“I do.”
He shifted to put his face in shadow, hiding his eyes from her. Cara took a step toward him and moved closer to the hearth at the same time.
“We’re taking turns throughout the night keeping watch,” he said.
“Even though you don’t believe they’ll attack tonight.”
“Anything is possible, and it’s better to be safe.”
She licked her lips and pleated her skirt with her fingers. The longer the silence stretched between them, the more aware of him she was. He stood still as stone, and even in the darkness she knew he watched her.
“Say something,” she begged.
“What?”
“Anything.”
In two strides he was before her, desire blazing in his eyes. Cara took a step back, startled at the intensity. He followed her. Her heart skidded in her chest; excitement and a little bit of fear swam through her. She took another step back, and just as she expected, he tracked her.
Her breath came quick, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she waited. A heartbeat later, his arms snaked around her, yanking her against his rock-hard chest.
“Are you a witch, Cara?” He nuzzled her neck, the vibrations of his voice making her shiver.
“N . . . nay.”
“You’ve bewitched me. I can think of nothing but you.”
His gaze met hers before he lowered his head and took her mouth. He nibbled and licked her lips, molding her body against his as he did. Her arms wound around his neck. She loved the feel of his hard muscles moving beneath her hands.
She rose up on her toes and parted her lips when he sought entry. He moaned, a primitive male sound, when their tongues touched.
Cara melted against him, all her fears and worries gone, replaced by passion and pleasure. He pushed her against the wall, his body never breaking contact with hers. The kiss deepened, grew until her skin felt as if it were on fire.
Lucan clutched Cara against him, reveling in the feel of her soft curves. All day he had longed to kiss her again, to see if he could feel another jolt as he had at their first kiss. He hadn’t been wrong. The jolt was there, and stronger.
But he hadn’t intended to kiss her again. He had come to tell her he was taking first watch, but when he glanced inside the chamber and saw her naked beside the tub, he had lost all control.
In the darkness of the corridor he had gathered the shadows around him and watched her dry off, and had nearly cried out when she covered her spectacular curves with the plain white gown. Until she stood before the fire and he saw through the material.
He had grown so hard that it was painful. Walking away hadn’t been a consideration. Having her, however, was.
Lucan groaned when her plump breasts pressed against his chest. His hunger consumed him, urged him to take more of her, taste more of her. He ground his cock against her and heard her soft moan of pleasure.
He cupped her breasts, loving the delicious weight of the orbs and how they filled his hands. He ran his thumb over her nipple, circling it until the tiny nub was hard and straining.
Cara whimpered into his mouth, her kiss turning desperate as her body writhed against him. He kissed down the slender column of her throat and continued to tease her nipple. Her hands plunged into his hair, holding his head.
“Lucan,” she murmured.
The sound of his name on her lips burned him. It had been an eternity since a woman had said his name with passion and longing.
His hands moved to her hips, holding her as he rubbed his aching rod into the soft swell of her stomach. He clutched her buttocks and brought her against him, fitting her sex against his. Her startled gasp turned into a low moan.
The need to bury himself inside her hot, slick sex consumed him, drove him. He brought her leg up, holding it just behind her knee, and continued to thrust against her. Her soft moans had turned to mewling sounds, her hot breath on his neck as he lifted her higher.
He bent and closed his mouth around one pert nipple, licking it through the material of her gown. She whispered his name, her body shaking with a need she didn’t understand. But Lucan did. He knew the seductive pleasure that awaited them, and he couldn’t wait to have her bared before him, her body open to him in all her glory.
His orgasm was so close, and he had gone without for so long, that he would spill his seed if he didn’t enter her now or leave. Cara was untouched. Of that he was sure. He couldn’t make her first time wild and painful, and that’s exactly what it would be, since he couldn’t get ahold of himself.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “Don’t ever stop.”
Lucan groaned and moved his mouth to her other nipple, biting down on the little peak. She cried out, her body jerking against his.
His control was about to snap. The god inside him grew unruly, demanding release from the lust that pounded through Lucan. He could feel his skin changing, his claws and teeth lengthening. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the shadows moving toward him, the darkness closing around him as his powers surged.
He jerked away from Cara and stumbled backward. She grabbed hold of the wall to keep standing and looked at him with confused, passion-filled mahogany eyes.
“Lucan? Did I do something wrong?”
“Then why did you stop?”
“Because if I didna, I was going to take you.”
She licked her kiss-swollen lips, making his balls tighten. “I . . . I want you to take me.”
He clenched his hands into fists. “Not like this. It’s been too long for me. I can’t control the hunger I have for you, and I would hurt you.”
“Nay, you wouldn’t.”
Her faith in him humbled him. But he knew he would hurt her in his craze to fill her. He was grateful to see the shadows and darkness had receded. Fallon had been right. Cara deserved a good man, a mortal man. Not one filled with Apodatoo—a primeval god of revenge.
“Get some sleep,” Lucan said, and backed into the shadows of the corridor. “I will protect you.”
When he was concealed in the shadows, he watched her as he had done earlier. The anguish in her eyes made him feel like the monster he was. When she locked her arms around herself and rocked back and forth, it nearly brought Lucan to his knees.
He had been the one to bring out her passion. And he had left her in a state of agony, her body unused to the feelings bubbling within her.
Lucan knew he should go back in and bring her to climax, but he didn’t trust himself. He was still too close to the edge himself. Instead, he watched until she calmed enough to light every candle in the chamber and crawl into bed.
His bed.
He dropped his head back against the stones and silently cursed. He wanted her in his bed, to feel her legs wrap around him as he buried himself so deep inside her that he touched her womb. He wanted to hear her scream his name as she peaked, to feel her body clench around him and drain him dry as he spilled his seed inside her.
When he was in control enough to look at her without ripping the gown from her, he opened his eyes to find her breathing had evened into sleep.
Only then did he leave her.
* * *
Quinn stood in the bailey and flexed his shoulders, his body tensing as he held himself in check. Night had descended over the land, the moon just a sliver among the twinkling stars. He needed to prowl, to run the
