Nick watched as Raina emerged from the bathroom, her long golden hair still damp, her cheeks pink.

She looked around for a moment, then visibly relaxed when she spotted Tesla sleeping in his crib in the nook.

Then her eyes went to Nick’s.

She had not bothered with clothing. The sight of her tantalizing naked form was not only painfully sexy, but frank in its confidence.

Nick felt like all the air had gone out of the room.

He launched himself from the bed, went to her, knelt at her feet.

“Raina,” he half moaned. “Will you accept me as your mate?”

“Yes,” she replied softly.

He wrapped his arms around her hips and buried his head in her belly, hoping that one day he would fill it with their second child, if such a thing were even possible.

She sighed and then he felt her hands in his hair, her fingers so gentle.

Then she was kneeling on the ground with him, her arms around his neck, her face tilted up to his.

He leaned down but held back for just a moment, trying to memorize the curve of her lips, the tears sparkling in her eyes.

“I love you,” he told her. “I will always protect you.”

“I know,” she told him. “I feel the same.”

He kissed her then, thrilling at the feel of her velvet mouth beneath his. He could sense her pulse quickening, scent her excitement.

Raina pressed herself closer to him, reminding him of the last time they’d been so close, in that bed back on the cruiser.

The bed here was so tiny. Too small for the ocean of ways he wanted to pleasure her. Too rickety for him to take her as passionately as they both craved.

He pulled back from the kiss.

Raina whimpered.

“Wait, darling,” he murmured, squeezing her hand.

He turned and snagged the blankets and pillows off the cot.

Raina watched as he spread them on the floor, her eyes alive with lust.

He gestured for her to come to him and she crawled over, her hair sweeping the blankets, breasts dancing.

“Lie down, my love,” he told her.

But it came out as more a plea than a command.

She slowly eased herself onto her back beneath him, her hair splayed on the pillow, obeying him in spite of the breathlessness of his demands.

His alpha side preened in his chest and he bent to kiss her again, caging her head between his arms.

Raina pressed her soft lips to his. The sweet pressure drove him wild. He kissed her until his lungs burned for breath, then pulled away. Raina blinked and smiled up at him, her lips swollen with his kisses.

The mating thrall surged in his chest and he saw stars before his eyes.

Raina gasped.

She felt it too, through the bond they shared.

The knowledge gave him pleasure even as he was racked with desire so raw it felt like pain.

He buried his face in her breasts, nibbling, then licking her nipples.

Raina arched her back and he lost control, licking and biting her breasts until he had to pull away.

“Nick,” she whispered, lost in the same sea of need that swelled to encompass him too.

He trailed wet kisses down her belly and nudged her thighs apart.

Her sex was pulsing, glistening, swollen with need. The scent of her alone made him wild.

Raina sucked in a breath.

Nick fell on her, lapping at her sweet juices, inhaling her delicate essence.

Raina cried out, her hands clenching the sheets.

His own body demanded satisfaction, but he held back, determined to build her desperation up to such a peak that he could not cause her pain with the enormity of his lust.

Raina moaned as he set a rhythm designed to push her past what she could bear. She wiggled her hips, lifting them as if to press her clitoris to his tongue.

“Please,” she begged. “Please, please, please.”

He gave her one last, loving lick and then pressed a kiss to her inner thigh.