A pulse point beat frantically in his neck, drawing my gaze. I leaned forward to kiss it. With a moan, I sucked on his skin, feeling the strong beat against my tongue.

His head fell back. He bit out something in Latvian that sounded like a curse. In a dazed tone, he said, “This will happen. I . . . I believe.”

The awe in his voice made me desperate for him. “Now, Aric.” Lightning flared almost as bright as day, thunder booming mere instants later. “Before something stops us!”

He raised a knee, pinning me against a metal support to free his hands. “Nothing could take me from you. Nothing.” He tore open my riding pants, yanking them and my panties to my knees. Unhappy with the barrier between us, he used his strength to rip my clothes in two.

My glyphs swirled wildly.

He sucked in a breath, his rapt gaze following his fingers as they roamed between my thighs. Over me. In me. He groaned at the feel. “You’re so perfect.”

I rolled my hips to his hand.

“Yes, yes,” he murmured as he watched me writhe. “You like my touch.” He teased me till I was just on the verge.

“Don’t wait!”

Material ripped as he shoved his pants down his narrow hips. Between my legs, his hardness nudged and prodded.

I moaned, my head lolling.

He wrapped my hair around his fist, holding my head up. “Look at me.” Our gazes met as he began to press inside. With wonder in his eyes, he rasped, “Gods almighty.” His chest muscles flexed against my breasts, his ancient runes kissing them.

Sudden winds howled, and the structure groaned. Aric withstood each gust; he was strong. As I clung to him, my hair whipped in the wind, snaking over him like vines.

Cannonballs of hail pounded the dish. Louder. Louder. Louder.

So earsplitting I needed to scream. Vibrations shook the metal at my back. Bolts of lightning struck nearby rocks. Bits of stone were darts against my skin. Thunder boomed so violently, I could feel the percussion in my stomach.

Pouring rain, hail, lightning, winds—as if the universe warned us not to go further. Two opposing forces joining together.

Life and Death.

With his forehead resting against mine, he bit out, “We might be going . . . to hell for this.” But that wasn’t stopping him; pressure grew as he pushed deeper.

I gasped. “Then we’ll rule it together.”

His lips parted. “Es tevi mīlu.” I love you.

For an instant, I saw Jack above me. A moment of time. . . .

I blinked, and I was staring into starry amber eyes again. “I love you too.”

Aric tilted his hips up and plunged.

My scream and his yell were lost to the roaring winds.

When he was deep inside me, he clenched me close, somehow holding himself still. I felt his heart pounding as he grated words in Latvian.

“English . . . ?”

“You’re mine.” He withdrew with a shudder. “How long I’ve waited.” The heat of his body seared me when he thrust.

“Oh, God, yes.” My hands drifted down to his hips, urging him on.

Between ragged breaths, he said, “Nothing . . . could possibly . . . feel this good. Nothing!” Supporting me with one hand, he used his other to caress me.

“Aric!” The pressure inside me kept mounting.

He gnashed his teeth. “Never want this to end!”

Heat and friction. Electricity. Aric’s increasingly desperate groans. The storm. Everything built and built. “So close . . .” Soon I was on the brink, could only moan and move with him.

“I can’t hold back!” His pace turned feverish. “Sievā, you feel like heaven!”

Sensation overwhelmed me, and I screamed.

I dimly heard him telling me that I was his, that we were forever, that he could feel my pleasure.

That he was helpless not to follow me.

His muscles stiffened. Eyes lost, he bit out: “Dream?”

“No, no . . .”

His body arched, head thrown back. His bellows shook the night, over . . . and over. . . .

Afterward, we clung together, our breaths so loud.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Mine.” He clasped me even tighter, his strong arms locked around me as if he’d never let me go.

The storm ebbed. The winds died down, and the hail ended. The last lightning bolt faded away.

36

We lay in the bed in the cabin, just stripped of our wet, ruined clothes. We’d returned to find Cyclops whimpering at the door, but Aric had simply said, “You are quite forgiven. Go home.”

Now Aric wedged his hips between my legs and stroked the back of his fingers over my cheek. “I plan to have you all night, love. Do we need to do something more for contraception?” He dipped down to nuzzle my breasts.

Cheeks gone red, I muttered, “I had a shot.” Paul had said it’d start working right away, but I’d waited a few days to be on the safe side.

Aric raised his head. “You premeditated this?” That seemed to delight him. “I never stood a chance, did I?”

“Just shut up!” I slapped his shoulder.

He grinned, so sexy he robbed me of breath. “You did want me, little wife.” His arrogance had rebounded with a vengeance. “I couldn’t resist you before I loved you; now . . . you hold my heart in your hand once more.”

I swept my palm over his tattooed chest. “I’ll have a care with it this time.”

His eyes went starry again. “I believe that.”