Kate took a sidelong glance at Petros as they stood inside the elevator that was bringing them down to the lobby. Her heart hurt so much for him, and she could feel how confused and distressed he was. Her wolf was urging her to take action, but she already knew she had to do something about it. As she curled her fingers around his, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

The elevator chime dinged softly, announcing their arrival. He led them out, still hand in hand, then walked toward his parked truck. When she stopped in her tracks, he gave her a puzzled look.

“Wait,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Don’t leave.”

He frowned. “I’m not leaving Blackstone.”

“No, I mean,” she nodded to the identical building beside Jason’s, “I live there. At Nathan and Violet’s place. Stay with me tonight.”

His expression was that of confusion. “Kate, I don’t think—”

She gave a little chuckle. “Aww, are you afraid I’m going to jump you?” she asked, trying to inject some humor into the situation. “It’s just more practical, okay? We’re already here. You don’t have to drive back to your hotel and then back to HQ and then the castle tomorrow. You can get a full night’s sleep and be ready. Nathan has tons of clothes; I’m sure he won’t mind if you borrowed some.” She paused. “If you like, we can go back upstairs. Jason can let you crash on their couch—”

“No,” he said with a nod. “You’re right.”

Kate led him to the building, and they took the elevator to the top floor. Nathan’s loft was exactly identical to Jason’s except for the decor and furnishings. She opened the door and let him inside.

“The bedroom upstairs is Nathan and Violet’s. Mine,” she pointed to the hallway, “is the one at the end, but there are two other rooms you can choose from. I’ll get you some clothes.”

Petros gave her a grateful nod and headed toward the bedrooms. She went up to the loft and grabbed a couple of sleep shirts as well as clothes for tomorrow for Petros from Nathan’s closet.

As she walked back to the guest rooms, she saw the door to the left one open and went inside. Petros was standing in the middle of the room, unmoving. His shoulders sagged, and his head hung low.

Kate yearned to soothe him as his pain seemed to radiate toward her. Placing the clothes on the dresser, she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. As she pressed her cheek to his back to inhale his scent, his body relaxed.

“Do you want to talk?” she murmured.

“No.” He gently pried her hands away and turned to face her. “I don’t need to talk about anything.”

Kate could feel him withdrawing from her. She couldn’t let that happen, not when he was obviously in anguish. “Petros.” When he tried to move away from her, she held onto his wrists. “No. Don’t pull away from me.”

“It’s not—”

“No!” she said in a firm voice. With a soft sigh, she moved a hand up his chest, to his neck, and cupped his jaw. “Don’t.” Snaking her hand to the back of his head, she pulled him down for a kiss.

He seemed frozen for a moment, but with her coaxing he began to respond. Tentative at first, but his hesitation seemed to disappear. His kisses became urgent, his thrusting tongue forcing her lips open. It sent her senses reeling, and heat spread through her. She began to nudge him back toward the bed.

“Kate, you don’t have to do this.” His voice was rough with need. “Not for me.”

“I’m not. I mean, yes I’m doing it for you, but also for me.” She pushed him down on the bed and stepped back. Slowly, she shrugged off her leather jacket and let it drop to the floor, then slipped her shirt over her head. Petros’s blue-green eyes grew dark with desire, his stare never leaving hers. When she was fully bare in front of him, he reached out to her.

His palm was rough and sent electricity across her skin as he snaked it around her waist. With a quick jerk, he pulled her to bed, and she somehow found herself underneath his warm body, pressed up against the hard planes of skin and muscle.

She sighed before his lips claimed hers. His kisses were rough and urgent, and she succumbed to him, letting him do what he wanted. Pushing his tongue inside her, tasting her. Owning her.

She whimpered when his mouth left hers, but then gasped as he bent down to her bare breasts. The shock of his warm and wet tongue on her nipples shot straight to her core, and wetness flooded between her legs. He must have smelled her arousal because he drew the nipple inside deeper, eliciting a sharp cry from her mouth.

He pulled away, his head moving down, lips running over her belly, and lower …

“Petros!” She bucked her hips up to meet his tongue as it thrust inside her. There was no reason to wait or tease her; she was already dripping wet, and she wanted this badly.

She squirmed and moved her hips up. When he replaced his tongue with his fingers and his mouth found her clit, she cried out and shoved her fingers into his scalp. He stroked her nub with his tongue, sending her body quivering as pleasure crashed through her.

She didn’t even have time to catch her breath as he did it again, lashing his tongue against her clit until she was shuddering with a second stronger orgasm.

Her body was still trembling as he moved over her. Gathering what she could from her scrambled brain, she hooked a leg around his and leveraged his weight so she wound up on top of him.

His cock was already hard through his pants, pressing up against her. She flashed him a wicked smile and licked her lips. Desire clouded his eyes and he remained still, waiting for her to make her move.

“Off,” she ordered, pulling his shirt from his pants. He made quick work of the buttons and shrugged off the offending garment. Meanwhile, she worked on unzipping his pants and pulling them down to his thighs along with his underwear.

Kate sucked in a breath as his stiff cock bobbed in front of her, and she bit her tongue as she looked at the monumental task at hand. She’d seen him naked earlier when he shifted back, but not like this. She wrapped a hand around it, gently squeezing and enjoying the feel of velvet over steel.

He let out a soft curse when she moved her head down to take the tip in her mouth. She closed her eyes, breathing in his musky scent mixed with desire, the blood roaring in her ears reminding her of the ocean where he had come from. It was heady, and her desire seemed to increase as she gave him pleasure with her tongue, something she’d never felt before. Pushing her head down, she took as much of him as she could and sucked back, teasing him with her tongue.

“Kate-mine,” he rasped. “I cannot—“

She nodded and popped him out of her mouth, then crawled over him. Placing her knees on either side of his hips, she lowered herself onto his cock. Slowly, leisurely, she sank down on him, allowing herself to adjust to his girth and size. When he bottomed out, she relaxed her body, though she still felt incredibly full.

“You are exquisite,” he said, looking up at her. “Kate-mine. My mate.”

Kate laid her hands on his chest, tracing up and down his magnificent body, feeling his rock hard abs underneath her fingers. It was hard to believe this man was all hers.

“Kate, please,” he said.

She began to move her hips back and forth experimentally to test how he felt inside her. There was no way to describe the way it felt. She leaned back, got on her knees, and began to ride him in earnest. Slow at first, but the sensations inside her were too much, and she rocked her hips faster and faster, feeling that tightness building in her core.

Large hands reached up toward her, cupping her breasts. As Petros rolled her nipples between his fingers, she moved faster as pleasure began to ripple through her body.

“Fuck!” she moaned when he sat up and pulled her to him, taking a nipple into his mouth. She shuddered, her orgasm starting to build in waves. Petros bit her nipple, and motherfucking hell, that was enough to push her over the edge. She wept when the pleasure washed over her.

He rolled her over without breaking contact and began to thrust hard into her. She arched up into him as he buried himself in her, over and over again. Desperation set in, despite her earlier orgasms, wanting him deep inside her.

“More,” she whispered. “Harder.”

He obliged, reaching up to the headboard behind and—fucking hell—changing the angle of his hips just right to hit her clit over and over again. She screamed his name as her strongest orgasm hit her, and she clenched around him as he furiously continued to fuck into her.

He roared his orgasm, his body shaking hard. She felt his cock pulse and empty into her. God, she had never felt so filled and satisfied as when he came. He didn’t stop, thrusting and grunting until he was fully spent, finally collapsing on top of her.

She held her breath as he pulled out of her, her body protesting at the loss. He rolled away, and she curled up to her side. The mattress lightened as he got up but dipped again with his weight as he moved up behind her.

Arms pulled her close to a hard chest. “Sleep,” he whispered in her ear.

Feeling content and satisfied, she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take over.

Kate’s eyes fluttered open, the light hitting her eyelids slowly waking up her confused brain. For a second, she thought last night was a dream, but the delicious soreness between her legs told her it wasn’t.

“Petros, I—” She stopped when she rolled over, her hands seeking out his body. But all she got were cool sheets and the trace scent of ocean and earth.

She breathed in deep. Sex with Petros was earth-shattering, to say the least. Why had she resisted all this time? She had never felt like this, never felt so right so deep in her bones.

But where was he?

A ringing sound made her jolt up in bed. The sound was faint, and she couldn't find her phone.

“Oh!” She lunged toward the floor where she had discarded her jacket. Fishing her phone from the front pocket, she answered it. “Hello.”

“Kate, where the heck are you?” Sybil’s voice burst through the speakers.

“Uh, at home?”

“Do you have any idea what time it is? Aunt Laura’s been waiting since seven a.m.”

She looked around and saw the number on the bedside clock. Yikes. It was nearly noon, and Luke and Georgina’s wedding was in four hours. She was supposed to help Aunt Laura, Amelia, and Sybil with the set up and decor, since the couple didn’t want to hire any outside vendors for fear of having another security breach. “Sorry! I slept in.”

Sybil snorted. “I’m sure there was a lot of sleeping happening.”

Kate walked over to the bathroom and yanked the shower door open. “What? Who told you?”

“You did,” she said. “Remember, you were texting me the whole day about how last night was date number three? And you were finally going to ‘get the D’?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Well? How was it? I mean—wait! No dirty details!”

“But those are the best parts,” she said as she turned on the tap. “It was … I’ll tell you when I get there okay? Give me thirty minutes.”

“All right but not a minute longer!”

Kate put the phone down on the counter and stepped into the shower, letting the warm spray soothe her aching muscles. Hmm, it felt amazing, but her mind wandered to where Petros could be. A nagging thought was burrowing in her brain, but she dismissed it. Sure, she was used to sneaking out of some guy’s bed or waking up alone, but this was different.

“Ah-ha!” She remembered how tied up Petros had been with the wedding arrangements. He probably had to leave early. Christina would tear him a new one if he was late, plus there was the possibility of The Organization striking back at them. That was it, she thought as she squeezed some shampoo into her hair. All doubts left her mind.

She’d see him at wedding, and maybe when he was off-duty, they could come back here and have some more fun sexy times.