“More.” The single word was almost a plea, and Joseph wasn’t sure whether he liked the idea that he could make her beg or hated that she would ever need to.

“If you want more, you have to open up. Relax. Let me in, kitten.” He sent her a mental image of what he wanted. He didn’t know if it would make it through the tiny conduit connecting them, but he had to make the effort.

Her body went lax beneath his. She pulled in a long breath and let it out like she was making a concerted effort to relax.

Joseph felt something between them shift. Stretch. Grow.

“That’s it, Lyka. Just like that.”

A shiver coursed through her body and into his.

He needed to give her more. Make her feel good. Only he would ever do this to her—fill her with power, give her the ability to wield magic. She was his in a way she’d never be with any other man, as long as he lived.

He would make sure of it—give her so much pleasure she’d never have reason to even look at another man.

Joseph pulled more power from the earth and sent it flying through their newly expanded conduit. The walls of it trembled and strained to contain what he forced on them, but they held strong.

Lyka gasped and clung to him. “Too much.”

It wasn’t nearly enough. There was an entire planet of pulsing, churning energy beneath his fingertips. It all wanted to touch him and become a part of him. Every spark he gave her would make her stronger, keep her safer.

“Just a little more,” he coaxed.

She trembled in his arms but it wasn’t from pain. Her nipples were hard enough to be visible through her clothing.

What he wouldn’t give to rip her out of those clothes and have her laid out like this for him, naked and quivering. So beautiful. So his.

The sound of tearing fabric drew his attention. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it, but he’d used minute specks of the power he pulled in to give life to his desires.

Her shirt was sliced open all the way down the front. Her bra was torn in two. All the tattered fabric was splayed open, revealing the most perfect pair of tits he’d ever seen.

He had to touch, had to lick and kiss and suck.

The flow of power cut off abruptly as he moved his hand from the ground.

Lyka’s eyes popped open. The traces of the feline in her were acutely evident in the narrow slits of her pupils. As he watched, her gaze fell on his hands only inches from her breasts. Those slits expanded, telling him without a word that she liked what she saw.

Her chest rose and fell with every rapid breath. Her stare shifted to his eyes, and she watched to see what he would do.

An honorable man would cover her up. Offer her his shirt. He’d help her to her feet, see her safely to the truck and tuck her inside. He wouldn’t finish ripping her clothes off and fuck her on the cold, rocky ground, especially not when even one little scratch could fill the air with the scent of blood and send demons charging their way.

Joseph had always thought of himself as an honorable man, but as he stared down at Lyka’s beautiful body and saw the naked hunger in her eyes, he knew he was wrong.

“I’m going to fuck you,” he told her. His tone was too low and rough. Too much a warning and less a question. “Here. Now.”

She said nothing. There wasn’t even a debate going on in those catlike eyes—at least not one he could sense. She’d accepted his statement as one of fact. And she wasn’t fighting it.

“Unless you stop me.” The words came out of his mouth. He had no idea where they’d come from. Clearly, the honorable man in him wasn’t quite dead.

Lyka reached up and grabbed his head. Her fingernails were longer than they’d been only a minute ago. Her eye teeth were sharper, longer.

None of that was right, but Joseph didn’t give a shit. Everything about her turned him on. Even the freaky claws and teeth. All he could think about was what it might feel like if she used those on him, grazing them lightly over his skin.

She gripped his hair in her fists and pulled him down toward her for a kiss.

His lips met hers, and nothing else in the world mattered. She was so sweet and soft wherever she wasn’t sharp and fiery. She kissed him like it was the only thing she’d been born to do. Her tongue danced with his, staking a claim.

As if any other women existed for him now. There was only Lyka.

The taste of her went to his head. He pulled her body close, getting as much of her as he could against him. Each thrusting plunge of his tongue was met with one of her own. The slick heat of their mouths grew until he could feel sparks sliding between them.

He had to have more. All of her.

He ripped the tattered edge of her shirt aside and cupped her breast in his hand. Her skin was so hot, it nearly scalded him. The urgent press of her nipple against his palm made his mouth water. He had to have a taste.

Joseph tried to pull his mouth away, but Lyka wasn’t ready to let him go. Her sharp teeth nipped at his lips and tongue before licking away the sting she’d left behind. Her grip on his head tightened, and she wrapped her legs around his hips to pin him against her.

There was nowhere else he wanted to be.

A hint of blood hit his tongue, giving him a fraction of a second’s pause. Something about that wasn’t right, but he was drowning in Lyka and the desperate need for more of her.

She grabbed the hem of his shirt and tore it open. Her bare breasts met his bare chest, sending his world spinning. Hard nipples grazed against his skin, making his mouth water. She worked one hand between them to stroke his erection, and his cock jerked against his fly, demanding to be freed. It was so swollen and hard, he was surprised it hadn’t already ripped through his jeans to reach her hand.

She drew her fingernails over the denim. He could feel restraint vibrating in her touch. “Take these off or I’m going to claw my way in for what I want.”

Yeah, claws near his junk wasn’t his idea of a good time, but he was so turned on, it didn’t slow him down, either. Instead he rolled away from her enough to get naked without resorting to sharp instruments.

That’s when he heard the cries.

Low, eerie tones of hungry demons. And they were close. “Sgath. Fuck! We have to go.”

In one move he lurched to his feet and pulled Lyka along with him. She swayed for a second before regaining her stability. Her eyes widened and those slitted pupils narrowed. “It’s too late. They’re already here.”