Connor shook his head. “No,” he said, the words a ragged exhalation.
I leaned forward, pressed a kiss to his neck, above the artery that pounded there just beneath the skin. Could feel the power beneath it, roaring like an engine. He would be Apex, king of the Pack. Not just because he would demand it, because he would accept nothing less, but because his power was too potent to allow for any other possibility.
So much power, I thought drowsily, and scraped my fangs against his neck.
Connor went absolutely still, and I mentally cursed, afraid I’d gone too far in the thrall of his own magic, and nearly pulled back to look at him. But he held me tight against his body.
“Again,” he demanded. His voice was ragged, as if I’d scraped at it, too, and that nearly broke my own control.
I had to force myself to focus on giving pleasure, not taking what he hadn’t offered—what I’d never take unless he offered. I curled my fingers into his hair, flicked my tongue over his ear, felt his rumbling approval. Then used my fangs to ignite, to entice. To remind him who and what I was. And who and what he’d taken on.
And then I was on my back, the stars wheeling overhead, and Connor above me, body braced on strong arms that framed my head.
I smiled at him, and his answering grin was stunningly beautiful. “Of all the places I ever thought I’d be,” I said, “this wasn’t one of them.”
“Then we’d better make it worthwhile.” His mouth found mine, body sinking, lowering, until we were aligned. I gripped his back, felt the muscles contract as he deepened the kiss, mouth plundering, tongue dipping with mine, every inch of him trying, I guessed, not to snap.
“I want you,” he said, and his hand found my breast, and I arched beneath him. I felt electricity, potent as any spark that magic could fathom, as he teased me. I opened my eyes, found his gaze on me, watching, intense.
“Say it,” he said and lowered his mouth, suckled. The stars seemed to spin faster.
“I want you,” I said, and his growl was a triumph.
He moved his way down my body, slipping away any remaining satin, fingers, hands, mouth giving pleasure with slow and deliberate movements. And when he reached my core, I burst, nearly joined those wheeling stars. Another grumble of satisfaction, of victory. Of pride.
He climbed above me again, kissed me with a gentleness that was just as shocking. “I’ve dreamed of this,” he said, “for a very long time.”
It was my turn to go still, to be shocked. I put my hands on his face, searched his eyes. “What? What do you mean, for a very long time?”
His smile was slow and wide. “Even when you were a brat, Lis, you were desirable. I seriously considered trying to seduce you before you got on the plane to Paris.”
“You did not,” I said and brushed a dark curl from his forehead. “You were at the going-away party for, like, twenty minutes.”
He just looked at me expectantly.
“You left,” I said again. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
“Because you were leaving. And it seemed wrong to, I don’t know, interfere. That’s why I’ve never touched another vampire. I’ve never known one who could compare to the possibility of you.”
The words staggered me, left me as breathless as the kiss. “I’d have said yes.”
He stared at me, his eyes darkening. “Yeah?”
“You were hot,” was all I managed.
His grin was exceptionally wicked. “Then we both have time to make up,” he said, and found my mouth again. Whatever tether he’d used to hold himself back was broken now. There was only desire, only love, as he aligned himself. And then we were connected, and he fought for control again, forehead against mine.
“Connor,” I said, a plea, and he began to move, and we began to move together, as the moon tracked across the sky and the stars turned and we soared through the universe toward our fates, whatever they might be.
I gripped his back like I could capture him, us, this moment in time. One of his hands was braced near my head, the other on my jaw as he kissed me, seduced me, destroyed me.
Stars burst again, and he cried out his triumph, with the darkness above us.
* * *
* * *
I didn’t consider myself prudish, but I also wouldn’t have predicted I’d be lying naked on a bed of grass in the middle