Highlander's Kiss (6 page)

Julia answered him, “They have. When do we leave for the camp?”

“Tomorrow, with the team of warriors I have leaving at that time. That’ll give Tavish and Tor some time to become familiar with this keep.”

“I’ll show them around.” Julia slipped away from his side and opened the door.

“I’ll join the tour later, brother.” Tor patted his back.

“Thank you.” Tor understood him as no other could. Right now he needed time alone with Julia and their coming discussion really couldn’t wait. He followed her as she led the way out of the chief’s solar and around the perimeter of the great hall toward the stairwell at the far side. As they climbed the winding stairs, he set a hand at the small of her back. Touch was vitally important to shifters, and even more so between mates. His need for her roared even stronger since they’d yet to complete the bond. “Where are we headed to first on this tour?”

“My chamber. I can see you have a need to talk, and so do I.” She strolled along a darkened corridor that remained bare of any other, each of the doors leading from it firmly shut. Before the fourth door on the left, she gripped the knob and glanced over her shoulder at him. “This feels like a monumental moment.”

“It is, and it’ll be one we’ll forever remember.” He covered her hand with his, turned the knob and steered her inside then closed the door after him.

She crossed the room and opened the shutters over her window. Sunlight beamed in and played over her four-poster bed with its sweeping golden bed curtains and plush white pillows stacked against the carved headboard. A three pronged candelabra stood on the bedside table next to a red-leather bound book. He wandered toward the side table where an oval mirror was propped behind a dish overflowing with silk hair ribbons in an array of vibrant colors.

Julia swished in behind him and his bear rose and prowled under his skin. “Your bear is growling. I can hear him.”

“He wants to meet you, to ensure you know that you’re ours.” His claws sliced out and back in as he faced her.

“Even your eyes are aglow with shifter gold.” She touched his chest and leaned in. “He calms right down when I touch you.”

“We both like it when you touch me.” Fur rippled across his arm then retracted, there one moment and gone the next. “We need to speak of our bond. Until we complete it and create the merged link of the mind, one that’s inherent in my shifter blood, then both my other half and I will never truly be at peace. I need to join with you, Julia, in all ways, for us to be able to speak to each other at will along a merged pathway known only to us. I want you to accept me and all that I am. My word is the truth. We are mated.” Hair rippled across his other arm. His bear needed to be set free, couldn’t be contained anymore. He gripped his shirt hem, hauled it over his head and tossed it onto the end of her bed. “I need to shift, and since I detest shredding my clothing, it has to go.”

“Then allow me to give you some privacy while you make the Change.” She walked to the door.

“No.” He nabbed her hand and tugged her back to his side. “Don’t leave me. It’ll make my bear antsier if you’re not here. We both want you, him and I.”

“You wish for me to stay?”

“I’ll use the dressing screen to shift behind if you wish, but I have no problem changing before you. You are my mate and I will hide nothing from you.” He motioned toward the hand-painted silk screen propped in the corner. “Although I’ll give you the choice.”

“Aye, use the screen, please.” Her cheeks flushed.

“Of course. Thank you for staying.” He toed off his boots, unstrapped his sword belt and set it on the side table then strode in behind the screen. Faded blue jeans unzipped, he shoved them down his legs then tossed them onto the table with his weapons. It was time to shift, to show her his other half. No more could he delay. “Are you ready?”

* * * *

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Julia clasped a hand to her chest as she waited for Tavish to shift. Suddenly, a sizzling display of bright lights flared behind the screen then a large bear plodded out, reared up onto his hind legs and roared. Goodness. Tavish’s bear was huge, with black fur the same beautiful shade as his head and his golden eyes alight. He dropped down onto all fours and prowled toward her, his pure white aura with its sizzling red tinge at the edge glowing even brighter.

Overwhelmed, and with a fierce need to touch him rolling through her, she dropped to her knees and held out one hand. “Come closer, Tavish. Let me pet you.”

Slowly, he padded around her, rubbed against her sides then came back in front and nudged her hand with his head.

“Thank you.” She sank her fingers into his silky pelt and scratched between his ears. One deeply satisfied purr rumbled from him, the heavenly sound of his content bringing tears to her eyes. “Your bear is beautiful, Tavish, as beautiful as you are.”

He bumped his muzzle into her belly.

“You wish another pat?” Heart lifting, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her cheek against his furry one. She couldn’t deny her need to be close to him in his bear form, just as she’d needed to be close to him in his human form. She truly hadn’t wished to leave him so he could shift, had been secretly thrilled when he’d asked her to stay.

She sank down, tucked her legs underneath her and smiled as he too lowered then rolled onto his back and exposed his belly. With his paws up, he offered her a hopeful look. He definitely wished for a tummy rub.

“I like touching you, almost too much.” She smoothed her hands over his belly, her fingers sliding through his decadently soft fur. With one slow stretch, his purr deepened. “There’s been the odd time I’ve actually stumbled upon Gilleoin out in the woods with Aunt Sorcha. Gilleoin adores lying on the grass in a pool of sunshine while Sorcha sits beside him and rubs his belly.” She spread her hand over his heart, its steady and powerful beat soothing her further. “I need to ask you something, and dinnae get mad when I do.”

He remained still, so she continued, “If you’re wrong and we arena mated, then I shall never keep you from your true mate.”

Lights shimmered, in a blaze so bright she toppled back and Tavish loomed over her, all man and hard and hot flesh. “I’ve waited a lifetime for you and would wait forever until you accepted your destiny, but my bear won’t. He wants you and I’m not sure how much longer I can continue to hold him back. There will be no more talk of ‘what if I’m wrong.’ You are my true mate, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to you. Allow me to court you.”

“I—I—” She palmed his wide chest, shocked he’d changed so swiftly in front of her. The smattering of dark hair on his chest thinned as it traversed between his defined abs and led downward in a teasing trail. Gulping, she couldn’t keep her gaze from moving lower. Dark curls covered the apex of his groin and his manhood rose from it, his shaft firm and long and lengthening even more as her gaze roamed over him. His shaft brushed against her belly and her fingers itched to touch him there.

“Want me, the way I want you. Touch me, Julia.”

“I…” She shouldn’t, yet she stroked down his sides and over his trim hips. She lifted up, pressed her nose into his neck and drew in more of his intoxicating scent. There was no halting what was between them, this all-consuming need or desire. “I wish for more.”

“Tell me exactly what you want and I’ll give it to you. I don’t want to push you for more than what you’re willing to give, so you need to speak your mind and be utterly clear with me. This bond is about the two of us, although your needs will always come first.”

“I’m no’ sure what I need.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and rocked her hips against his, until his hard body carved its powerful heat right into hers. “These feelings are all so new and unexpected.”

“Then let me show you what you might need. Do you trust me?”

“Aye.” Her agreement came swift and fast, her trust in him absolute.

“That’s my mate.” He rubbed the tip of his nose to hers then cupping the back of her head, he covered her mouth with his. Moaning, he licked across her tongue then growled and dove deeper. He kissed her, so sweetly and so seductively, his warm and fresh scent swirling all around and embedding itself deep within her.

Kisses. She definitely wanted his kisses. A surge of heat flared in her core and pooled between her thighs. She wriggled against him, needing even more although she knew not what.

“Let me kiss more of you.” He ran his hands down her back and over her hips as he moved from her lips and nibbled along her jawline. Laving a path down her neck, he nipped and licked her skin until he reached the sensitive hollow where her neck and shoulder met, where her pulse pounded. Sucking her flesh into his mouth, he released a low rumble. “The urge to bite you is strong. Say aye. I willnae do so until you give me your agreement.”

Everything pointed toward a soul bound match between them. Threading her hands deep in his shoulder-length black hair, she stroked his scalp, her nails lightly raking over him. “Bite me. Show me that we’re soul bound. Prove to me that I dinnae need to see the aura-tugging as my skill usually shows.”

“I’ll make sure I prove it, and that you don’t regret giving me your trust. Give me a few moments though before I do. I need to taste more of your skin first, to calm and settle my bear.” He buried his head at her neck and licked her flesh. He swiped his tongue over her, back and forth until he dipped a little lower and laved the upper swells of her breasts where the low-cut neckline of her gown grazed her flesh. As he licked into the gap between her breasts the rough rasp of his tongue made her nipples bead and poke the thin cloth.

Another hot flare of desire burst to life within her and she stroked one thumb over his neck. Her mouth watered to take a bite out of him too. Wanting more, she nuzzled his neck, his pulse a heavily pounding beat under her tongue. She licked the spot, scraped her teeth back and forth and almost cried out at the intense wave of need that washed through her. Sweet heaven. She had to bite him, now

“Do it,” he whispered, so tantalizingly. “Then I’ll bite you.”

“I—” He seemed to know her every thought.

He slid his hand underneath the shoulder of her gown, eased the fabric down her arm and exposed her breasts. “I want your mark, Julia. You are my true mate. Bite me. I’ll never deny you what you need.”

She closed her eyes and unable to turn away, sank her teeth into his flesh.

“Harder,” he growled as he arched into her, his tone fierce and demanding. “Mark me so well that each time you see the evidence of what you’ve done, you’ll know deep in your heart the truth, that I’m yours, just as you are mine.”

“Being this close to you scatters all my thoughts.” With her heartbeat a pounding roar in her ears, she licked the other side of his neck then bit down a second time, stamping him with her mark.

“Aye, you’re mine, now and forever.” He buried his head at her neck and razzed his teeth over her skin. She moaned and rocked underneath him as she waited, as she held her breath in anticipation. He bit down and she clutched his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh.

“More,” she whispered. “Give me more.”

* * * *

Julia’s demand made Tavish’s pulse race with fierce satisfaction. His mate wanted more and he intended to give it. He swept lower, nipping around her breasts, each of his bites a mark of claim she’d asked for and which he desperately needed to give her. He flicked her nipple with his thumb then sucked the pebbled treasure deep inside his mouth. As he did, she pressed her breasts deeper into his touch, her nails digging into his shoulders, her claim a physical one that both he and his bear reveled in. His beast purred a mile a minute inside him. Aye, he’d known from the moment he’d met her that she was his and now he intended to ensure she fully embraced their bond as he did.

He licked his lips. Her breasts were full and lush and he ached for another taste of them. Heat surged in his loins and he bent his head and laved first one nipple and then the other. Nice and slow. She tasted heavenly. He razzed his teeth over one rosy tip, taking a second before drawing the aureole deep inside his mouth to treasure each and every inch of her. Sheer pleasure radiated through him and hardened his cock further. He rocked his hips against hers to alleviate some of the pressure, only he hardened even more. Never had he ever known such pleasure as this. He tweaked her other nipple and she arched her back, curving fully into him.

Easing both her breasts together, he gorged, kissing and licking, taking her nipples between his lips and rolling his tongue around them before nipping each one. The bites intensified his feelings for her, pulled his heart and soul ever closer toward hers.

“Tavish.” She moaned and rubbed against him. “That feels so good, too good.”

“For me too.” He lapped the tight buds until she clasped his face between her hands and dragged his mouth back to hers. He kissed her again, plunging his tongue inside her mouth and drinking in her sweet innocence. She met him kiss for kiss, entwining her tongue with his and driving him near mad in a delicious dance that had both him and his bear clawing for her.

His claws sliced out and he dug them into the floorboards to help curb some of his lust.

“Julia?” A knock sounded at the door. “’Tis Cherub.”

He shook his head, tried to penetrate the heavy fog of desire taking him. Had someone knocked on the door? Pulling back, he fought for a breath. His mate’s lips were plump and pink and wet and the last thing he wanted to do was to cease kissing her.