Ana knew that but it still bugged her. She started to say something else when Connor seemed to zone out. Even though he was looking directly at her, his eyes had glazed over and she knew he wasn’t seeing her.

She stopped the running water with her foot. The sudden quiet jerked him out of his thoughts. “What’s bothering you?”

“Two months ago, did the others start getting better before they got worse?”

Ana fought back the memories as she shook her head. “No. It was bad, Connor. Like a plague just swept through here, mowing down everyone in the way.”

“Do you think Taggart was involved?”

She shook her head. “No. When he found out what was going on he wasn’t helpful, but he was truly surprised.”

“Who was helpful?”

“What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t here, Ana, and I don’t want to make the same mistakes as last time.”

“Mistakes? Are you saying this is our fault?”

“No!” He strode across the room and crouched next to the tub so they were eye level. “That came out wrong. I want to know what we’re up against. I promised I’d protect you and I can’t do that unless I have the whole picture.”

A thick lump settled in her throat and she racked her brain, trying to remember. “Dr. Graham was here and so were Matt and Kaya Dunlauxe. She’s the woman I saw at the hospital.”

“Anyone else?”

“Sheriff Parker was out here a few times. I know he doesn’t seem to like you and Liam much, but when everyone was dying he was surprisingly helpful. Well, helpful but still wary. It was obvious he didn’t trust us, but he launched an investigation and actually did his job.”

Connor muttered a curse under his breath about the sheriff. “Anything else you can think of?”

“We threw away all our food, started drinking bottled water instead of from the tap or the wells and then we started testing everything on a daily basis. But it was too late for my …” Her voice broke on the last word. She understood he needed answers, but she’d locked up the memory of her parents’ deaths for so long, she was afraid if she let the tears out, she’d never stop crying. Not being able to mourn had taken its toll.

“Don’t cry, Ana,” Connor murmured.

She frowned when she realized her cheeks were wet. “I’m not,” she whispered.

He didn’t respond as he stared at her, but it was as if a switch flipped. His dark eyes went from being concerned to hot and hungry. Being so close to him, while she was naked no less, dried her tears. He wasn’t looking lower than her face, but she could practically feel his eyes devouring her. Her breath caught in her throat and time seemed to stretch on. They might not be telepathically connected yet, but she could read everything he wanted to do to her in his eyes. They were full of dark, erotic promises. What she saw there made her shiver.

Connor had to remind himself to breathe as he looked at Ana. Leaning forward, he kissed one of her cheeks, then the other. Pecks, really. He tasted the salt of her tears and she smiled under his kisses. And he could actually feel some of her tension abate. A sigh tore through him when she began to relax. This was what he’d been waiting for.

He wanted her at ease. Hell, he needed her like that. If he didn’t want to screw up their first time together, she needed to be as turned on as he was.

Searching out her mouth, he covered it with his. Her lips opened willingly and she tasted a sweet and minty flavor. As he probed with his tongue, he dipped one of his hands beneath the water. Running his hand along the flat plane of her abdomen, he stopped when he cupped her mound. He thought about working up to this, but he had to touch her here. Had to claim her.

Ana spread her legs a little wider, so he dipped a finger inside her. She was wet but tight. Too tight. He needed to prepare her for him. He knew he was big and it wasn’t something he’d thought much about since he was a young cub. It was a part of who he was.

Even though she was wet, he wanted her panting and begging for him because she needed to feel him inside her so bad, she ached.

Blindly he leaned over and reached for the tub stop. He tugged the chain free, then grasped her under her arms. She let out a gasp as he helped her to stand. Unable to stop himself, he leaned closer and nipped the top of her shoulder, near the tattoo he’d seen on her earlier in the woods. It was a small outline of a wolf howling at the moon. And it was sexy as hell. “This is new,” he murmured.

She smiled almost mischievously. “I got it about a decade ago. Probably my only rebellious act.”

As she started to step over the tub, he scooped her up and headed for the bedroom.

“I’m all wet,” she protested weakly.

“I know.” He grinned when a light flush of pink stained her cheeks. The almost-shy reaction surprised him. As he laid her on the bed, he reached behind her head and pulled her hair clip free.

Her dark hair tumbled around her face and pillowed onto the bed beneath her. Stretched out before him, she was everything he’d been fantasizing about for years, and better than he’d built her up to be. Hell, his fantasies seemed like black-and-white photos compared to reality. Staring at her now, he didn’t know how he’d walked away from her before.

While he wanted to keep part of himself hidden from her, he didn’t know how that could be possible. After seeing how his father crumbled after his mother’s death, Connor knew that once he’d been with Ana he couldn’t lose her or walk away from her. Even if she deserved better than him, he wouldn’t leave her.

He couldn’t survive it. As quick as humanly possible, he stripped out of his clothes and stood by the edge of the bed.

She stared up at him with wide eyes, but the heat burning in those dark depths set him on fire.

All his instincts told him to take her hard and fast, but he wanted to work her up to it. Fighting his inner wolf, he climbed onto the bed and grasped her foot. She let out a startled gasp when he lifted it to his mouth.

Damn, even her foot was sexy. She’d painted her toes a soft pink. Unable to resist, he kissed the delicate arch of her foot. “You know you used to drive me crazy when we first met,” he murmured as he worked his way up to her inner ankle.

“What are you talking about?” The question was a breathy whisper, and it rolled over him like a caress. Her fingers clutched the sheets underneath her.

“I thought you were intentionally trying to tease me.” He had to keep talking or he’d throw restraint out the window and thrust into her like his inner wolf demanded.

She spread her legs wider as he worked his way up to her knee. Her sweet scent grew stronger the more he kissed her. A knee shouldn’t turn him on, but hers did. He ran his tongue over her soft skin, then followed with a light scrape of his teeth. She jerked a little under the action but she let out a soft moan.

“Always running around without a bra. It was enough to drive any male insane.” He zeroed in on her inner thighs. Dropping light kisses, he avoided her soft, inviting folds and the perfect strip of dark hair covering her mound. The heat emanating from her was enough to knock him on his ass.

“For years the thought of what your nipples looked like tortured me.” He inched closer to her heat.

Ana tugged on the back of his head, gripped his hair and forced him to look up. “So is this payback? Are you trying to torture me?”

“Torture you?” He sounded like he had gravel in his throat.

Her eyes turned to a mercurial, smoky storm. “I want to feel you inside me.”

The quiet declaration set something off inside him. His throat tightened as rational thought melted away.

Wordlessly Connor pushed up and repositioned so that he was nestled between her legs. He didn’t bother testing her. The scent of her arousal was potent. Even a human would be able to smell it. Positioning himself at her entrance, he plunged into her hard and fast and stayed there, buried inside her without moving.

Her lips parted, and he caught her gasp with his mouth. Their tongues danced with an unspoken urgency. Ana ran her fingers down his back, digging into his skin with surprising strength.

Her inner walls expanded and tightened around him like a satin glove. Tight and wet, her body accepted him, but he didn’t make another move to push into her. He wanted her to adjust to him first, and if he was honest, he didn’t want to pull out. The feel of her around him was too intoxicating.

He lifted his head so that their faces were inches apart. The rest of their bodies meshed together perfectly.

Like two pieces of a puzzle.

Her legs stretched around him and she locked her ankles together across his upper thighs. The angle was perfection, allowing him to move inside her if he wanted.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

In response, she rolled her hips up to meet his. The stroke was firm and insistent. Okay, then. She wanted it faster.

Ana’s mind was too jumbled and her body was too oversensitized to make a coherent sentence. Am I okay? The ache between her legs was almost unbearable and if he did something to ease it, then she’d be okay. Better than okay. Maybe not tomorrow morning, when the gravity of her actions set in, but for now, she felt amazing.

Telling him what she wanted in bed was something she couldn’t do just yet, so she spoke with her body. The fact that this was Connor on top of her, his cock inside her, giving her so much pleasure, was a lot to compute. When she rolled her hips, he got the message.

Loud and clear.

He pulled back once, then slammed into her. Hard.

The shock sent waves of ecstasy to nerve endings she didn’t realize she had. She could actually feel her vagina pulsate. It fluttered around him as her body familiarized itself with him. Letting her head fall back against the pillow, she reached her arms up and grabbed on to the iron bedpost. She wanted him to ride her.

“Look at us,” he ordered. The command in his voice made her nipples tingle in awareness.

Her head snapped down as she stared at their two joined bodies. Both of their stomach muscles were bunched tight. The planes of his were more defined, muscular, where hers were flatter, softer. Even though her skin was olive in complexion, he was still darker, tanner. The erotic differences in their bodies made her clench tighter around his shaft.