A frown turned down the corners of the mouth he'd thoroughly ravished. Then one tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. The sight threatened to tear a hole through his heart.

He smiled and kissed her nose. "We'll get through this." He kissed her nose again and her mouth. "Please don't cry. I can't stand it when a woman cries."

As a few more tears escaped, she gave him a quavering smile. "Oh? What do you do when women cry?"

"It depends on the woman." Tenderness stirred in his heart. "In your case it makes me ache to hold and protect you."

Instead of allowing her to speak, he covered her mouth with a devouring kiss.

A new wave of heady, erotic stimulation raced over Clarissa's skin. She didn't want to think about insecurities, or the few doubts she harbored about bone-melting sex with Ronan. Instead she allowed his assurances and the way he touched her to drive away tears of fear and misgiving. She became a being of sensation and pure sexual energy. She'd started to lose track of the number of times they'd made love.

Raw need overwhelmed her as his kiss deepened. His tongue touched hers with light flicks, as if coaxing a virgin into compliance. She answered with silky strokes and sampled him as he'd tasted her. Plunging her tongue deep into his mouth, she demonstrated she knew something about driving a man wild. As he groaned he rolled over and pulled her on top of him. Their legs tangled together and she savored the feeling of one hairy, hard thigh as it pushed against her moist, sensitive tissues. His big hands slid hotly and possessively over her back and landed on her ass. He cupped, caressed and teased.

As she sat up, she nestled his hard cock against her clit and pressed downward. She found the perfect spot and lined it up. As she moved her hips, she rubbed her clit against his shaft.Sharp arousal spiked in her stomach.

"God, yes," he said, his eyes going from melting chocolate to sunlight bright.

He cupped her breasts and twisted her nipples lightly, his big hands gentle. She closed her eyes and took in every physical feeling as he heightened her need. Hot arousal spilled from her, dampening her core and making it ache. As the motion continued, she rocked her hips and he stroked her nipples without mercy.

When she opened her eyes, craving starkly lined his features. From the flush on his cheekbones, to parted lips, to the way his hips rotated against tender, wet folds and the way his muscles bunched and flexed, he defined male animal. It would be so easy to surrender everything to Ronan.Give over her mind, her body, her soul.

For this minute, give me your body.His mind whispered to hers.Now.

Desperate to feel that steel-hard thickness inside her, she lifted her hips and took his cock in hand. When she pressed him against her heated opening, he moaned.

"Please," he said with an ache in his voice. "Do it now."

Complying, she inserted him into her opening and pressed down.

Unexpectedly, she tightened up and only an inch of him entered. "Oh."

His forehead creased in a frown. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she said with a catch in her voice.

A soft, reassuring smile crossed the vampire's lips. "You're too excited. Relax."

"I can't. I want you too much."

With a deep, shaky breath, he lifted her off of him. When he touched her labia she gasped. It was just a quick sweep, a test. "You're not wet enough."

"Not wet enough?" She felt hot beyond belief.

"Not for what I have in mind. This calls for desperate measures."

He urged her over onto her stomach and she lay with her arms above her head. When he touched the back of her thighs she jumped a little and giggled because it tickled. With deliberation he pressed soft kisses to her ass cheeks, each one feather light.

Seconds later he brushed her long hair away from her neck. "Maybe you need a little something extra to make you relax."

With gentle persistent strokes he massaged her shoulders, working the tension out. Soon, his fingers found and eliminated every tense knot down her back and into her legs. But he didn't just massage her, he pressed slow, hot kisses to already highly sensitized skin. She linked up to him in her mind, amazed at the effortlessness of their mental communication.

I think the sex has made the communication easier, he said in her mind.

He nipped her neck and a tight little frisson of heat moved over her.Oh, Ronan. That feels good.

A deep, sexy chuckle left his throat. A wicked thrill, one born of the unknown, made her squirm under his touch.

He smacked her ass playfully. She yelped.

"Stop it," he said.

"Or what?"

His voice purred, engorged with sex and ultimate sin. "You'll have my cock up your darlin' little pussy. Then I'll fuck you and I'll keep on fucking you until you've come ten times."

"Ten times?" she gasped the question.

"I can make it happen."

She smiled as she teased him. "That's pretty arrogant." His touch drifted over the sides of her breasts and she sighed. "I don't know if it's even possible for a woman to come ten times in one bed session."

"It is." His voice went husky and his accent deepened in his passion. "I'll prove it to you, sweet colleen. I'll move inside you hard and fast, then slow and soft. I'll stay inside until I wring those climaxes out of you."

She loved his forceful oaths, but not because she wanted to be dominated. No, because she knew Ronan Kieran would fulfill every promise he made. That included all the suggestive comments filling her ears.

On and on he kissed her body, tempting her with little licks, long touches. His fingers drifted down when he brushed her ass she jumped a little. She felt so sensitive now she would probably come if he barely touched her between the legs.

He reached for a pillow and wedged it under her hips so they tilted up.Open your legs.

His voice in her head demanded, and she complied.

As he palmed her ass cheeks, his heated exploration made her thighs tremble in anticipation.

"Mother Mary, you're wet now," he said in a breathless groan.

His fingers brushed lightly along her labia, smoothing her wetness. She jumped a little, then settled down as he continued to slide his fingers across her wetness with long, hot strokes. Her entire body quivered as she enjoyed his erotic touch. Clarissa didn't realize she could become any wetter, but to her amazement another gush of arousal dampened her.

He stopped and she almost commanded that he continue the extensive, exciting caresses.

His hands coasted up her calves, his gentleness making her lower regions ache with the need to be touched. He parted her thighs wider and then she felt his tongue swiping over her folds.

She muffled a loud moan against the pillows. "Oh yes. Oh yes." She couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. "Please. Right there. OhGod, yes. Right there."

She'd never been wordy during sex, but Ronan seemed to have let something loose inside her. Arching into his touch, she let out a soft moan when he slid two fingers deep into her channel. He worked her body, pumping his big fingers in and out with a steady movement.

"Damn it, Ronan. More."

He chuckled softly. "Sure, and she's a demanding wench."

Wench? She ought to smack him. All she could do was enjoy the way his fingers plied her body. As the pressure built, all she thought about lie between her thighs. In and out.

In and out. He removed his fingers and she felt his tongue plunge deep. She bit her bottom lip to prevent a squeal from leaving her throat.