Road To Winter (Fae's Captive #2)(11)

I step towards her.

“What—” Gareth gasps as he catches up.

Gareth. Gareth is looking at my incomparable mate. I turn on him and draw my sword with a roar that shakes the trees.

He draws his blade and holds it across his body. Defensive. “Leander, the bond is turning you—”

“She is mine!” I rush him, my sword flying with a fury that seems to infuse the metal with extra bite.

He falls back, his blade dancing with mine as I swing and thrust, each step sending him farther onto his heels.

“Leander!” he yells when I strike a particularly hard blow that would have felled any other fae. “I’m your friend.”

“You looked upon Taylor!” I swing again, and he blocks.

“I wasn’t looking at her!”

“A lie,” the feral fae whispers. “He wants our mate. She is not claimed, not marked, fair game.”

I advance again, putting all my might into an onslaught that lights up the woods with the sounds of battle. With a final, spinning blow, I knock his sword from his hand, and he falls back against a tree, his hands up.

My breath heaving, I raise my sword to hew his head from his body, ending his immortal life.

“Leander!” A cry from behind makes me blink.

“What are you doing? Let him go!” Soft footsteps through the flowers, a scent that twines through my dreams. Taylor.

I turn to her and sheath my blade. Gareth was just a distraction. Claiming my mate is more important. Once I’ve marked her, there will be no challengers for her.

She stares up at me, her damp dress clinging to her body. I know what every inch looks like. Now I just need to taste her. I advance, my blood thundering through me, her presence calling to me from every direction.

She steps back, her hands out in front of her. “What is wrong with you?”

“You are my mate.” I swipe her hands away and pull her into my arms. “Mine.” Kissing her is the only thing I’ve ever done that has felt absolutely right. There is no error here, no shortcoming or doubt. Her mouth was made for me, and I am her devoted slave. I will kiss her until she knows those truths in her deepest heart, can feel me in there. She mumbles against my lips, and I slide my tongue against hers, taking advantage of every opening as I lift her against me.

Her small hands clutch my shoulders as I back her against a tree. When my cock nudges against the warmth between her thighs, I groan and delve my tongue even deeper. She opens her mouth wider, and I take the invitation, kissing her with a passion that engulfs both of us.

I palm her bottom, then hike up her dress. Her legs open farther for me, her heels digging into my backside.

She pushes against my chest lightly, then pulls back. “Leander, wait.”

I follow her and press my forehead to hers, my fangs grazing her lips. “Can’t you feel it?” I growl. Her heart pounds, the vein at her throat fluttering.

“I feel …” She stares into my eyes. “I admit I feel something. I want …” She shakes her head. “I don’t know what I want.”

“I can taste your arousal, little one.” I push my hips against her and hiss at the contact. Claim her, claim her. “I know what you want.”

“This is just too fast.” Her gaze strays to my lips, and her body tightens for a moment. “I mean, I want this.” Her cheeks redden. “I can admit that. But I’m not ready.”

“Fast?” I scoff. “I should have claimed you the second I saw you, thrown you down on that table and made you moan.”

She frowns. “You can’t just take whatever you want like that.”

I press her harder into the tree and grip her thighs. “I am the king of the winter realm. I take what is mine.”

The frown deepens. “Now you’re just being an ass.”

“An ass?” I laugh. “No one has called me names in quite some time.”

She pushes against my chest. “Maybe you need someone to call you names to remind you when you’re acting like a big douche.”

“What is a douche?”

“It’s what you are. Now, put me down.”

“Let you go?” I tighten my grip. “Never.”

“Put me down. Now.” The bite in her tone cuts through my mating haze.

I set her down gently, even though I want so badly to keep her in my grip.

“What is wrong with you?” She crosses her arms and glares up at me. “One minute you are gentle and kind and, and hand-feeding me, for Chrissakes, and then you’re all alpha asshole and growly and insane!”

The mating haze begins to clear, and my head begins to work again. I scrub a hand down my face. Her anger is dissolving the fog, bringing me back to myself, sending the feral need back into my recesses. By the Ancestors, she’s right. I have behaved like an ass.

“It’s not his fault.” Gareth eases around to my left. “It’s the bond. In the old days, you would have felt it and mated with him by now. But now, with the curse, who knows how the bond is affected. I can’t be sure, but the longer he goes without claiming you, I’m afraid the more feral he’ll become.”

Gareth. The world snaps back into focus. I just attacked him. Almost killed him. My best friend. “I am so sorry.” I step back, away from them lest I try and harm them again. “I don’t know what came over me.” I think back and get a glimpse of fair skin, pink nipples, a thatch of neat hair, and— “No.” I rub my eyes. If I dwell on that, I’ll go mad again. “I saw you, and I became a creature of instinct. A douche, as you said.”