She couldn't think, could only feel, her body going up in flames, needing his. If he was growling, she was moaning, breathless and hungry and so needy she couldn't stand the weight of her clothes on her skin.

There was nothing unsure about Jake; he made love the way he did everything-ruthlessly, decisively, in total command. At the same time, he was wild, out of control, sweeping her with him in a storm of intensity. His mouth left hers to travel along her vulnerable throat, deliberately biting, suckling, leaving marks of possession on her soft skin. He grasped the front of her blouse and pulled, ripping the thin material down the front, then dragged her skirt from her as if he found anything keeping her body from his touch and sight offensive to him.

As such, he couldn't seem to wait long enough to even rid himself of her bra. His mouth tracked burning kisses down to the lacy material covering her breasts. Emma heard the low, raw sound escaping her throat as his mouth closed over her breast, right through the lace, teeth scraping, his tongue hot and wicked, swirling over the hard bud of her nipple. His arms, thick with roped muscles, dragged her closer, his mouth pulling with strong, urgent hunger.

He wasn't gentle-he was hungry, feasting at her, claiming her, small, feral growls rumbling in his chest and throat. "Mine," he snarled and drew her into the hot inferno of his mouth. "Mine," he reiterated, his teeth biting down until she cried out and his tongue immediately laved and soothed.

Her body was a furnace, and she arched against him, trying to get as much of her skin in contact with his as possible. His hands moved over her possessively, stroked along her narrow rib cage and small waist, and bit into the curve of her hip. All the while he tugged and pulled at her nipples, teeth scraping, until the line between pain and pleasure blurred and she was crying with need.

Jake yanked her leg up around his, his hand finding her calf, traveling upward, shaping the perfection of her bone structure, moving along her inner thigh. Emma's hands tightened around his neck, clinging to him, while the world faded away so that there were only his hands and his mouth and the ravenous hunger raging between them. Arousal sent flames teasing at her thighs until her shaking legs threatened to give out.

Emma tried to find enough breath to speak, to make her brain function properly. "Jake. We have to think about what we're doing." But she couldn't think. There was no thinking, only the feel of his hands and mouth and the heat of his body.

Jake's response was a low growl, rough, achingly sensual. His fingers pressed along her thigh, and she felt the bite of his nails, another mark on her body. Then he grasped her lace panties and yanked, ripping them away to push his palm against her welcoming moist heat, sweeping away every objection she might have thought of.

Emma gasped, her body fragmenting, rippling with life, with pleasure, at his touch. He was everywhere, hard and strong, his mouth hot, right through the lace of her bra. His lips left her breast to travel back up her throat, her chin, finding her mouth, brutal with need, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding him closer, matching him desire for desire.

"Jake, slow down," she whispered, afraid of her own passion, afraid of the sheer intensity and violence neither seemed to be able to control. She looked up at his face, lines harsh with lust, his eyes hooded and sensual, the irises gone, replaced by burning gold.

Jake felt the leopard pushing close to the surface, rising with the ferocity of his need, and he fought to maintain a semblance of control when there was none to have. His cock raged to be inside her, desperate for the hot, wet silk of her sheath and the pleasure and relief only she could bring to his body.

"I fucking have to be inside you," he whispered crudely into her mouth, unable to stop himself, while he drove one finger into her fire. He groaned as her muscles clenched tightly around him. Deliberately he pushed deeper, inserting two fingers into her hot, slick channel to test her readiness.

He wanted her there on the floor of his office, where there was no give, where he could hold her down and drive himself deep, taking what was rightfully his. He grasped her buttocks and urged her more firmly against his hand, his fingers sliding deep, gliding in and out of her, while his tongue claimed possession of her mouth. His body was on fire, a strange roaring in his ears. He was heavy and full, beyond aching.

It wasn't enough. He needed her touching him, needing her wanting him with the same wild frenzy of torment. He caught at his belt buckle, dragged his trousers open, so that he felt some measure of relief.

"I need you to touch me, baby. Right now, damn it." His voice was a ragged snarl that he tried to gentle but couldn't. "Emma, I need you, honey. Touch me. Please, just fucking touch me." Desperate for the feel of her hands on him, he gave her no choice. He bunched one hand in her hair and guided her hand to his cock with the other.

His body trembled at the first touch of her fingers against his pulsing flesh, at the way her fingers shaped him, stroked and caressed. He shuddered, pushing into her hand, while he gripped her hair and forced her to her knees. "Put your mouth on me," he commanded harshly. It was as if his cock had a life of its own, was on fire, so thick he felt he would burst.

He wasn't going to live another moment unless she complied. His cock leaked into her palm and she rubbed the sensitive head with the tip of her thumb, looking up at him, her eyes slumberous, sexy. She looked impossibly sensual kneeling at his feet, her body bare except for her lacy bra, droplets of moisture caught in the fiery curls at the junction of her legs, her breasts spilling out, his marks of possession down her throat and over the soft mounds. He was fully clothed, his cock thick and hard and hurting like a son of a bitch.

"Fucking put your mouth on me now," he hissed between clenched teeth as her tongue slipped out to curl around the broad, flared head, to taste the pearly drops there.

Emma bent forward and he lost his breath, his mind, his entire being, as she began to suckle him. She consumed him with her passion, with hot, terrible pleasure. Her mouth was a tube of fire burning him, scorching him, tight like a fist, milking at him, her tongue sliding over and under, lapping greedily at his base, along his sac and back up to once again engulf him.

The leopard roared and he felt his claws stretching, felt his bones snapping as her mouth took him to the very edge of his control. He fought the change, fought to keep from being too violent, too wild, but the feel of her mouth was killing him. He could feel his balls tightening, his cock growing in the hot slide of her mouth. He wanted more, both hands burying deep in her hair, holding her in place while his hips thrust and he threw back his head as he touched the back of her throat, brutal pleasure bursting through him like the sun.

She began to struggle, bringing him back to reality. "Relax." He tried to force his body to calm down, but he couldn't let her loose, couldn't bring himself to abandon the hot haven of her mouth. "Relax, honey. You can take me. Just relax."

She calmed a little under his soothing tone, forcing her throat muscles to relax as he pulled her head back more. He drove forward, murmuring encouragement, a hoarse cry escaping as her throat convulsed around him. He had to stop. He had to find control. If he didn't, he would be spilling his seed down her throat, and he needed to be inside her. He ripped his shirt off and flung the material aside, his skin burning hot.

"I can't wait, baby, not another minute. I'm sorry, I have to have you now. Later I'll take my time, I swear it, but not this time. I'll go out of my mind if I'm not inside you."

He pushed against her aggressively, gripping her shoulders, taking her backward to the floor. She sprawled out, her knees up, her hair spilling across the gleaming hardwood like silk, her breasts thrusting upward, heaving with her gasping breath. He towered above her like a conqueror, kicking aside his shoes, shedding his trousers before reaching down to rid her of her bra.

"Jake." There was uncertainty in her voice as she blinked up at him, a tinge of fear in her eyes. Her body was flushed, excited, and he scented her arousal, spurring the leopard to new heights of lust.

He knew he should slow down, reassure her, but the leopard wouldn't allow it, driving him now, past all sense, uncaring of anything but claiming her, tying her to him. He had waited forever, burning night after night, until he lived in a kind of hell.

He went to the floor, yanking her knees apart, jerking her body to him across the polished wood, and he lowered his head and stabbed his tongue deep into her hot, creamy center. Emma bucked, screamed, tried to writhe away, pushing at the floor with her heels in an effort to crawl out from under him. He growled again, his head jerking up, eyes burning at her, his fingers digging deep into her thighs, preventing her from moving an inch. She was so wet, so ready, her body already clenching, spasming, desperate for his.

"It's too much, slow down," Emma entreated, her hand fisting in his hair.

The pain in his scalp only spurred him on. He growled again, heightening the sensations with vibrations as he began to feast on her. Her taste was wildly exotic, and the blood rushed to his cock, straining his shaft to such unbearable fullness he thought he would burst. More cream spilled from her and he lapped at it like a starving cat as she moaned and writhed under his assault. Another hot, desperate growl rumbled deep in his throat as he devoured her. His teeth scraped at her clit. She drove her hips up and he caught her thighs, dragging them wider apart to give him better access. When he suckled on the small hard bud, she bucked wildly against his mouth, her cries turning to sobs of pleasure as he threw her into an intense orgasm.

"Jake . . . stop . . . I can't do this. I can't take any more. You have to stop." He was going to kill her with sheer pleasure. She needed to slow down, catch her breath. He was going to drive her insane. "Jake." She tried to gasp out stop, but it was already too late.

He didn't stop. Instead his reaction intensified. His tongue flicked the sensitive bud over and over, driving her higher, making her burn hotter, until the knot of nerve endings felt on fire against his tongue. She pushed at him, thrashing now, her own voice a hoarse sob as she tried to loosen his merciless grip on her thighs. Her ragged breath and bucking body drove his own lust higher. His leopard leapt and roared, clawing at his belly, demanding more of her addictive taste, wanting to mark her everywhere so she could never again attempt to deny who she belonged to.

His tongue stabbed and flicked, plunging deep, refusing to give her a moment to recover, deliberately controlling her. Her wild thrashing only fed his cat's need for dominance, and he slid his mouth from her, licked the slick wetness coating her mound several times and then settled his teeth on the inside of her thigh, once again marking her.

Her eyes went wide with shock as the pleasure-pain threw her into another orgasm and he immediately feasted, driving her back up until beads of perspiration dotted her body and her hair was damp.

Jake rose to his knees, staring down on his prey, fighting the ache in his jaw and the pain in his body. She looked beautiful. She was wild, her body an inferno. He could feel her heat as he pushed the broad, flat, so-sensitive head of his cock into her slick entrance. She closed around him, gripping him hard, so tight. He stayed still, showing her his power over her.

This was no quick lay. He meant to mate with her, to take her for all time as his own, to show her who she belonged to and leave his mark on her. She hissed at him, pinned to the floor by his larger, stronger body, her nails digging into wood, her breasts a temptation, her voice a pleading sob in spite of the fact that she struggled.

He stretched her, knew his entry skimmed the borders of burning pain, but it couldn't be helped. She was so tight and he was thick and long. She gasped, her eyes going wide.

"Mine." He growled the word, rocking forward just a little, watching the pleasure flare in her eyes. "Mine." Meaning it. Wanting her to know he meant it. There would be no going back after this. "Dare to tell me you're not. Deny it, Emma, if you can. Fucking try to tell me you want another man. Or admit the truth. Admit it's me you want and no other."

His eyes dared her to defy him. His hands gripped her legs tightly as he paused, lodged in the entrance of her hot, slick opening. Fear skated through the deep green of her eyes. Her sheath clenched tightly around him, grasping at him, trying to pull him deeper, and he fought not to give in, to slam himself home. Something wild and wickedly primitive in her wanted-even needed-his brutal possession; he could read that much. But she was afraid. She wouldn't just give herself to him, although every single cell in her body screamed for him, screamed for more. She just wasn't certain she could handle more.

Emma shook her head. "Yes," she hissed, "but not like this. You're too big. You're . . ."

"Exactly like this." He gave a small push with his hips and slid in another inch, watching her face, the pleasure rippling over her, the burning discomfort showing in the way her hips tried to pull back. "Any way. Every way. Say it, Emma. Say you're mine. Say you want this. Say you want me."

He wasn't going to let her come back to him later and say she hadn't agreed. When she remained silent, staring up at him with that mixture of lust and fear, he pulled back just a little and felt her grasping at him. She cried out, her body following his.

Satisfaction settled the hard knots in his belly. "Fucking say it."

Her eyes locked with his. He could see the golden eyes of his cat staring back at him in the centers of her eyes. She licked her lips. Took a deep breath. Her body shuddered at her surrender. "I want this." Her voice trembled, came out in a soft rush.

He clenched his teeth, rewarding her with another inch. Her body clamped down on his, squeezing him tightly. He fought to keep from burying himself deep. "That's not good enough. Admit that you belong to me. Say you're mine. Out loud, Emma."

"Jake. Please." A sob escaped. "I do, I am. Whatever. Just please do something."

He slammed his body into hers, tearing through her velvet folds, so slick and wet, fiery hot, tight as a fist, sheathing himself until he bumped her cervix hard, taking it further, forcing her to accept all of him until he felt his balls slap against her bottom. Her tight muscles stretched around him, gripping him, clamping around his throbbing cock. Fire streaked through him, mind-numbing pleasure. He took her hard and fast, rough, the way his cat demanded, pounding into her body with powerful, jackhammer strokes, giving himself over completely to the sheer erotic heat of her body.

He'd never experienced anything like this mating in his life. His entire focus was on the center of his body, the shaft slamming in and out of her, desperate for more, always more, driving himself deep, claiming her soul for his own. And, damn, the heat raging in him now was nearly unbearable. He swelled. She screamed and gripped his shaft hard with her inner muscles, nearly strangling him, the waves of pleasure pouring over him until he was damp with sweat. Then her body pulsed. Once. Twice. Hot cream bathed him and he poured himself into her, wanting his seed deep, wanting it to take hold. She was his. Born for him. In that moment he felt as primitive as his cat, and every bit as dominant.

Jake pulled out of her and flipped her over onto her stomach. The sudden withdrawal caused another flash of pain and she cried out. He hissed as his arm caught her under her hips and yanked her up onto her knees, so she was on all fours. He held her still, gripping her hard as he blanketed her, slamming his cock ferociously to penetrate deep inside with no warning at all, driving through her tight muscles until her already sensitive knot of nerves screamed and spasmed again and again.

Emma had thought him spent-he should have been spent-but he was wilder than ever. His body, pounding hard into hers, robbed her of her breath. He went deeper with each thrust, the way he held her giving him an even better angle to possess her. She felt on fire, but at the same time was shocked at her own behavior. She wanted him-oh, so much; she doubted she'd ever get enough of him-but never once had she envisioned or dreamt that it would be like this.

His hands slid over her rib cage up to her breasts, where he tugged at her nipples, sending streaks of fire to her inflamed sheath. His fingers felt like curved claws, teasing and pulling, soft fur sliding over her aching breasts. His face nuzzled at her shoulder, along her neck where she was the most sensitive. He kissed her there, never once stopping the ferocious pounding. His tongue lapped at her skin and then he bit down hard. Pain flashed through her and something wild jumped inside of her, snarling and fighting so that her hands curved into claws and she tried to buck him off.

Jake snarled, the low growl reverberating around her. If anything, her struggles provoked him into more dominant display. He never took his teeth from her shoulder, holding her still under him, while he pounded into her. One hand curved around her breast, his fingers biting into flesh in erotic warning; the other hand descended hard on her bottom. Heat flared, spread, her center pulsed and spilled more hot cream onto his invading shaft.

She couldn't stand it. The tension in her built and built, taking her closer to the edge of a deep abyss. She fought off the gathering orgasm that welled up like a tidal wave, threatening to destroy her, but he was relentless, driving her higher and higher, so close to the edge now that she teetered on the brink of pain, of darkness. She hung there a moment, her breathing ragged, her breasts heaving, her body tense. He slammed into her with another brutal drive and she fell over the edge, screaming as the explosion ripped through her.

Wave after wave, an endless, merciless series of orgasms rocked her body, leaving her weak and breathless. She writhed and bucked under him, unable to stop moving as the mind-numbing pleasure ripped through her body, her mouth opening wide, her vision blurring. Stars burst behind her eyes.

Jake felt her body clamp down on his, the wet heat gripping and squeezing, while her shattered cry of ecstasy drove him on, wanting everything for him, wanting her to feel the way she made him feel. Alive. So alive. So hot and wild and beyond any fantasy she could ever imagine. He wanted her tied to him, by this. Sex so perfect she'd never find it with anyone else. He wanted her limp in his arms, drained and exhausted and so sated she couldn't think of any other man ever touching her skin.

He gripped her hips, tilted her just that much more and slammed home again and again, while her body rippled and fought. She stiffened, shuddered, and he felt the grip of her, an intense bite of her muscles clamping down like a vise. His lungs burned for air, breathing so hard, the ragged gasps nearly hurt. The low growls rumbling in his chest were animalistic, but he couldn't stop them with his leopard so close and the pleasure pumping through him like a rush of adrenaline.

He lost every bit of sanity, every bit of reason, as her body clamped down around his, sending agonizing pleasure tearing through his body. He was so hot he thought he might burn up, turn to ashes, but he couldn't stop driving into her, seeking release, seeking the ultimate high. Then it came. He stilled. A heartbeat. A second. The rush was a roar of insanity, tearing through every muscle and sinew, every cell, his very bones, and for a moment he feared he wouldn't survive the explosive release rocketing through him.

The tidal wave started somewhere in his toes and ripped up his body, through his thighs, and centered like a tsunami in his groin. His release was harsh, erupting like a volcano, exploding, tearing through him with such force his body shuddered and strained as he emptied himself. The roaring in his ears was like thunder, and even his vision changed.

Emma would have collapsed but he held her up with an ease that shocked her. He was enormously strong as he lowered them both to the floor. He rolled her to her side, still buried deep in her body, his hands cupping her breasts as they lay locked together on the floor. His breath came in rough gasps as her body continued to pulse around his, gripping, milking, relaxing and starting the cycle all over again.

She tried to speak but no sound emerged, and she feared that every brain cell was beyond repair and she was incapable of thought, let alone speech.

Jake pushed the silky fall of hair aside and nuzzled her neck, kissing the spot where his teeth had held her. He had taken many women, been serviced by many more, but nothing had prepared him for the orgasm that had ripped through him, exploding with such force. The hard ejaculation had given him peace for the first time. He knew he had a silly grin on his face, elation sweeping through him, and he kissed the nape of her neck, moving just a little to feel the joy as another spill of her slick heat washed over him.

Her body shuddered against his and she turned her head slowly to look at him. Her eyes were glazed, her body limp. He bent forward to kiss her mouth. She kissed him back.

"Easy now, honey. This will hurt for a moment." His leopard had been too close to the surface and he knew she was going to feel his withdrawal. He fastened his mouth to hers, thrusting his tongue along hers as he pulled his cock from her body.

The pain flashed through her as his cock dragged over her sensitive wall, chafing her as he pulled free. He swallowed her soft cry, deepening the kiss. He moved first, rolling over and coming up on his knees. His cock was long and thick, even in his semi-hard state, one normal for him. He couldn't quite let go of her; not yet. He knew it was always going to be the same with him. She was an addiction, one he would need to have sated over and over.

Emma lay on the floor looking up at Jake as he knelt over her, his hand on his cock, absently sliding his palm along his shaft, watching her with hooded, glittering eyes. He was so male, so dark and intoxicating. Raw sexuality in its purest form. Her only sexual experience had been with Andrew, and he had been gentle, reverent even. With none of the explosive, raw power Jake had just showered upon her. Lately, with her body so restless and unsettled, she'd dreamt of violent, earth-shattering sex, but she hadn't really had an idea of what it was like.

Nothing had prepared her for the total invasion of her senses, Jake's enormous strength and terrible raw sexual hunger. She felt helpless in his arms, taken over, out of control. Her body was no longer her own, but seemed to belong to him, moving against his hand, her breasts swollen and aching, needing his hot mouth, needing his body buried deep in hers.

She couldn't even say the explosive sex between them had been all him. Something had taken her over until she craved him-desperately. Without her own identity. She would forever need Jake, need his stark, raw possession. This. An obsession. Not love. Never love. She would never be the same. Never want another man. And yet, not once had he been loving toward her. Even now, with his eyes commanding her, she wanted to obey, to lift her head and lap at him, taking every drop of him into her. She wasn't a sexual creature. She didn't understand what was happening to her, she only knew that she despised every woman who had ever come near him almost as much as she despised herself for not being in control.

His hot gaze drifted over her with absolute satisfaction. She looked down at her body. Her breasts were swollen and aching, nipples tight. Her skin was covered with the red marks of his possession. The sight of those marks should have angered her, but instead her body tightened again, her sheath clenching, already feeling empty and needing him.

"Can you get up?" He held out his hand.

The question was so mundane, as if nothing at all had happened, certainly not as if she lay naked, sprawled out on the floor with his seed running down her thighs. She forced her sore body into a sitting position, ignoring his hand. She hadn't known there were so many places she could ache.

"Emma? Are you all right?" This time there was demand in his voice.

She glared at him. "Do you have any idea what we've done?" She pressed a hand to her mouth, unable to stop the trembling, because she knew what she'd done. She'd had incredible sex, but there hadn't been a shred of love in there anywhere, not that she could feel.

"We're doing what we need to do," he said harshly, bending to take possession of her mouth again.

Emma moved her head back out of his reach. "This isn't right. This is too violent, Jake." She stared up at the harsh lines etched deeply in his face, his sensual mouth twisted cynically, a little cruel. His eyes were glittering brightly, burning hot with temper. "I'm not anything to you. You were angry and you wanted a woman, any woman."

He swore vulgarly, and his eyes went flat and cold. "That's a hell of a thing to say to me."

With calculated intent, he glided his hand up her leg, along the wetness of her inner thigh, over his mark of possession until his fingers found the hot wet core of her.

He slid two fingers deep into her, watching her gasp, watching the helpless pleasure on her face and the way her eyes glazed when he drew circles around her tight bud. She was still very sensitive, and when he tugged and twisted, her sheath clamped down hard, sending another orgasm ripping through her body. His seed and her cream coated his fingers when he pulled them free and held them up in front of her face.

"This isn't just me, Emma. This is also you needing a man." Deliberately he brought his fingers to his mouth, tasting her, his gaze burning deep, slashing at her with a controlled fury. "This is you needing me." He caught her hair in his fist and brought her face within inches of his fast-hardening shaft.

For a moment she stared defiantly, but that wild something in her refused to let her have dignity or escape her own needs. Her mouth watered.

"You think I can't see what you want? Or smell your arousal? This is us together, Emma, whether you like it or not. It may not be all neat and pretty and wrapped up with a little bow, but it's what we have."

She licked her lips, flicking her tongue out and swiping over the broad, flat head, unable to prevent herself from tasting him again. He shuddered visibly. Emma pulled back, ashamed of herself, fighting for dignity.

"We're violent, Jake. I'm not like this . . ." She trailed off, staring at temptation. He was so unashamed of his raw sexuality, of his need, standing up with his hand massaging his shaft with hypnotic strokes, so that it responded by growing thicker and longer and much harder. She shook with wanting him, her core liquid and empty. "It feels like a sin."

"You were made for sex and sin, Emma, whether you want to admit it or not. You were made for me. I refuse to be ashamed because I want you. I want you every minute of the day. When you walk by me in the house, I wish you were wearing a long skirt so I could just push it up out of the way and find you wet and eager for me. I want you in every possible way I can have you, and if you think I'm going to let you walk away from this-away from me-because you're afraid, think again."

He looked so masculine, the columns of his thighs strong. Emma gasped and leaned forward. There were scars, deep, long slashes fractions of an inch apart, up and down both thighs. She couldn't stop herself from running her palm over them and then holding her hand there as if she could make it better. Each mark had been deliberately made with a very sharp instrument. "What happened? Who did this to you?" She was outraged, that strange, primitive part of her rising fast and ferocious again. "What are these?"

"Victories."

The way he said it, with that soft little snicker, made her gaze jump to his face. He looked at her as if she were one of his victories. Self-disgust made her pull back, but his fingers only tightened in her hair to hold her still.

"Are you ashamed because you want me, Emma? Don't pretend you don't, because neither of us will buy that lie. I have your scratches, the marks of your nails, all over me. The taste of you is in my mouth, soaked into my pores, and the scent of you surrounds me."

He held her there, refusing to allow her to look away from him. "Be who you are."

She shook her head, uncaring that her scalp hurt, uncaring that her body pulsed and was wetter than ever at the way he was talking. Did she really want to be an object? A plaything for him to use and then toss away when he was done? Had she gone so far down the road of depravity with him that she couldn't go back?

"This isn't love, Jake. It isn't even a relationship."

He felt her words like a blow in the pit of his stomach. She didn't love him. No matter what he'd done, he couldn't make her love him. He could see the evidence of her arousal, every bit as strong as his own. He might not get her love, but by God, he could own her body. Shaken, hurt, anger rising to protect him, he stepped relentlessly closer, refusing to back away from what was between them. If the only way he could tie her to him was through sex, then so be it. He'd take whatever he could get.

"How would you know when all you've ever had was a few honeymoon months with that boy, Andrew? With your adolescent view of relationships I doubt you even know what's between a man and a woman. Men can be cruel and life can be messy and sex can be violent. It's all those things. But if this is what I get, you on your knees with your mouth on my cock and my marks all over your hot little body, then I'll take it."

She flinched visibly as he towered over her, straight and tall, his eyes antique gold, glittering with heat. His shaft was thicker than ever and his hand was a fist, gripping tightly, pushing his erection along her lips. She found the way he was so unashamed of his blatant sexuality both compelling and admirable-and erotic. Her body responded to his arousal no matter what her head said. His low, sexy voice, the way he talked, everything about him sent ripples of fire straight to her center until she wept with need-and wept for her own inability to resist him.

"I don't understand what we're doing, Jake," she said. "We could lose everything we have. You know how you are. Are you so willing to risk me? Don't I mean anything at all to you?" There were tears in her voice that she couldn't hide, didn't want to hide.

He had to understand the consequences of what they were doing. He used women and threw them away. He couldn't deny that. Leopards didn't change their spots. Wasn't that the old adage? He would use her and eventually he would grow tired of her. How could she possibly keep a man like Jake happy? He had shredded her innocence, taken her far beyond her experience, and yet she had somehow been every bit as wild and willing as he had been. And then what? He'd throw her aside, move on to a new woman, and she'd be left broken, ashamed and unable to stay in a house without love. The children-everyone-would lose.

Jake crouched down beside her, his hand sliding to the back of her head. "I've never claimed another woman for my own." His voice was gentle, compelling her to meet his gaze.

There was a mixture of lust and something else she couldn't name-tenderness, maybe. Possession. She was too susceptible to him, her feelings too confused. She wanted to fall into his arms and be held. Or rub herself up and down his skin. Or slide her mouth over his tempting shaft and lap at his cream like a starving cat.

Jake's fingertips rubbed her scalp in a hypnotic massage. "Not one woman, Emma. And I never will again. You're mine. I don't let go of what is mine." His hand tightened in her hair, pulling her head back so he had access to her mouth in another long, gentle kiss.

Emma felt herself melting. Jake, as a rule, wasn't gentle, but his kiss, just for a moment, felt like love before his passion, his lust, took over and he was in a feeding frenzy again, growing hotter and more wild. She opened her mouth under the demand of his tongue and let him take her away, let him carry her back into his carnal world of sin and sex. His arms were enormously strong, circling her, sweeping her into that vortex of mind-numbing pleasure.

He was so strong, his personality overwhelming. Everything about Jake was compelling and mesmerizing. Even his aura of danger drew something inside of her straight to him. His hands stroked her skin, soothing, tender-at first-but when a moan escaped and her breath began to come in ragged gasps, he took her to the next level, playing her body like the master he was. His fingers tugged at her nipples, twisting and pulling a little harder, his teeth scraping sensitive skin. His mouth found his marks on her breast and he lapped at them with his tongue so that it rasped over the sensitive nerve endings until she trembled anew.

She loved that roughness in him, that switch from tender to rough hunger, as if his need of her was so great he was on the edge of his control. And yet, even though she was so willing and wanting, there was a part of her that screamed: No. No. Stop what you're doing. You're jeopardizing everything you have.