She snuggled her hips against his and he was sure she was able to feel what she did to him. How hard he was for her.

“I’m not running,” she told him.

“You should.”

“Maybe. But I’m not. At least not yet.” She kissed the corner of his mouth and Paul had to hold himself back from taking control and kissing her like he really wanted.

“What if it’s now or never? What if I don’t let you go?” he asked.

She let out a sweet, feminine laugh. “I suppose we’ll just have to see how that works for you. For now, I’m yours.” She ran her hands down his back until she was cupping his ass. “And you’re mine.”

“Yes, I am.” He lifted her face and kissed her, trying to tell her without words how much she meant to him and his people. How precious she was. How much he loved her.

His ring buzzed happily, warming his finger.

Andra melted into him and opened her mouth under his. Her wicked little tongue dancing against his sent a shock of pleasure down his spine. He groaned into her mouth and tilted her head back so he could kiss her deeper.

All that lust that Tynan had planted in him as a joke came roaring back to life. His blood felt as if it were on fire and his heart pounded hard enough that he was sure they could hear it all the way in the dining hall. Paul tried to stay in control, but it was a futile effort—a battle lost before it even began.

He picked her up and carried her inside to his bedroom before he lost his mind and took her out here, where anyone could pass by. For now, she was his and only his, and he didn’t want anyone else seeing her naked.

And she was definitely going to be naked as soon as he could manage it.

Andra pulled her mouth away from his just as he cleared the bedroom door. “Not here. Grace will hear us.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.”

“Then block the sound. Put up a barrier to keep it from leaving the room.”

“I can do that?”

Paul didn’t want to talk or teach her anything right now. He wanted to take her and make her come so hard so many times she’d never be able to live without him. “Yes,” he said between clenched teeth.

Paul set her on the bed and felt a tug of power as it left his body. The air around them shifted and his ears popped as she put the barrier in place.

He pushed her back onto the mattress and covered her with his body so she couldn’t get away. A dark grin pulled at his mouth. “Now you can be as loud as you like.”

“Think you can make me scream?” It was a challenge. One Paul was more than ready to accept.

Actions spoke louder than words, so instead of answering her, he simply bundled up all the searing lust writhing inside him and shoved it through their link. The conduit connecting them trembled at the force of his need for her.

So did Andra.

She arched up off the bed and sucked in a gasping breath. Her eyes widened in shock and her fingernails dug into his arms hard enough to leave marks.

“Oh. My. God.” Her voice was rough with unsated lust, but not for long.

Paul couldn’t take his eyes off her. He loved seeing her this way, nearly helpless in her need, knowing he was the only man who could ease her and give her what she wanted.

“No one else can ever make you feel like this,” he growled at her. “Only me.”

“Don’t stop. Please.”

Paul straddled her hips and slipped his fingers under the hem of her shirt, rubbing his knuckles across her stomach. She was soft and smooth and he’d never get enough of touching her, not if he lived forever. “You like that?”

Her low groan was his only response.

“Stay still and I’ll give you what you want.”

She looked up at him in question. Her blue eyes were dark with desire. Her mouth was already puffy from his kisses. By the time he was finished, it would be a lot more so.

Andra reached for him, but he captured her hand and placed it on the pillow by her head. “Don’t move or I’ll stop.”

She nodded her understanding and Paul slid another wave of lust through their link. It flowed easier this time, hardly taking him any effort at all to make her gasp and writhe beneath him.

Beautiful.

Paul unbuckled his sword belt and propped it against the nightstand so it was still within easy reach. Now that it was out of the way, he could move more easily without fear of scratching her. He scooted down her legs enough that he could unbutton her jeans. He slid the zipper down and peeled back the denim. Her dainty pink panties made his stomach clench with desire.

Andra whimpered as if she’d felt it, too. Maybe she had. She wasn’t blocking him out. She was open and receptive to him, soaking up everything he gave her.

She reached for him, but Paul said, “No, you don’t. I’m not finished yet.”

Her arm fell back to her side, but her fist was clenched in frustration. Her eyes warned him of retribution, but he didn’t care. He could hardly wait to see what she’d come up with.

Paul bent down and blew a puff of air over her belly button. Andra sighed and her stomach tightened, showing off the muscles in her abs. So pretty. His fingers barely brushed her skin, just stirring the fine hair.

She shuddered and her breathing sped up. A warm flush spread down her body, and Paul had to strip her bare and see just how far it went.

He took his time getting her undressed, kissing each new patch of skin as it was revealed. By the time he was through, they were both sweating and shaking with arousal. He could smell the scent of her need and it served only to heighten his own. He wasn’t sure how much more he could stand.

As much as he’d wanted to tease her, going so slowly had done the same for him. He enjoyed every kiss, every swipe of his tongue over her flesh, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly. He wanted to be inside her sweet body as deeply as he was inside her mind. Filling her up so there was no room for any other man but him.

He stripped himself while she watched.

His ring was hot with the demands he was putting on the luceria. Their connection was still too new and fragile for the amount of power flowing between them, and yet he couldn’t stop. He needed to push her more—tie them together more tightly with his power.

Make her stay.

The skin beneath her necklace was bright red. He ran his finger across the slippery band and it was hot and seething with rich plumes of sapphire blue.

“You’re killing me,” she breathed, clenching the sheets in her fist.

Paul covered her body with his and nudged her thighs wide so there was room for him between them. She arched up, trying to merge them together, but he evaded her and pinned her to the bed, holding her there with his weight. His erection throbbed with need, spilling liquid drops against her inner thigh.

“Tell me you want it,” he demanded.

His fierce little warrior glared at him in frustration, which only made him that much harder. “You know I do, damn you.”

“No other man could ever make you feel this way—make you want it the way I do. You know that, don’t you?” He sent an image into her, along with his words. He showed her how pretty she looked when she came around his cock, reminded her how good it felt when she did.

“God, yes. More.”

In the end, he could deny her nothing. Whatever he had to give, it was hers. So he slid inside her, relishing the slick heat of her body yielding to his. “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes, which had darkened with passion until they were the same sapphire blue as the luceria. When she reached for him this time, he didn’t stop her. Her fingers brushed over his brow and down his cheeks until they settled as light as butterflies on his jaw.

Her body tightened around his erection, making him suck in a hissing breath. At the same time, he felt her use their link to push back some of the desire she was feeling for him, the way he’d done to her.

Her need was softer, less jagged and harsh than his own, but no less demanding. He let it fill him up and swell inside him, warming all the dark places that had stood empty and cold for so long. He’d never really known how lonely he’d been until now—until she’d swept it all away and made him whole.

“I get it now,” she whispered.

“Get what?”

“Intimacy. The two of us together, like this, sharing the same space. It has a kind of magic to it.”

That made him smile. “It does. Want to see another trick?”

“Mmm. I can hardly wait.”

He didn’t make her. He lowered his mouth and fit it perfectly to hers. She tasted of hope and silent wishes, and he couldn’t get enough of her.

His hand glided along her flank, soaking up her heat while he slid inside her mind and let it merge completely with his own. She didn’t resist. In fact, she welcomed him with a soft sigh of surrender.

Instantly, Paul’s perceptions shifted until he could see what she saw, feel what she felt.

Through her mind, he saw himself as he hovered above her. His face was rigid with the strain of self-control. Muscles in his chest and arms bulged and the veins throbbed with his lust-heated blood. His lifemark was in full bloom, bright green with the merest hint of baby leaves just beginning to form. His hair was a mess, but she found it charming. Her skin was hot and so sensitive to his touch she could feel the minute ridges of his fingerprints rasping against her flesh. Her breasts ached for the wet heat of his mouth and the slippery glide of his tongue. The walls of her sex stretched to accept him, and yet she hadn’t once complained.

“Wow,” she breathed. “That is . . . Wow.”

So she was feeling him as well, which meant she could feel that there was nothing gentle about his need. It clawed at him to thrust hard and deep, to take her and come inside her.

Her tone was high and desperate. “You really need to move now.”

Paul moved. He slid out of her and back, letting his body move to please her most. He bent so he could kiss her breasts and love her nipples with his tongue and teeth. Andra clenched around him, and he could already feel her drawing near a climax. She responded to him so fast it humbled him. He’d never had a lover as responsive as she was.

“Don’t you dare think about another woman right now,” she warned him. Jealousy surged through her, making her words come out in a fierce snarl. Her nails dug into his scalp and sent streamers of sensation rioting along his spine.

At this rate, he wasn’t going to last long, either. Not that he minded. She was right there with him, showing him what she needed, and he was more than willing to give it to her. Whatever she wanted.

He pushed her to the edge and held her hovering there, driving deep inside her with each powerful thrust of his hips. He knew just when to pull back to keep her on the brink, quieting her with soft strokes of his hand. Finally, after the third time he’d done it, she grabbed his shoulders and used a surge of magically enhanced power to flip him over until she was straddling him.

Her head fell back on a sigh of pleasure as she sank down on his erection. Her breasts were red from his stubble, and her nipples were puckered and distended from his mouth. Her ribs expanded with every heavy breath she took, and sweat gleamed on her flushed skin.