I ran my hands over his strong shoulders and pulled him closer, heat burning through my body, magic fused with desire. I pushed my knees up his sides and sighed when he reached between my thighs.

“Give in to me, Alexis,” he commanded softly, and the fire rose.

I gripped the sheets as tight bands of pleasure wrapped around me from his sexy magic. He was starting to lose control, just as I was.

“Say you’ll be mine,” he said, and though his voice was still so soft, alluring, I heard the command within the words, and his underlying need to claim me as his own.

My breath turned harried, and I arched under him with need. His fingers dipped into me with a steady rhythm, building me higher. I reached between us and curled my fingers around his hard length, steel wrapped in velvet.

“Hmm,” he groaned and his thumb touched down on my clit. He plunged and rubbed, winding me tighter. Drowning me in sensations.

“Take me, Kieran,” I begged, needing him in a way I didn’t understand. Wanting him with a fervor that didn’t seem natural.

His possessive Demigod power swept into the room, rising like the tide. I lost myself in it, letting it carry me where it would. Letting him work me higher until I could barely think.

“Do you require proof that I am devoted to you? Is that what you need?” he asked in a dangerous tone that hit me in all the right places.

I gyrated up to meet his fingers, nearing the edge. Ready to jump off and crash into orgasm.

“Yes,” I breathed, responding to his ministrations.

He thought I was answering his question.

He leaned farther over me, flexed and deliciously imposing. He dwarfed me with his strength and showered me in his raw, primal energy. His fingers worked me hard, but he kissed me softly, the contrast intoxicating. He moved down and flicked a nipple with his tongue, then sucked it in.

“Oh—God!” An orgasm tore through me, blasting my world apart. I shivered on the bed as he braced himself above me, his eyes locked with mine.

“I’ve never spent a full night with a woman,” he said, his deep voice rough and open. “You will be my first.”

I barely stopped from widening my eyes. I would’ve thought he’d spent the night with several women. He was a Demigod for criminy’s sake. They were like catnip to felines. Especially this one, who was incredibly handsome. I said as much.

He slowly leaned forward and ran his lips against my jaw. “I’ve bedded women, but I’ve always left right afterward. Directly afterward. Except with you. I would’ve stayed for days on end with you, but my father would’ve wondered who had attracted my interest. I left to protect you.”

I cupped his face with my hands and kissed his lips, emotion filling me up.

“Before you, I’d never bought a wardrobe for a woman,” he continued in a low hum, “let alone on two separate occasions. I’d never stolen a woman’s pants to get her size so a team of advisors could pick out the perfect attire for her body size and personality. And I’ve never given a woman her own drawer, let alone twice, both times without her ever having stayed over. Yours is that one, by the way.” He pointed to a reclaimed wood dresser stained in espresso across the room. “Bottom right. If you need more room, I can make it.”

Butterflies fluttered through my belly. Warmth squeezed my heart. “And a house?” I asked with a small smile and embarrassingly glassy eyes. “Is that a door prize usually?”

He didn’t match my smile. “I’ve never dated, in the traditional sense. Or thought of a woman every waking moment. Or promised I would protect her regardless of having no assurance she was mine to keep.” He pushed back, his stormy eyes intense. “Or allowed her to stay by my side when everything in me knows I should force her to go.”

“Right, yes. The ol’ don’t waste your heart on me shtick.”

“You shouldn’t. I’m a mess. I’m dangerous. My father loved my mother as intensely as I love you, and he ended up locking her in a castle on an island.”

I froze at his words, unable to focus on the last. It was hard to breathe through the emotions welling up inside of me.

“But damn it, Alexis, I know you’re meant for me. I feel it. Our first meeting wasn’t a chance encounter. Not really. You weren’t terrified by a dangerous stranger following you around, threatening and propositioning you in turns, because you lack good sense, but because you recognized your destiny. It was tolerating someone who would stand by you while you claimed your birthright.”

I struggled to keep the emotion out of my tone. “Just my destiny?”

“You freed my mother when no one else knew how, and I know you’ll free me of my father, too. Just when I needed you most, I found you. With your help, I’ll stay on the path my mother set me on. One of compassion and morality. You make me a better man, Alexis. You’ll make me a better leader, if ever I should rise to that mantle. You are not just my destiny, you are my salvation.”

I blew out a breath slowly, tears clouding my vision.

“Take that house, Alexis, for you and your kids. Give them a better life. Let yourself live a better life.” He paused as he stared down into my eyes. “Be mine, and only mine, as I will be yours.”

I held his gaze for a long moment, and finally, against all logic and sense, gave in. Kinda.

“Make me.”

17

Alexis

His eyes flashed with desire. He ran his palms up my inner thighs, pushing, spreading me wider.

“There is no going back after this,” he said with a warning in his voice.

I moaned as his sexy magic caressed my skin and soaked down into my body. “I know.”

I licked my lips as he leaned forward. His mouth skimmed across my core before sucking in my clit.

“Oh God…” I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting my hips drift up of their own accord. “Deeper,” I breathed.

He pulsed the suction while running his fingers in and out. With his other hand he reached up and massaged my breast, lightly pinching my nipple and sending wave after wave of bliss through me. I lavished in the exquisite pleasure, so close to coming even though I’d already climaxed once already.

I grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked. He groaned, sucking harder. His hand working faster.

“Holy…fuck!” I shook with the orgasm, arching back and floating on the waves of passion.

He didn’t give me a chance to come down. Faster than thought, he settled his muscular body onto mine. I groaned as his tip slid up my wetness.

“You’re mine,” he whispered against my ear, and thrust.

Colors burst behind my eyes. The whole world stilled in the moment. His magic blistered pleasantly across my skin.

“Mmm,” I moaned, deliciously filled.

“Mine,” he said again, his rough voice sending the shivers of ecstasy down my spine. A tidal wave of his magic sucked me under to a place with no thought. He pulled back before ramming into me again, then again, hard and rough and fucking fantastic.

“Yes, Kieran,” I groaned, holding on for dear life as his power dizzied me.

Something about this time felt different than all the others. Something about his magic skimming flames across my skin made my heart leap expectantly. And it made me want to call my magic and entwine it with his.

Giving in to the feeling, I opened up the power of the Line, letting it fill the room and seep into our soul connection. He groaned in bliss and thrust harder, hitting me just right.

“Yes, Kieran. More.”

His movements became wild. The passion rose like a storm, overcoming me. A gale force wind blew from the Line, covering our soul connection with spirit and hardening it into something unbreakable. Invulnerable. Forever.

He crashed into me with a fervor I’d never experienced. I raked my nails across his back, lost to the exquisite feel of him. Basking in his magic and power. The pressure built, higher and higher, winding through my core and tightening.

I held on for dear life as his power spun around us, almost a solid force. I cried out as I hit another high, my body unbearably tight. The pleasure so sharp it cut, so delicious I could barely breathe. For a moment, I hovered right there, at the cliff’s edge, just needing a little push.

“Mine!” he exalted, and a surge of power such that I couldn’t understand slammed into me. Magic seared my skin and soaked down into my body. The pleasure wrapped around me as his body drove down deep.

The room lost gravity and I lost my grip on reality. Suddenly, we were falling—then floating—weightless in pleasure, limbs entwined. The well we’d tumbled into had no bottom.

With one last thrust, he whispered, “Forever.”

I exploded into so many pieces I was sure they’d never all be found. He groaned and shook over me, finishing with me. His lips lingered against mine as my body vibrated against his.

Our heavy breathing filled the quiet room. My heart thudded against my ribcage and every muscle in my body loosened, then went completely limp.

“You’ve outdone yourself this time,” I said softly, my voice slightly hoarse. I had the distinct impression I might’ve been screaming instead of ladylike moaning.

Breathing deeply, like he’d just sprinted a mile, he rolled onto his side before pulling me with him. I settled my head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder and breathed a sigh as the weight of his arm wrapped around me.

“That was…” His voice drifted away. “I have no words for what that was, Alexis.”

“Incredible? Fantastic? Legendary?”

“Permanent.”

I looked up, surprised by the gravity of his voice.

He skimmed his fingertips across my back. “I didn’t ever imagine a person could feel this way. It’s exhilarating and consuming. I feel like I’m still floating.”

I smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. It was like the bed was just a prop for appearance’s sake, and if it weren’t there, we’d still be at exactly the same height, me wrapped up in his strong arms, enjoying the soft thrush of the ocean in the distance and the warmth of each other’s bodies.