“Temporarily, yes. If it’s desired and agreed upon by both parties.”
Meaning Exos wanted the bond, too. Or had he only yearned to kiss me? I pushed away the thought, preferring to focus on the now, on the way Titus’s hands felt against my skin. His breath, a fiery intoxication warming my lips, urging me to close the gap between us, to take what I desired and more. To bind us. To explore him. To taste him. To feel him.
I slid onto his lap, my legs straddling his own, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Kiss me, Titus,” I whispered, my mouth brushing the words against his. “Please kiss me.”
He smiled, his fingers threading through my hair, taking control by angling my head to his liking. “Try not to light the room on fire, sweetheart.”
“No promises,” I mouthed, the embers already coiling in my stomach. The erection seated firmly between my thighs didn’t help, nor did the way his chest burned mine as he tugged me closer, his arm a brand around my lower back.
He led with his tongue, not bothering to ease me into our embrace. It wasn’t needed. One touch unleashed the passion between us in an explosion of sensation and lust. My nails dug into his shoulders, anchoring me to him as he dominated my mouth in a way no other man had. It left me breathless, needy, and moaning for more, his experience in this arena detonating all my expectations and laying a new foundation in his path.
Hungers only he could satiate.
A passion only he could cool.
Such fire.
A blaze that trembled over my skin, lighting up every fiber of my being.
“Titus,” I moaned, his body owning mine in that moment. He could do whatever he wanted, however he desired, and I would let him. I’d never felt more alive, more energized in my entire life. It was as if he’d introduced me to a new level of existence, one aflame with endless heat and fiery sensations.
And all he’d done was kiss me.
Deeply.
Devouring me to my very soul.
“More,” I urged. “Please.”
He groaned, the arm around my lower back pulling me closer. “You’re killing me, Claire.” He tugged my lower lip into his mouth, sucking hard, the hand in my hair tightening. “We need to take this slow.”
“Why?” I shifted to press my heated center to his cock, loving the way he felt between my legs. So right. So perfect. So mine.
The possessive urge to claim him swept over me, sending a jolt to my system and causing my eyes to widen. I never did this with men I wasn’t dating steadily, let alone one I just met. A kiss, yes.
But I required monogamy before sex.
I needed to know the man.
Which was why I’d only been with two—my high school boyfriend and Tucker from last year. And I’d made both of them wait almost six months.
Not six hours, or however long it’d been.
Titus pressed his mouth to mine, slower, less demanding than before. “It’s overwhelming,” he whispered, his lips touching mine with each word. “You have to ease into it, or the elements will take over. They’re very much a part of us, of who we are, of the decisions we make. And nature doesn’t always listen to reason. We rely on our minds for that.”
Another kiss, softer, coaxing, his tongue gently tracing mine.
I fell into the sensation, my body igniting from within and sending another wave of warmth through my belly.
Fuck, I wanted him.
But I didn’t know him.
It was all so confusing, so consuming, so empowering. I shook beneath the onslaught of emotions, my grip on him tightening, my breathing quickening in my chest.
“Titus…”
“It’s okay, Claire,” he whispered, shifting us so I lay on my back, his lower body settling between my thighs.