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He’s afraid of…me.

Protective urges raced through her system. She’d sooner cut off an arm than harm him. If only he would trust her, let her in.

Time to pull the thorn, Little Mouse.

She pressed in close, rising on her toes. Her pebbled nipples rubbed against his bare chest, and his sharp inhalation nearly unbalanced her.

Undeterred, she tilted her nose to the hollow beneath his ear, murmuring, “I’m sorry for what happened to you.” She feathered a kiss.

The stubbled texture of his jaw scraped her cheek, and she followed the stubborn contour, stopping at the corner of his mouth.

“And I’m sorry for your pain.” Another kiss. So close to brushing his lips.

He stood rooted to the ground, body coiled tight, as though he feared any movement might fracture his restraint.

“But I amnotSivanah,” she hissed with a nip to his chin.

She took his face in her hands. “Don’t you see? I’m yours, Jericho. I have been for a while now, though we were both too stubborn to acknowledge it.” Summoning the last of her courage, she breathed her words of surrender against his mouth. “We’re connected. Everything I am is yours. Everything you are is mine.”

Jericho’s face twisted in an expression that was part hunger, part pain. Eyes burning, he lifted his hand, cupping the back of her head.

His fist tightened in her hair, wrenching a gasp from her throat.

“Then we’re both damned,” he growled.

Jericho’s arm clamped around Alex’s back. Breath shot from her lungs. Her lips parted, and his mouth slammed against hers. Hard, angry, he claimed her tender flesh. He angled his head to delve deeper, taking more.

Pleasure lanced through her center.

She yielded with a moan, returning his dark passion with a fervor of her own.

His kiss consumed every part of her down to her marrow. It was a kiss of possession, a kiss of fire, a kiss of desires finally unleashed.

The floodgates of his emotions broke open, pouring over her in a tidal wave. Molten need burned through her senses, a boiling inferno that lapped at her flesh. She whimpered, and he swallowed the sound.

She grasped his shoulders, gripping, pulling him closer. Dizzy beneath the onslaught, she was so lost she barely registered her feet leaving the floor.

Jericho’s weight pressed her into the mattress. Everything about his hard, male body pinning hers felt right.

“Gods, Alex. What are you doing to me?” He panted, raising her cotton T-shirt to just below her breast. “Tell me now if this isn’t what you want. Say the words, and somehow, I’ll find the strength to stop.”

With his anguished promise, he lowered his forehead to hers. “But you need to understand. After this, there’s no going back. Tonight, I am claiming what’s mine.”

His throaty, guttural voice sparked along herglyph.She cupped his jaw, looking deep into his eyes. “I want you, Jericho. No secrets. No regrets. No going back.” She’d never wanted anything this much in her entire life.

She squirmed, urging him to continue, desperate to feel his skin against hers.

He whisked the shirt over her head, leaving her bare but for a pair of black lace panties. She grasped his shoulders, pressed flush against his length, and shuddered at the contact. Sweet decadence.

At last, skin to skin.

His palm—calloused and hot—slid over her ribs before teasing the side of her breast. Her heart pounded against his hand. A man’s touch,this man’s touch. How could something so simple seem as essential as her next breath?

She ran her hands over his back, eager to touch him in return. His muscles flexed in response, and he stilled beneath her gentle caress.

The raised edges of his scars slipped under her fingertips. She reverently traced their shape. Through their connection, she sensed…no pain.

Unsure if she’d crossed some boundary, she searched his face. “Would you prefer I stop? I want to touch you. But if it’s too much, I can—”