“The last two days have been foreplay,” he ground out.

Fair enough.

He levered his body up on his elbows, pressing himself even deeper inside her. She moaned, pleasure shooting hot sparks along every nerve ending. The hand tethering her hair twisted, turning her head and elongating her neck. He lowered his head and scraped his teeth along her jugular with a bite of pain he then soothed by licking back up.

Her sex convulsed around him, and he groaned into her ear before biting her earlobe. The erotic pain blazed down her body, zinged across her breasts, and planted hard in her clit. “Daire,” she murmured.

“How long has it been, sweetheart?”

“Decades.” Sadness, surprising in its intensity, swamped through her. Her mate had been a good man and her best friend. Vulnerability followed.

“Hey.” Daire nibbled along her jawline to press a kiss on her chin. “Stay here with me. Just here and now.”

She blinked. “Here and now.” At the moment, she had free rein with one of the most incredible male bodies ever created, and real life could wait until the next day. The emotion had been unexpected, but as he ran a hand down and rolled a nipple, she shoved sorrow away to just feel the moment. And damn, did he know how to make her feel good.

As he slid out and back in, creating slow friction, pleasure careened up her torso. Delicious. She’d known the first time he’d kissed her that he’d be beyond delicious. A hard kiss along her neck had him pausing.

She swallowed. The bite marks from her mating. Even though the bond was gone, and she was free, the barest of marks had remained. “Um.”

He licked the two small indents. A new tension coiled around him. “Shifter?”

“Vampire,” she responded, her mind whirling so quickly she could hear the blood roaring through the veins in her ears.

Daire jerked inside her. “Mated?”

She closed her eyes. Nothing in her wanted to discuss this right now. “Yes, he died, and I took the mutated Virus-Twenty-Seven to negate the bond. Willingly.”

“So it works,” he murmured.

“Yes.” Her heart beat in her ears, while the tension in the small tent increased. “It’s in the past, Daire.”

An emotion, dark and male, rolled off him. “So you know the queen.”

She and the queen were good friends. “No, but we share acquaintances, and when I sent her a message that I was interested in taking the mutated virus, she called me. We did the experiments from there.”

Daire frowned. His arms rippled as he held himself in check. “Okay, but as of now, I’m done with your secrets. We do this, no more secrets.”

She couldn’t promise him that, not now, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t trust him. “This is one night.” Maybe more than one night, but definitely not eternity. If her plan worked, she’d have more enemies than he could imagine, and while she’d fight, the odds stank. “We’re already doing this.”

He pulled out and hammered back in. Hard.

Pain, edged with a wicked pleasure, clawed through her. She’d never been treated roughly in bed, and she kind of liked it.

He lowered his head until his mouth was right above hers, and his green eyes lasered through the darkness. “I don’t bluff, make threats, or use unnecessary words, Cee Cee. I’m inside you, and I’m all around you.”

She swallowed again. “I know.”

“No more secrets and no more lies. You don’t want to cross me.” He slid out and then pushed back in, slowly this time.

“Okay.” The feeling was beyond incredible. A man inside her. Something she’d never thought to have happen again. It was wonderful. But she’d failed to factor in the instant emotion that engulfed her, especially since she had secrets to keep. She loosened her hold on the enforcer, and her body stilled.

“Baby? There’s a whole lot coming off you right now, and if you want me to stop, now’s the time to say so.” His body tensed, and the cost of the words, of the promise, lived in every undulating muscle.

Tears instantly pricked her eyes. “Please—don’t stop,” she gasped.

He exhaled and pulled out of her, relinquishing the hold on her hair.

“No.” Her sex tried to keep him in, and her hands curled over his shoulders.

He kissed her, his tongue flicking inside her mouth, his free hand pressing against her clit. “I thought to take the edge off fast and then play, but let’s get you out of your head now. We can discuss reality in the light of day.”

His wrist twisted, and he slipped a finger inside her.

She arched against him, pleasure overtaking any residual sorrow.

“There we go.” He licked down her neck, kissed her collarbone, and suckled one nipple into his mouth.

She detonated. An orgasm rushed through her so quickly, she could only open her mouth in a silent scream. Her legs widened, and he ground his palm against her. Fast. That had happened so fast. Finally, she came down with a soft sob.

He chuckled around her, the sound reverberating through her chest. Light nips and flicks struck her nipple until he moved to the other breast, paying equal attention. She moved restlessly against him, hunger awakening again. Another finger joined the first, rubbing against a spot inside her that flashed lights behind her closed lids.

She shook her head. “Too much.”

“Not enough.” He alternated kisses between her breasts, each one shooting a craving much lower. The sleeping bag caught him, and he swore, turning to jerk down the zipper and shove material out of his way. Cold washed over her, replaced by the heat of his body.

Then his mouth found her core.

She cried out, her nails cutting into his shoulders. “No, I—”

He sucked her throbbing clit into his heated mouth, and she stopped speaking. Stopped moving. She held her breath, unsure, her body rioting.

“Did you just say no?” he asked, sending vibrations through her most intimate parts.

“No, I, we, I mean,” she gasped, trying to find words. It was too much. Too intimate. “You.”

He chuckled, nearly sending her into another orgasm. “Yeah. Me.” He released her, rubbing the spot inside her, and then turned to nip her inner thigh with sharp teeth.

She gasped, her legs trembling.

His canines sank in deeper, piercing her skin. She cried out and tried to yank her flesh from his mouth.

He let her go. “It won’t scar, but you’ll wear my mark for the week.” Masculine satisfaction, lazy and dark, echoed in his tone.

She opened her mouth to protest, but one long, slow swipe of his tongue across her clit forced a whimper from her instead. He did it again, faster this time.

“Let’s get one more from you before we get serious,” he whispered, his heated breath all but killing her. Then he went to work, alternating between soft kisses and harder licks, keeping her on the edge, but not letting her fall over.

Sweat rolled off her forehead, and she moved against him, seeking relief, losing any sense of shyness. All that mattered in the world was reaching that peak he held so tantalizingly away from her. His fingers worked magic inside her, twisting and rubbing, but not quite giving her enough to ease the tension.

He increased the pressure, and a moan caught in her throat. “Now, baby.” He sucked.

She pushed against his mouth, waves crashing through her. The orgasm shook her, head to toe, emanating from his talented tongue. He prolonged the ecstasy until her body fell in limp abandonment onto the warm sleeping bag. She murmured a sound without any real meaning.

He drifted up her body, his skin hot, until his mouth took hers. The drugging kiss slid through her, soothing her ragged breathing. Then he clamped a hand across her butt, half lifted her, and powered inside her. Even with her body satiated, her core wet, the strength in his stroke took her by surprise and forced the air from her lungs.