A bolt of lust slammed into him, completely surpassing his previous anger. Her unwillingness to back down...her show of strength in the face of a dangerous situation...my beautiful female.
“I can take care of myself,” she said. “Today, I’ve proven it.”
He forced himself to admit the truth. “You don’t need me.” She could survive the world without him. She could thrive in the world without him. “But you still want me, and I’ll prove that.” He cupped his growing length and stepped toward her. “If you’ll let me. Please, let me.”
“No.” The tremor in her voice betrayed her. “No!”
He took another step toward her. “I’m begging, Rina.” He offered the words with ragged desperation. “Cut me if you must. Hurt me. But make love to me, too. I’m nothing without you.”
Her eyes sparkled. “How long will this sweet man remain with me?”
“Forever.”
“Because you still expect eternity, despite what I’ve said?” She hissed at him, again waving the dagger. “Kretén! You’re right. I do still want you. You made my body hunger for you.”
Her admission made him hard—as—stone, his erection swelling over the waist of his pants, a bead of moisture rolling from the tip.
She added, “But you also made my mind despise you.”
He could work with that. “I’ll do anything you demand. And, if you let me, I’ll make your body come and your mind forgive me. I just need a chance.”
She tossed the dagger to the floor. “Yes to the former, never to the latter. What I want from you? For you to remember making me come doesn’t mean anything or change anything. This is hate sex, nothing more. One last time. A final goodbye. Closure.”
Even as she spoke, he ripped off his shirt, tore the zipper of his pants and kicked the material from his legs. “Not goodbye,” he said. “You make your choice, and I make mine. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”
“Oh, this is definitely goodbye.” Her motions jerky, she stripped, as well. “All stalkers will be shot on sight.”
Part of him missed the innocent human who’d vomited at the sight of blood, who’d beseeched him not to commit acts of violence. But he reveled in her bravery.
“You aren’t the only one whose body hungers, Rina.” His aches worsened as he drank her in. The rosy flush that darkened her skin. The plump breasts with the dusky tips. The flat plane of her stomach, the sensual dip of her navel. The heart-shaped flare of her hips, and the tiny patch of dark curls. Those long, endless legs.
No woman was more perfect.
“If you’re done with the inspection,” she said primly.
“For now.” He stalked forward, slow and purposeful. Determined. He was starved for her, wouldn’t spook her.
She backed up, doing her best to maintain a bit of distance. Not because she was scared of him, he saw no fear in her eyes, but calculation. The woman enjoyed taunting him. She planned to make him work for her.
He would love every second.
Anticipation drove him; he slanted to the right, sending her toward the full-length mirror in the corner. As soon as her back met the cool glass, she gasped, delighting him. He pounced, taking her by the shoulders and spinning her to face her reflection. Their reflection.
Destruction was already under her thrall.
With her back pressed against the heat of Baden’s chest, he positioned her the way he wanted her: her hands gripping the edge of the mirror, her legs braced apart. What a sight they were. A contrast of colors. His hair a deep red, hers a glossed onyx. His skin bronzed, hers burnished brown, poreless, flawless...made for his tongue, his hands. Every part of him. He belonged to her.
They were a contrast of textures. Where he was rough, she was smooth. Where he bulged with muscle, she teemed with softness.
He breathed her in as he cupped her breasts and brushed his thumbs over her rigid nipples. “I missed these.”
“No talking.” The breathless rasp of her voice fogged the mirror. “Only doing.”
“I can multitask.” He drew her earlobe through his teeth. “And Rina? You may be able to survive the world without me, but I can’t survive the world without you. We can’t. You keep us calm. You are our home.” And maybe that was why he hadn’t been able to flash. Home is where the heart is. He could no longer make any adjustments in his mind about what was and wasn’t his home. It was her, plain and simple. Always and forever.