for you.” He gripped her jaw and swooped in to kiss her, taking over as she’d known he would. “When I found out you were taken, I nearly lost my mind. I love you, Promise. It’s real and it’s only for you.” He kissed her deeper, pressing her against the slick tiles.
“I accept all of you, Ivar.” She kissed him back, running her hands down the hard planes of his breathtaking chest. He loved her? She had feelings she couldn’t identify. How was it possible they were just chemicals and the biological imperative to find the strongest mate for protection? It had to be more. He’d taught her that emotion and intelligence could make her smarter. Stronger. “Ivar,” she murmured.
He clamped his hands on her butt and lifted her. Then his mouth took hers, and she kissed him back, giving him everything she couldn’t figure out how to put into words.
* * * *
Ivar held Promise aloft, pressed against the shower wall, needing her more than he’d needed anything in his long life. After having almost lost her, he was on fire. His blood, his soul, both pumping to the wild beat of near madness. There was only right here and now, only sensation, only this voracious hunger, one only she could satisfy.
She moaned his name, digging her nails into his shoulders, her thighs like a steel trap on either side of her hips. The one trap he never wanted to escape from. He slowly pressed inside her. Her eyes widened, and he tilted her to take more of him. “Ivar.”
He licked her lips, kissing, going deep. “You need to know. My loyalty is absolute.” He pumped harder, watching her full breasts jiggle in response. Her dusky nipples were a treat he could feast on for his entire life. “When I give my heart, it’s once only, and it’s for you.” He had to make sure she understood.
“Ivar, I love you,” she breathed, looking more than a little surprised as the words came out of her mouth.
He wanted to shout and laugh and kiss her some more. But he had to be sure she truly understood. “You’re everything to me, sweetheart.” The feel of her around him, of her taking all of him, was pure fucking bliss that nearly took his head off. His fingers dug into her rear, and he tried to slow down, but her internal muscles clamped down hard on him.
Desperation ripped through him, throwing him into a frenzied lust.
She cried out and held him harder, her thighs trembling on his hips.
He powered into her, plunging again and again, going deeper than even he would’ve thought possible. Closer. He wanted to be closer, to be a part of her, to never leave. No matter what it took, he’d come back to her. His fangs dropped.
Her eyes widened, and she slowly turned her head, revealing her delicate neck. It was a moment of absolute trust. She’d seen him rip out the neck of the enemy, and yet, she exposed herself to him. Willingly.
He grazed his sharp fangs beneath her ear and down her neck, enjoying the way her curvy body shuddered against his. She was vulnerable and trusting, and she gave him everything he could’ve ever wanted. Slowly, he pressed the twin blades into her skin, marking her yet again.
She tensed and cried out, an orgasm taking her with a power beyond them both. He pounded harder, his fangs inside her, finishing in a white-hot explosion that left him gasping and for the first time in his life feeling like he had a place. Just for him.
For once, he felt whole.
He licked her wound closed, and she mumbled something, her head back on the wall, her eyes closed. Satisfaction filled him at the sight of his mark on her delicate flesh.
The rain beat outside, cocooning them together for this brief moment.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she smiled, her expression full of contentment. “Loving you has made me even smarter. I can imagine even more now.”
His cock jumped inside her. He kissed her sweet mouth, drawing in her taste to keep him sane on the journey to come. “I need to leave tomorrow morning first thing.”
She started and released his shoulders. “I understand the timing, but I have to go work the equations first.”
He let her legs drop and then held her until she’d gained her footing. He studied her precious face. “All right.” His hand swept down her back and over the stunning K marking on her butt.