She grabbed his plaid and ripped it from his body. She dropped it to the ground, spreading it with the toe of her slipper. “Lie down,” she demanded, his strange darkness fueling her.

He complied, his eyes glittering. Although he’d honored her demand, he was by no means subdued. He was dangerous and deadly, but she didn’t care one bit, because his emotions made her feel every bit as lethal.

She dropped on top of him and kissed him with all his frustrated rage. She became a wild thing, uncaring that she filled the air with sounds of passion. Her hands cupped his face and she kissed him deeply, tonguing his mouth, nibbling his lips, shifting her hips so she was astride him. The movement with which she claimed him inside her body was not a gentle one. Their eyes met and locked, and she imagined sparks flying from the sheer heat of it.

She felt like a Valkyrie, demanding satisfaction from her mate. His hands swept up and closed over her breasts, his gaze fixed on the mole inside her left thigh. She rocked herself on him, raising and lowering her hips again and again, her palms flush to his chest, bracing herself, watching the area where their bodies were joined by his thick shaft. He reared up hungrily, suckling her nipples as her breasts swayed above him, his hips thrusting urgently. When he exploded inside her, savage satisfaction flooded her and she nearly swooned from the intensity of both their emotions. It was overwhelming, and pushed her swiftly past the edge. She arched her neck and cried out.

Afterward, she lay on his chest, wondering what had just happened. Had she taken him with his desire, or had he taken her with hers? It was so confusing, so mind paralyzing, their strange bond. When their passions were high and their bodies sweat-slicked against each other, she truly couldn’t see where he began and she ended, because she felt it all. It heightened her pleasure a hundredfold.

“What just happened?” she whispered.

“I think we demonstrated the true extent of our need for each other, lass,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “Sometimes need can be a violent thing.”

“But what was all the darkness I was getting from you?” she pressed.

“What did it feel like, lass?” he asked carefully.

“Like you were furious with something or someone, and almost like you thought I wouldn’t be here tomorrow.”

He sighed against her hair. His arms tightened around her and she felt his throat work as he swallowed. “Time is too short, love. That’s all you felt. That no matter how long I might have with you, it would never be enough.”

“We have a whole lifetime, Circenn,” she reassured him, kissing him. “You have all of my life.”

“I know,” he said sadly. “I know. All of yours.”

“There’s something you’re not saying, Circenn.”

“It’s still not enough,” he replied. “I begin to fear that only forever will satisfy me.”

“Then I’m yours forever,” she said easily.

“Be careful what you promise, lass.” His eyes were dark. “I may hold you to it.”

Lisa pressed her cheek against his chest, weary from the outburst of emotion and confused by his strange words. She sensed some dark threat there that she wasn’t certain she wished to understand.

* * *

“Tell me everything about your life, lass,” he demanded later, as they lay in his bed. He shifted inside her and rocked.

“Everything?” Her breathing was rapid and shallow. God, but he knew how to touch her. She had never understood being touched, until this Highlander had placed his hands on her body.

“Everything. Did you ever know a woman’s pleasure before I made you mine?”

“Do you mean did I ever have an orgasm? That’s what we call them in my time. A climax or an orgasm.”

“Aye. Did you?”

Lisa blushed. “Yes,” she said softly. His fingers tensed on her hips, and he buried his face in her thighs, lapping gently.

“When?” he growled. The vibration was exquisite.

“This is really rather personal,” she protested weakly, arching against him.

“Yes, ‘this is really rather personal,’” he mocked. “And you think to withhold mere words when I’m doing this to you?”

“I was curious. I … touched myself a time or two.”

“And?”

“And I found a most unusual sensation. So I bought a book that explained it all.”

“And?”

“And what?” she said, feeling embarrassed.

“Did it feel like this?” He slipped a finger inside her.