The defensiveness in Thea’s tone sent pity and concern curling through Jenna. Clearly, the young woman was terrified. And she had to feel totally alone. “We’ll rescue your grandmother regardless of whether or not you decide to help us.” She glanced at Drex, suddenly realizing it wasn’t really her offer to make. We will help her, won’t we?
Of course. Contrary to popular belief, Rodytes are not savages.
“Then what’s our next step?” Thea asked, oblivious to the telepathic exchange.
Elias’s office was small, utilitarian, with an ordinary desk and two visitor chairs, file cabinet and not much else. He claimed not to spend much time here, and now having seen it, Jenna believed him. Thea plopped down in one of the visitor chairs as soon as she entered the room, so Drex moved behind the desk, encouraging Jenna to sit beside their reluctant guest.
She responds better to you, Drex pointed out. I’m going to back off.
Thea responded best to Lenore, but at the moment that wasn’t an option. Jenna quickly smiled at him before turning to Thea. “What would you be doing right now if you hadn’t, how did you put it, lose your calling?”
Apparently thinking about the question, Thea paused for a minute. “If I managed to pique your interest, I was supposed to bring you back to my hotel room and call Abaddon.”
Made sense. None of his communications were face-to-face, so there was no reason to drag an iffy recruit back to RF headquarters. “If you were still on your own, would you confront Abaddon about your grandmother?”
“Hell, yes,” Thea insisted. “I’ve never been one to bend over and take it, and I’d have no idea that he was anything other than human. That means he’s a coward who won’t even show his face. I would definitely let him have it.”
Jenna nodded, scrambling to decide how best to capitalize on the situation. Their biggest challenge was pushing Abaddon without endangering Helen. They needed to find her and fast. “It’s likely he’s not even on Earth,” she mused. “We can’t set a trap for a hologram.”
“I agree,” Drex told her. “However, we might be able to trace the signal or at least identify the frequency used by the transceivers.”
“If no one else is using those devices right now, couldn’t we also use the frequency to identify the other RF properties?” Thea wanted to know. The conversation energized her, helped free her from depression.
“That’s an excellent idea.” Jenna nodded, her mind rushing on ahead. There were so many details to coordinate, so much could go wrong. “Wherever they took Helen might not have a traceable connection to the RF, but they still have to communicate with Abaddon from time to time.”
“Unless they communicate with someone who communicates with Abaddon.” Thea sighed, losing heart as quickly as she’d perked up.
“We need to get your transceiver back from Foster,” Drex pointed out. “All Rodyte communication signals include embedded information about the user. It’s likely Evonti tech does as well. The devices might look the same, but each signal could be unique. We cannot make Abaddon suspicious.”
“Well, let’s head back to New York.” Jenna pushed to her feet, anxious to get started. “We can hammer out the details on the way.”
They strategized most of the way back to New York, trying to anticipate every pitfall or possible complication. Thea contributed where she could, but her mood grew progressively more withdrawn the farther east they flew. Knowing it would sound too much like an accusation coming from him, Drex encouraged Jenna to ask about her mood.
Jenna studied Thea for a moment, deciding how to broach the subject. They’d fallen silent about five minutes ago and Thea stared out the main viewscreen, but her gaze was unfocused, her expression somber. She’d done better while the conversation was lively.
“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this,” Jenna moved to the seat next to Thea’s and lowered her voice, not that the precaution actually kept Drex or even the pilot from overhearing them. The Phantoms were simply too small for privacy. “You’ve grown really quiet all of a sudden.”
Thea looked at Jenna, dark eyes bleak and filled with pain. “I have nowhere to go when this is over. My house is gone, my family is dead, and soon the RF will consider me a traitor.” She stopped talking, as grief momentarily robbed her of speech. She managed to hold back the tears, but her lips trembled. “Seeing the ship was cathartic. In some small way it…it’s hard to explain.”
“Try. I think it would be good for you to express what you’re feeling.”
“This entire thing has been surreal, in the worst possible way.” She took a deep breath, clearly struggling for words. “I was twenty miles outside the crash zone when the ship hit. I’ve been told that they’re all dead and my house is completely destroyed, but I’ve never actually seen it. None of their bodies were recovered, so my imagination loves to make up reasons why they might not have been where they were every other day. For weeks I dreamed that they came home, all of them, or sometimes just some of them, but always I woke up alone.”
Jenna gave her a minute, not wanting to push too hard and have her shut down emotionally. “So the ship was what, a tangible connection to the tragedy?”
“Yes, seeing it, walking down the strange hallways made it real for the very first time. I know I’m still grieving. I might never stop, but it freed me from all the ‘what if’s. Does that make sense?”
Jenna nodded. “I’ve never experienced anything like what you’re going through, but I’ve known families that lost sons or daughters overseas. They couldn’t begin to let go until they saw their loved one’s body. It, as you said, made things real and allowed them to start letting go.”
“That’s how I felt earlier. It was a strange sort of closure, a brutal reminder that they are never coming back. Denial is a waste of energy. I have no choice but to accept it and find a way to start putting my life back together.”
“Did that make you feel better or worse?” The question seemed foolish. How could anyone feel better after realizing their entire family was “never coming back”? Still, Thea’s moods had been mercurial all day.
“At first I actually felt better. Nothing about this has been easy, but I’d been completely paralyzed, stuck in this strange sort of limbo, until I was recruited by the RF. They gave me a purpose, allowed me to think about the future for the first time since that day. Today was much the same. It reaffirmed my purpose, helped me define my goals.” Jenna was about to ask another question when Thea went on. “But gradually the sense of purpose faded and all I felt was utterly alone.”
Jenna carefully placed her arm around Thea’s shoulders. Neither woman was comfortable with the embrace, but Thea didn’t twist away. “You’re not alone,” Jenna stressed. “You can stay with us for as long as you need to. My mother has a frighteningly large circle of powerful friends. She can help you find a lucrative job, maybe something different than you’ve ever done before. With our support you can shape the future into whatever you want it to be.”
Thea shook her head and looked away, likely hiding her stricken expression behind the fall of her hair. “I’ve become a charity case. How humiliating. I used to volunteer at the sorts of shelters that help people with no other options. Now I need to utilize their services. It’s so twisted. So unfair.”
“There is no shame in needing help from time to time. What happened to you was completely beyond your control.”
Thea shook her head, then tucked her hair behind her ears. She’d managed to blink back her tears. Her eyes, however, still reflected misery. “Not all of it was beyond my control. I chose to join the RF. I chose to trust Jacob and give the rest of my money to a fraudulent organization.”
That made Jenna mad, not at Thea, but about her situation. Thea was blameless, utterly blameless. Why couldn’t she see it? “The RF leaders are manipulative and self-serving. They ruthlessly exploited your pain and are systematically sucking you dry. They’re dangerous, all of them. And they need to be stopped.”
Thea’s only response was a barely discernible nod.
Frustrated by her obvious failure to cheer up Thea, Jenna sighed. Maybe she should let Thea brood for a while, then turn her over to Lenore who was much better at this sort of thing than her analytical daughter. But Jenna hated to lose, so she gave it one last try. “I meant what I said. You’re honestly welcome to stay with us for as long as you like, and my mother would be thrilled to help you redefine your future.”
With an unreadable sidelong glance, Thea made it clear that she wasn’t yet ready to work through her pain. “That might be hard to accomplish because what I want the future to become is the past.”
Rather than returning to ground they’d already covered, Jenna moved her arm back to her side and looked at her mate. Drex was deep in conversation. Their link was open wide enough for her to sense who he was speaking with, yet she couldn’t hear their actual words. She was pretty sure a mating bond would give them full access to each other’s minds. Being able to understand him more fully would be wonderful, but did she want to be that transparent with anyone? That was the problem with trust. To receive it, one often had to offer it in return.
Noticing her interest, Drex expanded the transfer link, allowing her to hear his conversations. He updated General Lux, letting Sedrik know that Thea was officially cooperating and asking if he could recommend a communication specialist that could help them identify, and hopefully trace, the various signals. Sedrik said he’d ask around and send someone to rendezvous with them in New York. Jenna was encouraged by the progress, but there were still too many variables.
Thea adamantly refused to bio-stream again, so the pilot reluctantly landed in Central Park. Again Drex seemed captivated by the grassy lawns and mature trees right in the heart of the city. All Jenna could think about was basic safety. Many sections of the park weren’t safe at night, and the sun had set hours before.
Drex noticed her anxiety and slipped his arm around her waist. “I might make my living arguing with people, but I’m actually pretty good in a fight.”
His humor was meant to soothe her, but tension had been building inside her ever since they left the Bunker. She didn’t understand the cause of her trepidation, but it was too pronounced to ignore.
“What’s wrong?” He pulled her close and all hints of amusement left his voice. “I can feel your fear. Something is really upsetting you.”
“It’s not fear, exactly. I just have one of my feelings.”
He looked at her more closely and his concern became strong enough to register on the transfer link. “Is this a Sensitive sort of feeling?”
She nodded. “Something is definitely wrong, but I have no idea what set off my gift.”
“Do we need to trigger one of your visions?” He punctuated the question with a sexy grin.
She elbowed him in the ribs. “Behave yourself. This could be serious.”
“Has something gone wrong?” Thea finally asked. “Is it my grandmother?” She’d been pretending not to listen, but they hadn’t been speaking softly enough to exclude her.
“I don’t think so,” Jenna told her as they hustled along the meandering path. “It feels more like a warning, something far-reaching, almost general.”
“How do you know when the feeling is triggered by your gift and when you’re just walking through Central Park at night?”
Jenna smiled. It was a legitimate question. “Years of practice.”
Lenore threw open the door as they climbed the front stairs to the brownstone. “Thank God you’re back.” She swept Jenna into a tight hug as soon as she reached the landing. “Foster wasn’t sure how long you’d be gone.”
Jenna cringed. “I should have told him where we were going.”
“I borrowed his radio to contact Morgan,” Drex reminded. “He knew where we were.”
She turned back to her mother, confused by her over-enthusiastic greeting. “Then what’s going on?”
“Women are disappearing all over the country. It started in Virginia, up near D.C., but disappearances have also been reported in—”
“Boulder, Colorado, and Las Vegas, Nevada?” Drex finished for her.
Lenore gaped. “How did you know? There are a lot of people blaming this on the battle born. Are they right?”
“No.” He tensed, Jenna would sense his uncertainty and he didn’t want to damage the trust they had worked so hard to build. “At least not anyone who is acting with General Lux’s approval. There is no way this was sanctioned by Rodyte leadership.”
“Come inside.” Lenore led them back to the kitchen, then knocked on Fatima’s door and asked her to make a pot of coffee.
Fatima, their live-in housekeeper/cook, was in a bathrobe and had clearly just crawled out of bed, so Jenna motioned her back into her bedroom. “I’ll make the coffee, Fatima. Sorry to bother you.” Her mother was so old-school sometimes.
Lenore sat at the tiny kitchen table and motioned everyone else toward the other chairs.
“When was the first disappearance reported?” Drex asked, choosing not to sit.
“This was the first time it made the nightly news, but it’s been happening for days,” Lenore told him. “The newscast said there have been at least a hundred young girls reported missing in less than a week. No one realized how many there were until the incident this evening motivated police departments to start comparing notes.”
“What happened this evening?” Thea asked.
“Two young women disappeared right in the middle of a restaurant in Las Vegas. They just zapped out of sight in full view of at least eighty people. Their friend was making a video-diary for social media, so she caught it all with her cell phone. Until then, I don’t think the cops were taking the reports seriously.”
“Sounds about right,” Thea grumbled. “Everything has to be sensationalized before anyone pays attention.”
“I need to make some calls.” Without further explanation, Drex walked from the room.
“You should probably check in too,” Lenore told Jenna. “Fredrick called here three times looking for you. Is your cell phone dead again?”
“We left so suddenly, I ran off without my purse,” Jenna admitted. Fredrick, her supervisor, was remarkably tolerant, but he expected his subordinates to respond when he called. “How angry was he? Maybe I’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“I wouldn’t. Right now he’s more worried than mad. No telling how angry he’ll be if you let him stew all night.”
Her mother generally gave good advice, so Jenna decided to take it. “Can you entertain Thea until I get back?”
“We’ll entertain each other. Thea can start by filling me in on today’s adventure.” Lenore turned toward Thea, then paused and turned back around. “Can you start the coffee before you leave?”
Jenna just shook her head. Her mother had never worked a day in her life. At times like these, it showed. Jenna quickly made a pot of coffee, then went to the library to call her boss.
As she expected, Fredrick was not happy with her, but she quickly calmed him down. “My mother just told me what’s on the news. What else do we know?”
“Not much,” Fredrick muttered. “I spoke with Governor Lasenger and General Lux, they both told the same story. ‘It’s not the battle born, it’s the Outcasts.’” He recited the denial in a singsong voice that indicated his doubt. “I’m not sure I see a difference. They’re both Rodytes who need human females to unlock their magic. It sounds like the Outcasts decided not to wait for permission.”
“All of the women are between twenty and thirty-five?” If this was truly about the transfer program, then the females had to be of child-bearing age.
“They are. And they’ve all been taken from those enchanted zones or mystic breeding grounds or whatever the blazes they call them.”
“Sacred bonding grounds,” Jenna supplied. “Fairfax County, Boulder, and Las Vegas.”
“Why does Virginia get an entire county, but Colorado and Nevada only get cities?” He released a humorless laugh. “They could at least be consistent.”
Jenna knew the answer. Virginia had been the first sacred bonding ground, so it was also the largest and most powerful. But Fredrick wasn’t really asking for more information. He always talked too much when he was stressed. “Should I call an emergency meeting of the First Contact Committee tomorrow?”
“No need. As usual they want Morgan’s people to deal with this. I was just making sure you were in the loop.” Fredrick always referred to his supervisors as “they”. Jenna had no idea if there was actually more than one or their respective genders. Fredrick might report directly to the president for all she knew. And it didn’t really matter as long as Fredrick and the mysterious “they” gave her the authority, and funding, she needed to do her job.
“Works for me. I’m in the middle of something else right now anyway.”
“Anything you’re ready to explain?” Fredrick asked.
“The RF member I mentioned earlier appears to have flipped. RF leaders, likely on Abaddon’s order, kidnapped her grandmother as motivation to keep her in line. Needless to say, she’s mad as hell about it.”
“You aren’t leaving this to the locals, are you? I can sanction whatever support you need. Anyone messes with kids or the elderly and I get really mean.”
She smiled. “I’m right there with you, but both Morgan and the battle born have teams working on it. Hopefully, I’ll be chatting with Abaddon himself very soon, courtesy of my newly flipped agent.”
“You’re wasted in the courtroom. You should have been a spy.”
The praise pleased her, probably more than it should. “Espionage is too much work. At heart I’m really lazy.”
He laughed. “Yeah right. Talk to you soon.” Then he ended the call.
She looked at her call log and groaned. Calls and messages piled up fast when she didn’t stay on top of them.
Drex knocked on the open door a few minutes later. “Learn anything helpful?”
“Not really.” She looked up as she asked, “Did you?”
He shook his head. “Sedrik swears it’s the Outcasts. He has scouts searching for their ships, but they can’t patrol the entire country.”
“They don’t need to. The Outcasts are clearly hunting in the sacred bonding grounds.”
“I know.” He sounded a bit defensive. “And so does Sedrik, but even with tighter search parameters, it won’t be easy to catch them. The Outcasts have several ships with covert shields just like ours.”
“How did they even know about the bonding grounds?” She shook her head, frustrated by yet another complication. “Tandori Tribe is incredibly secretive and there has been nothing about the bonding grounds in any of the battle born recruitment videos.”
“Sedrik was puzzled as well,” Drex told her. “Apparently Kage Razel has contacts strategically placed within the battle born.”
“And I’m sure General Lux has a contact or two placed with the Outcasts. Or does his brother keep him well-informed?”
Drex shook his head. “Sedrik and Arton aren’t on speaking terms. All the other Lux brothers believed Arton was dead for years and in many ways he did die back then. Arton the Heretic is very different from the boy the others remember.”
“That’s really sad.” Jenna rubbed the back of her neck as her temples began to pulse. “This is not what we needed right now.”
He held out his hand and pulled her up then out from behind the desk. “Let’s go to bed and I’ll rub anything you want rubbed.”
She smiled despite her growing headache. So many females in need of rescuing and yet the only one they were in any position to help was Helen. “I need to say good night to Thea and Mom first.”
Thea was fiddling with her transceiver when they walked back into the kitchen. Lenore must have gotten it back from the security team.
“Sedrik is sending us an expert named Sental,” Drex said. “According to Sedrik, Sental has a way with technology. He’ll be here tomorrow morning. I’d rather you not use that until he’s looked it over and run some tests.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” To prove her point, she handed it to him. “Anything I’d say to Abaddon right now would be counterproductive to our plans.”
“Do your friends know anything more than what was on the news?” Lenore asked him.
Drex shook his head. “They know who’s doing it and why, but General Lux isn’t sure how to stop them.”
“Well, the battle born are the only ones who can,” Lenore stressed. “Humans can do little more than stand on the ground and shake our fists at the sky. The battle born cannot give up.”
“We won’t,” Drex assured her. “It’s not a Rodyte’s nature to surrender.”
Lenore’s only response was a stiff little nod.
“We’ll get this ball rolling first thing in the morning,” Jenna said, more than ready to be alone with her mate.
They walked to her bedroom hand in hand, each distracted by the crisis raging around them. They couldn’t plan a rescue until they discovered Helen’s location and their best hope of accomplishing that was Sental. Communication devices were far outside of Drex’s field of expertise, and Jenna knew even less than he did. Which meant they were stuck for tonight. There was nothing to do but relax, if that was possible, and get a good night’s sleep so they would be rested and sharp in the morning.
Still, Jenna felt a twinge of guilt as they reached her bedroom and her blood began to heat. Their lovemaking had decreased the intensity of the pull, but it was far from extinguished. Her pulse leapt and her core melted every time his hand brushed her arm or she looked into his eyes.
“If you need to rest, I understand.” The obvious bulge in the front of his pants assured her that he wasn’t looking for a way out. “I’ll rub your tension away, and then we’ll go to sleep.”
“I need you.” She kicked off her sandals and reached for the zipper at the side of her dress. “There’s no way I’ll fall asleep until I’ve worked off some of this frustration.”
A slow, wicked smile parted his lips as he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots, stuffing his socks down inside. Then he peeled off his shirt and let it drop to the floor, his smoldering gaze never leaving Jenna.
She let the straps of her dress droop onto her upper arms, but supported the loosened bodice. The dress had a built-in bra, so as soon as she let go, she’d be naked except for her panties.
His gaze narrowed, gleaming with the sort of possessive passion that set her body on fire. She might not have accepted his physical claim, but they both knew she would. They both knew she was his already. And he was hers.
“Show me.” His voice dropped, becoming a sensual growl that tightened her nipples and bathed her core in liquid heat. She pulled one arm free of the strap and then the other, allowing the bodice to slip until the tops of her breasts were visible to his hungry gaze. “More. Take it off, then kick it aside. I want you naked.”
Her first impulse was to rebel whenever he started barking orders, but some darker, more elemental instinct held her in palace and made her heart pound. The intensity in his gaze and the demand in his voice revealed her power over him. The transfer link pulsed with longing, his and hers, making it impossible to disobey.
She wiggled the dress past her hips and stepped out of the pool of dark green material. Her panties were sexy without making her feel cheap, emerald green with black lace accents.
“Those are so pretty, you can leave them on—for now.” He crooked his finger at her, then pointed to the floor between his spread legs. “Sit down. I owe you a massage.”
The tension coiling thorough her now had nothing to do with their circumstances and everything to do with her mate’s obsession with foreplay. He loved to touch her, kiss her, and taste her until she shook with the need to be filled. Only then would he join their bodies and release the stranglehold on his own desire. She didn’t mind his games, in fact she enjoyed them immensely, when he was in the mood to let her come. However, just as often, he’d tease her unmercifully, bringing her right to the brink of release over and over before he finally ended her misery. His dark eyes shimmered, phitons softly glowing, but she couldn’t tell which way he was leaning tonight.
One of his brows arched as she hesitated. “Sit down and let me rub away today, or take off the panties and get on your knees. I’m good with either.”
Again, she was tempted to rebel, but her defiance would only rob her of a nice long massage. She moved between his thighs, then pressed her breasts against his chest as she reached beyond him for one of the pillows. “Floor’s hard.”
He cupped her butt with both hands and bent to sample her mouth. She returned the kiss for only a moment, then wiggled away and dropped the pillow on the floor.
“You’re going to be trouble tonight,” he muttered. “I can see it in your eyes.”
Letting her actions speak for themselves, she turned around and sank to the pillow. She folded her legs in front of her, pulled her hair over one shoulder and fought back a smile as she said, “You may begin.”
One of his strong, warm hands curved around her shoulder, but the other swooped down her front and caught one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger. He didn’t squeeze, just held her prisoner, a hair’s breadth away from pain. “Are you sure you want to challenge me, mate? I’ve yet to prove myself strong enough to claim you. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she lied, pressing her teeth into her lip to keep from grinning.
“Do you want me to wrestle you to the floor and hold you still while I end this battle once and for all? It won’t be gentle, but it will leave no doubt that we are meant to be together.”
The picture he painted was so primal, so savage that it made her inner walls clench and her nipples tingle. She could see herself spread out beneath him, her belly pressed into the floor. He’d hold her down and knee her legs apart so he could thrust into her from behind.
“Your nipple just hardened between my fingers and your scent is so strong I can hardly breathe. I think you like the idea of being overpowered by your mate.”
She shook her head, afraid of the implications of such a need. She’d always thought only weak, helpless females would enjoy giving up control. She was not weak or helpless.
He released her nipple and cupped her breast, calming her with gentle pressure. “Or we can make love, slowly and tenderly,” he whispered the temptation into her ear, his warm breath caressing as skillfully as his fingers.
She’d already had slow and gently with him, knew how wonderfully patient he could be. Tonight she needed wild, fast and hard, intense enough to drive away reality. She maneuvered her legs beneath her, then pushed to her feet, her back still pressed to his front. “I’ve decided I don’t want to play.” She rubbed her silk-clad butt against his chest, making sure he understood the challenge. “You’re not strong enough to handle me.”
“Is that so?” He wrapped his arm around her waist, then pulled her panties off while she wiggled and protested, playfully slapping at his hands. “If you don’t want me deep inside you, mate, you better explain that to your body.” He cupped her mound, pushing her legs apart with his knees until he had plenty of room to maneuver between her thighs.
She grasped his wrist with one hand and tugged at his restraining arm with the other. Of course, the last thing she wanted was for him to stop.
With practiced ease, he found her clit with his long, middle finger and circled slowly, building the tension in her core with each smooth rotation. “You’re awfully wet for someone who doesn’t want to play.”
She arched her back and rested her head against his shoulder, already struggling to complete a coherent thought. “I wanted you before, but now I don’t.”
He chuckled, and his restraining arm angled up so he could stroke her breasts while his other hand continued to build her arousal. “Maybe, I can convince you to want me again.” Slowly, making each move obvious, he traced her slit, circled her opening, then pushed two fingers deep into her aching center.
She moaned, helplessly trembling with the effort not to rock her hips and ride his hand. But her stubbornness didn’t keep her body from revealing her hunger. Her inner muscles rippled and her longing flowed into his mind. This was a wicked game and they both knew it, a way to keep passion’s fire burning bright.
“That’s right, baby. Squeeze me tight. Show me how much you like this.”
A harsh groan tore from her throat and she shoved his hand away. She would not give in that easily. Tonight, he was going to work for it! “I’ve got fingers too?” She tried to free herself from his other arm, but he had no intention of letting her go. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
He spun her around so fast she gasped, then his mouth slanted over hers and his fingers tangled in her hair. She didn’t have time to bring her arms up between them, didn’t really have time to resist. Urging her lips apart with persistent sweeps of his tongue, he soon possessed the soft interior of her mouth as if he had every right to kiss her any way he liked.
Did he? Was she finally ready to admit what her body knew the first time he kissed her. Drex was her mate, the other half of her soul, the part of her life she’d been missing until now. It didn’t matter that he was Rodyte or that their worlds were on the brink of war. She wanted him, needed the ultimate intimacy only available to mates.
With a soft moan, she returned his kiss, boldly stroking his tongue with hers as their scents and tastes melded.
“Oh, Jenna,” he whispered against her lips. “How much longer are you going to make me wait?” Before she could answer, he kissed her again, filling her mouth with his tongue and her mind with his aching desire to make their bonding real.
Overwhelmed and dizzy, she tore her mouth away, panting as her being pulsed with the need to surrender, to stop denying them the joining of body, mind and spirit. “Prove it.” The provocation sounded harsher than she’d intended. “Make me want it. Make me want all of it.”
With a menacing growl, he picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. She landed on her belly and bounced, but he came down on top of her before she could scurry away. “Is this what you want?” He tore open the front of his pants and forced her legs apart. Then he thrust into her wet core without hesitation or regrets. “You are mine, Jenna!” He punctuated the claim with a thrust hard enough to jar her entire body. “Say it,” he whispered the demand into her ear as his body pressed her down into the mattress. He drew her arms up beside her head and entwined their fingers. “No more games. No denials. I am your mate, and you are mine. Now admit it.”
He wasn’t moving now, just stretching her, filling her in the most primal way possible. She tugged against his hands and tried to twist her hips, needing to feel his strength surround her her—control her. “It’s too soon.” She flooded his mind with hunger, contradicting her breathless claim.
“No, it’s not. You need this. We both do.” He pulled back slowly, drawing nearly out. “Say it, love.” He held her firmly in place, his cock barely inside her. “Accept my claim.”
She waited for the demanding thrust, the forceful penetration that would shatter the last of her resistance, but he didn’t move. His breath puffed in her hair and his emotions scorched her mind, but his hips held perfectly still.
“Say it.” His tone snapped with authority and expectation, but he stubbornly waited for her answer.