Emma arched her hips against his, but he gripped her waist and spun her around. A gasp escaped her; her hands curled around the concrete side of the pool. One of his arms wrapped around her stomach as the other slid up to fondle her breasts.
The water, and his hand sliding over her flesh, made her skin tingle all over. She cried out as his mouth seared over her neck, and his cock slid into her. The pangs in her stomach were completely forgotten as his body enfolded hers and she lost herself to him.
It was sometime later before she drifted back to earth and the pool water around her. Ethan's arms were still wrapped around her; his breath warmed her neck as he held her close.
"You may be the death of me," she murmured.
His chuckle made her smile as she leaned against him. "I could say the same to you. We should get you some food."
"Aren't you hungry?" she asked.
"Not right now."
He reluctantly withdrew from her warmth. As soon he was out of her body all he wanted was to be back inside of her again. The feeling of possession crashing into him, made it so he was unable to move for a minute. He fought to keep his fangs retracted. She was his, and the driving urge to mark her as such caused his vision to blur, and his body shuddered.
"Ethan?"
"Hmm." It was the only sound he could get out as he nuzzled her neck and inhaled her scent. He was playing chicken with the devil right now, but he still couldn't bring himself to pull his mouth away from her neck.
"I've never felt like this about anyone before." She couldn't look at him as she said the words; she couldn't believe she’d uttered them. She felt exposed, vulnerable, and raw as she ducked her head away from him.
"Neither have I." Those words finally brought back his control, finally brought him back to what he wanted to be when he was around her—a good man. A man who didn't think about blood, death, and destruction, but about her and just how happy she made him. His fangs fully retracted when he kissed her neck this time. "Neither have I."
Tears of joy and relief burned her eyes as his hands stroked over her stomach. "Come on, let's get you out of this water. You're starting to resemble a raisin," he teased.
He kept his arm around her as he swam over to the stairs and walked out of the water with her by his side. He retrieved towels from the cabana and gave her one. The massive towel she wrapped around herself nearly encompassed all her small frame.
"I'm leaving in two weeks," she said.
His hands froze on the towel; the strangest sensation shot through him. It took everything he had to suppress the snarl that almost tore from him. He inhaled a shuddery breath as he strained to retain his composure. It wasn't something he wanted to think about, but it had to be addressed, and soon. She didn't know it yet, but he didn't plan to let her go.
"I don't want this to end, Emma."
Her smile lit up her entire face as she looked at him from under spiky, wet lashes. "Neither do I."
He used the towel to pull her close and kissed the tip of her nose. "Then we will figure it out."
Emma grabbed her dress and underwear from where they fell last night and followed him inside. She took a shower and emerged from the bathroom to find him sitting on the bed, also freshly showered. It felt weird to slip the dress back on, but she didn't have any other choice as he rose from the bed and handed her a bag. She tossed her underwear inside.
"A toothbrush would be beautiful," she muttered.
He laughed and looped his arm through hers as they left the house and made their way back to where she was staying. "My brothers are arriving in two days, so my place is going to get a little crowded. Hopefully, Jill and Mandy won't mind my company."
"Jill might be chasing after your brothers."
"I don't think Ian or Aiden would complain."
Emma unlocked the door and pushed it open. The home was unusually silent, but the aroma of maple syrup and bacon wafted from the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled loudly in response to the delicious scents. "They must be at the beach already," she said as she dropped her shoes by the door and hurried to her room.
She changed and joined Ethan in the kitchen where he pushed a note toward her. She recognized Jill's girly handwriting on the piece of paper telling her they were at the beach. Opening the cabinets, she grabbed a box of cereal and two bowls. "I'm not hungry," Ethan told her.
She glanced questioningly at him over her shoulder but put one of the bowls back. Pouring herself a bowl of cereal, she added some milk and walked over to sit next to him at the breakfast bar. The rumbling in her stomach eased as she eagerly filled it with food.
A loud bang outside froze her with the spoon halfway to her mouth. Ethan's head turned, his jaw clenched, and for a second she thought he sniffed the air. Then, he was rising and hurrying so fast toward the door it would be an average person's jog, but he was still only walking.
Emma was coming around the breakfast bar when he pulled the door open. His muffled curse and the abrupt stiffening of his shoulders should have prepared her, but she wasn't prepared for the spectacle of the dead cat on the stoop.
Emma's stomach turned when she saw the unnatural angle of the poor animal's neck. She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing, or why the cat was there,
