He continued to fuck her, prolonging the waves as they rocked her.

Ronan rammed between her thighs one last time and shook as an uninhibited roar left his throat. Hot liquid spewed inside her as he thrust two more times, his breathing ragged.

Excitement filled Clarissa. She'd never known what it felt like to have a man's naked cock caress her inside, much less his ejaculate spill inside her. But this wasn't just any man, this was a vampire. Her vampire.

The immortal she might be falling for.

As her mind whirled with ebbing excitement and a growing sense she would never be the same, an act flashed into her mind. A sexual act she knew he wanted, but she knew she wanted, too. She was ready for it. Primal awareness split open, reviving long withheld needs she'd never indulged.

Aftershocks made her cunt tighten over his cock and he moaned. Intermingled with the tender emotions rocking her, a languid sense of total satisfaction and unbelievable pleasure made her sigh.

Now she understood what it meant to be fucked out of her ever-livin' mind.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his voice husky with sex.

So softly she could barely hear herself speak, she said, "Yes."

He kissed her shoulder. "I won't hurt you."

She believed it with all her heart. "I know."

Gently he slipped from her body, and as she shivered with the sensation, he kept her hips tilted up. He reached between her legs and smoothed their liquids between her buttocks.

As his fingertips touched her where no man had touched before, she quivered with sinful excitement. The more she thought about the act, the more it made her crave, delight, want what would come. With measured strokes he wet her forbidden entrance. She didn't know if she could stand the tickling that wasn't quite a tickling, the small forays of his middle finger just inside the entrance. Each tiny probe made her wriggle, tormented and aroused.

"More," she whispered.

His hot breath touched her neck as he laughed. "With pleasure."

Seconds later he pushed his finger slowly, inch by exquisite inch into her anus. As she absorbed the unusual but exciting sensation, she heard his voice in her head.Oh, holy Mother. Forbidden, all right. Tight.

As he moved gently, the friction caught her by surprise. Tingles of reaction zipped into her stomach as he drew his finger out, then pushed in, then out. Working her body, he kept his finger buried in her ass and reached around to touch her clit.

She jumped, unprepared for the duel pleasures. "Oh, Ronan."

All right?

Yes. Oh yes. More.

He complied. Manipulating her clit with steady strokes, he barely moved his other finger, keeping himself embedded. She writhed in his hold, unaccustomed to the amazing feelings rocketing inside her like quicksilver. When his touch left her clit and he removed his finger from her, she groaned in dissatisfaction.

Ronan moved around behind her and nipped her shoulder softly. "Easy. There's much more. Lean down on your forearms and tilt high."

She did as asked, including spreading her legs wide. She could hear his breath sluicing in and out, a testament to his excitement with what they planned to do.

Seconds later she felt the blunt tip of his cock nudge her anus. Clarissa gasped.

"Clarissa?"

She knew what he asked. He needed her permission again, her reassurance. "Please. Do it."

His hands grasped her butt cheeks and pulled them apart a little farther. With a small surge he probed and entered a scant inch. A light pinch made her inhale, but no real pain.

Excitement made her press back against him, eager for more. A whirling eddy of needs began to emerge inside her, as if that first entry signaled to her body that she was free.

Anything she wanted, nothing she couldn't handle; it would all be hers under this man's touch.

Without moving, he reached under and trapped a nipple between his fingers. He pinched and rolled the aroused peak and she writhed back, and another inch of his cock slid into her.

"That's it, sweet colleen. Open up to me. Open."

As he rolled her nipple, he found her clit and brushed over it. She shook in sublime pleasure as his fingers manipulated her clit and massaged her nipples one after the other in a play of delights. She moved back, wanting another inch of him before he was apparently ready to give it.

She moaned softly as a shot of pleasure zigzagged into her lower belly as he probed yet another increment. When he pulled back the friction made her gasp. "Oh, yes. Yes."

He didn't stop this time, probing back into her with steady pressure until she felt him filling, stretching her. Then he pulled back, thrust. Pulled back. Pushed. Until he established a steady, measured, but very gentle back and forth motion. He wasn't going too deep, and Clarissa knew that Ronan understood any more would hurt her this first time.

As she closed her eyes he tucked his cock back inside, then withdrew. His touch became aggressive on her clit and nipple. Each twist of her nipple, each brush over her clit fired new life into her arousal until she shook and shivered and wanted him to finish her excitement more than she'd wanted anything else they'd ever done together.

A soft growl left his throat and the primitive sound made her shiver with a delight that matched the incredible sensation of him moving inside her. The friction and his words set her off and she started to shake. As her body built into the strongest climax yet, he quickened his tempo.

Her mind in a total chaos of ecstasy, she couldn't stop the whispered pleas coming from her throat. "Please, please, yes, yes."

With a growl he burst into climax, and the feeling of his orgasm pouring liquid into her set Clarissa off. As he held tight inside her, Clarissa's womb seemed to clench and ripple with an earthquake so strong she sobbed a breath. Dizziness assaulted her as the last trembling subsided.

When he pulled away from her seconds later, he turned her around and drew her down to the bed with him.

Ronan could barely move let alone think. He wanted her warmth snuggled tight against him for the rest of the night, protected in his arms. The smooth jazz still pulsed in the room.

Through a haze he tried to recall the last time he'd had sex quite like this and couldn't remember. He hadn't slept with a woman since Selima in Morocco and that experienced paled in comparison to the mind-blowing passion he'd experienced in Clarissa's arms.

He'd thought he would never stop coming. His bones felt rattled, his muscles exhausted, his body enraptured by a strange peace. Everything inside him stilled, as if ready for a great revelation. It was, plainly, the best feckin' sex he'd ever had.

Power swelled in his immortal blood, his skin, his sinews. Ronan thought he felt his muscles changing in some odd way he couldn't define. The tightening and releasing in each fiber made his body quake for one second.

He kept his eyes closed, and he felt her hands searching his face, his shoulders and arms.

"You're trembling."

When he opened his eyes, he contemplated her sea blue gaze and saw deep concern.

"I'm fine." He kissed her softly. "I think we could both use some sleep, though."

Her breath ruffled against his beard as she nuzzled him, then rested her head on his chest. "Uh-huh."

Ronan retreated to the bathroom to clean up. When he returned to the bed he brought her close against him. As tiredness started to take over, he remembered to use his mind to turn off the radio.

He drifted in a half-awake state of mind even after he noticed she'd fallen asleep. A sense of possession ran through his blood, a stamp on his life. No matter what happened from this moment, there could be no pretending they hadn't joined in the most erotic, most everlasting act between a man and woman.

An old worry kept him from sleeping for a time. He wanted to know how this joining would help him defeat the ancient one. What signs should he look for?

As he lay peering into the night, no answers came.

Chapter Fourteen