Thanks to Caine they were both going to live forever so there was no point in rushing anything, especially if she was just confused about how she felt about him. If they ran into each other in a century or two and wanted to try for something more, then that was more than fine with her. If on the other hand neither one of them wanted anything more, then that was more than fine with her, too.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly as he reached up and pushed her hair back.

She forced a smile as she said, "Nothing."

"Nothing, huh?" he asked, sighing heavily as he moved his hand back to her bare hip. "You used to be able to tell me anything."

"That was a long time ago, Caine," she said, shoving back the old pain that threatened to take over at the memory of what she used to have with this man. None of that mattered anymore. At least she wouldn't let it matter.

It was time to move on.

She opened her mouth to tell him what was wrong, but quickly shut it and shrugged it off. She might want to be with him, but that didn't mean she was an idiot. The second she told him that she wanted him he'd be levitating his ass out the nearest window and making a run for it.

"You can tell me anything, Danni," he said, repeating the same words he used to use when she was little and she was upset or feeling alone.

For a moment she almost believed him, almost believed that he truly cared. Maybe he did care about her, but she'd be foolish to let him get her hopes up. In a few hours she could be mending her first broken heart as he once again walked away from her and she wouldn't make this worse by allowing herself to hope for anything.

"Everything's fine, Caine," she whispered as she leaned forward and kissed him as he opened his mouth, probably to argue with her, but once her lips touched his he became a little distracted. Not that she could blame him, she mused as she pushed him onto his back and moved to straddle him.

"We should get some more sleep," he mumbled against her mouth, but made no move to stop her, she noted with satisfaction as she ground herself against the large erection that was demanding her attention.

When his piercing slipped between her lips and teased her cl*t she froze as pleasure rocked through her. She'd never been one for body piercings, but she had to admit that she loved this particular piercing.

"You like that?" Caine asked in a seductive whisper, but all she could do was nod as she felt him reach between them. Seconds later she was groaning and moaning incoherently as he teased her with his piercing.

For several minutes he teased her while she leaned over him, licking her lips as she struggled against the need to push back until finally it became too much for her. With a groan of satisfaction, she pushed back as she sat up, impaling herself slowly on him until she took every inch of him. She began to move, but one look at Caine had her pausing mid-grind and her breath catching in her throat.

His eyes glowed a beautiful red as he watched her and she knew, just knew that she meant more to him than he was letting on and that this wasn't just about sex for him. She wasn't going to push for anything like a declaration of love, especially since she had no idea how she felt about him. Right now it was enough to know that he truly cared for her.

At least that's what she told herself as she started to move. It didn't matter what they had tomorrow, next week, month or year. They had this moment and she was going to make it count. If this was her last time being with him then she was going to make sure that years from now when she thought about this moment that it brought a smile to her face instead of the anguish the last memory of him walking away brought her.

"What's wrong?" Caine asked softly as he reached up and cupped her h*ps as she slowly rode him.

"Nothing," she said, closing her eyes and letting her head drop back as she pushed everything out of her mind and simply focused on this moment with him.

"This just isn't going to do," Caine said on a sigh.

She opened her eyes and mouth to ask him what was wrong when an alarmed squeak escaped her throat. As she was flipped over onto her stomach she made a mental note to work on ridding herself of that embarrassing reaction.

Caine chuckled softly in her ear as he grabbed her wrists and brought them above her head as he settled on top of her. "Ready to tell me what's wrong?" he asked as he settled his erection against her bottom and made her squirm.

"Nothing!" she snapped, shifting her legs apart in welcome and giving him a damn hint that he'd better not ignore. She didn't want to talk about this, not now, not ever. All she wanted to do was have mind blowing sex, create a special precious freaking moment and move on with her life!

Was that really too much to ask for?

She didn't think so, but apparently Mr. Grumpy on top of her suddenly turned into a chatterbox and was ignoring her needs. Great, now he was ignoring her needs instead of just ignoring her.

"Tell me what's wrong, Danni," Caine said, grinding slowly against her bottom and making it really hard stay mad at the man when he so easily distracted her like this.

"Are you worried about Greg?" he asked, never pausing in his slow, sensual movements.

She had to snort at that. Worried about Greg? That would never happen. Even when she was human she wasn't too concerned about him. About him torturing her? Well, yeah, especially now that she couldn't die, but she didn't plan on letting him get the drop on her again so she really wasn't worried about him. Besides, she wasn't planning on sticking around one way or the other so Greg and his new bloodsucking buddies could catch her.

No matter what her future held, one thing was clear, she needed to train. If she went with him she would be able to train faster. Then again, he did promise to teach her so maybe he planned on taking her along with him, at least long enough for her to train. Once she was trained and could control her abilities then she wouldn't need him and he would probably just dump her ass without a word like the last time.

Caine suddenly stilled above her. "You're pissed," he said, not guessed as the scent of her aggression teased her nose. She opened her mouth to tell him that it was nothing, but she couldn't. Enough was enough and she was sick and tired of playing this game by his rules and she was definitely sick of pretending that she was over something that still made her heart ache. She was also sick of keeping her mouth shut and letting him call the shots.

She was so done with this bullshit.

Chapter 35

"Thank you for getting back to me, Mr. Quinn."

"I need the license plate number of the vehicle they stole," Kale Quinn said in way of greeting, which wasn't very surprising.

The man was the best mercenary money could buy and for a damn good reason. The man was merciless. Once he took on a job it was said that he never stopped until he got the job done and once the job was done you'd damn well better have his money ready or he'd be coming after you next.

Over the last few centuries, Lucan had required the shifter's services a few times and each time the man had surpassed his expectations and he hoped this time would be the same. He needed the Pytes back to end this once and for all and the shifter was his best hope. It would cost him a small fortune, but it would be worth it.

"I'll have to text you the plate number," he said, turning around and heading back to his office to retrieve the information.