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"Quite the opposite," she admitted.

With infinite care, Din guided her to lie back on the bed, stretching out beside her. They continued their exploration, trading soft kisses and tender touches as clothing was gradually set aside. He was hyperaware of her reactions, alert for any sign of discomfort or hesitation, but she remained relaxed in his arms, her responses growing more enthusiastic with each passing moment.

When he finally removed the last of what had been covering her, he was overcome with how beautiful she was. Her body was a perfect blend of strength and softness, but it wasn't just her physical perfection that affected him—it was the trust she was placing in him and the vulnerability she was allowing him to witness.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, his gaze traveling over her with reverence, his fingers tracing the contours of her breasts.

"So are you." Her gaze traveled down his nude body, and as her eyes settled on his erection, they started glowing, and he wondered if they had ever glowed with desire for anyone else.

When the scent of her arousal hit him full force, he felt dizzy.

"I have to taste you," he groaned, leaning down to take one small nipple into his mouth and suck on it gently.

She arched her back. "Yes, please," she hissed. "Don't stop."

Fates, he felt like he'd passed through the veil and gone to heaven.

Moving with his immortal speed, he was between her legs in a split second, his shoulders spreading her thighs wide. "You're mine, Fenella," he growled as he licked between her wet folds, finding her entrance and spearing his tongue into her.

He didn't know what had possessed him to say that.

That wasn't what Fenella needed to hear from him.

She was a free spirit who didn't belong to anyone, and a stupid remark like that could ruin all the great progress he'd achieved so far.

Thankfully, she seemed too lost to pleasure and either hadn't heard him or decided to ignore it.

"Din—" she moaned his name as her body convulsed in a violent climax.

He sucked and licked, helping her ride the wave for as long as it lasted, and when she finally stopped shuddering, he kissed her folds one last time and leaned away to look at the bounty sprawled on the bed before him.

"Gorgeous," he whispered as he rose over her.

As his shaft nudged her entrance, he was adamant about going slow and making love to her tenderly and slowly, but when she lifted her hips to draw more of him inside her, his control snapped, and he surged into her, joining them.

Fenella gasped, but it didn't sound like distress. It was the sound of coming home.

The world around them receded into nothingness, and as he began moving, going faster and stronger than he'd ever dared with the humans he'd been with, she was right up there with him, taking everything he had to give and demanding more.

His immortal beloved.

With her hips lifting to meet him stroke for stroke, her nails scoring his back, and the heels of her feet digging into his buttocks, she was just as wild as he was, if not more.

As the pleasure built toward its inevitable crescendo, Din felt something profound happening between them—something beyond physical connection, something that resonated in the core of his being. The bond he'd always sensed was there, manifest now in their joining, stronger and more significant than he'd dared to hope.

When she turned her head and exposed her neck to him, he was relieved that she knew what was about to happen and welcomed it.

He licked the spot to anesthetize it and then sank his fangs into her flesh.

Fenella groaned, and as her release barreled through her once more, Din's own rushed through him in a powerful wave.

After licking the twin incision points closed, Din buried his face in the crook of her neck where he could keep breathing her scent in.

Five centuries of life and half a century of dreaming about Fenella hadn't prepared him for the intensity of the experience with this exquisite female. She was his one and only.

He was certain of it.

This hadn't been just sex or even lovemaking. This had been a joining, not only of bodies, but of souls.