This was her invitation. But it wasn’t enough to soothe the desolation churning within him. He kissed her again, harder, savoring her breathy cries as their tongues tangled.

Make her understand. Between kisses, he said, “You don’t know what it’s like to yearn for ages without end. To see what you want so clearly—and be denied it. Violently denied it. Never again.” His claws sliced through her blouse. He stripped them of clothes. Fabric ripping.

As they traded hungry kisses, he conjured a fur to spread over the sandy floor of the cave and a small fire to warm her. Before she could change her mind, he broke from the kiss to lower her down.

This will happen. At the realization, he seethed; the dimension seethed. Winds picked up, battering the mountain all around them. Waves crashed, sending spray inside the cave.

His gaze roamed over her trembling body. Droplets of water misted her naked flesh, making it shimmer. Her breasts were swollen, her stiffened nipples begging for a suck. Can she feel the fire’s heat through those tips? Her hips subtly rocked.

He must be dreaming. If so, he would never wake.

Were ten millennia of his fantasies about to come true at last?

FORTY-EIGHT

Lila stared up at Abyssian’s onyx eyes. The fire set the diamonds ablaze with all new prisms, the flames reflected in his gaze.

Before she’d known it, he had them naked on a fur, his massive frame levered over her. “I’ve never felt so alive.” All of her senses sang. She could taste the fire and feel the mesmerizing lights. Awareness of him overwhelmed her.

When she grazed her fingertips over one of his bright glyphs, he held himself motionless, a primordial gentled by his mate.

She smoothed locks of his black hair away from his brow, then traced the rugged line of his jaw.

She was nervous, but . . . “I trust you.” She did—with her body. So why couldn’t she make the leap to tell him everything? The confusion roiling inside this demon made her chest ache.

No longer could she wonder about their fated connection; his pain was her pain. They were connected.

He’s my mate too. “Abyssian . . .” I’m falling for you.

“I won’t let anything divide us.” Burning in his gaze was that bone-deep yearning, calling to hers. “I can’t ever lose you again. You are a part of me, Lila.” His forehead met hers. For long moments, they stayed like that.

How to voice all the thoughts whirling in her head? I need you to show me this. To accept me as is. Please let this bond us enough to last.

He leaned down to nuzzle her breasts, and her lids went heavy. “Sweetest nipples. They swell to my tongue.” He took one and suckled with a growl. Against her damp skin, he said, “Never get enough . . . of your soft breasts. Never get enough of you. . . .”

His erection captured her attention. The veined length strained even harder. A bead of moisture clung to the head, pearlescent in the firelight.

He muttered words in Demonish, his voice so hoarse she had trouble understanding him. Something about watching her walk away.

She wanted to pay attention, to ask him to explain, but that bead taunted her. When she reached for him, he caught her hand.

“No, I won’t last.” He sat back on his knees, retracting the wing claws and the ones tipping his fingers. “I’m going to get you ready.”

Would she ever be ready enough to receive his size? They’d soon find out.

When she spread her legs for him, he licked his lips. “My mate’s so wet. I see these soft petals part, and I am stricken with need.” His hand skimmed up one of her thighs. “This will truly happen.”

She gasped when he cupped her pussy, slipping his middle finger inside her. “Yes, yes . . .”

“Look at you, beauty.” His eyes turned solid black as he studied her expression. His gorgeous skin sheened. His piercings glinted, and his straightened horns shone.

Her primordial sex god. Firelight loved Abyssian.

“Shall I give you another?” He started wedging a second finger into her sheath. “Take them both for me.”

“Ohhh.” She writhed to accept them, about to climb the walls.

He slowly thrust. As he’d been doing over these past nights, he spread his fingers inside her, twisting them. He teased her until she could hear how slick she’d grown.

When she rocked on his fingers, his aggression started spiking. “You’ll surrender to me tonight. I want everything from you—and I’ll have it.”

No longer nervous, she did surrender to him. Despite the turmoil he’d been suffering, he would never hurt her.

He withdrew those fingers and raised them to his mouth to suck. She moaned at the sight.

“Never get enough of this honey.” Another dip, another taste. As if he was drinking her one drop at a time. His big fingers filled her . . . then withdrew.

Fullness. Then emptiness.

Heat. Then achy coolness.

Torture.

He worked his fingers even deeper. “This is what you need.” He pumped them into her core until she grew light-headed. “Made for me.” He sounded like he was unraveling—but still he fought for control.

She was struck by his contradictions. The demon had been built to kill. And to pleasure. He was tender, yet carnal.

His lust was palpable, but his body told the story of his restraint: bulging muscles, heaving chest, shaking hands. Voice raw with emotion, he said, “I will be your first lover, Calliope. And by all the gods, I’ll be your last.”

Sian’s demon instinct roared inside him. CLAIM. POSSESS. MARK.

Her pink nails bit into his shoulders. “I can’t take much more.” Her swollen little clitoris pouted for his tongue. Her glistening entrance begged for penetration.

He’d trained her pussy to crave it. Even so, he drew on the powers of their realm to infuse her with protection magic, anything to keep her from feeling pain.

“Abyssian! I’m about to come!”

He withdrew his fingers. “No.” She’s ready. This will happen. He swallowed. Now.

In a daze, he maneuvered over her, his slick cockhead gliding across her leg. His heart thundered as he settled between her thighs. In Demonish, he said, “From the instant I first saw you, I knew.”

His gaze roamed over her, from the shiny tresses spread around her head to her lustrous eyes and sweet mouth. Her full breasts and puckered nipples. The dip of her navel. The curls on her mons. Her pinkened flesh. . . .