She couldn't look away.

Wild desires lanced through her, warning Clarissa if she didn't have his touch now, she never would. His fingers trailed down her back and hovered on the rise of her butt cheeks. This man would drive her insane before she made it to her next birthday with his unrivaled strength and mysterious, beyond-gorgeous eyes.

He smiled.Dance with me.

She glanced around.There's no music.

Suddenly she heard a soft click and a small radio near the windowsill came on. Static poured from the speakers. He glanced behind him and the tuner adjusted, obeying his mental command as it turned until a smooth jazz tune slid into the air.

She laughed softly. "That's amazing. Can the others do that, too?"

"Lachlan can, although it's a strain on him if he does too much. I don't know about Jared yet or Micky."

Throbbing music instantly worked on her libido like he'd known precisely what music would enhance her sexual needs.

"Wow," she said.

A low, seductive chuckle left his throat and caused a new avalanche of desire to pulse low in her stomach. He drew her closer, pressing into her. His body felt like refuge and home. As his body nudged hers she felt his erection pressing hard, thick, and long against her stomach. Oh, yeah. He was ready to love her, all right.

No more boundaries or waiting.

No more fear or ambiguity.

Ronan thought he'd died again, this time with Clarissa's softness taunting him and begging him to seduce. Though he felt a heat blaze and build at her center, he knew she needed sensuality and a soft, gentle wooing now that feelings flowed more easily between them.

In the elevator he'd almost taken her with his ravenous sexual appetite. And while he saw fast, hard sex in their future, he knew drawing out the explosion would lead to the greatest lovemaking they'd experienced in their individual lives. Other encounters with women would be erased from his mind like they'd never been.

The knowledge staggered him, and he drew a deep breath to regain equilibrium. He'd never imagined in a thousand moons he'd meet a woman like her or would soon be buried deep inside her soul, and not just her body.

If it took sex to save Pine Forest from destruction, he would have their memory of it be pure. Nothing greedy would surround them, nothing hollow or unsure. Sex, whether mortals knew it or not, defined a human at the nucleus. Sex showed a mortal's heart, the authenticity of spirit and the naked truth of their desires both inside and out.

Ronan knew what they both needed to make life triumph over death.

Only pure, raw, primal sex.

Edges would feel sharp, softness would be feather gentle, kisses would be deep and long and imbibed with every passion imaginable. He would build, with all his vampire strength, from soft lovemaking into the most exquisite feast imaginable between two people. This act felt sacred, holy in every aspect.

He threw back his head and groaned quietly as hot wires of desire darted into his cock.

He looked down on her again and saw her eyes widen as he pushed his hips against hers.

"Ronan," she whispered softly.

"Mmmm." He couldn't manage another syllable.

He closed his eyes and started to sway to the music, and her arms went around his neck.

She laid her head on his shoulder and he pressed his cheek to the side of her head.

Drawing her womanly soft rose and lavender scent into his body, he dined upon her wishes, dipping into her soul to see what she wanted.

Inside her mind he delved into the darkest of her wishes, the most archaic of her sexual requirements. When he saw her deepest need he smiled.

Oh yes, Clarissa. We'll do that, too.

God, Ronan.Her whispery, fluttery tone held the tiniest embarrassment mixed with delight that he'd discovered what she wanted and would give it to her.

He turned them into a slow dance as the music grew in power, the saxophone wailing, drums thudding and pumping. He brushed his hands up her back as he slipped his hands under her sweater. Her body quivered as he palmed up to her shoulders, then caressed downward. He cupped her rounded ass with one hand and drew her tighter against his hips so she could experience the solid, heavy column of his arousal. Her breath drew in sharply and he smiled.

Movement smoothed into movement as his legs brushed hers, solid column of thigh to thigh. Warmth melted and swirled unt il he felt she might be one with him in spirit before their bodies came together. He tried to remember the last time he felt this out of control, this glimmering with a sexual energy that seemed to erupt from his gut.

Despite his normal reticence about talking when having sex, he knew the ideal seduction.

Tell her precisely what he felt. He'd never spoken of feelings while having sex.

Somehow he knew this must be different.

"I've never felt this with another woman."

Her lips parted, her eyes widening a little.

He continued, "I feel like drowning in your body, in your mind, in the promise of what will come between us tonight. Beyond this minute, this hour, I couldn't care less about what happens to me. Only your happiness, your welfare means anything. Whatever befalls me in the days leading up to Halloween, I can withstand it if you live."

Clarissa's lips parted, as if in wonder.

He smiled, filled with a roaring, overwhelming thirst to love her. As her body slid against his again, he savored the heat and shape of her breasts, her curved hips.

Music throbbed, the beat going silky and smooth as a lover's touch.

As he twirled her, she giggled, and the unexpected humor made him grin. She continued to smile and he kept his gaze on her as the fever rose. He felt it surging inside him, demanding a release. Clarissa's smile faded, replaced by her own glittering, possessive expression.

"Mother ofGod, by everything that is holy," he whispered, "I want you to feel me in your blood and bones. Nothing matters but your acceptance."

"Ronan." Her soft response choked with emotion.

Emboldened by her positive reaction, he continued expressing himself. "I can't get enough of looking at you." He brushed his fingers over her cheek. "Your rounded cheeks, your perfect, small nose, and the rosy glow in your skin that compliments the copper penny red hair." He kissed her nose. "Your blue eyes sparkle like crystal and are more pure than the waters of the Caribbean. You're so damned beautiful."

Moisture touched her eyes and for a second he thought he'd made a terrible mistake.

Then she smiled. "Thank you. I don't know what to say, Ronan. I'm..."

He kissed her lips softly, brushing over them. "Then just listen."

Her lips touched his chin, then traveled to his throat. Shivering under the tentative brush of her lips, he slipped one hand into her hair and gently tugged her head back so she would look into his eyes. He luxuriated in the sensation of her hair cascading over his hand and the way her lips parted as if waiting for a kiss.

Clarissa saw the change in him and his eyes went supernova. Dazzling light sparkled like stars in his irises. She felt Ronan in her mind, aware he searched for an opening, a vulnerability that would make her all his.

God, yes, she wanted it. His sweet words had disarmed her.

She'd never expected this tough-as-rawhide man to speak so gently, so openly of his feelings. She wanted to surrender at the same time she conquered, wanted to give at the same time she received. No other man could do this to her, make her feel like diamonds and starlight and infinite space all wrapped into one. As she danced with him, she couldn't imagine another world but this one in the future.

She would be with him, or with no man at all.

Her stomach clenched as he brushed his cock against her, and she ached with the deepest longing to take him high and hard straight into her center. Her touch traveled over his shoulders, caressing the hard musculature that cradled her so tenderly. Such a big, powerful man, and he treated her like fragile glass.

Oh, yes. They would come together tonight, and when it happened the fireworks might incinerate all in its path.