His words made her shiver. She knew he spoke truth when he promised her pleasure, but pleasure was fleeting. “Stop doing that. You know what I’m talking about. The side effects to a witch mating with a shifter.”
He looked puzzled. “I’ve never heard of any so-called side effects. Then again, I’ve never actually met a witch-and-shifter pairing. Dracin didn’t have time to tell me much about his relationship.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you should get your facts straight first. I did learn about them, rare as they are, in my witch course. Things like the fact that any children we’d have would be shifters, not witches or warlocks like me.”
Aidan shrugged. “If you say so. I assume this knowledge is based in fact and not rumor.”
Sophia frowned at him. “Why would they print it in the course book if it was false? Even if I could accept that any children we’d have wouldn’t take after me, I’m more disturbed with the issue that while pregnant I wouldn’t be able to use magic at all.”
“And?”
Sophia growled. “I’d be powerless.”
Aidan rolled his eyes. “Ooh, for five months you couldn’t use your magic. The calamity, the horror.”
“Five months?”
“Shifter babies don’t take as long as human babies to mature.”
“Oh.” The books hadn’t mentioned that, not that it mattered.
“What do you need your magic for, might I ask, that you can’t go without for a few months?”
Sophia’s mind drew a blank. “Well, nothing usually, but you never know. What if someone tried to attack me for being a witch or something?”
Aidan’s eyes went dark. He got up from his chair, his body taut, and pulled her up into his arms. Sophia, in shock from the multitude of pleasurable sensations racing through her, didn’t protest. She did, however, shiver at his next words.
“I will never allow anybody or anything to hurt you. I will protect you with my life.”
Then his mouth came down hard on hers.
Chapter Eight
He honestly hadn’t intended to kiss her. He’d meant to make her think about some of her arguments and then go to bed, but when she’d talked about needing magic to keep herself from harm, a raging protective instinct took over. Only a fool would dare to lay a finger on her. He would kill to keep her safe.
He’d only meant to reassure her when he pulled her into his arms, but his libido took over and his mouth claimed hers in a fiery kiss. With an expectation that she’d bite his lip or stomp on his insole, he was surprised when instead he felt her hands reach up to clutch at his head, drawing him down further so that she might return his embrace with an enthusiastic groan.
She was everything he’d ever dreamed of in a woman-stubborn, intelligent, passionate, and even better, she fit perfectly against him. Her curvy frame tucked into his as if made for size. Her full breasts pushed against his chest, her rounded ass filled the palms of his hands lusciously, and her sex pulsed against the thigh he inserted between her legs.
Her mouth parted under the pressure of his, and he inserted his tongue into her warm recess, almost losing control when she daringly sent her tongue to twine with his. The heady sensations that swirled through his body were unlike anything he’d ever experienced. And he wanted more.
As he gripped her buttocks, he slid her up and down on his muscled thigh and was rewarded with a gasp whose sound he swallowed. Even through the thickness of the clothes that separated them-he’d almost chuckled at her attempt to hide her shape under her bulky sweatshirt-she was so wet and ready for him. His lips left hers to taste the soft skin of her neck and here his wolf finally jumped in, forcing his canines down and ramping up his instinct to bite her. Mark her as mine.
But an ounce of sanity prevailed. She hasn’t agreed yet.
Cursing himself for an idiot but knowing he’d be stupider to go on without her permission, he pulled away from her and took a step back.
She swayed on her feet, with her eyes closed dreamily, and her lips swelled with passion. She mewled like a lost kitten, and he took another step back even as his wolf and heart screamed at him to scoop her up and take her now.
Finally, she opened her eyes, confusion quickly clearing. A red stain bloomed across her cheeks, and a torrent of emotions crossed her face. Before she could speak, Aidan did.
“There’s blankets in the closet if you want some. I’ll be in the bed if you change your mind about becoming my mate or want to cuddle. Goodnight.”
Then he walked away from her, his cock and his wolf howling in protest. But Aidan knew he’d done the right thing. It won’t be long before she comes to me.
He walked away. She stared incredulously at his retreating back, not snapping out of her shock until he closed the bedroom door. She should be glad he’d walked away. She certainly hadn’t given it a thought once he touched her. On the contrary, she wanted to stalk across the cabin into the room he’d vanished into and demand he finish what he’d started.
Her pussy throbbed, her nipples ached, and a frustrated moan broke free. She kicked and stamped at the floor, pissed at the effect he’d so easily wrought. I’m even more angry at the fact that I want him to come back and continue where he left off.
Even as she’d argued with him why their getting hitched wouldn’t work, she’d heard her explanations for what they were-feeble excuses. The truth was her thoughts were consumed with Aidan. And not just about how great a lover he’d be, but what a future with a man like him would entail. Her argument of becoming his slave didn’t fly in the face of what she’d seen of him. Yes, he has a domineering side, which is ridiculously hot, but he’s also caring and even more amazing, willing to listen to me. How many men could boast that trait? She wasn’t stupid, she knew he could easily force-actually, make that seduce-an acceptance of his mark if he chose to. Only an honorable man would wait for her to agree, or in his words make her ask for it.
Therein lay the danger. He made it seem so simple, so right, which made it all the scarier. She could see herself giving in and soon if she didn’t find a way to escape.
As she lay huddled on the couch under a blanket and fought the urge to crawl into his bed, where he’d eagerly welcome her, probably naked, she tried to think of way to escape his cabin. She didn’t, however, come up with the harder solution of how to free herself from the feelings he provoked in her, ones that said take me and make me yours forever.
Aidan lay in bed, hoping against all odds, she’d choose to follow him. She didn’t of course, although he grinned when he heard her mini-tantrum. She wanted him, he had no doubt of that. He could have had her there in the kitchen too, her response to his embraces made that clear. But he wanted more than a simple seduction. I want her to choose me. Come to me of her own free will and not drugged on my kisses.
He hoped he’d given her food for thought; he knew she certainly had for him. He hadn’t known about some of the things she’d told him. The fact of not having magic during pregnancy on first mention didn’t seem like a big deal, but now that he had time alone to think, it made him wonder how he’d feel if he were told he had to give up his wolf for a length of time. The concept frightened him, and it made him better appreciate her feelings. To have magic, something she’d known all her life, gone, would make her human for a short time. How daunting it would seem. Would he have the courage to say yes if the roles were reversed? He believed her to be worth the price. Now, if only she would come around to thinking the same of him.
In the meantime, though, she’d left him with a turgid problem that needed to be brought under control. His arousal put him in a precarious position; it weakened his control.