her violet eyes drowsy with desire. Hand trembling, he stroked her sex. She shivered in response. The fine hair at the top of her mons was soft and pale, like her tresses. She was hot and silky to the touch, ready for him. His body thrummed in anticipation and a primitive need to mark her as his own. Completely. Forever. She was so small, so slight, and he was a warrior, built and designed for violence and combat.
What if he hurt her?
Sassy decided the matter. Grabbing his shirt, she pulled. Answering her insistent tug, he put one knee on the bed and lowered his big body between her welcoming thighs. She pulsed with light. The warm, womanly scent of her arousal and the smell of the roses made him light-headed. She put her slim arms around his neck and kissed him, and Grim’s worries burned to ash. There was only Sassy, the intoxicating feel and taste of her, the sensuous brush of her tongue and lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, pouring his longing and desire into the caress.
She tore her mouth from his. Her lips were red and swollen.
“Shirt,” she panted. “Off.” She gave the offending garment an impatient yank. “I want to see you.”
Bracing his weight on one forearm so as not to crush her, Grim ripped the shirt off one-handed and tossed it aside.
Sassy inhaled. “Mother-of-pearl, Grim. I’ll never get over how beautiful you are.”
“I am not—”
Sassy placed the pad of her thumb against his mouth and stroked his bottom lip. “Shh. You. Are. Beautiful.”
Lifting her head, she replaced her thumb with her tongue, tracing his lips as though to memorize the shape of them.
“Beautiful here.” Her voice was a husky drawl. Her hands moved from his face to his shoulders and upper arms. “And here.”
She stroked his chest and combed her fingers through the hair on it. “And here.”
“If my form pleases you, then I am—”
Grim’s thoughts scattered as Sassy’s hand drifted down his abdomen and closed around his rigid flesh.
“And most definitely here,” she whispered, stroking him.
“Sassy.” Grim pushed his swollen shaft against her hand. “Ah, gods, Sassy.”
She lifted her hips in invitation and rubbed the head of his cock against her sex. Sweat broke out on Grim’s brow. She was slick with desire. One push and he would be in heaven. His testicles tightened and he fought the urge to plunge inside her. Gritting his teeth, he nudged the head of his shaft into the small opening of her sex. She was tight, oh, so tight.
Sassy rocked her hips, taking him a little deeper inside. “More,” she sighed. “Give me more.”
Perspiration trickled down Grim’s back. The urge to move made him want to howl. He must breach her tender flesh slowly. Allow her time to adjust to the invasion and size of him.
Sassy made a sound of impatience and grabbed his buttocks. With a muttered curse, Grim sheathed himself to the hilt. She was warm, wet, and snug. Sensation scorched him, from the soles of his feet, up his spine, through his stiff shaft to the base of his brain; burning desire and fierce elation. He and Sassy were one, connected, flesh to flesh. A rush of possessiveness swept over him; gratitude and relief as well.
He was home from the hunt at last.
He looked down at his beloved and felt a stab of alarm. Her eyes were wide, her expression startled.
“Are you—ah, gods, Sassy, did I—Are you hurt?”
“No, it’s just that . . .” She wiggled her hips and clenched her sex around him, a combination that made Grim’s eyes roll back in his head. “There. I think that’s—”
“Sweet blessed Kehv,” Grim groaned, losing the fight.
He began to move, thrusting inside her, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Sassy moaned with pleasure. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she met him stroke for stroke, as greedy for him as he was for her. She was flushed and glowing with radiant light. Sparkles of light flitted from her tumbled tresses and danced around their joined bodies. The heat of her core, the pull of her flesh around him added fuel to the fire.
“Sassy, my heart, my love.” He bucked his hips faster. He could not stop. “I want this moment to last, but I—”
Sassy tilted her pelvis, taking him deeper.
“Grim,” she panted. “That feels so . . .”
Her eyes widened. She clenched around him, climaxing with a soft cry. Her sex throbbed. With a shout, Grim let