had looked at her with the pity or the open derision of her old friends and neighbors. Everyone here had judged her only on her love for Jared and the capacity for bravery she hadn’t even known she possessed, which had led to exploring mountain caves and fighting a shadow dragon.
All in all, she couldn’t be happier with the new Chiara she’d become. Someone who pursued her dreams. Someone who didn’t give up—and someone who was determined to grasp this chance at happiness life had given her, and to never, ever let go of it.
As if he’d read her thoughts, Jared came towards her. He was achingly hard.
As she stared hungrily at his impressive erection, she felt her own inner walls pulse with need. She was wet with arousal—had been since he’d first started to tease her with his lips and fingers.