The thought should have terrified him.

A vampire who found and lost his mate usually ended up an empty shell.

Instead, Jagr felt nothing but a tide of all-consuming peace that chased away the lingering darkness.

The past and all he had suffered no longer mattered.

Regan was like a blast of sunlight that chased away the bitter shadows.

The realization had barely managed to form, when it was abruptly shoved to the back of his mind as his temptress circled her fingers around him and explored the straining length with exquisite care.

His hands instinctively fisted in her hair, his body coiled so tight he nearly shattered when her lips tentatively slipped over the tip of his cock and slid downward.

Paradise.

Complete, utter paradise.

A moan hummed deep in his throat, his world focused on the sensation of warm lips and rasping tongue.

With slow wet strokes, she all too swiftly had him straining toward climax. Damn. He wanted to enjoy the fierce pleasure. To spend the night pressed against the wall as Regan offered him the most intense and blissful sensations he’d ever enjoyed. But even as the sweet release beckoned, he was reaching down to grasp her arms and tug her upward.

He wanted to be buried deep inside her, to watch her beautiful face as she reached her own orgasm.

“I need to be in you, Regan,” he groaned, capturing her lips in a rough, demanding kiss before pulling back to regard her with a raw, undisguised yearning. “Now.”

“Then what are you waiting for, chief?” she husked, her smile piercing his heart with the ruthless power of a dagger.

The bed loomed behind her, but too impatient for even that small distance, Jagr slid his hands down her pretty little bottom and with one powerful motion had her lifted off her feet with her legs wrapped around his waist.

“You,” he whispered, positioning the tip of his erection at her entrance. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Regan moaned, her body already wet and ready for his thrust.

Clutching her thighs, he captured her mouth in a devouring kiss before he plunged himself inside her, halting only when he was buried as deep as he could go.

“Jagr” she rasped, her sheath clamping around him like a warm, luscious vise.

He momentarily stilled, savoring the sense of completeness that flooded through him. This is what it meant to be with his true mate. This intense connection that went way beyond two bodies indulging in sex.

This was two souls, two hearts, two minds joined as one.

As they both absorbed the sheer pleasure of being so intimately joined, their eyes met and Jagr gently began to thrust into her heat. Her hands lifted to frame his face, claiming his lips in a branding kiss. He moaned his pleasure, his fingers tightening on her thighs.

More. He needed more.

He shifted his mouth to nip at her ear and was rewarded as her body shuddered with undisguised need.

“God, I want taste you,” he muttered as he nibbled and stroked a path down her neck, careful not to break her skin with his extended fangs. “Everywhere.”

Regan gasped as Jagr licked the underside of her breast. “That’s…that’s a good start.”

He chuckled as he thrust even deeper, his tongue finding the hardened tip of her nipple.

“What about here?”

Her legs tightened as he quickened his pace, her head falling back to reveal the smooth, tempting curve of her throat.

Oh…gods.

Every instinct urged him to pierce that ivory perfection. To sink his fangs in deep, and take in her essence as he pounded into her body. To mark her as his, and only his.

With a low growl, he wrenched his thoughts from the dangerous enticement and concentrated on surging into her damp heat. A task made considerably easier as her fingernails sank into his back and she moaned in pleasure.

“Faster.”

“Yes, my demanding Were,” he breathed as he suckled on a tender nipple.

Someday he would know the satisfaction of taking Regan’s blood as he took her body. For today this was enough.

More than enough, he acknowledged as his cock sank to the very heart of her.

Her nails dug deeper as he steadily pumped himself into her. “Christ, Jagr, I’m…”

His fingers bit deep into her skin, his need an unbearable ache. The flames were beginning to consume him and nothing had ever felt so glorious.

They surged together. Her pants filled the air, mixed with his low moans. Deeper, faster, climbing ever higher.

Then with one last thrust, he heard Regan cry out in release as he climaxed with enough force to shatter the remaining lamp and blast the marble statues in the bathroom into a fine layer of dust.

Chapter 18

Lying in Jagr’s arms on the bed, Regan floated in a fog of pleasure.

Sweaty, shivering, sated pleasure.

Good Lord.

That had been…

Well, she didn’t actually have words to describe what had just happened between her and Jagr. Fierce, certainly. Overwhelming. Shattering.

And insanely wonderful.

With a rueful smile she glanced around the room. There was little left to destroy after their last bout of sex, but what remained was now scattered across the carpet.

“I sincerely hope that your tastes run toward Tupperware instead of Tiffany in that lair of yours, chief,” she murmured, unable to keep her fingers from tracing the scars that ran the length of his stomach. “Things could get expensive after a wild night.”

He shifted to steal a brief, heart-pounding kiss. “Since you seem to be the only trigger for my more destructive tendencies, I’ll be certain to lock away the china when you visit.”

His tone was light, but Regan tensed, unable to halt her instinctive withdrawal at his possessive tone. During the heat of the moment, she’d managed to block out his unnerving suggestion that she was his mate. Hell, at that precise moment she would have been able to block out a looming apocalypse.

Now she discovered that the thought made it difficult to breathe. As if she was being smothered.

“You’re assuming I’ll visit your lair?” she tried to tease, not entirely surprised when his eyes narrowed. He was far too capable of sensing her emotions not to catch whiff of her unease.

“I’m holding you naked in my arms after enjoying the most intense orgasm either of us has ever experienced.” He caught and held her wary gaze. “What else would I assume?”

She smiled, weakly. “Who knows what the future might hold?”

There was no return smile. In fact, his expression was downright grim.

“Who, indeed.”

“We should get dressed. I promised Styx that I would…” Pressing her hands against his chest, she struggled to push away from his hard body, only to have the massive vampire abruptly roll on top of her. “Jagr.”

His eyes shimmered with suppressed irritation in the thick shadows. “Why?”

His body pressing her intimately into the mattress did nothing to help her breathing troubles.

She didn’t want to think about mates or emotional entanglements or the fear of being expected to offer something she didn’t even know if she possessed.

She just wanted to spread her legs and allow pure, uncomplicated sensation to sweep her away.

So much easier.

Unfortunately, Jagr seemed more intent of forcing an unwelcome discussion rather than enjoying their brief time together.

“What?” she at last forced herself to demand.

“Why did you come down here tonight determined to seduce me?”

“I would think that was obvious.”

“Indulge me.”

She swallowed a resigned sigh. “I wanted you. You said you wanted me. Granted, I’ve been caged most of my life, but I was under the assumption that was an adequate reason for two people to have sex. Am I wrong?”

“Yes, I wanted you, I still want you, but not out of some twisted sense of sympathy.”

Sympathy? Her brows snapped together. “What the hell are you talking about?”

His jaw was tight as he glared down at her. “You didn’t want me to punish myself for hurting you, so you came down here determined to do whatever necessary to distract me.”

It took a second for his words to sink in, but when they did, her temper instantly flared.

“You think this was a pity fuck?” she gritted.

He flinched at her blunt words. “Don’t.”

“What? You’re the one who’s implying I’m willing to barter my body for a bit of comfort. Real nice.”

“Then why?”

“Does there have to be a reason?”

“No, it could be exactly as you said…” He deliberately paused, then with an exaggerated motion he rolled off her and stood beside the bed. “A mindless coupling to relieve a physical urge. Maybe I should be grateful you didn’t decide Tane would do.”

Scrambling off the mattress, Regan jerkily pulled on her clothes, covertly watching as Jagr did the same. Her stomach did a funny flop as he slid the stone-washed jeans up the powerful muscles of thighs and over his butt. Holy crap. She wanted to spend hours exploring those hard angles and planes.

No, stop that, Regan.

Jagr might be all that was yummy, but he was going to drive her to a loony bin.