He kissed his way down her flat stomach, taking his time, tracing each rib with his tongue, his hands exploring and shaping. Her breath came in ragged little gasps and she made a soft sound that sounded like his name, a chanting barely heard, but music nonetheless. His tongue dipped into her belly button and his hands slipped lower to cup her bottom.

Skyler’s hands went to his hair, bunched there. Her body writhed under his now. Her skin was hot, glowing. “Dimitri?” Her voice trembled, and in her mind he could feel the skittering of fear. But this time, she wasn’t afraid of her own reaction, or that he might hurt her; the pleasure engulfed her, threatened her control and she hadn’t expected that.

“I’ve got you. Just let yourself feel. You’re safe with me.”

Her eyes met his, searching. He looked at her steadily, letting her see he would always be there to catch her. She let her breath out and nodded, lying back again, but her fists remained in his hair as if she anchored herself there.

He kissed her belly button and continued his leisurely exploring, running his tongue along her hipbones, and then over to the dragon, the mark of the Dragonseeker, much like a tattoo, very faint just over her ovary. He spent time there, lapping at it, tracing it, nuzzling her over and over. His hand went to her thigh, parting her legs, letting her feel the cool air on her hot, wet entrance.

So much heat. He was drawn there, his mouth moving lower until he could catch drops of nectar. Her taste was addictive and he found he couldn’t stop. He lifted her hips to his mouth, pressing deep, his tongue pushing into that little tight flower, drawing out as much liquid as he could get. She gasped and cried out, thrashing again.

Dimitri lifted his head to look at her. He knew his eyes glowed with the heat of a predator. There was no way to hide what he was from her, but she was safe with him. “Let me,” he said softly. “Give yourself to me. All of you. You belong to me, csitri, you know you do. Let me have you.”

She nodded, but she looked frightened. “It’s too much. The sensation. As if I might fly apart and never be me again.”

Deliberately, watching her eyes, he swiped his tongue through her soft folds, circled her most sensitive bud and then stabbed deep again. Tremors wracked her body, but her gaze didn’t falter. He saw fear, but he saw trust. His heart leapt and his c**k jerked. He was already caught between the intensity of love and urgent need for her body. The two were woven so tightly together he couldn’t separate them.

He began to devour her, driving her up that high cliff and stopping just before she tumbled over. Again and again. He needed to hear her soft little cries. He wanted to feel her fingers clamped in his hair, or her nails digging into his shoulders. Her cries were music to him, a symphony of desire, the notes so sweet he was nearly as addicted to that as he was to her taste.

Skyler crammed a fist in her mouth as fiery need licked over her skin. She had expected pain and degradation, not his worshiping her body as she had his. Her breathing came in harsh gasps, and she couldn’t stop writhing, no matter how hard she tried. She felt as if Dimitri’s passion and love were destroying her, tearing down fear and shame and forging her into a strong, sensual woman.

She heard herself chanting his name and she couldn’t stop. He was her talisman, her anchor, her very strength. He lapped at the hot nectar spilling from her body, his tongue licking and stabbing deep, moving in torturous slow circles, driving her insane as tension built and built, stretching her out on a rack of pleasure.

Her head thrashed back and forth. Tremors ran down her thighs. Her br**sts burned and ached for him. Deep inside, she coiled tighter and tighter, desperate for release. She whimpered. Sobbed. Pleaded with him. She needed him inside of her, to sate the all-encompassing hunger. She felt as if she was soaring out of control. She was skating the edge of panic, only her trust in him keeping her from fighting. She was afraid of burning up from the inside out, fragmenting into tiny pieces, or going insane from sheer pleasure.

He lifted his head when she cried out, her hips bucking, as she pleaded with him. He knelt up slowly between her thighs. He looked . . . intimidating. He was a big man and the thought of him fitting inside her was daunting, but she was too far gone to care. She needed him. Desperately. She wanted him. More than anything she wanted to be fully his.

You are mine.

Her eyes met his. His had gone nearly all wolf, the glowing predatory, focused stare that should have terrified her, but kept her steady and sane. She terrified herself, never Dimitri. No matter what face he wore, he was hers. She moistened her lips, her heart pounding.

His hands were big as they ran up her thighs, and then slowly back toward her heated center. The head of his c**k lodged at her entrance, pressing hotly into her. Her heart pounded so loud she feared it would burst from her chest.

“I take into my keeping your body.” His voice was rough with need.

His expression was sin itself, so sensual her body flooded with more welcoming heat. He inched into her, stretching her impossibly. Her gaze jumped to the junction where their bodies met. Her body struggled against the invasion, reluctantly giving way for him, strangling his thick shaft as it moved deeper inside of her.

He was everywhere, surrounding her. In her mind. Her heart. Her soul. And now, at last he was in her body, making them truly one. Another sob escaped. Tears ran down her face. He was in her mind, so he would know she wanted him just like this. It was all too perfect, too overwhelming and too good.

“Take a breath,” he ordered roughly. “Relax for me.”

She was used to doing as he said and she did both. He drove deep, burying himself to the hilt, so deep she thought he might have lodged in her stomach. She heard her own cry as her tight inner muscles gripped him nearly to the point of strangulation. The bite of pain as he stretched her only added to the erotic pleasure pulsing through her body, coming in waves now, from thigh to breast.

Dimitri blanketed her body with his, bracing his arms at her shoulders. His hips took up a fast, hard tempo that kept her breath rushing from her burning lungs. He moved in her with deep harsh strokes that drove her higher and higher, always up toward that impossible cliff. The pace was furious, his body a piston, moving harder and deeper, over and over, so that shocks of pleasure coursed through her.

Dimitri’s relentless, surging hips drove into her again and again, his hunger nearly insatiable. He felt as if flames licked at him, all over his body. His c**k felt as though it was held tight in a fist of fiery, living silk. He was drowning in her. He never wanted it to end. He had known they were meant for one another, but her body was exquisite, made for him, the perfect fit.