Sun Catch Her (Book 1: Three Rivers Deep series) COMPLETE

Chapter Thirty-Seven | B

"Fix. Me," I begged with tears in my eyes. "Teach me how to love again..."

We were so close, lips parted, hovering. It was the equivalence of inhaling deeply and holding it until your lungs burned with the need to release. The atmosphere above us quietly crackled, and, ending our final platonic breath, his lips touched mine. In that moment I realized: I truly have never been alone.

I was engulfed in the brilliance of his aura, his wild beauty seeping into my bones to make me warm as his hands came up, their vivid touch first going to my cheeks, before sliding down my neck to my shoulders. He drew me closer on my knees, his hold loose. Being overly cautious, his lips moved slowly. He tasted of the butterscotch ice cream we had for dinner, sweet mixing with another sensation that hummed hotly all the way into my throat. The taste of his kiss became heated, almost burning. It soothed my throat, tight from having tried so hard not to cry, and with each second that ticked by, my lonesome past crumbled and fell away.

Micah had always been here for me. I slid my arms around his broad shoulders as his hands curved about my waist, and he lifted me, the motion of it graceful as he settled me to kneel on his crossed legs. With his inhuman strength, he balanced me effortlessly and gave the impression that we were dancing. Leaning against him, I could feel his heartbeat strong in his chest. He would not leave me empty. Fill me. I pulled back to gasp in air, intending to dive in to drive off my loneliness for good. Fill me to the brim with your presence. That which has been with me all along, growing up beside me these past ten years.

He hesitated when I pulled away. His eyes opened to search mine, uncertain. "If it's becoming too much..."

"It isn't nearly enough." I silenced him and took his breath into me, its tingle now an all-out electrical blaze.

Moving back, he put an inch between us. He swallowed hard and the thick smell of electricity dissipated, the burning power swallowed down to a controlled hum. Realizing that yes, he was strong enough for this, Micah brought his lips back to mine with a throaty rumble. He kissed me again, this time with more passion.

My guardian's butterfly-light hold on me became something more substantial as my fingers played in his hair, the intensity behind it building. I thought I could almost—taste It. I drove my senses hard beyond the metallic flavors of his electrically hot palate, beyond the butterscotch ice cream, beyond the taste of wild candy that sprang forth from each of his exhalations as my eagerness pushed his buttons one by one—oh my god! I was practically seducing him. What was this going to mean for our relationship? Were we more than just friends now?

But heaven help me, I was getting a hint of It. Just inches away from the tip of my tongue as it rode over his. There were peaches there. We were so close.

Although, even if we were almost there, the interfering flavors of my own palate might still overwhelm us. My mouth was swimming with the bittersweet tang of being in heat. Even though Micah was getting a good taste of my she-devvi need to be mated with, he kept his actions gentle. In fact, he was being almost too gentle.

I leaned into him, an insistent sound deep in my throat, but he didn't react. He remained perfectly still, almost doggedly so. He was holding himself back, deliberately unresponsive to the pheromones that commanded him to do more; his restraint was beginning to drive me crazy.

He tilted his head back to continue our slow kissing as I rose up on my knees in his lap, my body going weightless as I realized he was manipulating gravity to make me feather-light. My actions became more demanding, my recently acquired drive to reproduce getting the better of me. Maybe he could hold back, but it seemed that I couldn't. I fisted my hands in his hair, his wind-knotted mane holding in it just the right amount of resistance as I tugged, until finally, he responded. Our kissing became more frenzied, the electricity in it almost too much, right before he broke off.