Annika let her connection fade as soon as Eoghan landed on the terrace. Her body shrank and contracted. Scales retreated and her skin reappeared. The last of her wings drew back into her body as her bare feet touched the cold tiles.

Eoghan stared at her. His body was coated in soot and sweat. He was beautiful and vicious all at once.

“You’ve seen me, now. All of it,” she said and lowered her eyes.

She wasn’t just some girl running away from her pain like he’d been led to believe. She was a trained fighter. She could watch and learn just as easily as tear the wings from the backs of her enemies. And she wasn’t above getting revenge.

His fingers caught her chin and forced her to look at him. His eyes were a cold, clear blue and heating by the second. “Ay. And ya saw me.”

A little bit crazy and a huge set of balls. Nearly everything he did was caused by his need to protect those around him. Including her. Maybe especially her.

He pressed in the keycode to unlock the door. She knew the numbers would be Maura’s birthday. It was a safe choice for a door that needed wings to reach.

It felt wonderful to stretch her memory and pull those numbers from her head.

“Do you still keep a robe in there?” She asked softly. It was a comfort he insisted on keeping for her from the moment he added clothes to the weapons he already had hidden there. Right then, she wanted the thin armor cloth would give her.

He flicked his eyes to her and drew out a fluffy black robe along with jeans for himself. “Added it back when I brought ya here tae detox.”

She wrapped it around her body and cinched the belt closed, ignoring the aches in her limbs. It’d been a year since she used the muscles needed to fly. A year since she used the inner strength to change her shape. Longer, still, since she needed to fight.

“You’re still bleeding.” She cautiously reached forward and traced her fingers just above the cuts along his chest. How deep had they been to still be there after a shift? Her stomach turned to think of him injured.

He looked down at his chest. “I’ve had worse.”

“You should shift again. If you’re too tired for that, just reach into the Wyrd. The trickle should be enough to heal these.”

“I’m not a child.” He snapped. “I had a year tae learn without ya here.”

Annika flinched. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t disappear in yer head.” He caught her wrist in his hands when she tried to pull away. His thumb ran over her lower lip. “Say what ya have tae say.”

She paused for a single second before the floodgates opened. They nearly died several times over since she stepped foot in Baltimore. She resisted him because she didn’t know her own mind. In doing so, she missed out on making full use of their time together.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen the way it did. I should have left the moment I suspected you were going into Heat. I compromised us both.” The apology might as well start from the beginning and with her worst transgression. Every lie she told him after that moment weighed on her.

“I wasn’t entirely ignorant. I grew up around shifters. I had an idea of what was happening.” He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I wanted ya the moment I saw ya.”

“And now?” She held her breath.

His lips pressed against the soft spot just below her ear. “I want ya more than ever before. Come upstairs. We’ll clean the fight from our skin and have it out over yer spying.”

He released her then and she trudged upstairs after him. Dread settled into her stomach but there was a spark of hope, too. He hadn’t immediately tossed her over the side of his building or sank claws into her flesh. Talk. If talk was the price he demanded to keep him in her life, then she would gladly pay.

He led her into the large bathroom of his room—their room—and turned the knob on the shower stall. His jeans dropped to the floor and he turned to her. Thick fingers unwound the knot on her robe and pushed the fluffy fabric off her shoulders.

Then he opened the stall door and pulled her in after him.

Water ran over them and swirled at their feet with streaks of red and black. She didn’t know how long they stood holding each other but the water was clear by the time Eoghan spoke again.

“I’ll go with ya if yer determined tae leave.”

She blinked, unsure if she heard the words or simply imagined them. “Hmm?”

“Just thinking about something I heard recently. I can’t blame the shark for hunting when I’ve baited the waters with innocent lives. I can’t protect my sisters if I’m the one putting them in danger. They—you—wouldn’t be targets if I did something more honest with my life.”

She pressed her palms against his chest and eyed him. She licked her lips. She didn’t want to discourage the idea—she loved the thought of making a life with him—but she wanted him armed with all the possible consequences.

“If you are who I think you are, you might not be able to leave Patomas. The barrier around the islands only allows for those who can’t shift and half-blooded dragons to leave.”

“Ay. But it’s no sure thing that yer right. The girls deserve more than this rough life and the bairns should grow up peaceful. Besides, Gio needs a promotion and there’s nothing higher up than me. Best to step out of the way before he gets any ideas in his head.” He tugged her back into his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I should clear out of town for a spell. There might possibly be some federal charges for all the damage we caused tonight. I can’t imagine the fight went unnoticed.”

She snorted. “My parents will be so pleased that I brought home a felon.”

“Is that any way tae speak of yer prince?”

“So, you believe me?”

“No. I’m the son of poor wolves and those stolen boys were killed long ago. Life isn’t a fairy tale and I’m not fit tae rule any one.”

“You did it here. I think the only difference is your current bunch is more honest than politicians.” Annika pushed away again. She scrunched her nose and eyed him suspiciously. “Just like that, everything’s forgiven?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But all I could think about in the middle of the fight wasn’t seeing yer face again. That would have killed me more than taking a bullet tae the heart or having Mariko’s claws in me.”

She walked fingers up his chest. “All I could think about was killing you for making me worry.”

Eoghan’s laugh was short lived and his eyes turned serious again. “There’s a lot tae talk about. A lot. But ya were just doing yer job. Neither of us expected what happened tae happen.”

“I didn’t know how to explain.”

“Ya didn’t ask for Lenore tae drug ya and send ya on yer way. Shite happens. Ya weren’t trying tae hurt me.” He traced her jawline with a finger. “I should have trusted ya and not thrown ya tae Mariko.”

He pressed his palms to her cheeks and tilted her face. “I can’t lose ya again, Ann. If that means following ya back to yer stupid Dragon Court, I’ll go. Yer mine.”

Her back aligned with the shower wall. Eoghan slipped down her body. His hands slid over her breasts, pinching and rolling her hard nipples between his fingers. She pressed her face into her shoulder and muffled a cry of pleasure.

One hand slipped lower. He caressed her skin, starting at her foot and slowly moving up her thighs. Annika tried to keep her breath normal but he knew. He knew what he did to her. He could hear her heart racing in her chest, hear her breath ragged in her throat, smell the arousal dripping from her body.

Her back arched at the first flick of his tongue against her clit. He took as much as he gave, roughly suckling on her sensitive bud and growling with appreciation at the taste on his lips. Heat seared her veins and coiled in her belly.

More.

She wasn’t sure if he read her mind or if she screamed the word but he was there to meet her needs. Thick fingers speared through her pussy, angling, seeking, finding the spot that would send her careening into her release.

“That’s it. Come for me. Need tae feel ya,” Eoghan ordered.

Heat spread through her and the desperate, growing pressure tightened around his delicious invasion. In and out, he fucked her with fingers that knew exactly how to play her body. He licked her again, swiping his tongue hard against her clit.

His free hand reached up and palmed her breast. Quick fingers flicked her nipple in time with the flick of his tongue on her clit. He sucked and pinched. A hard swipe paired with a rough knead.

Her legs shook as the first waves of pleasure crashed over her. He pressed on, wringing every bit of ecstasy from her body until she shook with it. Then, and only then, did he slowly ease his ministrations.

He pulled his fingers from her body and locked eyes with her. She bit her lip and groaned when he licked his fingers clean. His roguish smile never fell.

Done with teasing her, he rolled to his feet and fiddled with the knobs to shut the water off. They stepped from the shower and he pulled a towel around their bodies. She was wrapped tightly against him and could feel every hard inch of his chest and his cock. Heat radiated from him and she couldn’t be sure if it was the warmth of the shower or the furnace of his desire.

He walked her backwards and into the bedroom, pulling her into his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. He pressed his lips against the hollow of her throat and licked a line to her ear.

“Say yer mine,” he whispered darkly.

Her pussy tightened at the words. His. All his. There was never a question of it. Even not knowing who she was, she knew she wanted him.

“Say the words.” He nipped at her earlobe and rocked his hips. His cock nestled against her heat.

“Yours. Yours, Eoghan. I’m yours.” The words tore from her lungs. She rose up on her knees and caught the broad head of his cock at her opening. She eased the tiniest bit of him into her waiting heat.

“Fuck,” she hissed. She met his gaze and saw the lust filling his eyes. Lust and more than that, too. Something that made her head swim and a mad laugh bubble to her lips.

“Love you,” he breathed as she lowered down his length.

She nodded, unable to find the words amidst the pleasure prickling every cell of her body. She bit at her lower lip as he slid into her heat. Her walls clamped down on his thickness, slowly releasing and stretching to fit him.

She pressed her forehead to his. His beautiful eyes stared into hers. He was the final, missing piece of the puzzle. He was everything she needed. Her mouth hung open at the first thrust.

* * *

“Fook, Ann,” Eoghan breathed into her mouth and took her lips in a consuming kiss.

She pressed all around him and he nearly finished then and there. She felt too good, too hot, too fooking tight around his cock. Buried inside her right then, he knew he could die happy. He would die, if he was parted from her again.

The towel fell away from her shoulders and his hands roamed over her heated skin. Her hands pressed against his cheeks, fingers tangling in his short curls or dragging along his shoulders. Her blunt nails bit into his flesh and all he wanted was more.

He splayed one of his hands across her lower back and slipped lower to knead her ass. He lowered his head and captured a nipple between his lips. Annika arched her back and gave him more of herself, more that he eagerly took. He flicked the hard peak and watched her eyes close.

Her heady arousal surrounded him and he wanted to bathe in it. He pushed her breasts together and licked a line between them before sucking her other nipple into his mouth. She moaned and dragged her nails across his shoulders.

She was fooking perfect. Sly, murderous creature. Hungry for his touch. He should have let her kill Lenore. Then he could lick the blood from her.

She was his mate. His.

The word echoed in his head and felt as right as she did in his arms.

The year without her had been too long and terrible. And at the end of it all, he knew she was the only person in the world that he would let hook a ring in his nose and lead him around like a bull. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

Eoghan growled and nipped at her neck. She rose and fell with his encouragement. The wet, dark waves of her hair bounced around them. His cock twitched in her sheath and he dug his fingers into her hips.

“Mine,” he panted. “Say it.”

“Yours,” she moaned.

Every time hit him like a punch to the gut. He felt drunk off her words.

He held her steady and thrust into her, snatching back the illusion of control. He pounded into her slick heat, tearing moans from her lungs. Each one pushed him closer to his own release, one that he’d anticipated since she reappeared. One he needed to bond them completely again.

Her fingers dug into his hair and pulled his head back. She bared her teeth at him and growled. “You’re mine. Just as much.”

He grinned wildly and caught her lip between his teeth. “Yes. Fooking hell. Yes.”

He sheathed himself to the hilt and growled into her shoulder. Her pussy spasmed around him and he knew she was close. And he knew he needed to taste more of her.

He reached into the Wyrd and filled himself with just enough to prick him gums with sharpened fangs. Annika rose and fell down his length, clenching and milking every inch of him. She threw her head back with a scream and he sank his fangs into her shoulder.

He grunted when she returned his bite with one of her own. She filled his mouth with her essence and he pulled her harshly into his lap, locking their hips together. His climax ripped through him and blinded him to everything but his Ann.

He fell back against the mattress and she sprawled across his chest. Both struggled to catch their breath. His hands smoothed back her hair and roamed over her shoulders. Down her spine. Cupped her cheeks. She was perfect.

“If you ever try to leave me behind from a fight again, I’ll cut your cock off.”

And mouthy.

The threat only excited him and his cock jerked to life inside her. They would have some lively fights, he already knew. The fiercer the fight, the sweeter they’d make up. “Should ya really say that tae yer prince?”

“I hope I’m wrong, if you’re just going to say that anytime I say something you don’t like.”

He rolled over and pinned her underneath him. He pressed his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent. “Yer the one that thinks it’s true.”

She eyed her hand and ran a thumb over her nails. She smirked up at him. “No need to sneak a blood test if I claw you up a bit, I think.”

“Is that something ya should say tae yer prince?” Her laugh quickly turned into a moan as he rolled his hips into her.