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  “I’m surprised you made it to my house without being jumped.” She tried to lighten the tension filling the room.

  He turned toward her, his focus suddenly and absolutely on her. “Your family and I reached an understanding, and now it’s time we do the same.” His tone deepened to one of determination.

  Janie took a step back. “Why are you in Realm combat gear, anyway?” Changing the subject seemed wise.

  He stepped toward her. “When I teleport tomorrow, there’s a good chance I’ll be shot immediately. The king thought maybe combat gear would give me a leg up, and we’ve been working on it. The gear is good.”

  She backed up again and kept going until her butt met the coat closet door.

  He matched her steps, bringing the warmth of male with him. “Are you ready to talk?”

  Talk? Oh. She swallowed. “Yes. Talking would be good.” Giving up any pretense of decorum, she slid away from him and forced herself to walk calmly to the sofa. She settled into place and crossed her legs.

  Zane took measured steps around the sofa and stopped to peruse the DVD and book collection on the shelves by the fireplace. “All romances and contemporary comedies,” he mused.

  She licked her lips. What was going on in his head? “So?”

  He turned and that gaze pierced right into her. “No thrillers, paranormals, horror stories?”

  “God, no.” Her everyday life sometimes fit that description.

  Understanding tilted his lips. He turned and shocked the hell out of her when he crouched down between her legs, his broad hands flattening on her thighs.

  Heat flared along every nerve ending, driving up and into her core. “Um, why don’t you sit up here?” She was so out of her element.

  “I’m fine.” Even crouching he had to look down a little to meet her eyes.

  She tried to smile. “If you’re trying to put me at ease by not looming over me, you’re not succeeding.”

  “I’m not trying to put you at ease.” The green in his eyes darkened.

  Hail spattered against the windows, and she jumped. “What are you trying to do?”

  He frowned as if choosing his words. “The dream worlds weren’t real. You know that, right?”

  She fought to concentrate while his rough hands remained on her legs, but her body rioted against any thought. “They were real enough. We were there.”

  “No.” His hands flexed. “It was playtime and make-believe—an escape for me.” His features darkened.

  Living with Suri must’ve been hell. She’d known Zane suffered, but he’d never shared the truth with her. “I know,” she said softly.

  “Good. Then you understand I’m not the guy you played with by the make-believe ocean. I wish I could be, but that’s not who I am.” Even his voice had deepened.

  What was he getting at, and why was her body suddenly on fire? “Okay.”

  “Do you trust me, Belle?” he asked, his chin lowering.

  “Yes.” She didn’t have to ponder the question, as she’d always trusted Zane. Through everything.

  His shoulders relaxed, and approval lightened his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She reached out and cupped his whiskered jaw. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes. Always have and always will.” He turned into her palm and kissed her love line. “I need you to go underground while I hunt Suri.”

  She smiled. “No.”

  He blinked. “Yes. If word gets out that I’ve mated you, and it will, you’ll be in more danger than ever. At least go into hiding until Suri is dead.”

  Her heart warmed. While Zane might think he wasn’t the sweet kid she’d known in dream worlds, he had a kindness to him nonetheless. “If we’re about to fight, and you know we are, I’m needed in the infirmary. I have to help, too.”

  “I can’t concentrate on the job if you’re in danger.” He released one of her legs to run a rough hand through his hair, leaving it tousled. “So you’ll go underground. The second promise I need from you is that you’ll move on if I don’t make it back.”

  Her head jerked up, and she ignored the fact that she hadn’t made the first promise. “You’re making it back here.”

  “Chances aren’t good. Your scientists are getting closer to finding a cure for Virus-27, and when they do, they’ll be able to manipulate the virus to end other mating aspects if needed.”

  Janie swallowed, and hurt bloomed in her chest. A vampire or demon mating was absolute, and any other being that tried to become intimate with somebody else’s mate would become horribly ill. Until the virus was created that negated the mating bond. One day, when it was managed, mates could separate. “You want me with somebody else?” It was stunning how badly that hurt.

  “Hell, no.” His nostrils flared. “Not in a million years. Just the thought makes me want to wage war.”

  Oh. Well, all right then. Her heart warmed, filled with him. “How about you survive and we figure the future out together?” she asked.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  She removed her hand to place it on the pillow. “What if you do survive?” He had to survive.

  He exhaled slowly. “We’ll have to jump off that bridge if it happens.”

  God, she hoped they had a chance together. Her blood began to burn even hotter. For the briefest moment in time, after so darn long, this amazing warrior was hers. “So, then. I guess that leaves us with this one night.”

  Chapter 17

  Everything in Zane stilled. Maybe even his blood. “This one night?”

  “Yes.” A very pretty pink flushed up and over Janie’s high cheekbones.

  The primal being at Zane’s core stretched awake, and his blood started to hum. “There’s nothing in the world I want more than to spend one more night with you.” She’d been his only friend during his childhood, and when she’d grown, she’d been the woman who tortured his nights and gave him a far-fetched, desperate hope for an impossible future. “Although I’m not looking forward to your family beating down the door.” But for one more time with his Belle, he’d fight them all.

  Sweetness lifted her lips. “Nobody will bother us tonight. My mother and aunts have promised me.”

  His head lifted. The slow burn inside him burst into a full-blown inferno. “The women do seem to run things around here.”

  “Shhh. Don’t tell the vampires.” Janie grinned.

  He reached for her and stood, turning to drop into her seat with her straddling him. “You know that’s not how I operate, right?” It seemed only fair to be honest with her.

  She reached for the bottom of his T-shirt and tugged the material over his head, humming while tossing it across the room. “Like to be in charge, do you?” she murmured, her gaze on his bare chest, her hands flattening on his pecs.

  “I am in charge.” He’d led soldiers for too many years to know any other way. With a quick move, he captured her hands. Her thighs heated his legs, and he spread them, widening her.

  She tried to move back, her body tensing as he kept her in place. Open and vulnerable. Intrigue and arousal narrowed her focus, while defiance lifted her delicate chin.

  Truth be told, he liked every damn expression filtering across her face. The intrigue and arousal he’d heighten; the defiance he’d tame. The woman took too many chances and failed to understand her limitations as a human—especially since her chromosomal pairs wouldn’t increase overnight. So easy to harm and too easy to end. Just using her hands, he pulled her closer. “Who’s in charge, Belle?” he asked softly.

  She frowned and started to spout a denial, so he captured her lips and fused their mouths together. When she didn’t open soon enough for him, he nipped her bottom lip. She gasped, and he dove in. He loved that he could take her, could penetrate her, could really make her his after so much time. For eons, she’d owned his soul.

  Janie was good and kind . . . and reckless. Smart as hell and ready to give the world the finger while also sacrificing her life for the greater
good.

  That he couldn’t allow.

  So he took over, showing her strength, providing her a safe place for now. He tasted red wine and woman as he inhaled her, intent on devouring her very essence. Her scent of peaches went right to his head, while her gyrating body shot straight to his cock. Hard and needy, he wanted in her. Now. Yet he kissed her, enjoying her response as she somehow maneuvered closer to him, her core against his groin, her chest plastered against his.

  He released her hands and growled low as her nails bit into his bare chest. His mission tomorrow would most likely finish him off, and the ticking clock over his head pushed him to take. But this was Janie, and he needed to go slow. To make sure she remembered him, and more important, that she remembered to be cautious. The woman deserved a long life.

  If he could leave her with nothing else, he’d leave her safe.

  Finally, when she sagged against him, he allowed her to breathe. “Who’s in charge?” he asked.

  She blinked, her gaze unfocused. A spunky smile lifted her swollen lips. “I’m on top.”

  He matched her grin, allowing the predator to glow in his eyes. The woman’s innocence was intoxicating, while her naiveté challenging. “You certainly are.” Years ago he’d learned the value of patience. Keeping her gaze, he slipped her tank top off. Gorgeous breasts sprang free. Round, firm, and topped with the loveliest pink nipples he’d ever seen.

  Almost reverently, he swept his knuckles across one. The small bud hardened instantly.

  Janie gasped and pressed her heated sex down on his shaft.

  A roaring filled his ears, and he battled back the beast. “You’re so beautiful, Belle.” Fighting every instinct he owned, he carefully lifted her with one arm and drew off her yoga pants and tiny blue panties, settling her back down on him.

  She blushed, her arousal and embarrassment mixing on her sigh. So sweet and innocent, and he didn’t want her ever to be unsure of him. Of how much he cared and how much he wanted her. Apparently he needed to get her out of her head.

  He ducked his head and captured a nipple, drawing hard. She leaned into him, digging her hands into his hair, her moan slithering through him to his pounding cock.

  Taking his time, truly enjoying himself, he played with her breasts. Nipping, licking, and kissing, he lost himself in the silky feel of her skin, in the throaty moans from her lips.

  Finally, he leaned back. “Tell me if I’m too rough.”

  Her eyes had darkened to the color of deep sapphires. “I, ah, kind of like you rough.” She ducked her head against his chin.

  His heart thumped and seemed to swell. That sweet honesty from the incredible woman cut right into him and took hold. Even so, he tangled his hand in her hair and forced her to meet his gaze. “I appreciate the honesty, sweetheart, but there will be no hiding between us. How rough?”

  She gave a small laugh, the sound happy and free. “Heck if I know. I don’t have a wealth of experience here, Zane. But I like that you’re so strong, and you make me feel safe. Protected. But not in the usual way.”

  He frowned. “Usual way?”

  “Yeah.” She shrugged, her hands sliding through his hair to trace his jaw. “You know. Little human among big vampires to be wrapped in bubbles and kept from all harm.” She slid along his shaft, her breath quickening. “You make me feel whole and alive. Like a woman.”

  “I definitely see you as a woman.” His woman. Though she was still inexperienced, and he had to be careful.

  “Good.” She unbuckled his belt and released his zipper.

  His dick sprang free, and cool air washed across his skin, tantalizing firing nerves. Janie touched him gingerly, exploring. Being breathlessly careful.

  “You can’t hurt me, baby.” His voice went demon low.

  “Okay.” She encircled part of him, playing with the tip, her soft touch gaining strength.

  His balls drew up tight, and he fought a hard groan. If the woman wanted to explore, he damn well wanted to be the man who taught her. Everything. “I like that you’re not shy.”

  “Oh, I’m shy. But I’m curious, too.” She bit her lip and leaned down to cup his balls.

  Holy fucking hell. Appeasing her curiosity was going to kill him—if her sweetness didn’t completely undo him first. He lived with demons, with soldiers fighting to live and killing often. Now, with Janie’s smooth hands on him, he wondered when he’d last touched something good. Somebody kind? “What else are you?” he asked.

  “Hmm?” She tucked her fingers into his waistband. “Lift up.”

  He lifted, and she pulled his pants off to leave them both nude. Seeming comfortable now, she settled back down on his legs, her gaze still on his shaft.

  “Are you wet, Janie?” he asked, already knowing the answer, considering she perched on his thigh.

  That blush returned. “A little.”

  “Let’s see what we can do about that.” His gaze dropped to the imprint of the heels of his hands on her ribs. Going on instinct, he encircled her waist, stretching his fingers around her back . . . in perfect alignment with his markings.

  Her entire body shuddered, and her mouth opened in a silent “oh.”

  Yeah, he felt it, too. A deep sense of belonging, and a dangerous urge to take.

  She levered herself up. His leg dampened more as wetness spilled from her core. “I want you. Now,” she said.

  “You’re not ready.” God, he wanted her, too.

  She smiled. “I’m ready.”

  Well, they did have all night to play and explore. He supported her weight as she rose to her knees and tried to take him in. “Take your time,” he said.

  She nodded and worked him in, slowly and barely an inch at a time. Wet warmth wrapped around him, squeezing hard.

  His hold tightened while he kept himself in check. While he let her explore and play . . . learning her body. Learning his, too. Finally, a fucking century or two later, her body relaxed as her butt hit his groin. His muscles vibrated with the effort to stay still, and his heart thumped hard enough against his ribs to ache.

  She glanced up, delight in her eyes. “I took all of you.” Even so, her mouth remained pinched, and her body stiff.

  “Yeah, but it hurts, right?” he rumbled. He’d told her she wasn’t ready.

  She grinned. “Yeah. You’re huge.”

  Warmth filled him, and not just from the compliment. The woman was beginning to mean everything to him. “Maybe next time you’ll listen to me?”

  “Probably not.” Using his chest for balance, she slowly lifted up . . . and winced.

  Enough. He shoved her back down, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head at the heated contact. Hot and wet, she gripped him hard enough that the beast inside him yanked against any chain of restraint. “You need to learn to listen, Belle.”

  She gasped and struggled against him.

  He kept her in place, waiting patiently until she stopped moving. “If you’d listened and gone slower, you wouldn’t be in pain.” He’d much rather be pounding into her and making them both happy than teaching a lesson, but she’d given him no choice. “Understand?”

  She wiggled a little. “I’m not in a lot of pain, and if you’d start moving, I think it wouldn’t be so bad.”

  He snorted. The minx was impossible. “I can do better than ‘not so bad.’” Flexing one hand around her hip in warning, he tweaked her nipple with the other one, just hard enough to add a little bite.

  She breathed out, and her sex softened around him. More wetness coated his balls.

  Sliding his hand down her torso, he appreciated her toned abdomen before zeroing in on her clit. The small bundle of nerves protruded, begging for a caress. He indulged her, making circular motions.

  She whimpered and tried to gyrate against him, but he wouldn’t let her move. “My way, Belle.”

  Frustration curled her lip, while the hand in his hair tugged.

  He pinched.

  She gasped and stilled, her eyes widening.

/>   “Let go of my hair.” He punctuated each word with a little tug.

  She released him hastily, her internal walls clenching his shaft like a vise.

  “Better,” he murmured, continuing to play. He played with her clit, his other hand caressing her hip and butt, continuing until she writhed against him, her breathless moans echoing right through his body.

  The beast inside roared for him to take, the leash nearly broken. Zane grabbed her neck and yanked her down for a hard kiss, mastering her mouth, taking what he wanted. She kissed him back with abandon, free and giving. So damn sweet he’d do anything to keep her safe.

  He released her mouth. “Who’s in charge?”

  She blinked, surprise mingling with the need in her eyes.

  Not for one second had he forgotten. “Belle?”

  “You are,” she breathed. So much need crossed her face, he doubted she cared about the words. But it was a start.

  He released her. She might have given the words he’d wanted, but she’d also taken everything he was. Body and soul, Janie Kayrs owned him. Always would. “Now you’re ready, baby. Go for it.”

  She breathed out and grabbed his arms, rising and then dropping back down. Her soft cry echoed along with his low groan. Heaven. The woman was heaven.

  Her smile held brilliance as she tried again, slowly finding a rhythm that tortured them both.

  “Wait,” Zane said, grasping her hips and tilting slightly. “Try this.”

  Her eyes widened and she let out a low moan.

  Yeah. That was it.

  Passion caught her, glazing in her eyes, as she increased her pace.

  He let her lead as long as he could, finally giving in to help her, moving her faster. Harder. Every time he pulled her back down, he thrust up with his hips. The slap of flesh against flesh drowned out the ferocious storm outside. His balls pulled tight, and electricity ripped down his spine.

  Reaching between them, he scraped his thumb across her clit.

  She stiffened, crying out, her hands curling around his shoulders. Wave upon wave shuddered through her body, while she gripped him fiercely inside, taking him with her.