“I would offer it again.”

“I hope you’ll never have to again.”

Zane dropped his lids and studied his boots for a moment. “There’s something else you need to know.” When he looked up, she gave him a curious look. “Without a living parent, and considering your age, you’ll automatically be considered mature and legally of age. It means you can make your own decisions.”

A smile pasted itself onto her lips. “What kind of decisions?”

“Any.” He shifted his weight to the other foot, suddenly nervous.

Portia took a step closer, then another one, bringing her flush to his body. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he suddenly heard a tremble in her voice.

“I have no right to ask you.”

Her eyebrows twisted. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re young, and I’m your first. It would be wrong of me to offer you a … a union.”

Startled, Portia jerked back. “You don’t love me?”

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “I didn’t say that. But I can’t ask you to make a decision that will affect your entire life. You need time to figure out for yourself what you want. I can wait.”

He’d thought about it long and hard on the flight back. If he asked her to blood-bond with him now, he would be exploiting her vulnerability. She was still grieving for her father, even if she didn’t want to admit it. And she was on her own. He didn’t want her to choose him simply because she had nobody else to turn to.

“Wait?”

“Yes, baby girl. I’ll wait until you’re ready, until you know for sure that you want me. Because once you say yes, I’ll never let you go.”

Her eyes softened. “And in the meantime?”

“You could live with me …” Zane searched her eyes for approval.

“In sin?” Portia teased, her lashes swinging upwards gracefully.

“Lots of sin, I can promise you that.”

Her hand came up and stroked over his bottom lip, the touch electrifying, her gaze hungry. “Can I have a taste of that now? I wouldn’t wanna buy a pig in a poke, if you know what I mean.”

His lips nipped at her finger. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Without giving Portia time to think, he swept her into his arms and carried her into his bedroom where he set her onto her feet. Seconds later, their clothes littered the floor, torn off their bodies in haste and with impatience. It had been too long.

Only when he felt her naked skin beneath his hands and her warm lips pressed to his, did the tension of the last few days desert his body and fade into the distance.

There was no finesse in the way he brought her down on the sheets, his body simply demanding its due. He’d promised not to bond with her tonight, to give her time to adjust to her new situation, but now with a pliable Portia in his arms, he knew he had to fight every cell in his body to keep his promise.

Zane kissed a path down her neck and filled his hands with her breasts, kneading the firm flesh and thrumming her nipples with his thumbs. He had one leg wedged between hers, with his hard-on pressed against her thigh, impatient to find its home. He forced back the need to drive into her without any sort of foreplay, but his leg urged hers to part wider, not caring that he was behaving like a savage.

Portia’s body arched as she pressed into his touch. Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. “Don’t be cruel; don’t make me wait. You know what I want.”

He raised his head to gaze at her flushed face. “Tell me then.”

She slid her hand to the back of his neck and pulled him to her. “I want your cock inside me. And your fangs in my neck.”

Her blunt demand was all it took to free the barely leashed beast inside him. His fangs descended and extended to their full length, their tips peeking from between his lips. And his cock had never been harder.

Complying with her wishes, Zane covered her with his body. The scent of her arousal filled the room and drugged him, making him unable to hold back. With a triumphant grunt, he thrust into her in one continuous slide. Her muscles gripped him like a tight fist, robbing him of his sanity once more. Whether he would ever get used to the way she took him into her beautiful body, he had no idea.

A light sheen of sweat built on his body, and with every thrust he delivered, with every impact of flesh against flesh, more sweat accumulated. He tried to delay biting her, not wanting to lose his head and drown in her essence too quickly. But it was only a matter of time. He couldn’t ignore Portia’s soft moans, her panting breaths, and her scent that only intensified as sweat covered her own skin.