“Please,” he whispered against my neck, peppering my skin with the soft halos of his lips. “Do not let your guard down. Ever. I need you more than air, Tessa. I can’t— I can’t live without you.”
His words were feral and true and gentle all at once. My fingers tightened in the fabric of his briefs where his hips pressed into mine. We didn’t need to say the rest; everything that mattered was in his hands and in the way his breath clouded in my hair.
“Don’t worry, mate,” I whispered, the pet name falling different on our guzzled world. “I’ll win.” I squeezed his hand until I felt the bones beneath. “Be ready to let me sink my fangs into that pretty neck—because I won’t waste a second to claim you after. That’s a promise.”
He stiffened, something like heat flooding him. He shifted, the moti
