He’d never been more ready for a woman in his life, and yet he didn’t dare rush this. She deserved his best effort, and he deserved to take his time and enjoy this as much as he could.

The monster wanted him to hurry the fuck up and shove his cock into her—make her take it all and fill her up with his seed, over and over. Iain told the beast to shut the hell up and enjoy the ride.

Her leg slipped between his, and she rubbed her mound along his thigh. He could feel the slick heat gathering between her legs as she rode him. The sweet drag of her flesh against his sent shards of electric current up his spine, making his balls tighten. It would have been so easy to come like this with her, but it’s not how he wanted it to be. He wanted her to get off first, so he could hear her cries of pleasure while he could still pay attention enough to tuck them away in his memory forever. If there was one sound he wanted to remember when he died, it would be Jackie’s sweet screams as she came.

Another option wove its way into his mind, but he cast it aside as impossible and selfish. Soulless men didn’t deserve children, not to mention the fact that he couldn’t have one even if he wanted—at least not without Tynan’s help.

The hopeful echo of a child’s laugh was not for him. But this—Jackie’s soft sighs and the feel of her fingers stroking his skin—this was more than he could ask for.

She moved to straddle him, and he knew that if he let her sweet pussy anywhere near his cock, he’d forget himself and the monster would take over. Instead, he flipped her back onto the bed and pinned her there with his thigh while he kissed her.

He cupped her breast, letting his thumb slide over her velvet nipple. She arched her back and grabbed his head, pushing it down to her breast, while at the same time, his mind was flooded with the image of his mouth suckling her.

At least he knew exactly what she wanted. Now it was his turn to see if he could show her what he intended to do.

Iain created an image of his dark head between her thighs, his tongue stroking her, his fingers pushing deep. He propelled that thought through their link, and heard her quiet gasp of desire.

He took that as his invitation, and kissed his way down her body, licking hot trails over her ribs and around the hollow of her belly button. The farther down he went, the wider her legs opened to make room for his body.

Hot, pink flesh greeted him, and the scent of her arousal was nearly more than he could stand. He caught her gaze as he got his first taste, and then her eyes fluttered shut and her head flopped back onto the pillow.

So sweet, so wet for him, she drove him crazy without even trying. He flicked his tongue across her clit, and her hips jolted off the bed.

Iain pinned her down with one arm while he slid his fingers along her folds, teasing her.

Desire grew between them, a needful, desperate thing. He wasn’t sure if it was her desire or his own, but whatever it was, he wasn’t strong enough to play around any longer.

He thrust two fingers inside her, feeling how tight she was around him, how wet. He tried to go slowly, giving her body time to stretch and adjust to his invasion, but lust was driving him on, compelling him to make her come. Once she let go, she’d relax and be able to take his cock much easier. Much deeper. He needed that closeness. He needed everything she had to give, because chances were, he’d never again feel the touch of a woman.

That thought spurred him on. He sucked her clit, and worked another finger inside of her body.

Jackie’s muscles tightened down, and her movements became stronger as she bucked against him. Her breathing sped, and she started making a soft sound warning of her impending orgasm.

He sped up the pace. Through their link, he sent his desire to see her come, to feel it around his fingers and taste it on his tongue. That seemed to send her over the edge and her body began to shake as she came. He stayed with her, drawing her orgasm out until all that was left was the fluttering remnants of pleasure coursing through her body.

Iain lapped at her pussy, easing her back down. His own desire was clawing at him, but the satisfaction of watching her come gave him the strength to ignore it all. What he couldn’t ignore was the rising need to make her do it again. Only this time, she was going to come around his cock.

Chapter 19

Jackie was shaking with pleasure. Her body trembled with it, until she was sure that it was radiating out of her pores.

No one had ever made her orgasm like that before, but the way he was looking at her, his dark eyes hooded and his cheeks stained with lust, she was convinced he was going to try to do it again.

She should have been too tired to care. Funneling so much power tonight had drained her. Fighting the cold had sapped her strength. And while she was limp and boneless, she wasn’t even considering telling him to stop and let her rest.

Jackie could feel his need riding alongside her own muted lust. His was sharper, hotter, with jagged edges that tore at him until she wasn’t sure how he could stand it. The fact that she could feel all of that should have been some kind of warning, but right now, with her body humming and warm, she didn’t care to sort out what it meant. For now, it was enough to know that she had the most delicious man on the face of the planet naked in bed with her, lusting after her with a ferocity that shocked her, and she wasn’t going to let that go to waste.

He crawled up over her, holding her legs spread wide with his body. The sheets beneath her were wet, but that was his fault as much as it was hers. Even now, she could feel slick heat easing from her as her body ached to be filled.

Jackie grabbed his head and pulled him down for a kiss. As his mouth met hers, a pulse of something dark and dangerous slammed into her through the luceria. It brought with it a rising tide of lust and physical need, and a hint of something…deadly. Illuminated for a split second, like from a flash of lightning, the feeling vanished, and all that was left was the thrumming beat of her own heart. It was like Iain had cut her off from himself, shoving her away.

And she didn’t like it.

She pushed him back and stared into his eyes. “Let me in.”

“No. You don’t belong there.”

Bullshit. It felt too right for her not to belong. He was hiding something, and she was going to find out what it was.

She grabbed his cock, sliding her fingers over it, spreading slick wetness down from the tip. Iain’s jaw bunched as he let out a hissing curse.

“I want to feel what you feel again. Let me in,” she ordered.

The tendons in his neck stood out, and his body shook as he braced himself over hers. “No.”

She wasn’t the kind of woman who took no for an answer. Her grip tightened, and she sped the pace of her strokes as she scooted to line their bodies up. “I want it. Give it to me.”

Iain let out a pained groan and squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t want you to see it.”

“See what?”

He didn’t answer, so she slid the tip of his erection against her folds, covering him with her wet heat.

“Don’t,” he choked out, but whatever else he was going to say got swallowed up in a snarl. His eyes popped open and she felt the floodgates break between them.

Emotions surged into her in a chaotic mix of anger and lust, protectiveness and loneliness. It all swirled together until she couldn’t distinguish one thing from another.

Iain let out a choked sound, but stared down at her as his hips surged forward. His cock slid into her several inches, and then all she could think about was the way he stretched and filled her. Physical pleasure blocked out the rest as he began to move.

His powerful body coiled around her, holding her close as his hips worked, rocking, forcing her to take more of him with each thrust. She tried to tell him to slow down, but there was no air to speak, and her own body was writhing, struggling to get even closer to him.

There was too much stimulus. Her body was shimmering with sensation. Her mind was stuffed full of thoughts and feelings not her own. Pleasure suffused her every breath, and with each shifting slide of him inside her, she inched closer to another devastating climax.

Words rattled through her head—low, frantic words of apology and regret. She couldn’t understand any of them, but the tone stringing them together was clear. He was sorry for what he was doing.

She wasn’t. Not even close. She was devastated by it, stretched in so many directions she had no sense of where she was going, but none of that mattered. The only things she cared about were the feel of his body moving against hers, and the deep, resonating satisfaction purring from his mind.

“It’s okay,” she panted. “It’s good. So good.”

A feral growl rumbled through him, and he lifted her hips, angling their bodies so he could slide fractionally deeper.

That was all it took. Her body coiled tight, then burst in an explosion of pleasure and light. Before she’d even had time to pull in a breath, she felt Iain tense and drive deep. His semen pumped inside of her, making her cry out as it pushed her even higher. She hung there, suspended in pure sensation and physical joy for what seemed like hours. Then finally, the storm eased and she went limp in his arms.

Iain continued moving inside of her in slow, steady thrusts that sent tremors streaking through her. She was shaken all the way to her soul, completely shattered and yet somehow restored.

She wasn’t sure she’d ever have pleasure like that in her life again after what she’d been through. But now, with Iain still hard inside of her, and his powerful body draped over hers, she had hope that at least one part of her old life would be normal. Even improved upon, if what she’d just experienced was any indication.

It had never been that good before, and a part of her wondered if it would ever be that good with anyone besides Iain.

Iain watched Jackie sleep. Her skin was still flushed pink, and her lips were still swollen and parted as if waiting for another kiss.

He held himself in check, grateful that his monster had crawled back into its dank cage to leave him the hell alone. Iain felt…at peace. He wasn’t fighting himself or demons or even his own kind. He simply existed in this quiet space where he could hear the faint sound of Jackie’s breathing in time with his own heartbeat.

Holding Samson had been a lot like this—giving him a sense of rightness that he hadn’t thought existed in the world. At least not for him, not anymore.

He still wanted her, but the raging need had been eased, and now he was content with being near her, knowing she was safe.

It wouldn’t last. Whatever magic she’d wrought with her touch would soon be gone, and he’d be battling the forces around and within him once more.

Iain shifted his body closer, draping his arm over her waist. She turned toward him, snuggling her face against his chest and letting out a happy sigh. He held his breath, trying to feel some shift in his lifemark, some subtle sway of branches that would tell him she’d somehow brought his soul back to life.

He knew it wasn’t possible, but the longer he was around her—connected to her—the more hopeful he became. He hadn’t cared about much of anything before. He did what he was supposed to do out of a sense of honor and duty, operating with little thought beyond what was the most efficient way to save his brothers and slay the demons. Like a robot, he did things without caring, moving from one task to the next without judging his actions.