Page 16 of Fae Devoted (Fae Touched #3)
Jo’s breath hitched an instant before he covered her lips with his.
It wasn’t a sweet joining. He’d denied the craving to claim his mate far too long, the acute hunger gnawing at his insides demanding anything but gentleness.
He used his firm hold to slant her head and deepened the kiss, plunging into the delicious heat of her mouth.
She returned his passion in equal measure, her tongue tangling with his, her feminine nails digging into his sides.
Tucker dropped a hand to her hip and dragged her closer.
Supple curves fit perfectly against his unyielding planes, the peaked tips of her breasts brushing his chest. Twisting her thick plait in his fist, he tugged until her spine bowed, and her neck arched.
Jo grabbed onto his biceps as he bent his knees and ran his open mouth down the lithe column of her throat, dipping his tongue into the velvety hollow between her collarbones.
“I want you, Jo,” he whispered against her smooth flesh, breathing in her essence. After a long lick that ended underneath her chin, he uncoiled his body to its full height.
Jo’s lips were parted, wet and swollen from his kisses, her lids at half-mast. She panted softly, small breasts rising and falling in an erratic rhythm.
His grip tightened on the russet locks still roped around his knuckles, resisting the urge to lean in and steal a taste of the pert nipples visible through the thin material of her colorful blouse. Or a suck. A bite.
His gaze lifted with a will of its own to the exquisite sweep of her throat, swallowing hard as primal possessiveness and immeasurable yearning merged. The conflicting maelstrom crashed in a whirlpool of wild need, stiffening his cock and lengthening his fangs once again.
He unclenched his fist, and Jo lowered her chin.
Her hooded eyes landed on Tucker’s elongated teeth, and even in the dark, he could see the stunning hazel color turn nearly black, her pupils blown with her own fervent need.
Jo’s tongue swept her lips before she said raggedly, “Then why, Jacob? I want y—”
Tucker groaned, snatching Jo to his chest, and pressing her nose into his shirt. A position which made it difficult for his teeth to reach the dangerously seductive slope of her shoulder and for Jo to utter the words that would have been his undoing.
“I can’t.”
Not yet.
Jo sighed and let go of his waist. But she didn’t move from his embrace, instead her arms snaked around his middle and locked behind his back. “Okay. Fine. But I’m still going with you, capisce ?”
His body was rock hard, but he kept his touch gentle as he stroked the crown of Jo’s head until their breaths calmed and their heart rates slowed.
“I have another idea,” Jo finally said, stepping from his arms. “More of a backup plan for us, really.”
“Us?” His tone returned to a growl. “I never agreed, Jo.”
“Then I’ll go by myself,” she told him with a one-shouldered shrug. Jo placed her hands on the waist-high railing behind her and leaned back. “Texas would be a good place to start my search for your brother. Begin at the beginning is what the King always said.”
“Which king?” He pinched the bridge of his nose; afraid this was a contest of wills he would not win.
“The King of Hearts.” Her expression was a portrait of innocence.
“What is it?” he said, feeling as if he entered his own version of Alice’s Wonderland.
“What’s what?”
“Plan b?” Maybe it was something he could turn to his advantage because at this point, Jo held all the cards.
Tucker didn’t doubt for a second the tenacious she-wolf would carry out her threat to locate Jeremiah without him.
And he couldn’t take the chance that she would track him down alone—not when his brother might still be connected to a deadly Fae.
“Oh, that. Well, it occurred to me a Mark doesn’t have to be…
” Jo glanced away, intensely interested in the potted plant to her right.
“It’s not totally necessary for the couple to, um, a male can bite a female…
” She huffed and then raised that obstinate—infuriating—bewitching chin high.
“You can leave your Mark on me without us having sex.”
Tucker was on her in a snap, his canines erupting from his gums. Fully extended claws gripped the railing behind her, fencing Jo in with his arms, sharp nails piercing the wood and leaving deep indentations.
Her eyes went wide, but hazel met wolf-yellow head on.
“Fuck, no,” he mumbled, mouth distended with fangs.
Hunching low, Tucker wedged his nose in the V of her open collar and scraped his teeth along the exposed clavicle.
Nipped. A sharp inhale from Jo, and he nipped again, careful not to break the skin.
Then he converted his pointed canines to blunt, human-like teeth and removed his clawed fingertips from the now damaged rail.
“Fuck. No,” he repeated, in case she hadn’t understand him the first time.
“But—”
“If I Mark you, Jo, there will be sex,” he said with a promise that came out ragged and raw.
“Right. Got it. Soooo…” She cleared her throat. “When do we leave, and where are we going?”
“Michigan,” he replied, scrubbing a hand over his face and rolling tense shoulders. “I want to leave as soon as possible. How long will it take you to get ready?”
“I already packed a bag.” She beamed at him. “It’s in your truck.”