He was hot. Hot with anger, hot with fear, hot with a sense of time and space running out from under him. He needed someone to hold him and stop the world from spinning so fast. Pause this game, he was ready to get off the ride. He needed Calla to steady him, and she met his ferocity with strength and energy of her own. Mateo thought he wanted her to cool him, but this equal fire focused his will and he burned with need from the inside out.

There were too many witnesses for this. Mateo scooped Calla up and called on his vampyr to run rapidly into the forest. He flashed through the trees at speed. Calla held him tight and her grip reminded him of her strength. When they had first come together, he'd been hesitant. Unsure. And afraid of hurting her. But now, after all they'd been through, Mateo knew she could handle anything this world threw at her.

He came to a stop deep in the woods and dropped Calla to her feet. She looked around and Mateo knew she was checking for neighboring humans and possible threats. His First General never stopped fighting. Mateo wasn't sure how he got this lucky, but he knew he couldn't ever leave her. Not even to save his own life. She was everything.

Mateo grabbed the back of her head as she completed her turn and kissed her hard. The fire she ignited inside him was nothing like the powyr of his vampyr or dragon; this fire burned hotter, longer, and demanded so much more. He pressed her against the closest tree with his entire body. The way she melded against him, breath coming in little gasps, made him growl. She was his. His alone. And he needed the world to know. Calla's hands scratched along his clothes until she caught the hem of his pants. She undressed him in demanding, jerky moves, positioning his body wherever she needed it. He let her move him. Calla's unhesitating control inflamed him. He wanted to be consumed.

When he was naked, he yanked her around and pressed her against the tree again. Mateo pinned her arms up. His skin was so hot he thought he might burn her clothes off from the contact. She arched into his body and her moan buzzed in Mateo's ears until the only thought that existed in his head was to be inside her. He shredded her jeans with vampyr claws. Calla hitched her hips back against his palm. She hissed, "Do it. Take me."

Mateo looked up at her. Was she serious? Calla threw a look over her shoulder that called to him and he had to kiss her thoroughly. Her touch drove him mad. Something unworldly reached inside him—Calla reached into him—and pulled his vampyr to the surface. His face grew rows of hard ridges. His fangs descended, and his vision shifted red. He purred against her skin. His body was cooler in this form, but his desire for her never abated. He pressed himself close, rubbing the length of his erection down between her warm thighs. In this form, it was ridged like his forehead, and came to a soft point at the tip. Calla spread her legs for him and Mateo rubbed the shaft of his cock against her wet lips, bumping up and over her clit. She grinded against him, demanding her pleasure.

Mateo gripped her hips. He thrust his cock along the ridges of her folds and said, "Ride this shaft, Calla. Take what you want." She arched back and groaned. Mateo whispered in her ear, "Only when you're shaking with pleasure will I impale you. I'll drive my cock deep into your body, deeper than anyone has ever been."

"Yes," she moaned, working her body against him. Her hips jerked. Calla reached down and grasped Mateo's cock from below, pressing it hard against her soft flesh and grinding against the ridges. She shuddered and bit her lip.

Mateo leaned against the tree with one arm and held Calla around the chest with the other while their lower bodies worked in tandem. His fangs ached for her but this wasn't a time for blood. He shuddered. "I'm going to slide inside you soon," he said. "I want to feel your body clench around my cock."

"Yes."

"And when I've taken you long and hard, I'm going to seed your body—"

"Fuck, Mateo." Calla tensed and jerked. Her body heaved with climax and she shouted, "Yes!"

He pulled his hips back and speared her deep, just like he promised. "Your children will be powyrful," he said, thrusting until his hips slapped her ass. "They'll be as strong as their mother." Thrust. "As fast as their father." Thrust. "And they will be rulers." Mateo groaned, burying his face in Calla's neck. He fucked her fast and hard, his cock drilling deep inside with precision. Her orgasm continued to jerk her body and the rhythmic clench on his shaft drove him wild.

"Bite me," Calla gasped. "Bite me, bite me, please…"

He couldn't resist such a heartfelt plea. Mateo drove his hips up hard and plunged his fangs deep into Calla's neck. She jerked against him and screamed, her body arching in a wave of pleasure that pulsed through their mental link and brought Mateo to the edge. Her blood, her body, his Calla. He came hard, the pulses of his seed flooding her folds until it ran down her legs. Mateo shuddered.

He withdrew his fangs and licked the spot until it healed. Their bodies twitched as they settled. Mateo drew her down to the forest floor gently, cradling her head and using his clothes as a blanket. He pulled her shirt off softly, glad that he'd left it on to protect her from the rough bark of the tree. Still, she'd been scratched, and he moved down her body with his mouth, lipping and healing each of the small injuries in turn. Teasing her breasts with fingers and breath. When he reached her thighs, he flattened his tongue and dragged it slowly across her engorged clit. Calla shuddered and moaned. Mateo rose over her and slid his hard vampyr shaft back into her warm body. He eased in, the space already slick with his seed and soft with her climax. Calla reached for him and they kissed gently as Mateo moved their bodies once more towards the breach.

Climax came softer this time, an easy crest of excitement that left them both worn out. Mateo lay beside Calla and held her close. The sticks and stones of the forest floor were nothing compared to her soft body against his. He released his vampyr. They kissed, a meandering, exploring thing, until Calla's body settled and her eyes fell shut.

Mateo watched her sleep, keeping one eye on the forest.