Her eyelids flew open, and she pressed both hands against his fiery hot chest.

“Now we get serious.” He held her tight, moving out, and hammered back into her.

She’d thought she was done. Not even close. Hunger, edged with a pained demand, hit her so hot and so fast she could only hold on tight. He pounded into her, showing no mercy, a dangerous predator fully unleashed. She kicked her other leg free and wrapped them around his waist, tilting her pelvis for more. God, so much more.

He fucked her, hard and fast, his harsh breath panting in her ear. Each thrust jarred her clit, shooting lava across every nerve. The slap of flesh against flesh filled the tent, along with the overwhelming heat that was Daire Dunne. The thrusts increased in speed, and a galvanizing heat seared her, rippling into fire, as she exploded into a violent orgasm. It washed over her, cooling her, taking everything she had.

He stilled, ground against her, and came hard, his body shaking.

Finally, he rested against her. Her legs dropped to the ground. Still inside her, he reached around and drew the bag over them. “Now you talk.”

She shut her eyes, her body too damn relaxed to drum up the energy to fight.

A ripple sounded through the night. Then a piercing light shone down, even through the tent.

“Damn it.” Daire withdrew and shoved his way out of the bag, tossing the sweater at her. “Get dressed.” Helicopter blades pounded through the weakening storm outside.

She shrugged into the sweater and stood. “You’re naked.”

“If it’s my brother, he’s seen me nude before. If not, we’re in a shitload of trouble, and my bare skin is the least of our worries.” He unzipped the tent and peered out, turning back to pin her with a dark green gaze. “It’s Adam, which is good news. Don’t think for a second our conversation isn’t going to happen. You have a reprieve, baby. Take it and get ready to tell all.”

Daire kept one eye on Cee Cee and the other on the papers spread out in front of him on the table. The plane was small, with a green sofa along the back wall, a bathroom behind that, and four chairs around a table. The carpet was an odd yellow with blue dots. “Finish that steak,” he ordered, ducking his head to read another printout. He waited until she rolled her eyes. “I saw that,” he said slowly. Things had changed, whether she liked it or not.

She blinked, and color slipped into her cheeks. But she took another bite of the meat from her perch on the sofa.

Adam had quickly flown them via helicopter to the mainland, shepherded them into the plane, and cooked steaks in the microwave. Now he sat across from Daire, curiosity bright in his eyes, as the pilots flew them through the Arctic storm to refuel in Greenland. Then they’d jump over Alaska, head south, and land in Seattle. Adam had followed orders perfectly by bringing both food and clothing.

The wool sweater and faded jeans had pleased Daire greatly, and the darker jeans and blue sweater fit Cee Cee well enough. The denim stretched nicely across her rounded rear, and he wanted nothing more than to strip her out of them.

Adam cleared his throat and shoved another set of papers at him. “There were seven explosions in Russian mines last night, in addition to the one on the island.”

Cee Cee hummed happily from the sofa.

Daire cleared his throat. “Don’t tell me. The mines belonged to Ivan Bychkov.”

Adam glanced over his shoulder at the woman and then back at Daire, who already faced her. “Either Bychkov or his people. Rumor has it that the Consortia is pissed and out for blood—Bychkov’s and whoever attacked the mines.”

Daire cut Cee Cee a hard look. “It would take an incredible amount of time and resources to coordinate such an attack, don’t you think?”

Adam frowned, no doubt catching undercurrents. “Why yes, Daire. Yes, I do think that.”

Daire turned his focus on his younger brother. “Sarcasm?”

“What is going on?” Adam growled.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I know,” Daire said evenly. Oh, the woman was going to tell him everything, but he preferred to hear it first before sharing with his brother. “Which will be soon.” The second he got her home, to be clear.

She finished eating and stretched out on the sofa. Exhaustion created dark circles under her eyes that all but emanated from her too pale skin.

He grimaced. He’d used her hard, and that was after she’d been severely injured, healed, and dunked in freezing water. According to Bychkov, she was weak. How, Daire didn’t know. In fact, he didn’t know shit, now did he?

Adam cleared his throat. “Five of the mines, including the one on the island, were mining planekite.”

Daire’s attention focused. “So they’re destroyed?”

“Yes, but we’ve been able to determine all five sent shipments to Seattle before being attacked.” Adam sat back, nostrils flaring.

Then it was getting from Seattle to Dublin, somehow. “How big were the shipments?” Daire asked, standing up and having to duck to keep from hitting his head.

“Pretty damn big,” Adam said.

Wonderful. Daire reached into a cupboard and drew out a blanket before settling it over Cee Cee. He dropped to his haunches and smoothed the hair from her face. “Go to sleep and let your body heal itself. When we get home, we’re gonna talk.”

Her lips trembled, and a definite apology glimmered in her beautiful eyes. “I enjoyed last night,” she said softly. Then she shut her eyes, and before he could respond, she slipped into sleep.

He returned to the table.

Adam lifted a dark eyebrow. “What the heck?”

“Later.” Daire reached for the nearest shipping manifest. “We have work to do.” And work they did. They went through all the mine records, all the official shipping records, and everything they could glean from their allies. He catnapped every once in a while, but tension rode him hard and he couldn’t completely sleep. The plane refueled in Greenland and took them on to Seattle.

Daire awoke Cee Cee twice to make her eat something, and each time, she fell back into dreamland with a grateful sigh. Her body naturally sent out tingles as her flesh healed, and true relief swept through Daire when the burns on her arm slowly faded. Thank God, he hadn’t scarred her for eternity.

Even when they landed, she barely stirred when he carried her from the plane to the car on the private Jetway. They drove through town, and she slept peacefully in his arms. He enjoyed holding her, allowing himself a moment to just relax and feel.

Finally, they reached his penthouse and he carried her up to the door. She struggled, and he set her down on the marble floor. “Whatever your escape plan is, it’s not happening.” He pushed open the heavy door and nudged her inside, closing it firmly behind them. His place was warm and clean, and he settled into home. While Simone had decorated it with black leather and green accents, he liked the peaceful feeling of the sofa, chairs, fireplace, and massive Brenna Dunne landscape painting of Ireland.

Noise clanged from the kitchen area followed by the scent of waffles. Damn it. He’d forgotten he’d told the prospects they could hang at his place while he was out.

Garrett came into view first, chuckling. “I think the brunette was much—” He stopped short, mouth dropping open.

“I’m back,” Daire said, belatedly realizing the kid was staring at Cee Cee. “This is—”

Nicholai Veis, a demon ally and right hand to demon leader Zane Kyllwood, prowled behind Garrett, his hands full of plates of scrambled eggs. He barely stopped in time to keep from running into Garrett. His dark eyes focused on Daire and then on Cee Cee, before he slowly set down the plates on the round glass breakfast table. “What in the world is going on?”

Daire frowned. “What are you doing here?”