Eva suddenly wasn't very hungry anymore, but she knew she needed food. She'd eaten almost nothing all day. She needed to keep her strength up, if she were going to have any hope of outwitting Scott – Snake – and his demonic powers.

She glanced over at the Atlantean warrior in the passenger seat of her car. "Are you okay if we just drive through someplace? I don't really feel like being around people right now. I know a place out in the desert, not very far, where we could eat and have some peace and quiet while we figure out what we’re doing."

"Yes, I think that would be great. Do you want…" He sighed and looked out the window, his sentence trailing off.

"Do I want what?"

"Do you want me to get Griffin to join us, so we can talk out the plans?"

"No." After she blurted out the word, she felt like she had to explain. She wasn't sure how to explain, though. She just knew she wanted time alone with Flynn, time to relax and feel safe before whatever was going to happen happened. The mage wasn’t the type of person who was restful to be around.

"I just feel like enjoying some peace and quiet before my human sacrifice," she said, a weak attempt at a joke.

"Not funny," Flynn growled. He reached across the seat, took her hand, squeezed it once, and then let go so she could put it back on the steering wheel.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you," he said, and his words had the ring of a vow. Eva suddenly felt as if something almost sacred had passed between them in the dimly lit, intimate, cave-like space inside the speeding car.

Cave. Cave-like space. What was…

Before she could follow the thought to its end, though, she arrived at the drive-through restaurant and lost her train of thought. She gave their orders of burgers, fries, and milkshakes – hey, the condemned deserved a good last meal, to heck with the calories – and then headed out toward the desert.

She loved it out here. The peace and the open space. She loved the mountains, too, and the ocean. Anywhere in nature, preferably with a dog or five by her side, and she would be happy hiking all day long. She hadn’t had much time for it lately, what with always being on the run and trying to make enough money to stay ahead of the Dark Angels in the next place Snake chased her down.

Maybe, if she survived this, she'd make a point to go hiking at least once a week.

Flynn was quiet on the drive, glancing at her every once in a while but saying nothing. Instead of being tense, the silence between them felt almost peaceful, even though the low hum of constant sexual tension between them never went away, in spite of the danger they were in. She felt as if she could find him in a dark room, even if she were blindfolded, by feeling her way along the electric current that sparkled and snapped between them.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but they could wait a while. Just for now, in the car, she would enjoy this little bubble of peace and pretend nothing dangerous could ever find them.

When she arrived at the turnoff, she signaled and slowed down and Flynn spoke up for the first time in about fifteen miles.

"Where are we?"

"There's a hiking path trailhead at the end of this little road. Almost nobody ever uses it, though, or at least not when I've been here. And certainly nobody will be here in the dark. There's a picnic table. I thought we could get out, stretch our legs, and eat."

She suddenly felt shy. What if he thought it was a stupid idea? On the heels of that thought came another, stronger one.

Why would she care?

If he were the type of person who thought her idea of a picnic was stupid, he wasn't worth her time, was he?

She smiled at the feel of another piece of her damaged soul fitting itself back into the puzzle that was Eva. Pre-Scott Eva.

Authentic Eva.

"A picnic sounds wonderful," Flynn said, sighing with what sounded like contentment. "I've never been a fan of spending a lot of time in cities and towns. Towns are full of people, and people come with problems. And if you don't have any problems of your own, they'll be glad to foist theirs off on you."

She threw a wry glance at him, and he had the sense to look sheepish. After all, he’d foisted his problems on her. But no. Not his problems. Those girls were more than just problems. They had to find them soon.

She parked and locked the car, and they walked down a path to a place that opened up and contained a few benches and a couple of picnic tables. As she’d guessed, hers had been the only car in the lot. Nobody was here, either. She picked up a newspaper that someone had left on a table and put in the paper recycling bin.

Flynn, meanwhile, was unwrapping their food.

"This smells amazing," he said, groaning. "I had no idea how hungry I was until I smelled this food. It was torture not to just rip into it in the car."

She grinned at him. "Yeah, at first I thought my engine was making another new sound, and then I realized it was your stomach growling."

He laughed and handed her a milkshake. "Maybe. But I think two double cheeseburgers will take care of that for me."

Eva started to unwrap her chicken sandwich. "Sure, if it doesn't kill you –"

She froze, her words trailing off.

Flynn moved around to sit on Eva’s side of the bench with her. "Stop it. Nobody's killing you. Nobody's dying. You’re going to stay alive and fight the good fight. We're going to get those girls out of there, as soon as we find them, and we're pretty sure that Snake is the way to do it. So let's talk about something else for a while, at least until I hear from Griffin. He's doing another swing around the area, widening the perimeter of his search, and I told him to tail Monkey and see where he goes."

She sighed and sat down. “That’s a good idea.”

He took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed, then took a long drink of his milkshake. "Did you know hamburgers are originally from Atlantis?"

She paused just before taking a bite of her own sandwich. "No. Really?"

A wicked smile spread across Flynn's face. "Sure. The only problem was, we had to wait for you humans to invent hamburger buns."

He burst out laughing, and she just stared at him. It took her a ridiculously long minute, but then she got it. She could feel the laughter fizzing in her belly, but she tried to fight it. The laughter was having none of that. It burst out, and she laughed and laughed until she couldn't even catch her breath.

"I appreciate it, but that joke was not that funny," Flynn finally said, in between stuffing French fries in his mouth. "You're either a really easy audience, or that was just stress relief."

"A bit of both," Eva confessed, hiccupping. "I think I needed that. I feel a lot better."

"Laughter will do that to you. Although I’d think seeing Mrs. Noel drag her husband out of the bar by the ear would have been the high point of your year."

She grinned at him. "You know what? You're right. This has been a banner day."

They finished their food, chatting about nothing, and then gathered up the trash and put it in the wastebasket. Impulsively, Eva looked up at Flynn. "I know it's dark, but are you up for a walk? The moon is so bright tonight that we can see perfectly well."

"Also, I have superior Atlantean vision," he smugly informed her, reaching for her hand.

She laughed, but she let him take her hand, and they started down the path.

“So. Tell me about you. Tell me about you before Snake and Monkey and the rest of the demon zoo. Where is your family?"

Eva's hand convulsively tightened on Flynn's at the word family. She had to call Gramps. It wasn't fair – it wouldn't be fair for her to just disappear without talking to him one more time. She trusted Flynn, she did--or at least she was pretty sure she did--but when demons and black magic users were involved, there was no guarantee that she make it out alive. And she couldn't – she wouldn't – walk into that situation without talking to her grandfather one more time, she’d decided. No matter how much it hurt.

"All I have is my grandfather. Gramps. He and Gran raised me after my parents died. I was a surly, awful teenager in a world of pain, and he made it better. Not all the way better, of course, but just enough. Just enough to help me realize that I could survive. Gran’s gone now, and Gramps is all I have left in the world."

Flynn said nothing for about another twenty feet or so, and she kind of liked that he didn't rush in to offer empty platitudes.

"You must miss him very much," he finally said quietly.

"Yes. I do, but I can't go back there until the situation with Scott is resolved. I can't put him in any danger. He's still in his own home, but he's getting more and more frail, and I don't know what the stress would do to him. The stress of me being gone is bad enough, but he thinks I’m having a grand adventure. I make sure to send him chatty postcards full of lies from wherever I go."

Flynn was silent again for little while, but he squeezed her hand in a gesture of reassurance. "My dad – my father was a drunk. He was a violent, abusive drunk, and my mom was a drunk, too, but she was quieter about it. I escaped as soon as I could, and I never looked back. I left my brothers, both younger than me, because I just couldn't take it anymore. I abandoned them, hoping that since he’d never beaten them before – only me –he wouldn't begin when I left. Later, though, I talked to my brother, the one who’s a ship captain, and I found out just how bad it got for them. I abandoned them to that, when I was their big brother. I was meant to protect them."

She wanted to pull him into her arms and soothe the wounded child who’d had to leave a home filled with pain. The raw anguish in his voice told her that he was in no way past it.

"They'll forgive you," she said, instinctively knowing which part of it hurt him the most. "They'll forgive you, and they'll understand. You just need to reach out."

Flynn stopped walking and turned to face her. "How could you know that? How could you know that's my biggest fear?"

"I have no idea," she said honestly. "It was just a feeling – an overwhelming feeling – that I got from you suddenly. That never happens to me with people."

"It never happens to you with people?" Flynn's dark eyes shone in the moonlight, almost glowing, fascinating her. Instantly, the overwhelming attraction between them flooded back into her body, and she could feel herself straining toward him. She wanted to put her hands on him; touch him; hold him. She wanted him to wrap her up in his strong, muscular arms.

It didn't make sense – it couldn’t make sense – but she wanted this man more than she’d ever wanted anyone else, ever before in her life.

She was trying to figure out what she could possibly say or do at that moment when Flynn made a strange noise. She looked up at him, but he was staring intently over her shoulder. She started to turn around, but he caught her arms and held her still.

"Don't make any sudden moves," he warned her in a very quiet voice. “The local animal kingdom has decided to come visit, and I don't know these animals. I don't know their threat level."

Eva sighed. Of all the inopportune times for her gift to raise its furry head. She slowly turned around, but Flynn kept her in the circle of his arms, protecting her from . . . a coyote family. It must have been following them down the path

When Eva looked at them, they all sat down in a row. The father, mother, and three little ones all sat there calmly, watching Eva. She had to smile.

"No, they're not dangerous to us, Flynn. Those are coyotes, and normally they avoid people. They’re shy little things."

Flynn tightened his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. "Sure. Except they're very clearly not avoiding people right now. Do you think they might have some disease or be under some magic spell?"

She shook her head and gently removed his arms from around her waist, although she felt a slight pang of loss when she did it. "It's not exactly a magic spell; more like a magical gift. I have an affinity for animals, and sometimes, when they feel it—feel me—they come to find me. Just to say hi, I think."

She knelt, one knee on the path, and smiled at the animals. "Go on your way and be well, little family. Keep those babies away from the eagles and hawks."

The boldest of the three babies started toward her, wriggling his little body in a way that reminded her so much of Daisy that she got a lump in her throat. But mama gently scooped up her wayward babe and, with a single glance back at Eva and Flynn, led her family off. Daddy Coyote took the rear guard, casting suspicious looks at Flynn as he herded his family away.

Eva stood and watched them go.

"They didn't like me much," Flynn said.

"Don't take it personally. Like I said, they mostly stay away from humans. Especially when they have young to protect."

"Even coyotes can tell I'm not someone to trust to protect their young," Flynn said roughly. His hands were clenched into fists at his side and Eva took one between her hands and smoothed it out until it lay flat.

"That wasn’t about coyotes. Tell me."

They walked in silence for maybe ten minutes before Flynn finally spoke. "I told you about my brothers. That was my first failure. But I've just had one far, far worse. I thought I'd made friends. Even thinking about making friends is always a stupid thing to do in this world, because it hurts that much more when they stab you in the back. I'm sure that's how Kian felt about me, too."

She stayed silent. She didn't want to spook him any more than she did any other wild creature. For Flynn was almost certainly feral, and she had no illusions of being the woman who could finally tame him.

He tightened his hold on her hand as they walked around the small loop that turned into the path back to the parking area. "Kian and his family are dragon shifters who live on the coast of Ireland. They’re having a problem. Not his family – not only his family – but all of their kind. The females--they can't make the transition easily. When they’re about fourteen or fifteen, they make their first transition into dragon shape. Most of the females don't survive it."

Harsh, biting pain underscored each and every word. "I'm so sorry. That's a horrible, horrible thing. I haven't heard anything about that in the news."

Flynn shook his head. "No, dragons are very private. They keep their secrets and guard them as fiercely as they do their treasure hordes."

"They really do have treasure hordes? That's not just a myth?"

Flynn raised one dark eyebrow. "Yes. It's just a myth. Like shifters, and dragons, and Atlantis."

"Okay, okay. You've made your point. But I'm so terribly sorry to hear that about your friend and his people."

"Thank you. He had a younger sister," Flynn began, and then he had to clear his throat.

Eva's heart sank at the verb tense. He had a younger sister. She knew what was coming, but she also knew he needed to talk about it, so she stayed silent and tried to send all of her sympathy to him through the touch of their hands.

"Her name was Kyla. She was a little scamp.”

They walked past a row of rabbits lined up at along the side of the path, watching Eva, but Flynn only spared them a brief glance.

"She loved her big brother. And she had a huge heart, so she loved her big brother’s friend. Me. She followed us around everywhere. I never had a sister of my own, so it was nice. Nice to be part of the family, in a way. I hung out there for maybe a year."

Flynn fell silent again, so after a minute or so, Eva ventured a question. "How old was she?"

"Exactly the right question," Flynn said, so harshly that the rabbits, who’d been silently hopping along behind them, scattered in all directions. "She was thirteen when I met her. She was fourteen when she died."

Eva didn't even realize she was crying until a tear dripped off the end of her nose. She brushed them away and pulled on Flynn's hand to get him to stop. Then she did what she’d been longing to do for a while, but she did it from compassion, not from desire.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. He stood stiffly, still as a statue, not returning her hug. But not pulling away from her, either.

"Oh, Flynn. I'm so sorry for Kyla and for her family and for you."

He took a deep breath and then stepped away from her and folded his arms across his chest, probably so she couldn't hug him again. She tried not to let him see how much that hurt her.

"You don't understand. I told her she would be okay. She was terrified of the transition, because three of her best friends died. Only two of the little group she ran with survived it. I told her she would be okay."

He buried his face in his hands and his big body started to shake. "I told her she would be okay, and she died in agony."

She pushed his hands out of her way and hugged him again, whether he wanted it or not, so tightly that he couldn't get free of her. He needed human contact just then, whether he thought he did or not. His heart beat wildly beneath her cheek, and he took deep, shuddering breaths. Suddenly, almost convulsively, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer, bending his head down to rest his forehead on the top of her head.

"I told her she'd be okay," he said brokenly. "And the last thing she said – while she could still speak at all – was 'Flynn, you lied to me.'"

Eva's heart was breaking. For the man in her arms, whose guilt and pain and loss were destroying him, for the family who lost her daughter – their sister. And for little Kyla, who cried out in pain and terror and despair.

"It wasn't your fault. You must know that it wasn't your fault. Of course you had to tell her that she would be okay. There's nothing else to say in that situation. It's a horrible, horrible thing – it's hell itself. But there was nothing else you could've done but be there for her, and it sounds like you were."

He nodded, still holding her tightly.

"You were there for her in the best way you could be. It's so awful, so unbelievably awful that she died, but it's not your fault. You need to forgive yourself, Flynn."

Flynn put his hands on the sides of her face and tilted it up so he could look in her eyes. "How do you do that? How do you know exactly what to say? Is it part of your ‘soothing the savage beast’ gift?" His voice was rough and husky, the voice of a man who'd been screaming or sobbing, even though he’d done neither.

The voice of a man who needed comfort.

Eva pulled his head down for the few inches that it took for their lips to meet. She initiated the kiss, but it took only seconds for Flynn to take charge. He captured the back of her head in one big hand, and then he tilted her head and took her mouth like a conqueror. Like a seducer. Like a pirate, ravishing her in his treasure cave . . .

She moaned, trying to climb up his body, needing to get closer. She’d never been kissed like this, like the man kissing her would die if he had to stop kissing her. She tangled her tongue with his and kissed him and kissed him until she had to stop, gasping for air, hanging on to his shoulders so she didn’t fall down.

His treasure cave . . . why was that poking at the edge of her consciousness so much? Suddenly, she knew.

She knew.

“Flynn. They’re holding the girls in the old copper mine.”

He got it immediately. “The copper in the mine would conceal any magic being done from anybody like Griffin who was trying to detect it.”

She nodded. “Of course. Why didn’t we think of this? Black magic witches use copper in their summoning circles. It can keep demons in--"

“So it can keep nosy law enforcement out,” Flynn finished her sentence.

"You need to call your friend or teammate or whatever he is and get federal law enforcement in and set the takedown. Now."

Flynn was quiet for a few moments with his eyes closed, when he opened them, he looked at Eva and shook his head. “Jake is with Zach, who says we’re brilliant and he’ll call it in but it will still be no go on the federal takedown. They're afraid the Dark Angels will kill all the girls in the event of a raid, because the demons will still want the magical power from the sacrifices. Our best chance to save them is still to get in there another way."

Eva’s heart sank. "Using me."

Flynn nodded, his shoulders slumped. “I'm sorry. I can't think of any other way. But if you don't want to do it, you should go. Now. I'll die before I let anything happen to you, but that's not a one hundred percent guarantee of your safety. As I've told you, I don’t have a good record at protecting people.”

“I’ll do it,” she said in a very small voice, trying to be brave.

He slashed a hand through the air. “No. It's not fair of us to ask you to risk your life for this. We’ll figure something out.”

Eva started running for the car. "But if it's not me, then who? Who will stand for those girls? I know you will, and your floating magic friend, and whoever else is on your side, but if you can't get in there without setting some kind of alarm, the girls still wind up dead. I can't do it. I can't leave. I could never live with myself if I bought my own safety at the cost of their lives."

She wasn't the Eva who’d cowered before in the face of Snake’s threats and Noel’s bullying. This is the Eva she'd been before all of that. Willing to stand up for what was right. And Flynn had said he’d die to protect her, so she was pretty sure he was the exact same kind of person, deep down, underneath all that guilt and sadness he was carrying around.

They sped through the dark night, and when they reached her place, she was glad to see that Mrs. M had already left for California. One more innocent out of harm’s way.

"I'll be on your roof again to watch over you –"

"Flynn. No. Come inside and stay with me. I don't want to be alone, sitting around waiting for Snake to call." Even as she said it she realized she really did think of Scott as Snake now. The Scott she'd fallen for could never have put her through the past few years of pursuit and torture. The black magic had twisted him into something unrecognizable, and it was time she acknowledged it.

This time, Flynn took the lead checking out the apartment. When he was sure it was safe, he beckoned for her to come in.

“I'll be in just a minute. I want to stand out here on the porch in the fresh air for a few minutes and call my grandfather." She suddenly was finding it hard to breathe, let alone get the words out, but she managed.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” he said quietly. Flynn, so big and tough and muscular, so hard and deadly, gently touched her cheek and then quietly closed the door between them.

The tears started falling the moment she dialed the phone.

“Eva?”

“Gramps. It’s so good to hear your voice,” she managed, trying her best to sound cheerful.

“Are you okay? You sound funny,” he said, concern clear in his dear voice.

“I am okay, Gramps. I met a man from Atlantis. Well, two men from Atlantis, but one is actually a mage. Anyway, they're so interesting. Maybe sometime I can get them to talk to you about the history. I know you’d like that.”

“You sound more cheerful than you have in a long time, honey, but like you have a cold. Are you sure you’re okay?"

"I think I might actually be okay, Gramps. At least, I'm working on it. I'm working on me. It sounds silly, but I think I’m finding the person I was before--no. I'm finding the person I was meant to be, and I kind of like her."

"I knew you would, sweetheart. Always remember that I love you, and come see an old man pretty soon, okay?"

She had to agree. So, standing there, alone in the moonlight, knowing that there was a very high chance that she was going to die that very night, Eva promised her grandfather that she’d visit soon.

When she ended the call and collapsed in tears, the door opened and strong arms caught her before she could fall.

* * *

Flynn lifted Eva into his arms and stepped back into her apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. Then he stood there with an arm full of weeping woman and no idea of what to do with her. He thought kissing her might help, but her hands were covering her face, so she probably wasn't in the mood for that. Dammit.

He wasn't particularly good with women, at least the kind of relationships that lasted longer than a casual week or two. He definitely wasn't good with tears. He'd rather face a rogue vampire, unarmed, then a woman’s tears. “Eva? Honey?" He bent and placed her ever-so-carefully on the edge of her couch and smoothed her hair away from her face. Eva looked up at him, still crying.

He'd seen women before who could cry and still look beautiful.

Eva wasn't one of them.

Her face had turned blotchy, her eyes were red, and her nose was swollen.

Right at that exact moment in time, Flynn felt – actually felt – his heart turn over in his chest.

"When our grandchildren ask how I knew you were the one, I'm going to tell them it's because you looked so bad when you were crying," he blurted out, and then he groaned. “I probably shouldn't have said that.”

Eva slowly blinked, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open. "Are you out of your tiny little Atlantean mind? Also, it's not very nice to tell someone they look bad, even if they do."

She defiantly turned away from him but then immediately ruined her tough-guy act by grabbing for a handful of tissues out of the box on the coffee table.

Flynn, who had either just learned a lesson or been hit over the head with a meteorite, knelt at her feet and put his hands on her knees. "Eva. I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot. Please, for the love of all the gods, stop crying. I'll do anything. Anything at all. Just please stop crying."

She wiped her face one last time and then managed a shaky laugh. Then she took a deep breath and blew it out, sniffling. "I'm sorry about that. I'm usually a lot tougher than this. I've had to be. But talking to Gramps--that was tough."

She blew her nose, loudly, and Flynn had to clench his teeth together to keep from laughing. He knew that wouldn't go over well.

"Part of this is just a reaction to the idea I’m probably going to die tonight,” she said, taking deep, shuddering breaths. "You don't know what it's like to live your life in fear."

Flynn's rage turned cold and deadly. "Neither will you, ever again, even if I have to kill every single one of them to protect you."

She inhaled sharply, but said nothing. Didn’t reach out to him. His heart crashed inside his chest, but he had to let her take control. Of course she wouldn’t want any kind of intimacy now, not even a hug, not with what was coming next.

He glanced at the clock. "It's midnight. Monkey said they’d call at three. You should try to get some sleep."

"I know I'm not going to be able to sleep, and I don't even want to try. There's only one thing I want." She put her hands on his face and drew his head toward her. "I want you. Now.”

He forced himself to resist the urge to pick her up and carry her immediately to her bed. “Eva, you don’t--"

She put her fingers on his lips. “There's a chance that whatever happens in in the next three hours will be the last good memory I ever make in my life. Make love to me, Flynn. Make it my best memory."

* * *

He was driving her out of her mind.

Flynn had scooped her up off the couch, carried her to the small bedroom, and tossed her on the bed, instantly joining here there. Beside her, around her, beneath her, surrounding her. Touching, kissing, holding, stroking. He kissed her and touched her until she thought she’d go insane from wanting him, and they hadn't even yet undressed. She finally demanded that he take his clothes off and he shed them in seconds but stopped her when she tried to remove her own.

"Oh no, mi Amara. I want to unwrap you like the gift you are for me." Now, maybe half an hour later, she was down to her bra and panties. It was taking so long because he insisted on kissing every square inch of skin as he unveiled it. She lay trembling on the bed next to him, aching with desire, clutching his shoulders and moaning.

She was wetter and hotter than she'd ever been in her life, and every time his fingers skimmed the insides of her thighs, her hips bucked involuntarily against his hand.

"Please touch me," she begged. "Flynn. Touch me now."

He laughed, but his dark eyes were glowing with such stark, raw desire that she felt as if she were melting under the weight of his gaze. He finally slipped his fingers beneath the fabric of her panties, and she cried out. He took that as an invitation and stroked down her center and then pushed his fingers just a little way inside her, causing her to arch her body and moan.

"Please, please, please, please," she begged, tossing her head back and forth on the pillows.

"Is this what you want?" He started stroking her with his fingers; smoothing her own hot wetness against her clit, and in seconds she was coming apart under his hand.

"That's it. Come for me,” he said with dark, fierce triumph. “I'm going to make you come again and again, with my hands, and with my mouth. You’re going to come so hard you don't know which is up and which is down, and then-- only then--I'm going to fuck you so hard you shatter, screaming my name.

"Yes," she answered. "Yes, yes, yes.

Every touch was a revelation, every caress a rapture. He sent her soaring, skating, dancing down the silver knife's edge of a desire so fierce it was almost pain. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anyone in her life, and she could tell from his words and his touches that he felt the same way.

He tore off her panties and slid her bra down her arms, and now she lay nude, writhing in the bed, clutching his shoulder with one hand and wrapping her other hand around the silken hardness of his very large erection. He kissed her again and then, in one quick motion, he slid down her body and put his mouth on her. His tongue swirled over her once, twice, and then he sucked hard on her clit and she shattered. Every nerve ending in her body lit up, a chain reaction of pure, electric sensation, and she screamed.

Before the spasms had even died down, he climbed up her body and shoved her thighs apart with his knee. He held himself over her, and she could see the strain in his face. He'd held back and showed so much restraint.

So much control.

Now it was her turn to shatter him.

“I need you now," he said roughly. "Please, please tell me yes."

"Yes, she said. "Yes. Now."

With that, his control broke into a million pieces. She watched it happen. She watched his face as he drove forward, thrusting into her so hard she felt him in her soul.

"Never going to let you go," he said, over and over and over. "Never. Not ever."

"I never want you to." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, and on his next hard, deep thrust, she flew apart again, clenching and convulsing around him. She could feel his hardness deep inside her, so deep, and when he exploded in turn, she caught him when he went up and over.

This time, it was Flynn who shouted her name.

* * *

At exactly three a.m., Snake called.