of a tsunami, but the feel of her flesh beneath his fangs as he had marked her with his bite.
A damned shame that the mark wouldn’t last. He wouldn’t be at all displeased to have her walking around with a blatant display of his ownership.
Unfortunately even now her skin was healing, returning to the perfect, unmarred silk that tempted him to lean down and sink his teeth in for another bite.
He groaned, his body hardening.
Now that he thought about it, he was tempted to start the whole thing over. This time he wouldn’t let the bewitching Were provoke him into such a swift conclusion.
He intended to take hours pleasuring her.
To have her pleading for release.
And most importantly, to make certain that he had entrenched himself so deeply she would never, ever want another lover.
Snuggling against his chest, Sophia heaved a sigh of contentment.
“That was ...”
“Sensational?” he offered, his lips teasing over her brow and down the slender length of her nose. “Life altering? The best you’ve ever had?”
“Adequate.”
He snorted. The earth had just moved.
For both of them.
“Adequate?”
He lowered his head to deliberately tease the tender spot just below her ear, chuckling as she quivered in ready response.
“Okay, maybe it was above average,” she whispered huskily.
“You’re playing with fire, cara.” Nipping the lobe of her ear, he planted hungry kisses down the length of her throat, pausing to nuzzle the tender flesh he intended to hold in his teeth as he brought them both to an explosive climax. “Shall I remind you of just how good it is between us?”
She groaned, her hands branding a path of heat over his chest and down his stomach.
“It’s coming back,” she assured him. “Slowly.”
For all his brawn, Luc had always been surprisingly intuitive. In truth, it was his ability to read others that made him such a lethal killer.
Any Were could use his teeth and claws to battle his enemies. But a soldier who could predict what his opponent was going to do before he did it, priceless.
It wasn’t intuition, however, that made him pull back to study his companion with a searching gaze. No, this was much deeper. Much more ... intimate.
“Sophia?”
“Hmmm?” she murmured, her hands continuing the path of destruction toward his fully erect cock.
Mierda, he wanted to forget the concern that niggled at the edge of his mind. Surely whatever was bothering Sophia could wait?
At least for a few hours.
Then, as he caught the scent of wariness threaded through the rich spice of her desire, he heaved a small sigh, catching her hand a mere heartbeat before she captured his shaft and put an end to any coherent thought.
“There’s something on your mind.”
She flashed a deliberately wicked smile. The kind of smile intended to divert any red-blooded male.
“A sexy six-foot Were who thinks he’s all that?”
Bringing her hand to his lips, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles, his gaze never wavering from her pale face.
“Nice try, but I know when a female is distracted.” He smiled wryly. “Not a problem I usually have when I’m in bed with her.”
She rolled her eyes. “You really need to work on your self-confidence.”
“Sophia, tell me what’s troubling you.”
There was a long silence as she inwardly debated the odds of keeping her secrets. Then, clearly accepting that there wasn’t a chance in hell, she heaved a resigned sigh.
“I’m not sure you actually want to know.”
He hissed, his muscles rigid as he prepared for an unseen blow.
“Dammit,” he rasped. “If you try to convince me you regret our—”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Just tell me.”
She licked her lips, looking oddly vulnerable. “I was attracted to you from the moment we first met.”
“I knew you had good taste.” His voice remained tense even as he gently tucked a golden curl behind her ear.
“But I told myself that I would be an idiot to give in to that attraction.”
“Why?”
She lowered her lashes, as if she could somehow hide from his searching gaze.
“Because I wasn’t going to be a convenient lay that would be forgotten the moment you returned to Miami.”
He froze, his brows snapping together. “That’s what you thought of me? That I intended to use and abandon you?”
“I wasn’t judging you,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed more than my share of meaningless hookups.”
Was that supposed to reassure him?
Dios.
Abruptly rolling onto his back, he threw an arm over his face.
Why didn’t she get a little salt to rub into the wound?
“You’re right, I don’t want to hear this,” he muttered.
He felt her turn to press against his side, her hand