"I love you." Tears slipped down her temples.

He smiled a purely male smile. "I know."

His naked cock burned like a brand into her hip. Lyssa reached for it, wanting to hold him, love him, give him the same pleasure he brought to her. Her tongue flicked out to wet dry lips. "I thought you needed me to suck you off."

He bent over her and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Well, a strange thing happens when you talk about dying—it sobers me up."

Her head lifted as he straightened, her lips clinging to his. "What are you looking for? Will you have to travel?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"How will we manage?"

Aidan smiled. "Chad stole the sword from an affluent private collector who has been purchasing priceless artifacts through the black market. He recently put out covert feelers, searching for a replacement acquisitions specialist. I'm fluent in every one of the Earth languages and I have firsthand knowledge of centuries' worth of history, so I don't anticipate any trouble getting the job. He'll use me to build his collection, and I'll use him for money and travel expenses."

His fingers wiggled. Her nails dug into his forearms. "I won't remember a damn bit of this conversation, you know."

"I've got all the time in the world to tell you again."

Growling her frustration, she struggled futilely against his superior strength. Her orgasm hovered just out of reach.

With her hips held down, she couldn't work toward it.

"Wanna come?" he asked, with a devilish curve to his lips.

"Yes!"

Aidan chuckled as his thumb pressed against her clit and rubbed in small circles.

Moaning, she climaxed around his thrusting fingers, shivering beneath him, her neck arching with the pleasure.

"Christ," he said in an awed tone. "You're beautiful."

He kissed her again, that slow, deep mating of tongues that made her ache for him. Her hands slipped under his shirt and stroked the powerful muscles that lined his back. He murmured raw, heated sex words as he covered her with his hard body.

She cried out as he thrust hard and fast into her, sliding her upward a good two inches. He anchored her shoulders, and a harsh, edgy sound vibrated from his chest.

"God, Aidan…"

His thumbs brushed along her cheekbones, his lips slanting across hers. "Lyssa," he purred, "share your life with me."

"Yes…" She pulled herself upward, returning desperate kisses. "Stay with me."

"We'll find away," he promised.

The hard knot of fear she'd felt upon waking eased immeasurably. Its passing freed her senses, and her attention focused more fully on the place where they joined. "Aid-

He nipped tiny love bites across the top of her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Move." She whimpered at the feel of him, so damn big. She needed movement, friction, the feel of his large body straining over hers.

"Impatient?" he teased in that lusciously accented voice.

"You have no idea."

He smiled against her skin. "I've been going crazy without you. Now I'm inside you, a part of you, connected to you. I damn well intend to enjoy it."

Her eyes squeezed shut on a groan. "I liked it better when you were putty in my hands."

"I've always been putty in your hands." He flexed his gorgeous ass and slipped a fraction deeper, the heavyweight of his balls resting against her. "I'll never get enough of you; I'm madly in love with you. That puts you in control."

"As if I could say no," she panted, her legs wrapping around his hips and urging him to ride her. "You're addict-ing."

Her hands clutched his back, her fingernails digging into the hard muscles that bracketed his spine. She breathed deep and tightened her cunt around him.

"Fuck," he growled, tensing all over.

"My thoughts exactly!" Lyssa wiggled beneath him, wishing they had taken the time to undress, but too desperate to suggest they correct it now.

He took her mouth, seducing her with deep, drugging kisses. He swiveled his hips, not pulling out, not pushing, just rubbing his pelvic bone against her clit. She came again, the orgasm rolling through her in a brutally intense wave. Tense as a bow beneath him, she tried to gasp. He swallowed the sound with an arrogant grunt as her pussy rippled along his hard, throbbing cock.

"I love you," she moaned, clinging to his delicious body.

When it passed, she was drained, her arms falling to her sides, her legs slipping free until the pads of her feet pressed against the floor.

"Marry me," he whispered, his lips moving against hers.

She kissed him sweetly and smiled, "You betcha. You, me, and more orgasms like that, and I can take over this world and yours."

His nose nuzzled against hers. "Comfortable?" he asked with more than a hint of sinful amusement.

"Hmmm…"

"Good. Well be here awhile."