He rose up, his eyes jumping between me and Elizabeth. “Okay,” he said uncertainly. “You guys good here in the alley? Elizabeth?”

I cocked an eye at her, letting her see the heat in my gaze. You are mine , it said. “You okay alone with me?” I asked, a twist to my lips, daring her to say no.

She nodded and Dax ran off into the darkness, but neither one of us watched him leave, both of us wrapped up in each other. She was still angry, and I was just horny.

“Declan—” she started.

“Come here.”

She licked her lips. “Why?”

“I’ve been fighting, my blood is practically boiling, and I need you … now .”

Her nose flared and the pulse in her neck kicked up. I wasn’t alone in this, and I was done rolling over and giving up on her.

If she wouldn’t come to me, then I’d go to her.

I wiped the blood from my hands on my shorts until most of it was gone, seeing that my cuts weren’t as bad as I’d thought. My bruises would probably be worse. I glanced up to see her watching me. I moved closer to her until I had her backed her up against the metal building behind her, but I kept a few inches between us as I propped both arms up on either side of her head.

“Now ask me to kiss you,” I said, staring down at her.

She panted, her eyes filling up with darkness, her pupils telling me the truth. Her top teeth bit into her plump lower lip, and my eyes went straight there. I was going to suck that mouth hard tonight, and she’d beg for more.

“Are you hot for me, Elizabeth? Did watching me fight get you excited?”

She closed her eyes and shuddered as if just the sound of my voice got her off.

“Are you?” I asked again. “Because I want you so bad I can’t even think straight. I see you walk across campus or on your balcony and I want to run to you. I see you in class and, shit, I want to scoop you up and kiss you until you can’t breathe. I think about you in your bed at night all alone and I want to slip inside, crawl in your sheets, and hold you. Fuck you.”

I ran my fingertips across her lips. She moaned, her tongue dipping out to taste my skin. “Would you like that?”

She nodded, her eyes still closed, her neck arching up to mine. “Kiss me, please, Declan.”

“No. You kiss me. I need to know you want this too.”

She made a whimpering sound in her throat and moved her mouth a whisper away. Blood pounded in my body as she looped her hands around my neck and arched up to press her lips against mine. She was tentative, like the first kiss she’d given me, but I wasn’t having any of that. Groaning in satisfaction, I gathered her closer using my forearms, my hunger rising with each stroke of her tongue against mine. The press of her breasts against my chest made my cock pulse with need. She sighed and gave into the deepness I wanted, her tongue rubbing against mine seductively, her breasts and hips pressed against mine as I rocked against her.

“I want it all, Elizabeth.”

Her hands grasped my shoulders and clung, her nails digging into my bare skin. “Me too.”

We devoured each other, our lips searching cervices and hidden places. Our tongues tangled with open mouths.

Fast and hot. Hurry, hurry.

I nipped at her collarbone. “Take your shirt off. My hands are shit right now, and I’m trying to not get any blood on you.”

“I don’t care. Touch me.” She lifted her shirt up at the hem and whipped it off, revealing a white lacy bra. My mouth went straight to her breasts, where I licked and bit her nipples through the material, the moisture soaking through, exposing her.

She twisted and writhed against the building, her hands tangling in my hair.

“You feel so good,” she murmured, her hands sweeping across my chest. “Can I touch you? Are you hurting anywhere?”

“Not right now.”

Her hands drifted across my chest, tracing down to my navel, the softness of her touch driving me crazy. She stopped at my waistband and I tossed my head back.

Yes, baby, yes.

“Wait,” I said and reached inside to take off my cup, throwing it on the ground.

She slipped her hand in my shorts and fisted the pillar of my cock and pumped me, her fingers ghosting over the head, making me hiss.

“I love this … the sounds you make, how you look at me like I’m the only girl in the world,” she said.

“All for you.” I ripped the button on her skirt with my thumbs and shoved it down, my eyes heavy as I took her in with her lacy bra and panty set.

She curled a leg around my hips to pull me back, and I went with her up against the wall again, my hips holding her hostage.

“It’s damn inconvenient, but once again I don’t have a condom,” I said around her breasts, my mouth moving from one to the other, sucking the globes deep inside my mouth.

“You trying to get me pregnant?” She let out a breathless laugh.

I froze.

She whimpered. “I was kidding. I trust you.”

I trust you …

So many things hit me at once. Her pregnancy comment, and how the thought of putting my seed in her to make a baby didn’t freak me out like I thought it would. The way her body felt against mine. How I’d been waiting for this moment forever. I rested my forehead against her face. “Look at me. I mean really look at who I am.”

Her face softened. “I am.”

“I’m the guy who’s going to take you up against this wall. I’m going to bury my cock in you and own your body and you’re going to love it. But I’m not going to hurt you. Ever.”