“Dark velvet eyes that tempt a man to become lost in their depths,” he continued his verbal seduction, his voice smoky.

“Boring brown,” she corrected.

He ignored her interruption, his smoldering gaze tracing every line and angle of her upturned face.

“A noble little nose,” he murmured. “Did you know you scrunch it up when you’re concentrating on your work?”

“I do not.”

His fingers drifted down to trace her nose before outlining her trembling lips.

“A mouth that is as ripe and delicious as cherries.”

Her lips instinctively parted at his searing touch. “Niko.”

“And this skin.” The warm fingers continued their path of destruction down the length of her neck to trace the loose neckline of her sweatshirt. “As smooth as the most expensive silk.”

“I’m too pale.”

“You’re perfect,” he growled in response. “Ivory silk. It tempts a man to discover if you’re the same porcelain shade all over.” Holding her gaze, he lowered his hand to the hem of her shirt. “May I?”

She knew what he was asking. And that if she agreed there would be no turning back.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Obviously a man of action, Niko didn’t hesitate to pull the sweatshirt up and off her body. It happened so fast that Angela didn’t have time to feel embarrassed. Then, catching sight of Niko’s harshly appreciative expression, she forgot to worry that she was too skinny, or too pale, or too whatever else her insecurities could imagine.

“Yes,” he rasped as his hands reached to dispense with her lacy bra. “Ivory tipped with rosebuds. An irresistible combination.”

His fingers cupped the small mounds of her breasts, his thumbs teasing the nipples to tiny points of aching pleasure. She sucked in a startled gasp, her back arching as if to beg for more.

Muttering a low, rough curse, he lowered his head and licked the tip of her breast.

Angela jerked in astonishment, her hands lifting to plunge into the short strands of his hair.

“Dear . . . Lord.”

His own hands slid down the curve of her waist, tugging her against his rigid muscles at the same time he sucked her nipple between his lips.

She groaned, as he caught the tip between his teeth. It felt so good. Blissfully, wondrously good.

“I want you,” he whispered, kissing a path to her other breast to torment it with the same dizzying skill.

“I want you too,” she husked.

And she did.

What had his word been?

Desperately. Yes, that was it.

She wanted him desperately.

This was chemistry at its most basic form.

He made a low sound deep in his throat, planting impatient kisses up the line of her collarbone until he buried his face in the curve of her neck.

“But—”

“No,” she snapped.

He pulled back with a frown. “No?”

Dammit. She’d spent six weeks tormenting herself with the fear that this man who filled her every fantasy could never desire her.

Now that she was in his arm, hovering on the edge of paradise, she didn’t want it snatched away.

Just once she wanted to say the hell with logic and common sense and give in to temptation.

“Don’t give me a reason why we can’t do this,” she muttered. His hooded gaze skimmed down to her nipples that remained hardened with desire before returning to meet her frustrated gaze.

“It’s more a warning.”

“A warning? Oh.” She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I’m not stupid. I know the routine. This is just sex. It means nothing.”

“No.” The blue eyes flared with a stunning emotion. “It means everything.”

If Niko hadn’t been battling his caveman urge to strip Angela of her remaining clothes and take her against the fridge, he would have smiled at her baffled expression.

Hell, he didn’t blame her for looking at him like he was out of his mind.

Until he’d encountered this woman he would have bet his left nut he would never utter those words.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me.” He gently brushed a stray curl from her flushed cheek. “For me this isn’t just sex.”

“You don’t have to pretend, Niko.” She unconsciously licked her lips, her expression troubled. “In fact, I would prefer that you didn’t.”

With a low growl he was scooping her off her feet and heading out of the kitchen.

He didn’t know if it was the lip-licking or her refusal to believe that he was sincere that tipped him over the edge, but he knew that one way or another he was going to convince her that this was no longer a matter of duty or revenge or mere lust.

Crossing the living room he carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom loft.

It was a spacious room with an open beamed ceiling and hand-carved furniture scattered across the polished wood floor. At the far end of the room were glass sliding doors that led to a back balcony that offered a view of the pool as the sun slid beyond the horizon.

A beautiful sight, but not nearly as beautiful as the woman in his arms.

Niko moved to gently place Angela on the large brass bed. Then, standing at the edge of the mattress, he simply relished the sight of her stretched across the emerald green comforter.

Man. How many nights had he tortured himself with this precise image?

The dark hair spread in wild abandon. The pale face flushed with need and the midnight eyes smoldering with invitation.

Only this was far better than any fantasy.

A fiercely possessive emotion clutched at his heart as his gaze slid down the delicate curve of her neck and over the soft swell of her naked breasts.

It was raw and primal and shockingly perfect.

With jerky movements that would have made his fellow Sentinels snicker, Niko kicked off his shoes before removing the rest of his clothes. He was acutely aware of Angela’s covert survey of his nude body, her breath catching as she caught sight of his fully erect cock.

For once his vanity didn’t assume she was impressed by his lean muscles or his wide chest sprinkled with dark hair. Or even the imposing size of his erection.

For all of Angela Locke’s impressive intelligence and independent nature, she was still remarkably innocent. Combine that with her mysterious conviction she was somehow undesirable and it was bound to make her skittish.

Moving slow enough it didn’t seem like he was pouncing (pouncing could come next time . . . and there would be a next time) Niko stretched out on the mattress beside her so that they were lying face to face. His only touch was the finger he used to trace the line of her jaw.

“No more pretense,” he murmured. “The truth. Once I take you I’m never letting you go.”

She shivered, her body shifting to press against him even as her eyes held a suspicion she couldn’t entirely disguise.

“If this is a ploy to get me in Valhalla . . .”

“I’ve already given my word I won’t force you to go to the compound,” he said, his voice thick as his cock jerked in reaction to the brush of her hip.

“Isn’t that where you live?”

“For now, but Sentinels aren’t vulnerable like many of the high-bloods, so we have the choice of living among norms,” he assured her, not bothering to mention that she’d eventually have to spend time at Valhalla. The Mave would want to be certain her growing powers couldn’t hurt her or those around her. Yeah, that was a conversation he didn’t mind putting off. Indefinitely. “Once Dylan has been captured we can go wherever you want.”

“I—”

He smiled wryly as her words disappeared and she stared at him with silent wonder.

“Too much, too soon?” he teased.

With a choked groan she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Kiss me.”

He did.

White-hot pleasure seared through Angela as he kissed with a clear intent.

This time there was no teasing, no slow buildup, no tender nibbles.

This was unapologetic hunger that threatened to consume her.

And exactly what she needed.

She didn’t want to think of the past, and the future was something to worry about . . . later.

She wanted to become lost in this moment.

As if sensing her need, Niko’s kiss became even more demanding, his tongue dipping into her mouth with an intimate sweep. In concert, his hand cupped her breast, his thumb rubbing over the tight peak.

Angela squirmed against him as the electric sensations jolted through her.

“Niko.”

He pulled back, studying with a hint of concern.

“Am I frightening you?” he whispered.

Her heart squeezed with a dangerous emotion. God, he was so beautiful. A sexy, lethally beautiful male who had enchanted her the minute he’d strolled into her lab.

But it was his instinctive urge to care and protect her that threatened to destroy the barriers she’d built around her heart.

No one had ever, ever treated her as if she . . . mattered.

As if she was the most important thing in his life.

The knowledge was more erotic than any amount of hard muscles and male beauty.