“I don't want to take you back into that alley,cher . I would never want . . . If I could kill them all over again for you, I would.”

“Stop,” she said with desperation. “You could never be like them, no matter what I've thought in anger.

Don't bring them into this.”

His jaw flexed. “Then I want you on your knees. I want you to take me into your mouth. I need you to remember that you submit to me, even if you submit to no other. Because it will tell me that you trust me to keep you safe, no matter when or where. That you can obey me instantly, even when you might not understand why I tell you to do something. And that there will be no barriers between us. Not anymore.

Whether I have your heart and soul or not, I am in your mind now, and I'm going to require that you trust me to be there, whenever I feel it necessary. Whenever I want to bring you to climax with the stroke of my voice in your head. Whenever I need to be as close to you as you wish to be to me.” The words rolled through her, erotic, powerful and heartfelt.No barriers.

The ruthless set to his mouth was as overwhelming to her as a lover's passionate declaration. Sliding off his thigh intentionally slowly, letting him feel the damp softness of her pussy there, she folded her legs and sank to the floor between his spread knees. His eyes were heat on her skin as she opened the jeans and freed him, sliding her hands with reverence up the impressive length and breadth of him. The beautiful broad head was already damp for her. Rising up onto her knees, she put her mouth on him. Her whole body shuddered as he wrapped his fingers in her hair and took control of her motion, taking her down upon him.

“Suck me,” he demanded. And he didn't complicate it with the emotions they still had unresolved between them. His declaration that she belonged to him gave her no promises of his heart or soul, either; she knew that. But it meant she had his protection, his dedication to her well-being. They were so close to what they both might want, it was hard to give voice to it. But like that night so long ago when he'd come back to her after six months, he didn't let her pour out her heart now, wouldn't give her anything to regret.

“Give me your body, if you can give nothing else,” he said, echoing her thoughts. “Give me everything you can,cher . I will take care of what you cannot give.” He only let her take him down to the root several times before he pulled her up, made her straddle his hips and brought her down on him again. She gasped at his power and size, overwhelmed by how quickly he could bring her to climax with him, how he took command of her senses, knew her body.

Granting her wish at last, he leaned forward and captured her breast in his mouth, suckling her nipple to a straining peak, and then the other, as she pounded herself down on him, faster, harder, using all the strength she wished. He gave her more of his own strength as well, now knowing her body could handle more, even if her heart couldn't.

Oh, Daegan.She was his, in all ways, because she knew he was hers, even if the two of them went to their graves—or into the sun—without ever admitting it. She wanted to tell herself they had time, an immortal lifespan, to figure it out, but like he'd said, she was afraid that even time might not heal the damage that had been done in that alley, because they'd never put in place the foundation to weather something like that.

But they had this. And she would take it, because an immortal lifespan didn't make moments of pleasure or unspoken, yearning love any less fleeting.

When they'd both released, and were resting in the aftermath, Daegan was leaning back in the chair. She curled up still astride him, her robe draped over her body. Underneath it, his fingers drifted up and down the valley of her spine. They hadn't spoken for a while, but since her thoughts had wandered to Gideon, she wasn't surprised when Daegan's first spoken words were about him. “I watched the tape of your night together, you know.”

She rubbed her cheek against him. “Why?” she murmured.

“You know why. I saw what you saw. Why he submitted to you. The other Mistresses didn't work, because he needed more than the domination. He was looking for the connection, the emotional switch that told him she was the right one. He was looking for his liege lady, the one he needed to serve, his savior, his tormenter. An impossible quest in a cynical world of Internet dating and smoky bars with lonely people. But he found her.”

Daegan cocked his head, gazed down at her. “He found you. And that is Fate,cher . I would not argue with it. Not ever.”

She didn't want him to leave. She wanted them both, even though she understood, in a painful way, why he was going. Why he had to go. His arm constricted around her back, and she lifted his hand from her ribs, pressed her face into it, kissing his palm, hard.

As if Fate had decided to speak at that moment, Daegan's gaze shifted. Anwyn followed it, though she'd already felt his approach. Gideon leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed, thumbs hooked in his armpits, that cocky, cynical posture that said he could handle anything. Anything she needed. The hungry way he gazed over the curve of her bare back, and Daegan's large hands pressing against her flesh, made her want him anew.

It almost made her smile, despite the ache in her throat.

If I'm yours, Daegan, then help me. Come back. Don't let me hurt him.

We will take care of him together,cher. That much I promise you.