Sean and Eden had taken a walk in the forest, just the two of them, getting to know each other, spending time, while Trista and Tessa hung out with Camden and Tyler. They’d be leaving tomorrow, it had been a week since Eden had decided she needed to go to the Carpathians.

Now, they had returned to the back porch of the home on Sean’s side.

He’d told her how sexy she looked in jeans and hiking boots, a shirt with a tank beneath it.

The perfect vision of what a woman looked like.

Luscious and sexy, curvy and delicious.

He’d told her several times.

She’d laughed and blushed and pushed his attentions away, but now he had one plan. He’d show her how desirable she was.

Sean wrapped his arms around Eden and crushed her to his chest, holding the nape of her neck in one hand to keep her in place while his tongue probed and licked.

She opened her mouth eagerly and met his tongue with hers. The way she responded sent a surge of blood southward, making him thicken and lengthen.

He didn’t hold anything back, but neither did she.

She panted and groaned and acted like she wanted to tear him apart. Her panther flashed amber in the depths of her eyes. No flames from an elemental shone there. Not anymore.

She moaned low in her throat. All it did was make him want her more.

Eden’s arms slid around him and clamped down like a vise, pulling and squeezing, holding on as though her life depended on him. The way she wanted him made him want her even more.

“Damn, woman.” He thrust his hips toward her and she groaned when she felt his urgent hardness pressing against her stomach.

“I need you,” he whispered.

He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. When he felt her heat against his straining hardness, he practically ran to the privacy of the room they shared, far from prying eyes. He ran, even as they kissed and panted and groaned into each other’s mouths.

He didn’t waste a single second when they reached his room, either. Kicking the door shut, he carried her to the bed and tumbled onto it with her. Both of them laughing between pants of desire.

She was beneath him, her legs still around him, and he ground himself against her as his mouth traveled over her jaw, then her throat.

“Yes. Sean, please, more…” Her whispers were frantic, breathless.

He worked at the buttons of her top as his lips made a journey across her chest.

She wore a tank underneath and sat up a little to yank her arms from the restraining straps, then pulled the tank over her head and tossed it aside.

She fell back, and he went with her. Her skin was so sweet, almost begging him to kiss, lick, and suck, on and on until he had his fill. He would never get enough—she was already an addiction. His addiction. His bear’s addiction. His heart’s and soul’s addiction.

One hell of a delicious addiction.

“Ahh,” she groaned, followed by a gasp when his tongue swept over her breasts, just beneath the cups of her balconette bra. Tight, pebbled, dusky rose nipples stood out against the satin and lace.

He took a second to look, to enjoy the sight of her, to drink in the magnificence.

Taking one nipple between his lips and sucking through the fabric, he made her hiss and moan.

She ran her fingers through his hair. Her hips rolled like waves—he worked her jeans over her hips and cupped her satin-covered mound with one hand. She cried out in surprise, then let out a long, haunting moan.

He could hear her panther in that moan, almost sounded like a howl.

She ground her hips, raising them, pushing them into his body.

He pulled one of the cups aside with his teeth and dragged his tongue over her pink nipple. She let out a whimper that seemed to come from deep down inside her.

Sean sucked, gently at first, then increasing the pressure as she grew louder. He watched her face, contorted in pleasure, eyes squeezed, lips parted, mouth open, head rolling from side to side on the pillow.

Her hands ran all over him, squeezing and clawing, scratching and scoring.

Eden was lost in pleasure—pleasure he was in control of. Heady. Sexy. Amazing. There was nothing sexier than knowing he could completely control the pleasure that was tearing her apart.

Her hips flexed, over and over, as she struggled to press herself against his hand.

So, he pushed harder and rubbed up and down.

Eden cried out and dug her fingers into his shoulders. “More!” she gasped, rolling her body against him. “Oh, Sean, please!”

He moved further down her body and slid the pants over her legs, then took off her hiking boots.

She was frantic with desire, something he could completely relate to. She was gasping for breath, urging him on.

Once she was down to her panties and bra, he pushed apart her thighs and settled himself between.

Her scent was intoxicating, even through the satin still covering her mound. His bear roared in Sean’s head, eager and ready to claim Eden as his mate forever.

He lapped over the fabric, and she growled, deep and low.

Her fingers were in his hair, nails biting into his flesh while he pulled and held his head closer to the center of her heat.

She was so eager; it matched his own enthusiasm. Sean was almost painfully hard by now, desperate to be inside her. Her pleasure meant more to him, though.

He’d wait. He would have his turn. Later.

He slid his fingers under the waistband of the panties. She lifted to let him slide them over her hips, then raised her legs until her feet pointed upward.

He ran his hands over those smooth, soft legs, then back down again. She whimpered, and their eyes met just before he dove back between her thighs.

“Mmmm…” she whispered.

He ran his tongue over her slickness, just once, and that was all it took to send her into throes of ecstasy.

She yelped and clutched at the back of his head and bucked her hips in time with the waves of pleasure rolling throughout her body.

He didn’t stop. No way. He wouldn’t stop. Instead, he dipped further in, tormenting himself with her taste and smell and the sound of her pleasure building and climbing, reaching a crescendo, even though that first burst hadn’t ended.

The pleasure went on and on, her cries, gasps, and other sounds filling the air around them. He could’ve stayed there the rest of his life, licking at her while she climaxed, wave after endless wave.

But by God, there was only so long he could last before he burst through the front of his pants. His desire was sheer agony. He finally raised his head and looked down at her. She was spent, arms and legs splayed, her breasts rising and falling in time with her panting breaths.

“Oh, Sean,” she moaned.

“Are you all right?”

“More than all right,” she said softly. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Her face was rosy, a sheen of perspiration made her shimmer.

“Come here.” She held her arms out, and he advance, lowering his body over hers.

His straining hardness was so close to her, pressing against her through his pants, he couldn’t stand it.

Her hands slid beneath the fabric his shirt and pulled it over his head. He watched her face closely and saw the way her eyes widened when she looked at him, tracing her fingertips over his shoulders, his arms, his chest and abs.

“Beautiful,” she whispered, sitting up just enough to run her tongue over his abs.

He held her head close as he groaned. Her hands worked at his buckle, his zipper, then pulled the waistband down enough to free him.

“Fuck,” he hissed as her hand closed over his shaft. “Fuck, yes, Eden.”

“So beautiful,” she whispered, making tempting circles that teasingly traveled lower and lower on his abs.

Sean ran his hands through her thick, dark hair, lost in the sensations.

When her tongue flicked across the head of his shaft, he groaned, and held her hair more fiercely.

“Back,” he grunted, pushing her onto the bed.

She wrapped her legs around him without saying a word, and he positioned himself against her seconds before pushing into her slickness.

She cried out when he entered her. He groaned and held her tightly, filling her.

She was perfect. Their bodies fit together as if made for each other. He withdrew, then pushed forward again. Hard.

Again.

Harder.

Slowly at first, finding the depth and tempo. She urged him on with her little cries, her grunts and moans, the way she gasped every time he went as deep as he could.

He couldn’t hold back for long, though, and soon, he was pumping urgently.

She expressed her pleasure with low moans, which only made him take her harder, faster, with long, sure strokes. Their bodies slapped together in a brisk rhythm, and when she started tightening around his cock, he knew she was close to climaxing.

“Give it to me,” he growled, gritting his teeth and plunging into her, sending her into shudders of pleasure that urged him closer to releasing.

He felt the familiar build-up inside his core and groaned against the side of her throat as he exploded.

“Yes, Sean, yes…”

She seemed to sink into the bed, totally spent, and he stayed there for a second before rolling off her luscious, delicious body and into the bed, next to her.

He didn’t know what to say.

At the moment, everything in the world made sense. It all came together perfectly, had even seemed inevitable. Like they’d always been meant to be.

It was at this moment he realized the fate Piria had chosen had really been chosen for her by life and circumstance. There’d been no way he could live without Eden, and somehow, it had all worked out.

The room was quiet except for the sound of their breathing, and it stayed that way for a long time. They both relished the tranquility and the togetherness.

She turned her head to look at him, surprised. “This was so much more than I ever thought it could be. Than anything could be.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, drinking in the way her flushed skin glowed. “You’re beautiful. You’re mine.”

His bear roared agreement.

She blushed and looked away.

He tipped her chin so she’d have to look at him. “I mean it.”

“Sean, I never thought I’d have something like this. I didn’t think this existed.

“I know. Same.” He covered one of her hands with his. “Beyond perfection.”