She lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist. He was still inside her, their bodies intimately joined. “You’re losing control.”

“You’re mine!”

“Lorn.” She softened her voice. “Baby, I am yours. But don’t bind me to you this way until we’re sure I can walk in the sun. No one would accept you as their leader if you had a Vampire mate.”

“I don’t care.”

It touched her deeply that she was his priority. He was also hers. “I care. You’re strong, you’re a hell of a fighter, but I won’t lose you. Just about every member of the clan would want you gone. I won’t let you put yourself in that position.” She wiggled her hips, used the grip of her legs to move under him. “Fuck me but no biting. I want you, Lorn.”

He snarled and closed his eyes, turning his face into his arm. He began to thrust his hips, driving in and out of her, keeping her pinned. Kira moaned and let herself be lost to the sensations of Lorn. She climaxed first, crying out his name. He came and released her wrists, collapsing on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

“Am I too heavy?”

“No.” She noticed that some of the fine hairs had retreated, only bare skin under her palms. “I love having you right here.”

“I’m sorry.” He turned his face a little, his lips brushing against her throat. “I just…”

“I know. It’s getting harder to resist.”

“Yes. You’re my true mate. We both know it. Instincts can’t be denied.”

“They need to be for right now. I’m so sorry.” She kept caressing, her legs locked around him. “I get to bite you but you have to resist doing the same to me. It’s not fair, is it?”

He shifted his arms to the side and braced his upper body weight, lifting off her a little as he peered at her. “Was I too rough?”

“I like it when you go at me like that. Even being held down was sexy. I have no complaints.”

Some humor flashed across his face. “I’ll remember that.”

“Good.”

He sobered. “Damn. I almost bit you.”

“You didn’t.”

He gently withdrew from her body by wiggling down the bed a little but he stayed on top of her. “I can’t think when I’m inside you.”

“You’re strongly Lycan. It’s how it is. I wouldn’t want you to change.”

“Speaking of, I damn near shifted.”

“I know. You wouldn’t have done a full-on shift but I think you were heading straight toward the middle ground.”

“I’m so damn sorry.”

The tormented look he gave her tore Kira up. She hated knowing she was the cause. “Don’t be. I love you, Lorn. That’s part of the package. Do you think it grosses me out? Didn’t you hear me moaning your name? Did I look terrified just because you got a little excess hair? Actually, it kind of felt good rubbing against my nipples when your chest got furry.”

He laughed.

“Not to mention, you’re doing a Vampire. I can’t seem to have sex without sinking my fangs into you. Did I take too much blood? I lost control a little too. It wasn’t just you.”

“I feel a little lightheaded but I think it’s more from the inner raging battle of wanting to mate you and trying to resist. You’re not big enough to need so much blood that it’s going to really hurt me.”

“Promise me that you’ll let me know if I’m taking too much and it’s causing you any problems. You need to be at your best while all this shit is going down with the clan.”

“I’m not letting you bite someone else.”

“We did okay with Lavos, if he’s willing to offer up his wrist after the last time.”

“I don’t want to go through that again.”

She sealed her lips, really not wanting to argue with him, but her temper changed that fast. “Do you know what I don’t want to go through? Losing you. Especially if I know I was partly to blame because feeding me made you fight when you weren’t in top form.”

“Kira—”

“Don’t,” she ordered. “Blood loss, too much, would be a bad thing. You won’t heal as fast. It can make you sluggish and lose your focus. What if you were to faint or something?”

“I don’t faint.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Pass out. Is that a more manly term? You could get into another challenge fight, lose some blood, and boom. Down you’ll go if you’re already suffering because of what you gave me.”

“I’ve increased eating and I’m taking in more red meat. I had three steaks before I came home to you. Garson is a good cook, by the way. I had him use the lodge kitchen to make me dinner.”

The thought of a steak made her hungry. She imagined one on a plate and cravings hit. She clutched at Lorn.

“What is it?”

“I want food. Real food. It actually sounds good! Since this happened to me, the thought made me kind of nauseous but I actually want a steak.” Hope flared. “Do you think that’s a good sign?”

“Perhaps.”

“I think I should try to eat something.” She pushed at him. “Get off.”

“No.” He didn’t budge. “Let’s sleep first and we’ll try it later. You just had blood.”

He was right. She didn’t want to risk throwing up if real food didn’t sit well in her stomach and her body rejected it. His blood would come up too. “But I want a steak! Isn’t that great?”

He nodded. “Yes. It’s probably a good sign.”

“But? I can see you want to say something.”

“I don’t want you to rush things and hurt yourself. Vampires aren’t meant to eat food.”

“I’m not meant to be a Vampire.”

He leaned forward and brushed his mouth over hers. “You’re my Kira. It doesn’t matter if you remain this way.”

“It will to the clan, and you’re their new leader. I won’t have you killed because they won’t accept me the way I am right now.”

“I’ll stabilize the clan and we’ll take things from there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lavos could hold the clan once we weed out all the troubled ones and gain the loyalty of more enforcers who would follow him.”