The next morning, Cassidy awoke to find she’d turned in her sleep and was curled into Nic, her head on his shoulder and her leg flung over top of a hairy thigh. She inched closer, drinking in the closeness, until she noticed Rianna wasn’t in bed—or even in the room.

Heart pounding, she lifted her head and looked around, until she heard her daughter’s childish voice in the dining hall.

Relieved, she pushed away from Nic. Her knee brushed an impressive erection and his eyes opened. Green irises flecked with hot gold stared at her. Then he lowered his thick black lashes.

“Sorry,” he said with a matter-of-fact shrug. “I can’t help it when I’m this close to you.”

Her hand was on his waist. His skin was warm, the muscles taut. Some imp made her stroke her hand over his hip. She tilted a brow. “Is that so?”

A quick intake of breath. “Cassidy?”

Then Rianna pelted in the door, followed at a slower pace by Ben. Cassidy pulled away from him and sat up. Fortunately, Rianna didn’t notice anything odd, but Ben gave them a knowing grin that made Cassidy’s cheeks heat.

“Guess what, Mam?” Rianna scrambled up on the bed. “Mister Ben’s gonna take me to feed the goats!”

“What about breakfast?”

“I already ate.”

“It’s after nine o’clock,” Ben said.

“We let you sleep in,” Rianna said proudly.

Cassidy glanced up at the sun streaming through the ceiling slits. And was that coffee she smelled?

She blinked. “I never sleep in.” Hell, for the past few weeks, she’d barely slept at all. If Rianna simply murmured in her sleep, Cassidy jerked awake.

“Your body is still recovering,” Nic said.

Cassidy nodded. That was part of it, but she knew it was also because like Rianna, she’d finally felt safe enough to sleep deeply.

“Can I go feed the goats?” Rianna asked. “Please?”

Cassidy looked at Ben. “She won’t be in the way?”

He smiled down at Rianna. “It would be my pleasure. The goats like the company. She can help feed them.”

“All right.” Rianna pumped her fist in the air and leapt back to the floor.

“That’s kind of you,” Cassidy told Ben. “Bring her back if she’s any trouble.”

“We’ll be fine.” The big earth fada hoisted Rianna onto his shoulders and winked at Cassidy and Nic. “Take your time getting up. There’s no news from Joe, but Marlin swam out to make sure everything’s all right.” He left with Rianna chattering happily in his ear, closing the door behind them.

Cassidy sat back on the pillows, cheeks hot again. Nic rolled onto his side and propped his head on an elbow, hair tousled, the sheet draped over his hips so that he was just barely covered.

He gave her a slow, just-woke-up smile, and suddenly, the air was charged with electricity. She moistened her lips. “Thanks for staying last night.”

“It was no hardship, believe me. I like waking up with a Cassidy-blanket to warm me.” The sheet twitched as if for emphasis, telling her he was still hard and ready—and reminding her that the door was shut and they were alone in his quarters.

She turned on her side to face him.

“Cassidy?” He searched her face.

She set a hand on his chest. This was her lover. Her mate.

She thought of that summer in Shannon, when Nic had seemed so alone. The man needed her, if he was too thick to know it.

Fate had gifted them a second chance. She’d be an idiot if she threw it away.

Nic’s throat worked. “You said no touching.”

“I meant it.” She teased one copper-colored nipple with her thumbnail.

“Then what—”

“You know what you said about me punishing you?”

A look of utter bewilderment crossed his face, and a very female part of her enjoyed it. “Yeah?” he said cautiously.

“I think maybe I should.”

“What do you mean?”

Pushing him onto his back, she straddled him in one lithe move and pressed his wrists to either side of his head. “I mean that I’m going to touch you, and you’re going to lie there and take it. No touching back.”

He rocked his hips up so that his cock brushed her wet folds. “You think that’s a punishment?”

“Yes.” She raised herself higher so he couldn’t reach her. “Because I’m going to drive you mad, Nicolau do Rio. You’re going to be begging before I’m done. And maybe I’ll give it to you and maybe I won’t.”

His brow furrowed.

The man was confused. Good.

“Torture.” She curved down to murmur in his ear. “Me taking you close, and then not letting you come. Me touching you anywhere I want, and you lying still and taking it.”

His eyes glinted gold. “Do your worst, querida.”

“I intend to.” She brushed her mouth over his. He tried to kiss her back but she pressed down on his wrists. “And it starts now. Don’t move.”

He licked his lips. “Okay.”

She nibbled her way across his cheek, his night-beard rough beneath her lips. When she reached his ear, she traced the whorls with her tongue and then sucked his lobe into her mouth.

His breath sped up. Between her thighs, his cock twitched, but he held still.

Her lips curved. “You like that.”

“Sim. I mean, yes.”

She played with his earlobe for a while, and then moved to the stubble beneath his jaw. His scent was strong here, an earthy masculine spice that made her a little dizzy. His heart gave a jagged thump beneath her mouth.

She smiled and worked her way across the strong column of his neck to his other side. Licking him. Kissing him. Absorbing him into her every nerve cell.

A harsh groan vibrated through his throat. “Cassidy. It’s been so long…”

She let herself down until her breasts were pressed to his chest, her thighs on either side of him so that the tip of his erection brushed her belly.

“Beg me.” She nipped and sucked his other earlobe.

Big biceps flexed as he started to reach for her and then caught himself. “You think I’m too proud to beg?”

“I do.” She rubbed herself sinuously against him.

His pelvis strained toward hers, his erection sliding over her folds. He was incredibly hard, but then she was dripping wet.

She sat up and placed her hands on his chest. Sliding up and down him so that his tip teased her clit. The corner of his mouth edged up in a satisfied smile.

“Let me touch you, Cassidy. I’ll make it so good for you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You call that begging?”

“What do you want me to say—please?”

The man still didn’t get it. She moved lower on his thighs and took his cock in her hands.

“Stay still,” she ordered.

His body tensed. He gave a jerky nod.

Her mouth curved. By the gods, she loved having this powerful, dominant male at her mercy.

She moved her hands up and down him, playing with the cap, lightly stroking his balls. The slit seeped and suddenly she had to taste him. She bent down to swipe her tongue over him, taking his salty taste into her mouth.

“Cassidy.” A raw moan.

“Hmm?” She gave him a hard suck and his hips bucked. She released him long enough to say again, “Stay still.”

His chest heaved, his eyes half-closed with pleasure. “Anything.”

She returned her attention to his erection. He was big and hot. She encircled the base with one hand, squeezing and releasing while she drew him as deeply as she could into her mouth. He gazed down at her from beneath hooded lids but held himself still.

She licked her way down to the base, tonguing the bulging veins, and then gave him another hard suck.

He groaned and she smiled to herself—and started sucking him in earnest, taking him as deep as she could. Drunk on his taste, his feel, his scent.

His breathing grew ragged, his hands clenching and unclenching, and his balls drew up tight. She cupped them in her fingers.

He bit out a Portuguese curse and then gripped her head. “No more.”

She took her time responding, tonguing and sucking him for another minute before releasing him. “You don’t like it?”

His gaze caught on her mouth, wet from sucking him. “Fuck, yeah, I like it, but it is too much. It’s been too long.”

“So you’re begging me?”

“Yes. Deus, yes.”

She straddled his hips again. “Tell me what you want.” She swirled a finger through the dark hair dusting his pecs.

“I want to touch you.” His accent thickened. “Pleasure you.”

Her core clenched, but she kept her voice cool. “But this does pleasure me.”

A heated look from beneath black lashes. “Let me touch you, querida.”

Goddess, she loved it when he talked Portuguese to her. But she refused to give in too easily. She cocked her head to one side and lifted a brow.

He hesitated, and then said, “Por favor?”

Please. That was better.

She let her lips curve in a wicked smile. “Convince me.”

“I need you, love,” he said in a husky tone. “Please. It seems since a century since I had you, but I never forgot. You’re in my dreams every damn night.”

It was exactly the right thing to say—and he meant it. His scent had the clean bite of truth.

She shook her head unbelievingly.

He raised a brow. “Did you think it only went one way? I’ve had no one since you.”

She swallowed. Nic seemed so self-sufficient, she’d always assumed that he’d moved on, while she’d remained celibate, unable to bear another man’s touch.

“Touch me,” he said, “and let me touch you. You’re my mate, the only woman for me.”

She stroked her hands over the cut muscles of his abdomen—and stopped fighting it. “All right.” Because her body craved his touch like an addict did a fix. “But—”

She never finished that thought. Strong hands gripped her hips and pulled her higher so that his erection rubbed against her clit. He lifted up so he could set his mouth to her breast.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard,” he muttered and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

Pleasure speared from her breast to her womb. With a moan, she gripped his shoulders and arched her back. He wrapped an arm around her hips to keep her in place and pulled on her nipple with hot, arousing tugs. Then he moved to her other breast and gave it the same close attention before raising his head.

His irises had turned almost completely gold, like an old coin, and she knew it was his dragon looking at her. She felt her own irises change, the two animals eying each other with uncomplicated lust. For them, it was simple. They were mates; they’d known it almost from the start.

The dragon gave a hungry growl that vibrated down Cassidy’s spine. She dug her fingernails into Nic’s smooth, hard shoulders—and smiled, her animal loving that her mate desired her so much.

It was balm to both parts of her—the dolphin and the human.

Nic brought his hand between their bodies. He slid his thumb between her legs, wetting it in her juices before rotating the pad over her clit. She dragged in a breath.

He smiled and kept up the pressure, first lightly, then harder, and then light again.

She was swollen and needy. “Nic?” Her voice came out as a rasp.

He slid his fingers around her nape and nuzzled the side of her neck while he continued playing with her. “What, sweetheart?” He dipped his thumb into her moisture and renewed his slow circles. “Do you want me inside you?”

She nodded against his cheek. “Please.” She was close, so close.

“I could take you now, but I want it to be perfect. I think we’ll go slow.”

When had Nic taken control?

But she couldn’t bring herself to care. She felt too good, his hand caressing her intimately, his lips moving over her neck.

“You like it slow, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she heard herself say. “Anything.”

She felt his smile against her skin. Then he set his mouth to the base of her throat and sucked hard, sending shocks of pleasure through her. He didn’t let up until she knew she’d bear his mark, but both woman and animal liked the idea that Nic’s men would know that he’d claimed her.

The room swung around her, and then she was on her hands and knees, Nic behind her. He traced a finger down her spine, pressing a kiss to her sacrum.

“You’re so beautiful. I want you so much.” He spoke in a mix of Portuguese and English, but somehow she understood everything.

His blunt tip nudged inside her. She hissed and contracted around him. Holy sea goddess, that felt good.

He forged his way inside until she was filled with him. She arched her hips up to meet him. His hands gripped her breasts a bit roughly. He tweaked her nipples and she moaned with pleasure.

“Slow,” he said. “Lentamente.”

Her breath sobbed out. “Nic…”

“My lovely Cassidy. Minha linda Cassidy.” He rocked his hips against hers. In and out, in and out, each thrust a little deeper, a little harder. “I’m going to fuck you.” His voice was harsh with desire. “Hard. You’re going to feel me deep inside.”

“Yes…please, Nic.” She barely noticed that she was the one begging now, all her focus on the wonderful sensations swirling through her body.

He gave her nipples another hard pinch, and then took hold of her hips and slammed into her, the dominant alpha now. She gave a muted scream and gave herself up to it.

He thrust into her again and again. She spiraled up, getting closer and closer to orgasm. Small sounds of arousal escaped her throat.

Nic licked his fingers and stroked her swollen nub. “Come for me.”

Her whole body tightened. “Oh, goddess, yes,” she sobbed, and spun away on a sea of pleasure.

Nic gave another few hard thrusts and then groaned as he came inside her.