"Standing." His breathing came quickly, and as he turned her around gently she felt restraint pouring from him. "Bend over and put your hands out in front of you."

Before she could blink he tied her wrists together and then lashed them to the bedpost.

She gulped in surprise and pulled at her restraints. "Ronan?"

"We won't do it this way if you don't want to, but I wanted to see if you liked it." He put his arms around her and drew her close. She could feel his cock bumping against her ass cheeks. He brushed aside her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

Delicious anticipation snaked into her body. "Let's do it."

Seconds later hot, thick hardness slid deep and sure into her center.

Clarissa didn't think about the past or tomorrow. Only the smooth, slick passage of his cock meant anything. He kept his motion slow, his fingers buried in her hair, his breath rasping between his teeth. With each deep, exquisite thrust she experienced a joy that drew her straight out of the universe into unknown territory. Heady and filled with the strength of the ages, his loving made her feel precious, cared for, needed beyond everything.

Again he thrust deep, but kept his pace slow. She arched back against him and defied his desire to kept things gentle. Soon he couldn't resist her urging and she knew when he'd lost control. The scarves tightened around her wrists and Clarissa pulled back against them. She eased the tension in her arms. With one hand gripping her hips, he tangled his fingers in the long hair flowing down past her cheek and held her in place.

"Clarissa," Ronan said in what sounded like tortured voice.

He slammed into her, then paused. Slammed, then paused.

She closed her eyes. As he held high and deep inside her, her orgasm burned deep inside and burst forth in great, rolling contractions that howled through her. Suspended at the top of a glorious sensation, she savored the climax as it seemed to go on and on. As the splintering beauty faded, she gasped for breath like a swimmer just coming up for air.

"Feckin' A!" He burst inside her with a harsh groan.

His cock throbbed, and she absorbed the sensation with greediness. Quickly he pulled from her and wrapped his arms around her again, his touch possessive and incredibly loving. In a blink the bonds fell from her and landed on the floor. He gathered her into his arms and they laid on the bed for a moment in total silence. He peppered tender kiss after tender kiss on her nose, her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, her neck.

He let out a deep sigh. "I can't believe we did that again." He let out a low laugh and climbed off the bed to redress. "I need to go downstairs for awhile. Why don't you rest?"

Before he left he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Rest easy, sweet colleen. I'll be right downstairs. If you need anything, let me know."

After Ronan left the room and headed downstairs, animal need continued to fire his libido. More than anything, even though he'd worried only moments before that he'd harmed Clarissa, he wanted her. He wanted to slide deep into her hot, wet channel and fuck her into oblivion for what would be another heated exchange of their bodies. He wanted to feel his seed shooting deep inside her and enjoy his primal need to know she was his.

And she was, whether she knew it or not. She washis .

When he got downstairs the group had congregated in the living room, Jared and Micky included. As they said hello, he thought he could feel an extra element of fear residing in each of them. They didn't know what the next day, next hour, next minute would bring.

Everything hung in a balance.

"Is she all right?" Micky asked as she settled onto the loveseat with Jared. "Does she need to go to the doctor?"

Ronan leaned against the fireplace mantle. "I didn't detect anything life-threatening, but I'm still worried about her. I'll keep watch and if she doesn't improve, then I'll get her medical attention."

Jared cleared his throat and leaned forward. He braced his forearms on his thighs.

"We've been talking about the possibility that your link with her caused the problem."

"I don't know." Ronan turned away from his friends to stare into the tall mirror above the mantle.Guilt ate at him, despite the reassurance Clarissa had given him. "It's possible."

"Aye, though I don't remember hearing anything in vampire lore that talks about women getting sick after coupling with a vampire," Lachlan said as he stood next to a window and looked into the backyard.

And never in a million years did Ronan expect to standing in a living room discussing his sex life. In this case, though, he didn't have much choice. "After she had the nausea and pain I detected an imbalance in her system."

After a pause, Erin said, "She'll be all right. I'm sure of it."

Lachlan turned away from the window and settled on the couch next to Erin.

The phone rang and Erin went to the table near the front door. When she answered she put her finger in other ear, as if she couldn't quite hear the person on the other end. "Of course. Yes, he's here."

She took the cordless phone toward Ronan. "The connection is bad but I think he said his name is Yusuf."

Ronan took the phone. Keeping his tone light he said, "Feckin' time I heard from you."

The energetic laugh on the other end assured Ronan the older man appreciated the joke.

"A bright good morning to you. Now this is costing me money, vampire. So be quiet and listen. Oh, and by the way, my daughter Selima sends her salutations. Vampire, I think you made her fall in love with you."

Ronan snorted and noticed the gazes in the room locked on him. "Right."

"It's true. She moons around the house all day and she's very lazy."

"She wasn't lazy before?"

"Never."

Before he could ask Yusuf more about his daughter, Yusuf asked, "Have you found the woman you needed to couple with?"

Ronan suddenly hated that word. What he felt and experienced when he made love to Clarissa far surpassed mere coupling. "Yes. But nothing is happening. At least I don't think so."

"Explain." The man's voice snapped like a whip.

Ronan explained what had happened since Clarissa returned to Pine Forest and the subsequent experiences with criminals, fires and the corpses turning up as the ancient one killed without compunction.

"Sounds like a mess," Yusuf said. "Hmmm."

"What?"

"You say this woman, this Clarissa is ill?"

"Yes."

"Humph."

Ronan didn't know what to say, but part of him found the Moroccan's statement very interesting. "Wait a minute. Selima didn't get sick in any way after she and I coupled?"

Ronan caught Erin's raised eyebrows, but ignored her look.

"No, why?" Yusuf asked.

Ronan explained and Yusuf huffed and made noises that said he found the situation odd.

"Very strange. You say she's nauseated and dizzy?"

"Yes. And she had pain in her side." Ronan paced again, his heart drumming a little quickly. "Damn it, Yusuf, if you know something just spit it out."

"Nothing. It's nothing."