She just didn’t need this.
But that didn’t seem to matter, because he moved in beside her as though her quickened stride were no problem to keep up with at all.
“We can’t run away from it,” he stated, his voice dark, heavy as she came to a stop, turned and stared back at him warily, angrily.
“And who ran from it this morning?” she questioned heatedly, wishing she were cold rather than steaming in arousal, because that steam was beginning to build to a full roiling boil.
She could feel it taking over, cell by cell, inciting not just a physical, but also an emotional response she had no hope of defeating.
The problem was, she’d wanted him before mating heat. She’d been close to falling in love with him before that first kiss. But for him, there was nothing more involved than the physical, and now more of that than he wanted too.
“I’m not running.” His eyes seemed to burn with black fire.
“And I’m not a wham bam thank you ma’am kind of woman, and I’m sure as hell not a few one-night stands that you can slip out on the next morning.” She sneered. “I’ll tell you what, Navarro, when you’re ready to ask for more than a nice little fuck, then let me know. I’ll see what I can do for you then. Until then, I think I’d prefer the hell of mating heat for company.”
Stalking away, Mica cursed her tongue, her temper and Breeds in particular as she stomped toward the main house, determined to get away from him before she ended up begging. Begging him to fuck her. Begging him to love her.
“It’s not that easy.”
Before she could even imagine he would try to stop her, his fingers wrapped around her upper arm, pulling her to a halt and, before she could stop him, pressing her firmly against the wide trunk of a bare tree.
His warmth seemed to blanket her as he pressed against her, the heavy length of his cock imprinting against her lower stomach through their clothing.
It was cold around them, she knew it was, but she couldn’t feel it. All she felt was the flush of need as it began to overflow through her, saturating her pussy, hardening her nipples and sensitizing her skin.
All she felt was the irrevocable need she couldn’t resist any more than he could.
“It’s just that easy.” She was breathing heavily, her voice much too weak to be as commanding as she wished she could be.
Her breasts were rising and falling harshly, her hard nipples raking against her sweater where his chest pressed tight against her.
“Is it, Mica?” he asked, his hand lifting, fingers brushing back the heavy strands of hair that had fallen across her face.
The touch was so gentle, the stroke of his fingers along her cheek causing her breath to catch at the need that was so much more than physical, so much more than simply the need to fuck.
“Do you really want to run?”
She did. She wanted to run. She wanted to breathe. She wanted . . .
She just wanted to hold as much of him as he held of her.
She wanted more than just his body.
CHAPTER 10
Navarro stared down at her, wondering if she knew how the walls around her emotions were slipping. There had been a time when he couldn’t have cracked those walls in any way. When she could have tucked those emotions so far out of sight that he wouldn’t have had a chance of scenting them.
The intriguing mix of subtle scents that emanated from Mica were like an ambrosia to him. Even the scent of her disappointment, her anger and her emotional pain were slight enough that they only blended with those of heated rosemary, a field of wildflowers, a hint of brown sugar. All the sweet, soft scents of the compassionate, honest woman she was. Scents of her arousal, and a hunger that went far beyond the physical, were like a soft, sweet hint of a coming day.
She wanted more than the physical pleasure that came with the mating heat. The hunger that raged inside her was for far more than just the sex.
Mica wanted love, commitment. She wanted a man whose affection would warm more than just her body. And he’d sworn long ago he’d never let himself step into the treacherous waters of emotion.
Even for his mate.
“I would run if I could,” she finally answered. “You ensured that wasn’t possible when you mated me.”
He cupped the side of her face with his palm, amazed at the silky softness of her skin even as a twinge of amusement filtered through the arousal, and the irritation with that arousal, and had him restraining the tug of a grin that would have pulled at his lips.
“I could say the mating was more your fault,” he stated. “I wasn’t having a problem with any other woman until you.”
“That is such a screwed argument.” The dark frown she angled up at him was accompanied by the disbelief that glittered in her gaze. “Only a Breed would say something so asinine. Sorry, Navarro, but only Breeds have the ability to mate. That cancels me out.”
She had him there. But he noticed the confrontation was increasing that hint of a summer rain as her pussy grew wetter, hotter.
The remembered taste of that soft flesh had the glands beneath his tongue swelling further, the mating hormone spilling to his mouth in increments as he fought the need to kiss her.
Not yet. He wasn’t ready yet.
“Amaya, you are never canceled out,” he assured her. “I believe perhaps it’s a two-way street if we’re placing blame. Because as I understand it, only you could have awakened that ability within me.”
“Go ahead, pawn the blame off.” Her hands flattened against his stomach above the silk of his shirt. “You’re good at that Navarro. I’ve noticed you never take the blame for anything.”
“But, Amaya, there’s so many so very capable of taking the blame,” he drawled.
Amaya. Night rain. This was what she reminded him of. A soft, sultry summer night’s rain. Soft, warm, caressing. Stroking not just the flesh but also the senses.
“I’m not one of them.” Her lashes drifted over her eyes as her expression softened and her face flushed with the pleasure rising inside her.
Stroking his fingertips down her neck, he came to the loose neckline of the sweater and hated the clothing covering her nakedness from him.
He wanted her here, and he wanted her now.
“I followed you when you left the house,” he told her. “As you walked here, I could smell the sweetest hint of summer in the air.”
The rush of dampness between her thighs teased his senses.
“That’s enough,” she whispered. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t make me ache like this, Navarro.”
“Should I ache alone then?” Trailing his fingers over her breast, down, he tracked a path to the hem of her sweater as he watched the rise and fall of the soft mounds increase.
Pushing his hand beneath her sweater, he fought soft, feminine flesh.
He could take her here, he told himself. Turn her, press her to the trunk of the tree. He could push inside her and warm them both with the heat of her need.
Her pussy would milk him in, suck at the head of his dick until he found himself fully seated inside her.
The thought of it was enough to have his cock throbbing beneath his jeans. Or rather, throbbing harder. He’d never lost the hard-on he’d been packing before he fucked her earlier. Hell, he’d come like he was dying as he was locked inside her, and still the erection hadn’t abated.
“See, this is why Breeds were on my ‘no date’ list.” She was huffing with charming irritation. “You never pay attention.”
“I would pay more attention if you weren’t rubbing your pussy against my thigh, Amaya.”
Her eyes widened as surprise glittered in the golden green depths. Her hips paused; the sensual little motions she’d been making against his leg had been about to drive him insane. The heat of her pussy had been like a brand against his thigh. He missed the feel of it grinding against him and the invitation inherent in the motions.