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He reaches for her, as if to stroke her cheek or pull her close. Then he pauses, his hand suspended in mid-air. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

It’s not an easy question when posed by a beautiful man, one who keeps talking about her pleasure like it’s all-powerful, holy, necessary to his very being. Hedidkidnap her, though. Maybe she shouldn’t be so ready to let that slide. “I’m still not sure I have much of a choice.”

“Of course you have a choice. You could pleasureyourself…it will still power the journey. I collected your stimulator wand when I came for you.”

“You stole myvibrator?” She suppresses a snicker. “You really are a freak.”

“It seemed important to you. I’ve been studying it,” he added, almost defensive, “and I think I could improve on a few functions, so if you’d like...”

“And that would work for you?”

“You could have anything, anyone you wish. It doesn’t have to be me. I could show you?—”

“No,” she says, and he stops, looking both worried and absurdly hopeful. “If we’re doing this, we’redoingit. I want it to be you.”

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, isn’t it? She gets to have it all: fuck a gorgeous self-proclaimed alien in real lifeandgo home again. Her favorite book heroines would kill for a chance like this.

“All right,” he says, without moving toward her.

If it was him, in her dream—he certainly spoke with a voice that sounded the same—she almost misses the claiming, the overwhelming force he’d shown then. Her cheeks flare all over again.He can’t read my mind, can he?But he doesn’t stir, so…probably not.

“How does this work? Should I just kiss you now, or…?”

This seems to penetrate whatever daze he’s fallen under. He laughs softly, and then, all at once, he descends upon her, sweeping her up in his arms to pull her flush against him.

We’re explorers, he told her, and his kiss starts as an exploration—tasting, testing, probing—and then, abruptly, a conquering assault. His tongue feels human when it sweeps across hers, even if the teeth capturing her lip seem sharper than she’s used to.

He feels human elsewhere, too, though the hard ridge growing against her belly does seem, well,larger than life. When she grinds up against it, an experimental investigation of exactly what she’s gotten herself into, he makes a very human sound into her mouth, half growl, half moan. His hands—which, she notes, have five fingers, nails nicely clipped, with smooth, warm, human skin—slip down around her ass to the backs of her thighs. He lifts her off the ground as if to slot her onto him, if only they were both naked.

Pulling back just enough, his lips brush hers as he murmurs, “I hope you’re done eating, my beauty.”

“Why,” she asks, breathless, “were you hungry, too?”

“In a manner of speaking.” He licks into her mouth again. Itisa hungry kiss, thirsty even, like a man finding an oasis in the desert. “It’s my turn to have my fill, I think.”

As he turns them around, her legs still wrapped around his middle, she realizes dimly that the table has disappeared entirely. In its place waits a bed much like the one in her chambers—no, identical to it. Hands busy with the back of her jumpsuit as she clings to him, he takes a few strides forward and spreads her on the bed. Kneeling over her with his eyes bright and wild, he tears the green satin from her body easily as ripping tissue paper, laying her bare.

“I knew you were going to eat me,” she gasps. “Just…not like this.”

“Icould, you know.” He bares his teeth, suddenly sharper than before. “Eat you, like that. Just a little. If that’s what you want.”

“Um.” Her laugh quavers, high and nervous. “I’ll pass.”

“If you’re sure.” Leaning over her, he presses parted lips to her neck, over her collarbone, across the swell of her breasts. “I aim to please, remember?”

“How did you do that? You sound human. Youfeelhuman. But you can change?”

“Some things, I can.” He doesn’t bite down, but his tongue swirls around her nipple in lazy circles, tasting her before fastening on and suckling.

Pleasure ripples outward and she arches, crying his name. “Cassiel!”

“What do you want, little mate?”

Mate.The word settles hot in her belly. She tugs at his pants, looking for a button. “I want to see you, too.”

“Then you shall,” he says. “But there are other things I can show you. I can give you so much more. Heighten your pleasure just as I eased your fear.”

“Yes,” she whispers. “I want more.”