Every male instinct he possessed wanted every man who came into contact with her to know that she belonged to him.
Being with this woman right now was a mistake. He'd told himself a thousand times. If it weren't for the storm, they'd be out in the forest right now, headed for the Temple of Cronus. But it was storming, they weren't in the forest, and at last sinking inside her would be the most pleasurable mistake of his life.
He wouldn't bite her. He wouldn't let himself. If the need came upon him, he'd control it, no matter how uncontrollable it seemed. At least, that's what he told himself to ease his conscience.
"If you don't want me to finish this, say so now." He ground himself against the cleft of her ass. "Once I start, I'm not going to stop. Not this time."
"I want you more than I've ever wanted anything else in my life. I won't let you stop."
He flipped her over, sucking in a breath of salt, foliage and aroused woman, and meshed his lips against hers. She opened her mouth and his tongue dove inside, their teeth clashing together with the force of his entry. He cupped her jawline, forcing himself to be gentle when all he wanted to do was brand her. Hard. Fast.
His need for her grew with every second that passed, intensifying dangerously. Her palms caressed his naked chest, flattened against his nipples, then locked around his neck.
"I love your heat and hardness," she gasped out. "Do you think I'll ever get enough?"
"No, never. You taste so good." Sweat dripped from his brow, and his skin pulled tight, urging him to do more. Begging him to increase their pace. He traced his hands over her shoulders, her back, her breasts, pinching her nipples.
She moaned in pleasure-pain and hooked her legs around his waist, cradling his erection as intimately as possible while still dressed. Her tongue continued its battle with his. Her fingers traveled all over him.
"I want to be naked," she panted.
"I want you that way, too." He nipped at her chin, at the corner of her mouth, all the while rubbing against her. "How do you do this to me? How do you make me need you so badly?"
Sheer pleasure sizzled in her veins when he hit the exact place she needed him. "Again," she gasped. "There."
He drew back, pushed forward. This time they both gasped at the headiness.
"Sometimes... when I saw you in my visions with other women... " She lifted her head and sucked one of his nipples, reveling in the male taste of his skin. "I pretended you were - " she licked her way to the other side and sucked " - with me instead."
A raw moan tore from him. Another beam of lightning exploded in the sky, chasing away the darkness for a split second, and in that second, their eyes met. Blue ocean water against warrior steel. Fire and passion blazed from his expression.
He stared down at her, and his brow furrowed. "We've kissed like this before," he said, his voice strained. "Not in the tub, but - "
"In your mind. Yes." She reached for him, wanting to jerk his mouth back to hers, but he gripped her hands and pinned them over her head.
"I thought I'd dreamed it, but you were actually there. We fought a demon and a vampire, and then we kissed. It really happened."
"Yes," she said, never breaking their gaze. What did any of this matter now? She needed him desperately and didn't know if she could stand it if he refused her. In these last few days she'd been aroused one too many times without reaching fulfillment. "Does that upset you?"
"Hell, no. I just - thank you."
A shiver raced through her, vibrating into him. "You're welcome."
"You're the most beautiful thing, sweetheart." She loved him, he realized, shock still hammering through him. He'd known she desired him but had failed to realize she'd given him her heart. Until now. When she'd entered his mind that day he'd been injured, he'd read her thoughts and she'd been unable to hide her love for him.
Love... Far from making him want to leave her, Gray found himself irrevocably drawn to her, needing her so much more.
He wanted to hear her say it. He had to hear her say it.
He bent his head to kiss her neck when the scent of her sweet, sweet blood wafted to his