Triumph flared in his eyes. He nibbled on her earlobe, and reached down, cupping her between her legs. She gasped as a hot lance of pleasure speared her.

“You want me, and no one else?”

“No one else,” she croaked. But once again self-preservation raised its head, forcing her to add, “I will go to first base with you so hard. But that’s it.”

And then I’ll feel so guilty, I won’t have to sleep with anyone. Ever.

Finally. Win/win.

Thane might have cracked a smile. He might not have. Either way, he was done with chitchat.

He grabbed her by the nape of her neck and pulled her to him, forcing her lips to meet his. Hard and unyielding, he thrust his tongue inside her mouth. Tasting, demanding.

He dominated.

He mastered.

He owned.

When she mewled in rapture—so good—he gentled his hold and softened his thrusts, allowing her to learn him and savor. She melted against him, meeting his tongue with a plunge of her own.

“Yes,” he rasped. “Like that.” He sounded amazed.

She felt amazed. She met his tongue a second time, and it was like throwing gasoline-soaked logs on an already raging fire, the kiss instantly spinning out of control. Urgency overshadowed the desire to savor. They began to bite and lick at each other, his taste intoxicating her—dizzy with need—addicting her to his brand of tender aggression.

Don’t want to ever let him go. Have to touch him. Everywhere at once. Fingers in his hair. Combing through his wings. Her nails scraping down his chest. Oh, sweet fire, her hands wrapped around his steel-hard length.

Greedy girl. One at a time. She started with his hair, sifting her fingers through the silky strands. He growled his approval as her passion forced her to tug a bit. Encouraged, she made her way to his ears, then down the taut muscles of his neck, before moving on to the down-soft feathers of his wings. So many sensations, each adding fuel to her scalding desire.

“Your freckles are delicious.” He kissed her jaw, her throat, using tongue and teeth, and a fever flushed her skin, made her bones ache.

She loved it. Loved the heat and eroticism. How had she gone a year without a man? A year without pleasure and comfort. A year of dreaming and wishing and denying and suppressing. Now, every need she’d ever ignored came roaring to the surface. To touch and be touched. To give and to take. To live and to feel. Oh, to feel.

“Thane,” she said, a command for more. She rubbed against Thane’s erection, up and down, sloooowly at first, so slow and leisurely, easing herself into the riotous sensation, allowing her to savor, even while her mind demanded she hurry. Her neglected body could barely process its reactions to him. But raw, animal passion was driving her deeper and deeper into a world of carnality, making her desperate for some measure of relief, and she increased her speed.

“Incredible,” he said, and never had she heard such a ragged tone.

Faster... “Yes.” Her thoughts centered around three words: more, now, need. A little faster... Every point of contact wrung a frantic gasp from her. Faster still... “More.”

“More than just first base?” His tone was teasing.

“Now!”

“With pleasure, kulta.” He set her a few inches away, ending the sweet, sweet undulations.

“But...” She whimpered. “I need.”

“And so you shall have.” Going caveman, he ripped her shirt and bra away, and threw the material to the floor.

Yes!

He swallowed hard as he took in the sight of her. His thumbs circled her nipples, making them pucker, as he palmed her bare breasts. “So beautiful. Won’t let myself mar them.”

His absolute reverence nearly undid her, even as the words reverberated in her desire-fogged mind. Mar them. The punishment she deserved for betraying Bay. The thing she needed to stop herself from repeating this experience.

“Do it,” she commanded.

He went still. “Do what?” The words were quiet, laced with menace.

How could she explain?

“What do you want, Elin? For me to throw you down? Sink inside you?”

Yes! No. Maybe. Ugh. Definitely yes.

“Because I don’t think you truly want what I think you’re trying to tell me you want,” he finished.

Thoughts of elucidating her need to experience pain, to ease her guilt for feeling so overcome with lust for this man, vanished. Instead, a plea escaped. “Please. I’m so close already. I just need to...have to... It’s been so long.”

His expression softened. “I’ll take such good care of you, kulta.” He gripped her backside and pulled her into his erection with one hand, while the other pressed into her stomach and urged her backward, until she sat at an incline on his thighs. He bent forward and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, hard, harder, before flicking his tongue back and forth, easing the slight sting.

Slight, and yet sharp pleasure cut through her. She cried out. More. Please, more. He turned his attention to the other nipple, giving it the same treatment.

Desperation was making her frantic, and she tried to move against his shaft, to rub again, she had to rub, but she couldn’t move her hips with his weight bearing down on her.

“Thane,” she moaned. Never had she wanted a man—a climax—so much.

He lifted his head, his lips red, moist and kiss-swollen. His gaze met hers, his irises blazing with a hunger that was a mirror to her own.

All at once, he stood with her clutched against his chest, her legs wrapped around his hips, and turned toward the bedroom. The Room of Sweet, Sweet Horrors.

Reality pimp-slapped her. Just. Like. That. Not much time had passed since this man had banged another woman and left her a boneless heap on the bed. A boneless, bruised heap. The things he must have done to her...everything Elin thought she wanted. And yet, panic doused her wanton desperation and ruined her pleasure, memories of her captivity overtaking her. She felt as though she’d been drenched with dirty ice water.

What had she been thinking, kissing him? Begging him?

“No.” Elin fought his hold. He frowned at her but allowed her to settle on her feet and back away from him. “No. We can’t.”

“No?” His hands fisted at his sides. “Not no.”

“We can’t,” she repeated. “Please, understand.”

“We shouldn’t,” he corrected coolly. “But we definitely can.”