“Yes.” He stepped from the shadows.
She frowned, which made the skin above her nose crinkle. He found it adorable and sexy.
“How did I get here?” She looked down at herself. “And what am I wearing?”
“It’s a dream.” He took two steps closer. “You’re projecting things from your subconscious. I guess that means you have a secret thing for black lingerie.” He smiled. “Which is good because you look beautiful.”
“This is a dream? But it seems so real.”
He stepped closer and held his hand out to her. She only hesitated for a moment before taking it, and he led her to the loft. After helping her up the ladder, he pointed to a place where he’d arranged soft hay in front of the double wooden door that stood open to the night sky. The moon was full and casting a soft glow over the darkness.
“Would you like to sit with me for a while?” he asked.
“That would be nice.” She followed him.
After sitting down and leaning back against a stack of bales, he patted the spot between his jean-clad legs. She hesitated again and blushed.
“I won’t bite,” he said.
She sat down and rested her back against his chest. He put his arms around her and placed his lips close to the soft skin by her ear.
“Unless you want me to,” he whispered.
She placed a tiny hand on his thigh and squeezed. “Galen, you do things to me, make me feel things that I don’t quite understand.”
“I think you understand them perfectly,” he breathed against her lobe.
“It’s too fast. How can I want you this much simply because of the way you look at me?”
“Because it was meant to be. You do the same to me.”
“But you are going to leave me.”
“I don’t want to. I will do my best to come back to you. To Patrick.”
She half turned so she could look up at him. “You are telling the truth, aren’t you?”
“I would never lie to you.”
“Then I want to enjoy the time we have together.”
“I want that more than anything, angel.”
“Will you kiss me again?”
“You never have to ask. I’m always here for anything you want. Talking. Kissing.” He nipped her ear gently. “Making love.”
He cupped her nape and pulled her to his mouth, where he captured her lips in a possessive but gentle kiss. When she sighed, he slipped his tongue between her lips, and she opened for him immediately. He groaned when her sweet taste hit him. She was everything he’d never thought to have. Genuine, loving, beautiful, fierce, determined, loyal and . . . his.
The thought of leaving her sent pain ripping through his chest like stray shrapnel from a bomb. Every second he was away from her he would be reminded of her scent, of what he was missing, of the mate he could not claim because of some idiot rogue who’d told lies about him.
Without breaking the kiss, she turned to face him and sat on her knees between his thighs. She looped her arms around his neck and linked her fingers together, holding him tight as he unashamedly assaulted her with his kiss. The way she arched into him told him she was enjoying it as much as he was. He ran his palms down her sides, over the flare of her hips, and around to cup one cheek of her firm ass in each hand.
She cried out, and he dipped his head to her throat. He kissed, licked, and nipped at the tender column of her neck while kneading the soft yet firm globes of her ass. Her throaty growls of pleasure made him so hot, so hard, his balls tightened with need. She wanted him, and there was no doubt that he wanted her, but he couldn’t take advantage of her. Even with every cell in his body screaming at him to claim what was rightfully his, he couldn’t do it not knowing the outcome of the current mess he was in.
If he was free to stay with her without the possibility of putting her in danger, he’d claim her without delay. But he was not. He would not claim her—mark her as his forever—without being able to freely promise her forever in return.
“You are so fucking tempting, angel,” he whispered against the soft skin above the neck of the gown.
The creamy swell of the tops of her breasts peeked from the fabric, and he longed to bare her fully to his eyes. He wanted to see the pink nipples tighten under his touch, wanted to witness the pleasure he bestowed upon her. Instead, he reluctantly pulled back and placed his forehead against hers.
They were both breathing heavily, and she clutched at his neck as if frantic for him to continue touching her. He knew exactly how she felt. The need to continue stroking her, to take them both to the pinnacle of their desire consumed him until it threatened his sanity.
“Don’t stop, Galen,” she pleaded.
“I have to, angel. You deserve so much more than I can give you right now.”
“I don’t care. I want you. Here. Now.”
“As I do you, but you will regret it later.”
She looked up at him and cupped his face in her hands. “I would never regret being with you.”
He leaned down and kissed her before staring into her beautiful eyes. “If I had to leave tomorrow, you would regret being with me tonight. Hell, Myka, if we made love and I had to leave at all, you’d regret it.”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Yes. You aren’t listening with your mind right now. You’re only listening to what your body and heart want. If I thought for a moment that our making love wouldn’t end up hurting you, I’d already be inside you.”
She gasped and undulated her hips. He doubted she was aware of what she did and ground his teeth together to keep from exploding when she rubbed against his throbbing cock.
“I would never regret making love to you, Myka, but I want it to be right for both of us.”
She sobbed, and he wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair as she lay against his chest while lust, love, and anger beat through him. It was unfair. Finding his mate was not supposed to be like this, riddled with danger and uncertainty of the future—if any—they would have together.
“I promise you, angel. I will make this right. One day we will be together. No matter what it takes, I’ll do it.”
And at that moment in time, he became resolved about what he might possibly have to do to keep that promise. Kill his own kind. Renewed anger tore at him once again. One thing was for certain. If he found out for sure that Terrance had caused this mess he was in—and he was ninety-nine percent sure now—the rogue was a dead man. He hoped when all hell broke loose the others who were after him would listen to reason and believe him. Because whatever they thought gave them the right to hunt him was wrong. He hadn’t done a damned thing to cause them to call out a manhunt for him.
He smiled when he heard Myka’s light, even breaths against him. She had fallen asleep. He wanted to sleep like this with her every night from now until the day he died. She was heaven in his arms. A miracle that he’d never thought to find.