Lucien moaned. "Anya."
Oh, thank gods. "It's going to be okay, baby. I'm here, I'm here." She kissed his clammy temple.
His eyelids cracked open. "Anya?"
"Right here, love." She kissed his jaw, continuing to run her hands over him. Now, however, her sole purpose was not to warm him. She needed to awaken his desire because she needed his cooperation for what she was about to do.
"Where are we?" He gazed around the room, his eyes glassy.
She didn't want him thinking. Not about their surroundings, not about what had happened in the cave and not about the future. He was too honorable and if lucid enough he might push her away. He would rather she keep her freedom than bind herself to him, even though it might give him the strength he needed.
"I love you," she whispered straight into his ear, her warm breath caressing. "I love you so much. And that I almost lost you…I can't bear it."
"Gods, Anya. I never thought to hear you say those words." His arms enfolded her in a hug, pulling her as close as he could get her. When her head rubbed against his decimated skin, he hissed.
"I'm sorry." She eased to the side. "So sorry."
"Say it again."
She knew what he wanted. "I love you, Lucien, and I want to be with you. In every way imaginable." She rose on her elbow and stared down at him. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Weak though he still was, his shaft swelled against her thigh, long and thick and proud. He understood. "Anya…"
She meshed their lips together, not giving him time to protest. Her tongue stroked his, soaking in his masculinity. "Mmm," she moaned. She encircled his cock with strong fingers, stroking that too.
He groaned.
"Hurt?"
"Feels so good." He gripped her ass and pulled her on top of him again, some of her energy already seeping into him. The heady scent of roses enveloped the room. Then, suddenly, he stopped. His fingers became vises on her hips. "No, Anya. We can't do this."
"We can. We will." She strummed her fingers over the head of his penis, and he jolted at the sensation. "One way or another, I'm going to have you inside of me. Tonight."
Teeth bared, he arched into her touch. "Can't. Wrong for you."
"I'll decide what's right and wrong for me." She bit his earlobe and tugged. "Don't make me beg for you. Don't make me beg to feel you sliding inside of me, deep and hard and hot. Please don't—"
"Anya!" he roared. His hand tangled in her hair, and he jerked her down for another scorching kiss. "Don't beg. Don't stop."
Their tongues battled, their teeth scraped together, and she rubbed herself against him, for the first time in her life completely unconcerned by the thought of being penetrated. She wanted it. Desperately.
Need pounded through her. Need for this man and no other. It was a dark hunger inside her, carnal and savage, almost chaotic, definitely delicious. "I want to be with you forever."
"Yes, yes. Yes!" In between words, he nipped fiercely at her lips. "We won't go all the way."
He tried to sit up, but she pushed him down. "Yes, we are going all the way. Now let me do all the work, lover. You just concentrate on regaining your strength."
His eyes blazed up at her. "All I can think about is you. I need your nipple in my mouth."
"And so you shall have it." She rose up and offered him what he wanted. He sucked on it, flicking his hot tongue over the turgid tip. She felt the draw of his suction between her legs, felt moisture pool there like liquid fire.
"Let me taste you." His fingers glided between her legs, and she quivered. "Right here."
Clitoris throbbing for more attention, she climbed the rest of the way up and straddled his head. His tongue licked her, and she arched into his face. Every nerve ending in her body rejoiced. Every drop of blood in her veins sang.
"Lean forward, sweetheart. I want to finger you, too, but I won't. I—"
"You will."
He paused, squeezed her tightly. "Tell me again that you're sure. There's no going back after this."
"I'm sure," she said as she obeyed his command, wanting what he wanted. Her ass was lifted, her elbows braced on the headboard, and Lucien sank a finger all the way inside her. She didn't feel the curse kick in at all, but she nearly came. She did cry out. Having a man be part of her, even in such a small way, while having his mouth suck at her, was the most erotic sensation she'd ever encountered.
"Oh, gods."
"Like?"
"Love."
"More?"
"Oh, please."
Another finger joined the first, stretching her. His tongue never stopped working her clit. The decadence. The magnificence. Her hips were writhing of their own accord. She couldn't have stopped them upon threat of death. He'd pleasured her before, but this, oh, this…
"Lucien, Lucien," she chanted. Her head fell back, hair tickling her back. "Love you. So much."
"Can you take me? All of me?"
"Yes. Please." She gasped in bliss. Lightning shivers danced through her.
"I have to be inside you." His voice was rough, scratchy. "To the hilt." He pulled from her and tugged her down.
She mourned the loss of his naughty fingers until the tip of his erection found the opening of her sheath. He gripped her, holding her steady. She stared down at him, her hair a pale curtain around them.
"You are mine," he said, peering up at her, gazes locking together. He caressed her cheek.
"Always."
"I love you."
"I love you so much." He looked so beautiful to her. Still cut and bruised from battle, still a little weak but fueled by desire. For her.
"Sure you want this?"
"More than anything." And she did. She belonged to this man, now and forever.
"Mine," he said again, and surged all the way inside her.
A white light erupted between them, powerful, nearly blinding in its intensity. Anya cried out as her curse was unleashed, a sound that blended with Lucien's roar. She felt as if part of her soul had been ripped from deep inside and replaced with…a part of Lucien's?
Yes, yes. Lucien. Dark, savage. Wonderful, amazing. Purring inside her mind. There was a sharp ache between her legs, too, gone as quickly as it arrived, and then he was buried deep, so deep, and she was riding him. Slowly at first, savoring every new sensation. Then faster…faster…
"Good?" he managed to croak.
"Don't stop. Don't stop!"
"Never."
She twined their hands and pinned them over his head, leaning down and taking his breath, making him more a part of her. Making him every part of her. Sex was so much more than she'd ever imagined—and gods, had she imagined—because it was with Lucien.
I'm glad I waited. So glad.
Giving herself to him was not a curse, it was a blessing.
"Worth the wait," she told him, then delved her tongue into his mouth.
Their tongues battled in sync with their lower bodies. Pumping, pounding, sliding. The pleasure was building inside her, intense and combustible. He was so big, so thick and hard. So hers.
Almost there. So good, so good. The piece of heaven on earth she'd always craved. Filled completely, no longer empty. Part of something far greater than herself as he rocked inside her. "Lucien," she screamed, suddenly climaxing.
Everything inside her shattered, the most intense orgasm of her life ripping through her. She shuddered, her muscles clenching deliciously and locking down on his cock.
And as her inner walls milked him, he came, spurting inside her hotly. "Anya," he roared. "My Anya." He raised his hips, slamming as high and deep as he could possibly go.
Another climax immediately caught fire and raged through her, making her mindless for seconds, an eternity, drenching her in satisfaction, triumph and joy. Lucien was hers, truly hers, and she was his.