Her heart turned over and then began hammering, each beat thundering in her ears, rushing through her veins and pounding in her clit. She ran her hands up his chest. She loved the way his muscles were so defined, the way they rippled suggestively beneath his skin when he moved. Like a tiger. She shivered. Just touching him sent heat curling through her body and damp liquid made her slick with welcome.

“There’s no going back for you, Francesca. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.” He bent his head and kissed her chin. Nibbled his way under her chin to her throat. He punctuated each kiss with a bite. Each bite made her hips buck with need. This was a slow burn, not the out-of-control wildfire he created. The burn took her over, cell by cell, settling in before she was fully aware of what was happening.

“I reserve the right to protect you, Stefano.”

His gaze moved over her face, melting her with those twin blue flames. “I love how you truly believe I need protecting and that you’re so willing to try.” He bent his head to her breast, his dark hair brushing over her bare skin. “Every moment I’m with you, bambina, I fall harder. It’s difficult for me to believe you’re real. You aren’t the only one a little terrified.”

His mouth made her squirm. Catch her breath. He knew exactly what he was doing to her, just how to bring that slow smolder to a hot burn. His hands moved over her skin. Possessive. Loving. Tender. So tender it brought tears to her eyes. His admission rang with truth and that brought a lump to her throat. Her Stefano.

He kissed his way down her body, keeping that slow, unhurried pace, but it was more intense than she thought possible. It felt as if he was worshiping her. Showing her with his mouth and hands how much he loved her.

Stefano took his time, savoring the taste and texture of Francesca. It was impossible to put into words what he felt for her. He’d had no idea he could feel for a woman what he did each time he touched her. Hell. That wasn’t exactly the truth. It happened each time he thought of her, which was every minute of every day. She was fast becoming his obsession.

He couldn’t wait to be in her. Home. That was what she was to him. A woman who saw him. He kissed his way up the inside of her thigh, feeling her shiver. He loved her reaction every time he touched her. The silk of skin. The heat. He knew he shouldn’t be happy for all the women he’d had before her. He couldn’t remember them and they paled into insignificance, but he was grateful for the experience, to be able to give his woman so much pleasure.

Her soft little moans sounded like music to him. He waited for the breathy hitch in her voice before he dipped his head again and nuzzled that sweet, sweet treasure between her legs. Her hips bucked and he pinned her down, forcing her thighs farther apart as he inhaled her scent.

She was a siren calling to him. His gaze slid up her body, drinking her in, devouring her. Could a woman be any more beautiful, laid out for him, her body flushed, breasts swaying with every undulation and shift she made. Her hair was everywhere, just like he loved it, that cloud of dark silk felt like heaven against his skin. He dreamed of her hair sliding over him as he fucked her slowly. Fast. Any damn way he wanted.

“Who do you belong to, bambina?” He licked at her, licked at the orange-and-cinnamon-scented drops of honey spilling out of her. All for him. Every single bit, just for him. She didn’t know yet. She was still leery of the relationship, not trusting anything that happened so fast. Knowing his family was far more than he was telling her. Still, she was there. With him. Committing to him in spite of her fear.

He needed her to commit all the way. To be so far into him, she couldn’t walk away. He wanted their shadows merged—a dangerous thing to do if she wasn’t fully his. It was a risk he knew could lose him everything. He’d end up a shadow himself, no longer a rider, something he was born to do. Every day they were together like this, so intimate, their shadows connected, beginning the seal between them.

“Answer me, Francesca.” He used his black velvet voice. The one no one ever dared disobey. The one commanding truth. “Who do you belong to?” He plunged his tongue deep, because he couldn’t resist her scent one more moment. His hands shaped her hips, her thighs. Slid over the dark curls at the vee of her legs. Possessively. He knew exactly who she belonged to.

“Stefano.”

She said his name on a gasp, her hands finding his hair, gripping, pulling. He loved the bite of pain. His cock loved it, too.

“I belong to you.”

Four beautiful words. He added a finger to her tight sheath and her muscles contracted around it, bathed him in hot liquid. He marveled that she could take him. She always felt far too tight, yet she was perfect for him.