Duh. Lightbulb. Essentia. The way he marked her.

She had complained about it. Now he didn’t think he should touch her and definitely wouldn’t mark her without permission.

Foolish girl! “I was wrong. I want it. I need it. Please, Thane.” She moaned in desperation. “Put it on every inch of me.”

He shook his head. “I don’t claim casual conquests, Elin.”

She froze, her chest rising and falling in quick succession. Dang it. He had a point. She could have hot, with emotional ties, or she could have cold, with emotional safety. “I...I don’t want to be casual.”

“You’ll move into the suite?”

“Yes.”

Just like that, his control snapped. He was on her a second later, marking her face, her neck, her breasts and stomach. When he reached the open waist of her shorts, he tunneled his fingers beneath her panties. She tensed, waiting for the blissful moment when— Ah! That! He massaged the center of her need. The heat of him, the knowledge that she now had his essentia there... I might finally go up in flames. Her hips writhed, following his motions to prolong the contact.

He wedged a finger in deep, and she cried out, bucking into the slide, sending him even deeper.

“You were made just for me, kulta.”

Like you were made just for me.

A thought to be dissected later.

So close to climax. “Please,” she said, still chasing the sensation with her hips.

Another finger joined the play as the heel of his hand pressed where she needed him most. He stretched her, delighted her. And yet, she still didn’t fall over the edge.

“Not enough, is it, kulta?”

Can’t quite catch my breath. Little noises were breaking from her throat. Whimpers, maybe. The pleasure was so strong it bordered on pain. She clutched at his shoulders, trying to force him to put more of his weight on her.

“So hot. So tight and wet,” he said. His eyes were utterly ravaged with a desperation she’d only ever seen on wounded animals. It was empowering to know his feelings matched hers. “Can’t wait. Have to have all of you.”

“Yes.”

He jolted upright, tore at the fly of his pants. He didn’t bother pulling them down. With one hand, he gripped his shaft at the base. With the other he tugged off her shorts. Her panties were still in place. He shoved them out of the way, then positioned himself and slammed home.

There was no inching his way in this time. He took. He took everything. She climaxed with his third mighty thrust, shouting his name, her inner walls locking down on his length. Guttural sounds left him as he pulled back...back...then slammed back in. After that, there was no such thing as control, even shredded control. He thrust fast and hard, again and again, creating a punishing rhythm that swept her up in another sea of pleasure, nearly drowning her.

“Again, kulta,” he commanded.

Yes. Yes. Already another orgasm was building, her blood heating. She scraped her nails through his hair and tugged his head down for another scorching kiss, devouring him, feeding him every bit of her passion.

There was an unquenchable need inside her. A need to consume, as well as provide.

“Getting close,” he rasped. “Take more?”

“Give it to me.”

He stretched his arms over her, grabbing the headboard. Holding on to it, he was able to pull himself deeper into her, with more force. She wound her legs around him, lifting her waist to take the brunt of his hammering aggression. The bed moved with his next thrust...and his next, until it was hitting the wall with a bang. Bang. Bang.

With his next inward glide, her body surrendered to the pleasure. She shot into another climax, clenching tighter on him, shouting his name. And just when she thought she was about to come down from the high, he lowered his head and bit into the cord between neck and shoulder, just the way she liked, and she soared all over again.

This time, he followed her. Roaring, he plunged with all of his might, and buried deep, shuddered against her, over and over, until he collapsed on top of her.

His weight held her in place, but she didn’t mind.

“Not getting away this time,” he rasped.

Trembling, she wrapped her arms around him. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” And it scared her, how true that was.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THANE HAD NEVER experienced such contentment.

He was loath to let Elin out of his sight or the tight clench of his embrace, but he couldn’t risk having her near while he slept. The nightmares... He had to take her to the other—

No. He didn’t. Her room was currently without a bed. Without any furniture. He’d emptied it out, creating a fresh canvas for Elin to paint however she wished.

But she hadn’t. She’d denied him in every way...until he’d pleasured her into accepting.

They would decorate the other room tomorrow. Tonight, he would hold her, as he wanted. He wouldn’t allow himself to sleep.

“Am I glowing?” she asked, rubbing her leg against his.

“Yes.” He didn’t mention just how bright...or just how satisfied he felt about it.

“Good,” she said, surprising him.

Delighting him.

“Thane,” she began softly. “Are we seeing other people while we’re messing around?”

“Did I not make that clear? No. I’m not, and you most definitely are not.” He would kill anyone foolish enough to touch what so obviously belonged to him.

“I hope you hear yourself,” she admonished. “The words most definitely extend to you, too, you know.”

He curled his arm around her head, asserting the barest pressure on her jaw to hold her in place, to force her to look at him. “I hear myself, but do you hear me?” he said, and when she tried to speak again, he added, “You had your turn. Now it’s mine.” She had let him inside her body. Now she would let him inside her mind.

Her heart rate increased, and he wasn’t sure if that boded well or ill.

He continued anyway, saying, “The pleasure I experience with you is worth dying for. Nothing and no one compares. I’ve never had it before, and won’t give it up. Not for any reason. Do you understand?” I’ll keep you all the days of your life. Nothing and no one will separate us. Not even you.

Her little nails curled into his chest. “I understand you sound totally gaga for me.” She rolled to her stomach, half draping him, and rested her cheek on her upraised palm, giving him a wicked grin full of promise.