He reached out—another vampire died by his hand.

Then he heard her scream. A wild, terrified cry. He rushed after the sound, running as quickly as he could.

Mine. She was his to punish. No one else could hurt her. No one else should f**king dare to hurt her.

Mine.

The beast knew it. Even death couldn’t change that truth for him.

He saw them. Eve, struggling in the arms of a vampire. She was holding him off, pushing him away from her neck, but the vamp’s teeth were mere inches from her.

He lunged forward and grabbed the vampire. The man tried to scream, but couldn’t. Cain didn’t give him a chance.

The vamp died instantly.

She ran. She lurched away and tried to escape into the darkness once more. Didn’t she realize? There was no escape.

He sent his fire out, letting it lick the ground on either side of her body. The fire showed that there truly was no way out. A wall of giant rocks waited just ahead.

She stumbled to a stop. After a moment, she spun around, facing him again. He kept advancing on her. One step at a time. The flames were low on the ground, burning softly, but he could make them rise with a thought.

Or he could let them die.

He saw her eyes and knew she didn’t fear his flames. Just the darkness.

He smiled at her and let the flames die. The darkness took him—and her—once more.

But while she couldn’t see in the dark, he had no such trouble. He could see her perfectly. From the top of her tousled head, all the way down the slender length of her body.

She was all alone with him in the dark. No one to save her. No one to hear her screams.

Did she realize how close he was to her? He could see her head turning as she strained to see in the darkness.

I see you. He lifted his hand and let the back of his fingers trail down her cheek.

She jerked back, gasping. Then softly, “Cain?”

The name pierced through him.

“Cain, please tell me that you have control right now.” Her voice was breathy, husky. Sexy.

His c**k began to swell as he inhaled her sweet scent. He slid closer to her and touched her again.

“It is you.” Relief had her words shaking.

If he’d been a vamp, would he have bothered with touches? No, he would have attacked with teeth and fangs.

She’d been attacked. He could smell her blood, and that coppery scent pissed him off.

No one else hurts her.

She stood before him. Her small body was trembling, but she wasn’t trying to flee. Probably because there was no place for her to go.

His hand drifted down her cheek. Eased over her chin. Then his fingers wrapped around her throat. Her pulse raced beneath his fingers, drumming so quickly.

“Say my name, Cain.”

He frowned at her.

“Who am I?” she whispered to him.

She was the woman who’d shot him. His fingers began to tighten around her.

“Who. Am. I?” she rasped.

“Mine.” It almost hurt to say the word, but it was the truth. He knew that with all his being. This woman—small, deadly—was his.

And she’d betrayed him. Killed him. It was his turn to punish her.

He pushed her back against the rocky wall of the tunnel. Kept one hand around her throat.

“Cain—”

His mouth took hers. He was rough, he knew it, couldn’t stop it—didn’t even care to try. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and he took what he wanted.

Her.

He’d died for her. He figured he deserved her. She owed him.

His c**k was stretching, aching with arousal. His clothes were gone. They never survived the fire. His flesh pressed against her, but it wasn’t good enough. He wanted more.

He began to push her down to the ground.

Her eyes were so big in the darkness. Wide. Afraid.

For some reason, her fear stirred the rage that was always so close to the surface for him. His hand fell away from her throat.

Instead of pushing her down, he lifted her up, caging her against the rocks with his body. Her hands lifted and wrapped around his shoulders as she fought to find her balance.

But she wasn’t fighting him.

He put his mouth on her throat. Licked her. Sucked her delicate skin. Let her feel his teeth.

The vampires had thought they’d mark her.

No. He’d be the only one to mark her.

“Cain . . . come back to me,” she whispered. Emotion filled her words.

He growled and his fingers went to the snap of her jeans. He yanked the jeans open. Shoved his hand inside and pushed past the silk of her panties.

She was smooth. Soft.