I moaned into his mouth, hurrying to undo his buttons and push the jacket off those large shoulders. He slipped my necklace beneath the neck of my dress before bending and grabbing the bottom. He pulled the dress up and off, flinging it onto the bed. I untied the bow tie, finished the buttons on his dress shirt, and slipped my hands down to his pants as he pulled the tails of the shirt from the base of his trousers and dropped it to the ground.

One warm hand on my shoulder, he held me put while pressing his palm against the necklace lying against my bare skin. I hadn’t worn a bra with the dress, since the straps would have shown and I no longer needed one for support (thank you, Ivy House), so now he let his fingers trail over my budded nipples.

“Your boyfriend?” His voice was deep and thick.

I slipped out of his grip so as to push his pants and boxers to the ground. As he slipped out of his shoes and then the fabric, I hooked my thumbs into the straps of my lacy little thong.

“Leave that,” he said, walking me to the edge of the bed, his large erection trapped between our bodies. “The heels, too.”

Excitement and anticipation bit through me.

“I didn’t know what else to call you.” I ran my hands up his chest, my fingers outlining his cut muscles. “Sorry if I overstepped, but I wanted—”

His mouth on mine cut off my words. His tongue swept through my mouth and then plunged in deep. His fingers encircled my nipples before he reached down low and traced the edges of lace between my thighs.

“I’d like to retain that title, if you don’t mind.” He picked me up and then gently lowered me onto the bed before crawling over me, hands on my knees spreading me wide. He sat back, his length standing large and proud; I salivated for the taste and feel of him.

His gaze roamed my body slowly. He was not touching, just looking.

“There is only one, Jacinta.” He curled his fingers around my ankle before lifting it to his shoulder. “When it comes to mating, I am firmly convinced that there is only one for each of us.” My other ankle followed the first, on his other shoulder. My hair was splayed across the pillow and my necklace rested just above my exposed breasts. “I am equally convinced that I have found that one for me. There could be no other. Not for me.”

He traced down the outsides of my legs and stopped on my hips. He bent forward, his shoulders lowering until they fit into the crease of my knees. One hand traced the edges of the lace panties again, and I arched back, needing that touch to drift toward the center. Needing it deeper.

“For me, there is only you.” He moved the slip of fabric to the side, trailing his tongue up the middle of me.

I pulled in a deep breath, soaking in that feeling, focusing on that tricky tongue, the fingers plunging deep. I let out a breath slowly, my legs falling from him and spreading even wider, wanting to give him all the access I hoped he’d use.

He lifted and slipped my panties off, his mouth on me again, drawing out my moans. Winding me tighter. His tongue doing dizzying circles.

I threaded my fingers through his hair, cried his name, and shuddered with a violent climax.

He kissed up my stomach before sucking in a nipple. He massaged me down low again, readying me for the next dizzying orgasm.

His body pushed me into the soft mattress, and I wrapped my legs around him, the pounding in my middle harder than that in my core. I kissed him with all the passion and desperation I felt.

“I don’t remember how I felt first with the ex,” I said softly, needing to say my piece, needing him to know where I stood. “I remember being in love, but I was so young. I didn’t really understand what I was getting myself into. Love changes as you get older. It isn’t just about that initial rush of feeling; it’s about the capacity for mutual respect and compromise. It’s about how two people take care of each other, honor each other, and trust each other. I wasn’t mature enough to recognize that. I’ve never experienced all of that with someone. But I feel all of that with you. I only want to take it slow so I can be sure. So I can avoid repeating my mistakes. I already trust you implicitly—I just want to trust myself too.”

His eyes were so deep and blue. He kissed me softly. “I meant what I said. I won’t rush you. Take your time figuring it all out. I’ll be here when you inevitably come begging.” His smile was smug.

I laughed and slid my hands up his arms and around his neck. He kissed me, pressing himself against me, and just like that, my anticipation was building again.

“In the meantime, I’ll revel in your body.” He ran his lips down my throat and growled softly.

“Why does that turn me on so much?” I asked, breathless.

“Because you sense the danger of a predator at your neck.” He ran his lips down and across my collarbone. “You submit to me every time you feel it, trusting me with your life. You didn’t always get off on it. You do now because of what I do to you after.”

He enclosed a budded nipple in his mouth and softly ran his teeth over it. I shivered with the feeling, eyes closed, and arched up to meet him.

“What about if I did that to you?” I asked, guiding his hand down between my legs.

He pushed two fingers into me, his pace slow and deep, his thumb massaging on top.

“I’d get turned on too, especially if you sat on me while you did it.”

It took no time at all for me to flip him onto his back and lower myself onto him, trapping his hard length between our bodies. I unhooked the necklace, and as I leaned over to place it on a side table, the tips of his fingers glanced off my core. I moaned softly, taking off the earrings and bracelet before moving back over him. I kissed up his chest and along the side of his neck.

He breathed softly, and a glance revealed his eyes were closed and his mouth had dropped open. He lightly cupped my breasts, stroking my nipples. It was an amazing sort of distraction.

I kissed his lips, and he slid his hands from my breasts up around my neck and shoulders. I trailed kisses down slowly, from his chin with the light stubble to the underside of his jaw and then the top of his throat. His breathing quickened, and I couldn’t help a smile. I moved a little slower and a little lower, feeling each hollow between bones. I reached his Adam’s apple and scraped my teeth along it. He shivered under me.

“I’ve never let anyone do that,” he said, spreading his hands down my back.

“What about Destiny?”

“No. She tried, but I never allowed her. I didn’t think I was capable of allowing myself to be so vulnerable.”

“I’ve kissed your neck before.” I lifted up a little and leaned forward, his tip dragging against me and then finding my entrance. I only sat enough to keep it put.

“You didn’t notice, but I moved just enough to keep you to the sides. Not directly down my throat.”

I kissed lower still, at the base of his neck before starting back up. “I couldn’t kill you like this.”

“No, but it’s… It’s hard to explain.” He squeezed my arms as I made another pass, applying a little more pressure this time, feeling his heart thump under my palm. “It’s a vulnerable place. A shifter won’t heal in time from a wound like a slit throat, or someone ripping our throats out. We’d bleed out too fast. Allowing someone access, even like this, is…a feat of trust.”

“You wouldn’t bleed out too fast.” I kissed his lips and circled my hips, toying with pressure, his hard length slipping in just a bit before I moved away.

“Damn it, Jacinta,” he growled, pushing upward. I evaded, not letting him find purchase.

“I’d heal you before you died,” I said against his lips, kissing him hard, moving my body around him. Anticipation built.

“My shield,” he said, pushing his chin up, inviting me in again.

I raked my teeth along his throat as I sat down hard, moaning with the sensation. He crushed me to his chest, control fleeing in an instant. He pumped upward, spearing me deliciously, and I pushed against him, getting him deep.

He sat up, his arms around me, helping me bob atop him, kissing my neck and my lips. And again I was lost to it, unable to think beyond the feel of our bodies intertwined, the heat within me, the feel of him.

I groaned, gyrating, winding tighter, pleasure bearing down on me from all sides, almost unbearable in its intensity.

An orgasm ripped his name from my lips, filling the room. Sensation filled my world. He shuddered below me, and I clung to him, breathing heavily. But he kept moving, going for one more and getting it a moment later. He pulled my hair with his release, and I smiled harder than I ever had as yet another wave of bliss washed through me, cracking me apart and piecing me together again.

I wilted over him in the aftermath, completely spent. So full of warmth and light.

Still holding me to him, he lay back, cradling me above him.

“Sex has never felt this good before,” he said, his breathing starting to even out. “It’s so easy with you. I barely have to try, and I’m always ready. Always. I’m never sated. I’m almost at the point of asking my brother if it’s a medical condition, or part of the mating, or what.”

“If it’s a medical condition, I hope there is no cure,” I said, my eyelids drooping. I felt the rest of the team in the house, having come back sometime during our lovemaking.

He stroked my hair. “We should probably go down to them and discuss what happened.”

“We should. Sebastian doesn’t think that mage is going anywhere.”

Austin was silent for a moment, softly stroking my hair. “Do you think he has access to better forces?”

“Sebastian has reason to believe that he could, and would, buy mercenaries.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. Instead, he pressed his hands against my lower back and swung upward, hard again.

I put my worries out of my mind and lost myself again in Austin. There’d be plenty of time to worry tomorrow.

Thirty-Two

Two days later, we all sat or stood around a circular white table in the backyard, the sun bright, the grass green, and the apology invitation open on the table, completely unbelievable.