She chuckled around him.
That was it.
His control ruptured.
He charged her, knocking her back on her butt. Both hands dug into her jeans, half lifting her and tearing down the sides. The sound spurred him on. Her delicate panties ripped in two.
Flipping her around, he covered her, reaching for her heat. Wet. She was ready. She gave a low laugh, part temptation, part challenge. He gripped her hips and plunged inside her so hard she shot forward, catching herself with her forearms on the rough carpet.
“Conn,” she gasped.
He stilled. His balls vibrated with the need to take her. Harder. More.
What the hell was he doing? “Moira.” Lush hips filled his palms. His hands shook. “I’m ...” Stop. He needed to stop. The beast inside him bellowed in protest.
She shoved back against him, her buttocks flush to his groin, her thick heat surrounding him. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
At her husky plea, the beast won.
The spongy material of her shirt shredded in his hands. Her skin nearly glowed white in the muted light. Bare, fragile, and so damn soft. He caressed down both sides of her spine, pulsing inside her. She gripped him like a vise, quivering around him. Perfect. She was so fucking perfect his chest hurt.
He slid out and then back in. Blood filled his ears, lilacs filled his life. His body started to thrust, no longer remotely attached to his brain. Neurons fired uselessly. Wrapped around him, Moira was the only thing in existence. With a growl, he shoved her shoulder down, pushing her face against her forearms.
He wanted her open ... vulnerable ... helpless.
The whimper she sobbed sounded like need and demand.
He gave in to the demand, pounding into her. Sensations bombarded him, some hers, some his ... some beyond them both. His fangs dropped low. Sparks lit down his back to twirl at the base of his spine. Close. He was so close.
Reaching around her, he found her swollen clit. She levered up, her head thrown back, her spine arching, meeting him thrust for thrust.
He tangled his hand in her hair. Pushed her back down. His way—this time, his way. A tightened grip quelled her protest, his palm extending across her scalp to hold her in place. Tight thighs quivered against his as his stance widened, spreading her legs farther. Open. Completely at his mercy.
His other hand clutched her hip, yanking her back to meet every thrust. Her buttocks shook with the force of his momentum, even as she tried to keep up. His tongue swelled with the need for her blood. “Mine.” Promise or vow ... it came from his soul.
She stiffened. Then, with a sigh, her shoulders and thighs relaxed.
Submission. He’d never sought it, he’d never wanted it. Until now.
As his powerful mate submitted of her own free will, she pierced his heart in two, sealing their fate. As if they’d ever had a choice.
The creature inside him, the one he often fought, took over. He plunged harder, deeper, beyond the physical. She trembled under him. With a pinch to her clit, she broke. A scream of release filled the airplane, her heat squeezing his cock so hard his vision went black.
Waves rippled around him.
Pleasure cascaded from her.
A growl ripped from his soul.
He angled deeper, covering her. Quick as a flash, his fangs pierced her neck. She orgasmed again. Honey and energy flowed into his mouth. His back heated, a hot poker of lust stabbed a centimeter behind his balls. Holding on to everything that mattered in life, he shot forward, keeping her captive. With a roar from the animal within, he came.
Chapter 14
A bulletproof black Hummer met Moira and Conn at the private airport. Ignoring Moira’s wild hair and the scent of sex clinging to them, the driver stared straight ahead as he quickly squired them away.
She cleared her throat, tugging on the borrowed shirt Cara had left in the plane. Considering the number of outfits to choose from, Moira wondered just how often a Kayrs mate ended up with shredded jeans. A lingering sadness remained at the loss of her Irish clothing. She liked the hand-sewn perfection of the Irish silks.
Her emotions rioted worse than her hair. Something whispered in the back of her heart that she’d given everything to the vampire on the plane, and of her own volition.
He’d been quiet and thoughtful on the drive, increasing her anxiety. Connlan Kayrs being quiet foretold disaster.
The SUV stopped at a guarded gate of a private community, allowed to pass after the driver flashed a badge. Three streets of luxurious houses lined the way with the ocean at the far end, a lighter colored sea than the one in Ireland.
Conn settled back into the plush leather seat, his gaze on the tumultuous ocean. “We own all the homes in the community and the surrounding land. We have motion, heat, cold, and energy sensors around the perimeter. Our house is in the middle next to Dage’s with a gorgeous view of the sea.”
“Ah, that’s nice.” Was this the 1950s? Did the man expect her to plan a Tupperware party or host Bunco? “A subdivision?”
He lifted an eyebrow, a grin threatening on his full lips. “Yes. Now that some of us are taking mates, we need homes. Talen and I’ve been working on this plan for decades.”
“I’m assuming there’s an underground headquarters, if necessary?” Genius planning. The rocky cliffs provided ample protection in case of attack. Also, the vampires had shielded themselves from discovery. The Nine’s intel hadn’t revealed the location.
“Of course. Each home has direct access to headquarters.” The driver maneuvered through two more gates sporting armed guards and stopped the SUV before a cultured stone and brick main lodge. “We have offices, meeting rooms, a gym, and a private lab here.” Conn jumped out, extending a hand.
She accepted the help, sliding from the vehicle. The nearby ocean sent salt and brine to fill the air—heavier and somehow sweeter than the scent of her ocean at home. Nothing could’ve prevented the sigh that escaped her.
Conn shut the door and the driver drove off. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She needed time to think before they discussed their future. But the vampire wasn’t her only immediate concern. She bit her lip. “Anyone with half a brain knew the second the hundred years expired, you’d be trying to take me from Ireland.” Whether he truly wanted her or not, a Kayrs protected his mate. And she was beginning to hope that Conn did want her—a fact that delighted and scared the crap out of her.
“Yes.” His arm dropped around her shoulders, providing warmth and a new sense of security.
A sense far too tempting to sink right into with relief.
Even her mother had allowed her to leave the homeland with him. “Yet the council ordered me to your country ... with you ... and Daire let you take me from New York.”
Conn tugged her toward the solid oak door. “Yeah. I caught that, too.” His smile screamed sin. “I don’t suppose they thought to make it easy on me as a reward for following the treaty all these years?”
Her own smile felt raw. “The last thing the Nine wants to do is make it easy on you, Connlan.”
“I know. Well, I assume the reasoning was twofold. First, this is a clear sign the Nine isn’t going to withdraw from the Realm.”
She barely kept from shaking her head. Not true. This move might be the first strike in withdrawing from the Realm. “Are you sure?” The man should know by now she’d been raised in a political family and could see past the obvious.
“No. But I thought you might think so.”
Her hand on his arm stopped him from opening the door. He pivoted, giving her his full attention.