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  He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her the way a woman this rare and precious was meant to be kissed. He took his time, savoring each sweet flavor and texture her mouth had to offer. He fed her his breath while he feasted on her, showing her with lips and tongue what he had in store for the rest of her sleek body.

  His skin heated until he couldn’t stand the blankets cloaking them. He shoved them aside and rolled her beneath him, pinning her to the mattress. She tried to get the upper hand and fight her way to the top, but he wasn’t having any of it. He liked her beneath him, all soft and writhing with need.

  She was naked. He needed to be, too. Their skin was meant to be touching, as often and as much as possible. Who was he to deny either of them that pleasure?

  He moved off her just enough to rid himself of his jeans. By the time he did, she had slid over him, straddling his thighs.

  His erection rose in front of her, thick, dark and throbbing. The tip was shiny with pre-cum, proof of his lack of control when it came to this woman. He’d wanted her for far too long to hold himself back now.

  Indecision warred on her face as she stared at his cock.

  He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind, because if she had, he was still going to take her. Lyka was his. It was time she understood exactly what that meant.

  Chapter 25

  Ronan skidded to a stop outside of an airport.

  She was in there. Somewhere.

  He parked his van and rushed inside, following the call of her blood in his veins. He’d made it almost all the way across the parking lot when he felt her move again, only this time the sensation was bizarre. He’d never felt anything like it before.

  She was moving toward him, but she was also . . . above him.

  Ronan’s woman had boarded a plane and was flying away from him.

  A large jet buzzed by overhead, and he knew that she was on it, completely out of reach.

  A sense of failure and loss swept through him, but he reined it in enough to plan his next move. Just because she was flying away didn’t mean he couldn’t still find her.

  He hurried inside and checked the terminals for recent takeoffs. He made note of the destinations of those flights and went to the ticket counter.

  Ronan wasted no time trying to convince the young woman across the counter to help him. He simply exerted his will over her, took control of her mind and compelled her to print him a copy of the manifest of every flight that had left in the past ten minutes.

  Something she did must have triggered an alarm, because there were several uniformed men converging on his location.

  Rather than spend precious energy trying to stop them from coming after him, he simply ducked behind a thick column that held up the vast ceiling and shielded himself from human sight. By the time he was on the other side of the column, he was completely invisible to every person around.

  Hiding himself like this was burning power fast, so he broke into a run and headed for his van. It wasn’t until he was miles away from the airport that he allowed himself to stop at a local mall and read over the papers he’d collected.

  Two of the three manifests were for small planes. The last was the only one with enough passengers to fill an aircraft the size of the one he’d seen pass overhead. He crossed out all the male names, which left just a little less than half of the passengers. Too many.

  There was one man he knew who had a knack with computers. If anyone could find pictures of the women remaining on this list, it was Nicholas. But if Ronan called him, he was going to catch hell for all the missed messages the irate Theronai had left on his phone.

  Still, what other choice did he have? He needed to know where she was going before she got so far away he could no longer feel her. If she ended up in Europe, he was going to have to make careful plans to follow her. He absolutely could not be caught on board an airplane when the sun was up. Even if a single Warden was summoned, it would mean the death of every living soul on that plane. He couldn’t risk that many lives—not even for her.

  Ronan picked up his phone and dialed Nicholas, bracing himself for the penance he was going to have to pay for being AWOL. Whatever he had to do, he’d do, as long as it got him one step closer to his mystery woman.

  Chapter 26

  Lyka wasn’t sure if she wanted to suck Joseph’s cock or ride him first. Both were such tantalizing options.

  She’d felt sexual need before, but never the way she did now. It was a living, breathing thing that crawled through her body and demanded action. She was just glad that he was already hard and ready for her, because if he hadn’t been, she wasn’t sure she would have survived making him that way without combusting.

  She could still taste his kiss on her lips, all hot and sweet. The man knew what he was doing with his tongue, and as soon as she could stand being in her own skin again, she was going to convince him to use that tongue between her thighs.

  Just the thought had the slick heat of arousal spilling from her core.

  She was so empty there, so hot. She needed him to put out the fire and give her relief.

  Pulling his power inside her had been far more erotic than she could have imagined. One moment she’d been hovering on the verge of death. The next, she was consumed with a potent rush of possessive need. She knew it wasn’t hers, but it hardly mattered. The fire his power had lit in her was blazing out of control and had to be extinguished.

  Only he could give her relief.

  Lyka had no idea how she’d gotten naked, but she was glad for the convenience now. With one graceful shift of her body, she lowered herself onto the tip his erection.

  Wetness bathed him as she moved her hips, working to adjust to the thickness of his cock. His big hands grabbed her hips and held on tight. With slow, steady pressure, he forced her down until she was full.

  Wicked, delightful sensations winged through her limbs, stealing her breath. The sweet stretch and pressure inside her was almost enough to set her off. All she needed was a few strokes, and she knew she’d come screaming his name.

  “I need you to take all of me, kitten.”

  She didn’t understand what he meant until she reached between their bodies and felt just how much more he had to give her.

  The idea made her whimper, but even she couldn’t tell if the sound was due more to apprehension or excitement.

  “I’m full,” she told him.

  “Not yet, you’re not. But you will be.”

  His powerful body moved, taking her with him. She found herself flat on her back, her body pinned by his hips and arms.

  There was nowhere for her to go to escape his massive presence, nowhere for her to hide from his hot hazel gaze.

  He eased forward, stretching her until stars danced in her vision and her whole world shrank down to the flesh connecting them.

  It was too much and yet still not enough. She grabbed his shoulders, unsure if she wanted to pull him closer or push him away. In the end, it didn’t matter what she wanted, because he gathered her hands and pinned them over her head.

  Her first instinct was to fight the restraint, but after a second, she realized that it arched her back in such a way that his cock stroked a whole new and delightful set of nerve endings inside her.

  Hot, strong fingers cupped her breast, catching the sensitive peak between them. He pinched and rolled her nipple with the skill of a master safecracker, unlocking every bit of resistance left in her.

  Her body went limp beneath his, accepting his weight, his heat, his hold on her wrists, the intrusion of his erection pressed deep inside her core.

  “That’s right,” he crooned. “Just let go. I have you.”

  She believed that. As stupid as it might make her, in this moment, she trusted Joseph completely.

  He let out a low, rough groan of approval. “Sweet kitten. I’m going to make you purr.�
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  He covered her mouth with his and began moving his hips in earnest. Each steady thrust filled her, stretching her more than she thought possible. All conscious thought of what he was doing seemed to vanish, leaving behind only the fog of acute pleasure he’d laid over her body.

  Her deep want, combined with his relentless skill and gentle force, sent her over the edge. Her world shattered in golden shards of heat and light as her orgasm took her. Her body clenched around Joseph’s cock, flooding him with slick wetness. She tried to hold on to him, but he was too strong to be trapped by her grasp.

  He kept moving, riding her hard to prolong her orgasm. After it passed and she was lying there, quivering and boneless, she opened her eyes to find him watching her.

  “How many more times can I make you do that before you’re spent?” he asked.

  “None,” she said on a weak breath of air. “You nearly killed me.”

  A dark smile curved his lips. “That sounds like a challenge to me, love. By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to forget what it’s like to not be writhing in the throes of orgasm.”

  There was no way she could take more. He hadn’t come yet, but there wasn’t much she could do about that until she caught her breath. As it was, she was already shaking from the force of being loved by a man as potent as Joseph.

  No, not love. Sex. That was all this was. She couldn’t let any girlish fantasies cloud her judgment. A few short months ago, they’d been enemies. To think that he’d come to love a woman like her was foolish. Wanting him to do so would only weaken her.

  And she was already too weak to see straight. The man had blasted her world away, leaving behind a filmy haze of sexual satisfaction. She could have basked in it for hours if not for more pressing matters.

  Lyka shifted in silent request that he move off her. Instead he hooked her ankles over his shoulders and drove deep.

  Sparks lit high in her abdomen, where the tip of his cock had settled against some exquisite spot. She could feel a trickle of energy pouring from him into her. Every tingling strand of it seemed to coalesce at her core, relighting the fire he’d just put out.

  “I’m not done with you yet,” he said with a hint of a growl in his voice. “And I won’t be until I flood that sweet pussy of yours with my seed. But first, I’m going to make you scream again.”

  She shivered at his statement, given with such confidence that she could only accept it as fact. It didn’t matter that she’d just gotten off or that her body had started to cool down. He was going to take what he wanted from her and make sure she enjoyed the ride.

  One of those erotic images from his mind flashed behind her eyes. She saw it in full, living color— his powerful body bent over her, his cheeks hollowed out as he suckled her nipples. His hand was between her thighs, stroking her clit until she was whimpering with need.

  Her skin heated as he played the scene out for her. Just like that, she was right back on the edge, fighting the keen bite of arousal as if she’d never come.

  He found her mouth with his and kissed her like the world was coming to an end, like he’d die if he didn’t breathe the air from her lungs. Possessive aggression was coming off him in waves now. The rough edges of it grated against her, making her wonder how he could even imagine her with another man after the way he made her feel.

  Another of his fantasies played out between them. This time his dark head was between her thighs. His thick fingers were clenched around her hips, holding her tight as he licked and sucked her. She could feel his deep satisfaction, his need to pin her in place and feed from her, pleasure her, like this.

  Beyond their minds, her body was straining to take everything Joseph wanted to give her. Every heavy surge of his hips sent him gliding against parts of her that had never before been touched. Her womb clenched and pulsed as she veered toward release.

  She arched her back, causing Joseph to dive down to nibble and suckle her hard nipples. He reached behind her, grabbing a handful of her hair, forcing her to arch her back more. She couldn’t move her head, couldn’t move her hips. All she could do was lie there and let him take control.

  The instant she yielded, her mind melted and her body went off, bursting into the kind of pleasure so acute, it was nearly pain. She heard herself cry out, felt Joseph tighten around her, swell inside her.

  “So fucking sexy,” he growled. “Can’t wait any longer, kitten.”

  She didn’t understand what he meant until she felt his semen erupt deep inside, so hot and powerful that she knew she’d never again be the same. Even in the depths of her climax, she knew her world had just changed. As the last waves of intense pleasure settled into quiet ripples, as the last pulses of his semen filled her, she knew what it was to belong to someone.

  Too bad it was the wrong someone. None of her people would ever understand her binding herself to a Theronai like this. She was his in every way that mattered. She even smelled like him now.

  She hadn’t realized it before, but up until this very moment, she’d been holding out a little sliver of hope that one day her life would return to normal. She’d go home, be with her family and friends. This whole brief interlude where she played Theronai would be over.

  That dream was dead now. She’d given herself to the enemy, body and soul. There was no undoing that.

  Chapter 27

  Justice stepped off the plane on shaky legs. She’d thought she could outsmart the fates or God or whoever it was that compelled her by flying halfway across the country.

  She’d been very, very wrong.

  She’d felt Ronan growing closer to her. She knew he was hot on her heels, searching for her with endless determination. It didn’t matter how far she went or how fast she went there; he was always only a step or two behind her, giving her no time to rest.

  As soon as the fates demanded that she move toward him, she was out. Done. Finished being their bitch. Let them do their own damn dirty work. She quit.

  Only that’s not the way it worked. Much like the Mafia, there was no getting out unless it was feetfirst. She was trapped in her job, chained to it for life.

  Assuming she lived.

  “Are you okay?” asked one of the attendants at the end of the jetway.

  Justice eyed the perky blonde and nodded. “Airsick.”

  She needed to turn around, get back on the flight and go back to the fucking Midwest. That was what the fates wanted of her, and those bitches always got their way.

  Justice stepped out of the path of unloading passengers and planted her feet. She breathed through her nose, hoping the urge to go east would fizzle out and leave her alone. That was where Ronan was. And if he found her, she was sure the bloodsucker would be the death of her.

  She wasn’t ready to die. She hated her life and the way she was tossed about like a corked bottle on the ocean. Still, she was too scared to face what might lie on the other side of this place to do anything about it.

  She’d already woken up once naked, alone and with no memories of a former life. She really didn’t think she could take doing so again.

  The urge to obey bore down on her, making her head throb and her gut churn. Her skin had constricted to the point that she wasn’t sure how she was going to find the space to pull in her next breath. As it was, she was panting and sweating, taking a lot of stink eye from the people passing her.

  She couldn’t stay here, whatever she did. She had to move. Do something. The itch inside her was too extreme to just stand around and be tortured. At least if she were moving, she’d be distracted from the way she was slowly dying inside.

  Justice found herself in baggage claim, retrieving her hard-sided, cherry red suitcase. Her next stop was a rental-car agency, where she got the fastest set of wheels they had to offer.

  Ten minutes later, she was behind the wheel, flying down the highway.

  An inter
state junction loomed up ahead. She could go left and head for California, or right, back to Ronan Land. Left was freedom and excruciating pain. Right was elation, followed by a bloodsucking vampire.

  In the end, there really was no choice. There never had been—at least not for her. Justice had no free will. She was a tool. A pawn. She went where she was told and did what was expected of her, no matter how cruel or disgusting it might be.

  Her only hope was that wherever the fates sent her this time, Ronan would be far, far away.

  Chapter 28

  Joseph realized the instant he could breathe again that he’d made a fatal mistake.

  Lyka hadn’t been ready for sex. It was too soon, and now she was shutting down, closing up shop and boarding all the doors on her thoughts so he couldn’t see a single one.

  He should have waited. Given her time. Let her accept the fact that she was irrevocably bound to him—that she wasn’t going back to her old life once Eric and the kids were found.

  But, no, his dick had to get some, and now he’d potentially ruined his relationship with his mate for the rest of their long, long lives.

  How the hell could he have been so stupid?

  She slipped from the bed and wobbled to the bathroom. The door shut behind her, blocking off the sight of her lovely ass, as well as any chance he had of reading her thoughts.

  He poked at the connection between them, hoping for even a slight glimpse of her feelings, but all he got was a cold, blank wall.

  He fell back against the pillows and covered his eyes with his forearm. The longer he waited to bridge the gap that was forming between them, the wider it would become.

  The only thing he could think to do to draw her back to him was to help her find her brother, but they’d been working on that with little success so far. So had a lot of other people. Whoever, whatever, had the Slayers, they were covering their tracks well. Not even the best Slayer noses had been able to follow the trail.