Page 275 of Duty and Desire

“Or I’m going to give you what you’re asking for.” All of him, basically. He moved to the side, allowing free passage. “It’s your choice. The truck is waiting.” There was no doubt in his mind that he’d let the beast inside him loose with her someday, and he was fine waiting. Making sure she was ready and had her eyes wide open and willing. But as she challenged him, her chin set in a stubborn line, the animal he kept at bay began to roar.

Then, she started to walk toward him and the exit, one sure step at a time.

A stab of disappointment shot through him and he quelled it. Someday they’d be on the same page. Hunters hunted and predators planned. He was both. If it took hundreds of years for her to be ready, he’d wait, keeping her safe the entire time.

She reached him and stopped, turning to face him, her scent of raspberries wafting over his skin.

What the hell? A whirlwind of heat spun into a tornado inside him, heating every cell in his body. His blood pounded, and the marking on his palm burned with a raw heat. A desperate one.

Her gaze was direct. “Think you can handle me?”

His cock jerked wide awake and ready to play. Oh, she’d gone from a scared mouse to a brave lioness rather quickly, hadn’t she? It appeared she’d found herself again after a brief absence. Maybe he had something to do with that, and maybe he didn’t. Either way, the fierce creature in front of him was more than he could’ve ever hoped for.

He gently traced down the side of her face, and she turned into his touch. Faster than a thought, he spun her to face the wall. Her surprised gasp only spurred him on. He bracketed her there with his stronger body, holding her in place, tuning in to her harsh breathing. No fear. Only need hinted in the air. He leaned in and nipped the shell of her ear. “Yeah. I can handle you.”

Her butt pushed back against his aching cock, and he bit down a groan. His fangs dropped hard and fast, and he struck, going deep in her neck and drinking. Her taste filled him, completed him. Every part of her landed inside him with a wildness only a hybrid could ever feel. Possessiveness caught him around the throat and choked, digging deep to his true being. The beast inside him that now lived solely for her.

She gasped in pleasure, stretching on her toes, turning her head to allow for better access. “I want fangs.”

He retracted and licked her wound clean, instantly healing it. “You can bite me any time you want.” But she’d never have fangs. She started to turn around, and he grabbed both of her hands, pulling them above her head and holding them there. “Oh. The taming has just started,” he rumbled.

His scalding breathat her ear nearly propelled her into an early orgasm. Oh, she was challenging him, no doubt. He was bigger and stronger and more likely meaner. Definitely meaner. She’d never torn the head off an enemy before, and he acted like it was a normal Monday for him. But she felt safe with him on a level she couldn’t explain. Purely instinctively and she trusted it. Trusted herself and even him. She rubbed her ass against his hardened groin again.

His groan made her smile, filling her with warmth. Even so, a girl had to give some warning. Her hands were trapped, but she could kick back. She nailed him in the knee and let out a small chuckle of triumph.

He snarled an expletive and kicked her ankles apart, forcing her legs wide. Her clit rubbed against her zipper, and she moaned. The steel hard line of his erection pressed against her butt, and she let her forehead rest on the cool wall, her nipples hardening into diamond points. “No kicking, little female,” he said, flicking a deadly fang against her earlobe.

Oh yeah? This all felt pretty damn good. She tried to kick him again, but he held her in place. Her moan was more need than frustration, but it was close.

He bit her lobe, spiraling electricity through her body. “I’m not a male you want to challenge.”

“Yes, you are,” she breathed out, her body craving him in a way that had to be unhealthy. She wanted all of him. Nothing held back, nothing hidden. She’d push him to lose control, to share all of him, even if it was more than she could handle. “I’m not hiding from life any longer,” she said, her voice breathier than she’d ever heard it.

“Good.” He reached around her and cupped both breasts, his touch firm and powerful. “Understand that I handle all danger, and you stay out of the way. It’s a simple request, but I’ll make it a mandate if you wish. Don’t push me, Abby.” He tweaked both nipples, the bite of pain so delicious she nearly dropped to her knees. Only his muscled body held her in place.

Words. She needed to say something. To show him she couldn’t be so easily overtaken. “Noah, I think—” Then she lost all sense of the moment.

“Stop thinking,” he ordered, his nimble fingers sliding down between her legs and beneath her plain cotton panties. He zeroed in with ruthless aim to her clit, rubbing against it with a friction that propelled her back onto her toes. So much and so good. “See how well your body obeys? Watch this.” He twisted a finger inside her, brushing her clit hard with his thumb. “Come. Now.”

Her body obeyed instantly, flashing her into an orgasm that flared out from his fingers and shook her head to toe. The waves took her, sending sparks behind her eyelids. She came down with a muffled sigh. That had happened so quickly and just because he’d commanded it? How was that possible? Need rippled through her again, and she wanted more. Wanting everything.

He ripped her shirt over her head, and a second later, her jeans were down to her ankles. Even beyond turned on, she couldn’t help but laugh as she stepped free of them. He made herlaugh and gave her incredible orgasms. It was almost too good to be true.

He flipped her around, shoved his jeans down, and picked her up. One hard push, and he impaled her against the wall.

She cried out, pain and pleasure mixing into another orgasm that left her breathless. She flattened both hands against his muscled chest, marveling that the bullet holes were gone. So much power and strength, and it was all hers. Just hers.

Then he started pounding inside her, his hands rough on her bare butt. She looked up, committing his image to her memory forever. Greenish eyes rimmed with black this time, fierce angles in his face, hard jawline. Full lips, possession in every line of his body.

She couldfeelit.

He tilted her pelvis, changing his angle and hitting her clit. Pleasure spread out through her extremities, tingling along the way. She bit her lip, pressing her head back against the smooth wall.

Jagged sensations ripped through her, hard and fast and fierce. She fought against a third orgasm, trying to keep control, wanting to triumph.

He chuckled, the sound a low warning. “Baby. You’re gonna learn.” His hands tightened on her ass, fingers spreading over the marking that still heated her left hip. Fire spread out from the brand, shooting straight to her clit.

She moaned.