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I drew in a sharp breath. “So I can’t touch you at all?”

He shook his head. “Those are the rules.”

I gripped the headboard tighter. “Fine. Your move, dhampyr.”

A shadow of a smile played at his lips, and he sat back on his heels, his feet still clad in his heavy leather boots. He slid the palms of his hands down the front of me between my breasts. His hands were calloused and rough against my skin—the feel of them made me shiver and my nipples tightened. Instinctively, I arched up from the bed to meet his touch.

“You’re so beautiful, Jill,” he said.

“So are you,” I managed.

Declan chuckled deep in his throat. “You’re lying. My scars—”

“Are part of you. And that makes them beautiful. I think we’ve had this conversation before.”

A shadow crossed his expression. “Jill...”

“I wouldn’t be in a situation like this with somebody I found unappealing. Trust me on that, Declan. You make me so hot I can barely sit still.”

He leaned over, his mouth only an inch from mine. “How hot?”

Then he slid his hand under the waistband of my leggings and down between my legs where he’d easily feel the proof of just how much I wanted him. I gasped, and my grip on the headboard tightened.

“You’re right,” he whispered. “Very hot.”

“You’re teasing me now.”

“Maybe a little.” He hooked a finger in either side of the elastic waistband of the leggings and slid them down my legs until they were off. I lay naked on the bed, my arms still above my head, while Declan, fully dressed, swept his gaze over me.

I had to admit, me being naked and vulnerable at the moment and him being fully dressed and totally in control was way sexier than I ever would have thought it would be.

“How’s the experiment going so far?” I asked, my voice breathy.

He raised a dark eyebrow. “Good, I think. You?”

“Excellent. A-plus.”

Declan kissed me. My lips parted and I slid my tongue against his, which made me groan low in my throat at the chance to taste him deeper. My breath caught as his hand returned between my legs and he stroked me there until I felt utterly boneless with need.

He didn’t say another word as he began to kiss his way down my body. I watched him, breathless, as he parted my legs and pressed his mouth against me there. I cried out and let go of the headboard completely so I could grip the back of his head when I felt the wet heat of his tongue slide and flick over me.

“Declan—” But I couldn’t form actual words anymore. His name was barely understandable.

Pleasure crashed over me with my climax, so intense it was close to pain. My body quaked against his mouth and hands, arching up from the bed, but he firmly held me in place until I came again. A scream escaped my lips then, despite my attempt to muffle it with the back of my hand.

He brought his face back to mine and kissed me hard and openmouthed so I could taste myself on his tongue. By this time I was utterly ravenous for him.

“Please, Declan,” I begged. “I need you. I want you so much.”

I wrapped my legs around his fully clothed body and ground myself against him as if he were naked. I desperately needed him inside of me. I wanted him even more now than I had before. He’d given me two incredible orgasms, but I still wasn’t satisfied. The small taste had only intensified my hunger.

Slowly, very slowly, I regained control of myself until I found I was kissing him more than he was kissing me. I held his face between my hands and stared up at him, dismayed to see his expression held some regret.

Immediately, tears began to sting my eyes. “Please don’t look at me like that.”

Declan’s expression held only pain. “It’s not you, Jill. I’m sorry. I just want to be more for you than what I am.”

Every bit of hot, aching desire I’d just felt for him hadn’t been matched. He felt nothing. The mind was willing, but the body couldn’t comply. My skin felt electric, sensitive, as though if he touched me again, he might send me right back over the edge.