Two hours later, Johnny sunk onto the bed.

"Damn it!" Eden curled her hands into fists, her knuckles splaying white. "I've come all this goddamned way to find a cure I can't get my hands on. We've got one day before we need to start the return journey. How are we supposed to manage that in one day?"

"Hey." Johnny caught her hands and dragged her onto his lap. This wasn't like her. "Remind me of the part where you said you'd give up? I distinctly recall hearing you state you would do whatever it takes to get your hands on that cure. You blackmailed me into guiding you. You crossed the fucking Divide, darlin'. You looked death in the eye and put a bullet in its skull, and managed to work out how to break into a territory that's heavily guarded. You are not going to hold up a white flag now."

"I can't steal it," she retorted, putting both hands against his chest in her agitation. "I can't seduce it out of them with a smile and a please. And I can't pay for it."

"Then how are you going to get our hands on it?"

"I don't know!" She pushed him away from her, eyes darting wildly. "I don't have the answers! I haven't from the start. All I've been doing is putting one foot in front of the other, and trying to keep playing with every new hand I've been dealt." Her voice broke. "I don't know how to win this fight. I don't know how to save my people."

The sorrow in her eyes damn near broke him. Eden had always carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and her sense of duty was impeccable. Too damned impeccable. She put everyone else's needs before hers, no matter how much it cost her.

For a woman who liked to control her world, the idea of failure was the worst thing that could happen to her. She'd never been afraid of fighting; she was afraid of letting others down.

Johnny drew her into his arms. Eden shook her head as if she felt claustrophobic in her distress, but he simply wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. "Breathe. You're stressed out and I know you're thinking of that bloody clock in your head. Take a moment, angel. I know you've got the answers. You're too fucking smart for your own good, but you're not going to get them if you panic."

"Your omega bullshit doesn't work on me," she murmured, but she wrapped her arms around his waist and surrendered.

Johnny smiled. "It's just a hug, smartass."

"Trying to stimulate my oxytocin levels, huh?"

He brushed his face against her hair, pressing a gentle kiss just above her ear, his voice dropping. "I love it when you talk intellectually to me... even if I don't understand half of what you're saying."

"Are you trying to hit on me?"

"Nope."

"You're using your sexy voice," she accused.

"I have a sexy voice?"

Eden laughed, her racing heartbeat slowing down with every second in his arms. She tilted her face to his and the laughter died, her green eyes turning serious.

Her gaze slowly dropped to his mouth.

"Want a back rub?" he murmured, his cock swelling at the heat in her gaze. He slid his hands down her sides.

"Not quite." Eden stretched up on her toes, her mouth seeking his—

And winced.

"Ouch," she said, letting her heels hit the floor.

"Still sore?"

"You have no idea," she muttered.

"Then let me." He swooped down and captured her mouth with a hard kiss. All the blood in his body rushed south when Eden returned it without a single hesitation.

Johnny caught her under the ass, hauling her up into his arms. Eden wrapped her hands around his neck, not breaking the kiss. Then her arms draped over his shoulders. All mine.

Eden broke free with a moan.

"We don't have time for this," she whispered.

"Can't do anything until Arik gets back from checking out Camp Ragnarök." He lowered her onto the bed, kneeling one knee between her thighs. "So we could spend the next hour pacing back and forth and worrying about something we don't have the answer for just yet. Or... we could get rid of a little bit of nervous energy. Fuck a little. Maybe a lot."

She shivered. "Language."

Johnny kissed her mouth as she lay back beneath him, most of his weight resting on one hand. The other traced the curve of her breast. "Sorry."

"You're not sorry at all."

"You're right." He was utterly unrepentant when it came to her.

Eden's hand curled up the back of his nape. "Why do I have such a hard time saying no to these proposals of yours?"

"Because you find me irresistible."

Her hand slid through his dark hair. "I used to think I had willpower."

"Then you met me."

She smiled, even as she rolled her eyes. "Then I met you."

Johnny pressed a kiss up under her jaw, his cock pressing insistently against his jeans. Eden gasped, arching beneath him, her hand clenching around a fistful of hair as he ground his erection between her legs. There. Right there. He felt the shiver run through her.

"So which one is it?" he whispered, tugging open the buttons on her shirt. "Are we going to fuck a little? Or a lot?"

"That depends on you," she murmured, "because you're going to be doing all the work. I can barely move."

"Not going to be a problem at all, mi alma," he whispered. "Lie back and let me love you."

* * *

Eden nuzzled into Johnny's arms, breathing in the scent of his skin after he'd delivered one earth-shattering orgasm after the other. She'd thought she felt boneless yesterday, but he'd worked her over pretty good before dragging her into a cuddle. She felt like she owed him an orgasm. Maybe three. Damn the man smelled good. It was one part musky heat; one part sweat and soap; and the rest an intoxicating combination that was purely Johnny himself.

"I'm not sure if your omega shit is affecting me," she muttered, stroking a hand over the heated flex of his bare stomach. "Every time I start to get overanxious, you send me into this relaxed state where I can suddenly think again."

"Pretty sure it's just my superior oral skills. Not my pheromones."

She punched his arm and he laughed, rolling her onto her back and coming over her. "Worked out the solution yet, darlin'?"

Eden shook her head, tension suffusing her bones. "I—"

He captured her mouth, pressing a heated kiss to it. By the time he lifted his head, she could barely breathe. Thinking was beyond her with the ghost of his kiss branding her lips.

"Yes?" he asked, that wicked half smile taunting her. "Maybe we need to keep experimenting. You clearly need a bit more oxytocin, or whatever it is."

"I'm pretty sure it's the hit of serotonin," she murmured, with a sigh. "Post orgasmic bliss."

Johnny dove under the sheets, kissing his way down her abdomen. "Let me assist then."

Eden squealed as he brushed his mouth across her ticklish flanks. "Johnny! Stop! We've wasted too much time. I can't— You can't—"

He licked his way to the seam between her legs, raining featherlight kisses across the curve of her hip, and all of her protests died a soft death. Eden moaned, her fingernails digging into his scalp as his tongue circled closer.

Closer.

She held her breath.

But the kiss she wanted didn't come.

One hand trailing lightly up and down the back of her thigh, until her skin shivered with goose bumps. Every inch of her began to tighten, like a screw. And Johnny nuzzled across the patch of curls covering her mons, his heated breath whispering over her wet skin.

Torture.

"Johnny," she breathed. Begged.

"Yes?"

He blew warm air across her sensitive skin.

"Oh, God," she moaned, her spine arching. "What are you doing to me?"

"Waiting."

"For what?" Her breath began to come in short, sharp pants. She pushed his head lower insistently, but he merely trailed his tongue down her inner thigh.

A growl hovered in her throat. Damn him.

Damn him.

"You know what I'm waiting for," he teased.

For her to beg.

"Please." She simply didn't have it in her to wait.

"Please what?" A smoky whisper that stirred her curls.

"Kiss me, Johnny," she begged.

Johnny cupped his hands under her bottom, spreading her hips wide as he lowered his head to feast. "Oh, I'm not thinking about kissing you, darlin'." He traced his tongue just above her clit. "Nothing as civilized as that. I'm thinking about fucking this wet little pussy with my tongue. I'm thinking about making you scream. I'm thinking about forcing you to surrender every scrap of self-control you own, until we both know who owns you."

"You talk too much!" she panted.

"Do I?"

"Yes, damn—"

Johnny suckled her clit into his mouth, and every thought fled her mind as a stab of pleasure went through her. She'd been joking about him talking too much. Those heated words got her off almost as much as this, but... Jesus. That tongue. It felt like he knew her own body better than she did. Every teasing flick sent a shiver darting through her, and she could feel the wave about to break over her.

"Fuck," she gasped. "Fuck, please."

Johnny lifted his head just briefly, his dark eyes shining with pure wickedness. "Eden McClain," he chided. "Your language."

She shoved his head back between her legs, so close to the damned edge that she didn't care about manners. Or control. Or dignity. She just wanted to come.

Johnny laughed against her flesh, the sound vibrating through her. Then that delicious mouth was consuming her, devouring and licking, his tongue plunging inside her, pushing her higher and higher....

All the tension within her suddenly exploded out, and she was pretty sure she actually screamed. Eden's heels dug into the back of his shoulders. Johnny suckled hard, as if her utter devastation wasn't enough and he wanted to wring every last greedy drop of pleasure from her.

Until he finally lifted his head.

Eden collapsed on the bed, wrung out and panting, trying to make sense of her body—or what was left of it.

Stubble rasped against her hip as he crawled over her, and he wiped the slickness from his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes twinkling. "Judging from the way you were pulling my hair I'm going to guess you liked that."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" she breathed, wincing a little as she remembered grabbing fistfuls of his hair right before she came.

"I'm pretty sure I'll survive."

Smiling smugly, he rested his arms on either side of her head as Eden's heart raced. Her thighs parted and his hips slid into their cradle, his erection focused on only one thing.

But it was the look in his eyes that consumed her.

Eden didn't dare look away, her heart feeling like it was fragmenting in her chest. Warning: Danger ahead, some part of her whispered.

Because being in his arms felt like finally coming home to a place she'd longed for, but had never been able to find. There'd always been something missing in her life. Seeing Riley with Luc, and Mia with Adam, and the happiness they all shared had only exacerbated the situation. She'd thrown herself into work instead, so she was too tired to even regret how cold and empty her bed was when she crawled into it at night.

This… felt a little like what she saw between the others.

You are falling bad....

The first thrust took her slowly, as Johnny nuzzled her lips with the same dedication he'd given to her pussy. Kissing him was almost as delicious as having him eat her out. The man's mouth ought to be given an award.

He thrust inside her slowly, each move echoing that of his tongue. This wasn't fucking so much as a slow, intense session of lovemaking. He'd done this to her that morning at Shadow Rock, as if he wanted to make it last forever, his mouth and hips trying to tell her something he wouldn't put into words.

Eden clenched around him, trying to make him lose control. He drew back and grinned at her, and the next thrust came a little harder.

"You're beautiful," he breathed, "Eres la luna que me consume, el sol alrededor del cual giro. Te amo mi angel."

"What are you saying?" she whispered, so close to the edge she could feel it crumbling beneath her feet.

"You drive me crazy."

Then she was lost in a sea of sensation, wracked by the waves of pure pleasure that rolled through her. Each thrust pushed her higher until she could barely breathe. Johnny slammed into her, a quiver running down his spine as he grunted, and finally collapsed atop her.

Tension pitted deep within her as she stroked her hands up his sweaty back. She liked this. Too much. She adored kissing him. Lying in his arms, it felt like nothing would ever be able to touch her here. She felt safe.

But for how long?

Johnny lifted his head, his breath catching and his heart pounding as if he'd run a hundred miles. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She lifted her mouth to kiss his lips, but he turned his face away, before looking back at her insistently.

"Eden?"

* * *

He could feel the tension curling through her, which, considering she should be suffused with post-orgasmic bliss, left his stomach knotting up.

"There's nothing wrong. You destroy me," Eden whispered, her fingers stroking his arm. "Each and every time."

"Then why are you biting your lip like that's a bad thing?" The horrible feeling was back, leaving him a little breathless, like something was squeezing his lungs.

The words I think I love you whispered through his mind, but he choked it down before he could betray himself.

Because he wasn't certain if she felt the same way.

A small frown furrowed between her brows. "Because I can't control my world when I'm with you. I forget what I'm supposed to be doing. You're a distraction I don't need."

"That's not a bad thing," he murmured, lifting away from her, his slackened cock wet with his cum. "You can't control everything, angel. Least of all me. This is a negotiation between us, in which we both get to meet in the middle. I have something you want; you have something I want."

"Which is...?"

You. I want you. Johnny curled onto his side. Damn it. He felt breathless again. Was he really going to say this? "I know this is fast—"

Eden suddenly clamped her hand over his mouth, her eyes punching wide.

"What?" he muttered, behind her palm, as she sat up like she'd been shot.

"Holy shit," she whispered. "I have something they want. They have something I want. That's it. That's how I get my cure."

The breath rushed out of him. Fuck. He'd been about to tell her how he felt, and now she had her epiphany? "You have incredibly bad timing."

But Eden wasn't listening.

She rolled out of bed, reaching for her clothes. Within three seconds she was tearing her jeans up her legs and trying to find her bra, wincing as her body clearly reminded her of yesterday's climb. Bruises shadowed her hips from the harness. He'd tried to be careful with her, but she was coated in blackened marks from head to toe.

"Bless your wicked mouth. I need to work out how to contact General Bligh."