Amara rose on her knees until only the head was inside her, then lowered herself. She loved the slow, wet slide of him, so thick, so hard.

He tilted her head until her neck was bared. “Play with yourself, love. Come on my cock. I want to feel you coming around me.”

Amara reached between her legs and stroked her clit. The sensation as she rode him was so intense, so very good. “Like this?”

“Mmm. Pretty. Now dance for me.” It took Amara a moment to figure out what he wanted, but when she swiveled her hips and danced on his cock, he almost lost it. “Yes. Just like that. Take me, sweet.”

He licked her neck, prepping her for his bite. He tugged on her nipples, bringing them to stinging life. The added pleasure-pain caused her to move faster. She abandoned the dance and rode his cock hard, eager to bring them both to climax.

He stroked his fangs across her skin, and she knew he was close, knew he’d bite into her before they came. She clenched her muscles, needing the feel of his fangs within her, the knowledge she was feeding her mate. “Going to fuck you under my tree, Parker. Make you a part of her, a part of us. Make you mine once and for all, so no one will ever take you from me.”

His thrusts became erratic. She felt a sharp sting as one of his teeth accidentally drew blood.

“You’d like that, Parker? Like to hold me up against that rough bark, the wind caressing our bodies? My hands pressing into my tree while you fuck me from behind and take my blood?”

She was baiting the beast, but she was close, so damn close. He had to take her, had to bite her.

“Do it, Parker. Bite me. Make me yours.”

Sharp pain and then pleasure, so much pleasure she drowned in it. She screamed soundlessly as she came; her body arched into his, her ass throbbing around his cock.

She was bent forward onto her hands and knees, his body thrusting inside hers, his fangs embedded in her neck. He fucked her like a wild thing, taking what he wanted from her. He ignored her gasps as the orgasm rolled into another one, this one almost as intense, almost as good as the last.

When he finally came, she was wrung out, sweaty and tired and oh so thoroughly fucked she couldn’t do much more than purr her pleasure. She felt the gentle swipe of his tongue as he closed the wounds.

“I gather you liked that idea.”

His entire body wrapped around hers. “You think?”

She snuggled in and allowed him to warm her cooling flesh. “We’ll have to see when we can arrange that.”

“Soon,” he mumbled against her shoulder.

“Soon,” she agreed. Sooner than soon if she had her way.

She stifled her grin. I wonder when he’ll be up for round two?

Parker picked up the broken shards of the ornate pot he’d used to plant some of the hardier orchids and sighed. It was going to take forever to get The Greenhouse back up and running.

Luckily he had an in with the owners. “Greer?”

“Yeah?” The blond poked his head out from behind some ferns he was manhandling onto a table. The ferns were beat up, but with loving care, they’d survive what had happened. “It’s going to take a lot longer than we thought to get this place back open.”

Greer shrugged and hefted the second pot. It had to weigh almost as much as he did. “I know. Ash knows. Mina is ticked, but she knows too. It is what it is, man.” The dryad leaned over and whispered to the ferns. Parker swore the plants quivered in green ecstasy.

“Terri is alive.” Parker’s jaw clenched. It had been three days since the attack on the town, and he’d neither seen nor scented his nemesis. He’d hunted for her high and low, in and out of the forest, but he’d found no sign other than a blackened patch of ground where Dragos had ripped off her head. Mina had been livid.

She’d circled the area, chanting so softly Parker couldn’t pick up the words. When she was done, not a leaf would drop into that spot. It was isolated from the rest of the wood by the forest queen’s will and would remain that way until she was satisfied the poison had been completely leached from the soil. Earth elementals monitored the site, trying to repair the damage. From their hollow looks, it wasn’t going well.

Amara had watched Mina’s ritual with wide, glowing eyes, and he’d understood instantly how much being included had meant to her. The knowledge that the local dryads not only accepted her presence but wanted it had lifted his dryad’s spirit. Last he heard, the town’s female dryads had organized some sort of shopping trip. He’d told her to come home with plenty of lacy underthings or not at all.

He rubbed the top of his head where she’d smacked him with a cooking spoon. Sometimes his wife had no sense of humor.

“Don’t worry. We’re keeping our eyes open for her. Mina would love to have a chat with her.” Greer whispered to an orchid, and the flower bloomed for him.

“I hope she doesn’t come back here. What happened hurt Mollie quite a bit. She loves this place. Did you see the scorch marks?”

Greer’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t look up from the plant he was repotting.

Interesting. “She made those marks trying to save this place. Thing is, she was almost dead on her feet by the time I got here.” Greer’s cheek twitched, and Parker wondered if he’d found the source of Mollie’s fascination with plants. He decided to test the waters, so to speak. Getting Mollie loosened up would make his life a hell of a lot easier. Her attitude toward him had softened quite a bit since the attack, asking after Amara and allowing him the time for his nightly hunts without argument. He’d watched the loving way she handled the plants; this was more than a hobby for her. It was her passion. The woman who’d worked her ass off for this place was someone he’d come to respect. She was someone he was coming to like as well. He hadn’t quite managed to get her to the point where she would actually laugh at one of his jokes, but he’d come close.

“Mollie mentioned a joint program with the learning center where kids who visit one can get half-price tickets to the other. What do you think?”

“It’s fine.”

Huh. This was the quietest he’d ever heard Greer.

“She might even start doing weekend work at the center.”

Greer grunted and set the pot back on the ground.

“I think she’d do a wonderful job teaching the children about the plants in their natural habitat. What do you think?”

“Whatever. Hand me the potting soil.”

Parker gave him the twenty-five-pound bag, and Greer set it on the stainless-steel worktable. “Speaking of the forest, what if Terri’s in the heart of it, hiding like some kind of poisonous vine, waiting for a chance to strike again?”

Greer crumpled the edge of the table like paper with his bare hands. “We kill her.”

“Fascinating.” Parker shook his head. “Why is Amara considered the guardian of your species if you can all do that?”

Greer looked down at his hands. Shock raced across his features before it was quickly wiped away. “No reason.” He pointed toward the office door. “Fergie in yet?”

Fergie? Parker wouldn’t dream of calling Mollie Fergie. He’d barely wrapped his brain around calling her Mollie, and that only after she’d insisted. “Not that I’m aware of. She spent most of today cleaning up and left a note that she planned on returning first thing in the morning.” And considering Fergie was usually there at the crack of dawn and left late at night, she had to be exhausted.

“She needs to get more rest. If her emotions aren’t under control, she runs the risk of setting fires she doesn’t want to.”

“Really? I thought elementals were taught to control their powers from the cradle.”

Greer hefted another massive pot onto the table, careful of the crumpled edge, and whispered to it, packing potting soil around the exposed roots. “Fergie’s a halfer.”