Mmm, that gets me
hard.» He kissed her. «Man, you are so my kind of girl.»
«Do I have to get cut?»
«Hell, no. It's done on the males so everyone knows who we belong to.»
«Belong?»
«Yup. I'll be yours to command. Lord over. Do what you want with. Think you can handle it?»
«I already have, remember?»
V's lids dropped and he let out a growl. «Yeah, every fucking minute. When can we go to my
penthouse again?»
«Name the when and I'm so there.» And next time she might find herself a little leather to wear.
«Hey, do I get a ring?»
«If you want, I'll buy you a diamond the size of your head.»
«Oh, right. Like I'm going to go glam. But how will people know that I'm married?»
He leaned down and nuzzled her throat. «Do you smell me?»
«God… yes. I love it.»
He brushed his lips on her jaw. «My scent's all over you. It's inside of you. That's how my people
will know who your mate is. It's also a warning.»
«A warning?» she breathed, languor suffusing her body.
«To other males. It tells them who will come after them with a dagger if they touch you.»
Okay, that shouldn't be erotic as hell. But it was. «You take the mate thing seriously, don't you.»
«Bonded males are dangerous.» His voice was a low purr in her ear. «We kill to protect our
females. That's the way it is.» He pushed the covers off her, unzipped his leathers, and palmed
her thighs apart. «We also mark what's ours. And as I'm not going to see you for twelve hours, I
think I'll leave a little more all over you.»
He surged forward with his hips and Jane moaned. She'd had him so many times, but the size of
him was always a shock. His hand pulled her head back by her hair, and his tongue shot into her
mouth as he churned over her.
Except then he stopped. «Tonight we'll be mated. Wrath will preside. Butch and Marissa will
witness. You want a church thing, too?»
She had to laugh. The two of them were both such control freaks, weren't they. Fortunately she
was not inclined to fight him on this one. «I'm fine without a service. I don't actually believe in
God.»
«You should.»
She dug her nails into his hips and arched up. «Now is not the time for a theological debate.»
«You should believe, Jane.»
«The world doesn't need another religious freak.»
He brushed her hair back. As his erection twitched inside of her, he said, «You don't have to be
religious to believe.»
«And you can live a very nice life as an atheist. Trust me.» She ran her hands up under his shirt,
feeling his strong back. «You think my sister's up in heaven, eating her favorite Fudgsicles on a
cloud? Nope. Her body was buried years and years ago, and now there's not much left of her. I've
seen death. I know what happens after we go and there's no God to save us, Vishous. I don't
know who or what your Scribe Virgin is, but I'm damn sure she's not It.»
The barest hint of a smile tilted his lips. «I'm going to love proving you wrong.»
«And how are you going to do that? Introduce me to my Maker?»
«I'm going to love you so good and so long you're gonna be convinced no earthly thing could
have brought us together.»
She touched his face, imagined the future, and cursed. «I'm going to age.»
«So am I.»
«Not at the same rate. Oh, Jesus, V, I'm going to-«
He kissed her. «You're going to not think about that. Besides… there's a way to slow that down.
I'm not sure if you'd be into it, though.»
«Oh, jeez, let me think. Um… yeah, I'm into it.»
«You don't know what it is.»
«I don't care. If it prolongs my life with you, I'd eat roadkill.»
His hips moved into her and retreated. «It's against my race's law.»
«Is it kinky?» She arched into him again.
«For your kind? Yes.»
Jane figured it out even before he lifted his wrist to his mouth. When he paused, she said, «Do
it.»
He bit down and then put the twin punctures to her lips. Jane closed her eyes and opened her
mouth and-
Holy shit.
He tasted like port and hit her as hard as ten bottles of the stuff, her head going on a spin after the
very first swallow. She didn't stop. She drank as if his blood would keep them together, vaguely
aware through the roaring in her body that he was pumping into her and making wild growling
noises.
Now V was inside of her in all ways possible: in her brain with his words and her body with his
arousal