She rose up on her toes and kissed him back for the first time.

She’d accepted him.

Joran’s world went up in flames. He wanted to drink in her essence and commit every detail to memory. The soft lilt of her voice, the whiff of coffee and sugar that clung to her skin, the taste and feel of her in his arms. He’d found her.

The mating drive flared hotter with every kiss and caress they shared. There was nothing in his experience that came close to this feeling. Primal need coursed through him, growing stronger by the second. He needed to touch, to taste, to hear her moans of pleasure as the Scorching took them both.

“Joran?” his name fell from her lips with soft, shuddering sigh.

“What do you need, seska?”

“You. I need you.” She paused, and he could see her fighting to think through the fog of lust that was clouding both their minds.

“What else do you need?” It was hard to hold himself back, but he’d rushed her enough already. Whatever she needed to say, he would give her the time to say it.

“Promise me you won’t hurt me. Ever.”

“Never. You’re my mate. My centre. I’d die before I let anything hurt you.”

“Promise,” she repeated, her eyes shadowed by doubt.

Words he’d once believed he would never say fell from his lips. “I vow by the Flames of the First One, to protect my mate—you, Maggie O’Hara, from all who would do her harm. She will be my Queen, my lover, and my most cherished companion from now until we return to the Flame that birthed us.” As he finished, he realized he’d spoken his vow in Pyrosian, and he repeated them in English so that Maggie would understand.

There were tears in her eyes as he finished, and the smile on her face was one of bewildered joy. “Yes.”

It wasn’t a formal vow, but that wasn’t important. All that mattered was that she’d agreed to be his mate.

“Take hold of me.”

“Anywhere in particular?” she asked, her voice gone husky with need and emotion.

“My shoulders…for now. The tour of my ship will have to wait. I need you, Maggie.”

She laughed, and the sound made his heart soar. As soon as she reached for him, he lifted her into his arms and jogged the rest of the way to his quarters. For a small ship, it felt like it took an eternity to reach the door. Especially when he had his arms full of his turned-on and eager mate. His hands might be busy holding her, but hers weren’t, and she was putting them to good use. By the time he got inside his small cabin, his shirt was half undone, and Maggie was exploring his newly bared chest with gentle fingers. When she tweaked one of his nipples, he groaned a warning. She ignored him. Instead of stopping, she did it again, this time while nuzzling her lips over his ear.

So, his mate was feeling brave enough to be playful, now? Good. Then let the games begin. He lowered her to her feet and let her take her first look around. It wasn’t the palatial bower she would have once they were home, but it was at least comfortable.

After a brief glance around, Maggie burst out laughing. “Somehow, I imagined your cabin to be less uh, opulent. You really are rich, aren’t you? I mean, clearly there are some omissions and lies on your dating profile, mister I’m from another planet, but this is something else.”

“Opulent? This? The bed is too small, the rugs are thin, and the furnishings are functional but hardly ornate.” They were also made of fire resistant materials, a precaution his mother had insisted on.

She laughed harder. “Wait until you see my place, then you’ll understand.”

“When we return to Pyros, you will live in the palace with me.”

“Palace?”

“Yes, seska. You are the mate of the Crown Prince of Pyros, where else would you live?”

She blinked at him, her sweet mouth opening and closing several times before she finally spoke. “You’re a prince? Oh my god. I thought this was an insane match when you were just a rich corporate type. A human one. This is…”

Maggie swayed, and he raced to her, pulling her in close and holding her against his chest. Her heart was pounding so hard he could feel it as he held her.

“This is what we’re destined for. All you have to do is believe in that.” He tipped her head back and kissed her softly. “Trust me, Maggie.”

“I must be crazy,” she whispered before gifting him with a smile that made him feel like he was already a king. “Because I do.”

Maggie’s head was spinning. There was too much for her to process. Too many questions. All she knew for sure was how she felt about Joran. She craved him like a drug. She couldn’t get enough. But more than that, she trusted him. He’d promised to protect her, and he would. She knew it.

She let go of everything else. For now, Joran was all she needed.

“I need to see you. Feel you. Flames, I need to make you mine before I burn.” He took her purse, set it aside and then pulled her shirt up, and she raised her hands so that he could strip it off of her.

He had his hands back on her body before the shirt hit the red-and-gold rug they were standing on. Strong arms curved around her body as he bent down to bury his face between her breasts. Her nipples hardened instantly, drawing up into diamond-hard nubs that ached for his touch.

She ran her hands through his hair, cradling his head as he worshiped her body and set her skin on fire with need. When he ran his tongue down the valley between her breasts, her clit started to throb in time with her heartbeat, and when he finally closed his mouth over her nipple and sucked, a jolt of lust ran through her. Drunk with need, she shifted her lower body until she could wrap one leg around his and press her aching pussy to the hard muscles of his thigh.

He groaned and sucked harder as she ground herself against him, using his tongue to lap and tease at her sensitive nubs until she was quivering and desperate for more.

“Joran,” she breathed his name, not even sure what she wanted to say.

“Tell me what you need, seska.”

“I need…” she closed her eyes, too embarrassed to know what to say.

He lifted his head from her breasts and turned to press a tender kiss to the inside of her wrist. “Never hesitate to tell me what you want. How can we learn about each other otherwise? Now, what do you want me to do to you, Maggie? Do you want my fingers, my cock, or my tongue?”

She cracked open one eye to look at the sensual god the universe had decided to gift her with and pushed her embarrassment aside. “Would it be greedy if I said all three?”

He chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound that rolled through her like the tolling of a bell. “No, it wouldn’t be. It would tell me that the Gods chose a mate with a passion to match my own.”

She reached out and brushed a finger over his stomach, just above the catch of his pants. “I think it’s time I saw you, too.”

“As my mate wishes.” He stripped off his shirt first, then stood with his hands on his hips and a wicked smirk on his face as he posed for her inspection.

Holy hell. If he’d taken his shirt off first, she might have had an easier time believing he was an alien. He was too perfect to be human. He was muscular without being bulky, and every line of his body could have been sculpted by a master artist. Dazed, she reached out to touch him. “Wow. Do the rest of the men on your planet look like you?”

“Not all, but many. We are a warrior race. Even the gentlest scholar trains long enough to be able to defend their family. He shrugged his broad shoulders, and she watched in fascination at the way his muscles shifted beneath his skin. “My duties include overseeing our military. If I didn’t train with them, how could I command their respect?”

She really wanted to hear more about his duties, his rank, and his people, but it would have to wait. Her desires were too strong. Her need too great to ignore. She stroked her hand down his hard stomach and daringly undid the button at the top of his pants. It was the most brazen she’d ever been. “I want to see all of you.”

“Together.”

Her heart hammered as she nodded in agreement. She kept her eyes on him and moved when he did. She undid her jeans and slid them over her hips, removing her panties at the same time, peeling her clothes off and kicking them away. She watched as he bared his body to her, revealing even more perfection. His cock rose up from between his legs, thicker and longer than any guy she’d been with, but not by enough to worry her.

“Do I meet with your approval?”

His words startled her, and she answered without thinking. “Hell yes, I approve. Oh my god, do I approve.” She looked up to find him staring at her, and a final flicker of doubt made her ask, “Do I?”

“You are perfection itself.” He took her hand and led her to the sumptuous red and gold draped bed that claimed most of the space in the cabin. “Lie back and let me show you how much I like what I see.”

She stretched out across the bed, sinking into the softest fabric she’d ever felt.

He sank to his knees at the edge of the mattress and placed his hands on her ankles. “Now this is a feast fit for a prince.”

Joran knew exactly what he wanted, and now he had his mate naked, he intended to lay claim to every inch of her, starting with her pussy. He slid his hands up her legs, parting her soft thighs wide as he moved into position. He blew a breath across her already glistening folds, and she gasped, her hips lifting to offer herself to him.

He used his thumbs to part her folds and expose the delicate bud of nerves his studies revealed would give her the most pleasure. He dipped his head and ran his tongue over the tiny pearl, the sweet taste of her almost as pleasurable as the keening cry of need that rose from her throat at his touch. Her eagerness spurred him on, and he dove in, working her with mouth and tongue in unison.

The research he’d read hadn’t prepared him for this. Understanding the small differences in their biology was one thing, but to experience her passionate responses, to feel her buck and quiver at his touch, was intoxicating. If his fellow Pyrosians were blessed with mates as passionate and amazing as his, then the Gods had truly been generous.

Every touch taught him more about her body, and soon he had her shuddering on the brink of release. When he drew her entire clit into his mouth and bit down gently, she arched off the bed with a wild cry and came.

She was still flushed and breathless when he rose from between her thighs to join her on the bed. When she opened her arms to him, he almost fell into her embrace. Mouths mated. Breaths shared. Bodies pressed together from lips to thigh. Her soft limbs twined around his, and he rolled them both over until he was beneath her.

“Claim what is yours, mate.”

Desire flashed in Maggie’s eyes as she settled herself atop him. She braced one hand against the mattress and reached between them to grip his cock. “I want you.”

She pumped his shaft several times and then guided him into position. Without a word, she leaned down to kiss him, her breasts brushing against his chest as she rolled her hips in a slow rocking motion that teased them both. Unable to hold back any longer, he speared his tongue into her mouth and arched his body off the bed, sliding his cock partway into her channel.

She hummed in pleasure and eased herself slowly down around him, surrounding him in her slick heat. Her body gave way to his, wrapping around him in a tight embrace that had them both moaning and shaking with need by the time he was fully sheathed.

“We are one.” He breathed the final words of claiming.

“Yes, we are.”

She rose up and flexed her inner walls around him, setting his blood on fire as a torrent of exquisite pleasure flooded him. It was intoxicating, and he knew the Scorching had him completely in its thrall. Maggie seemed to feel it too, because she uttered a low moan and bucked her hips, driving him deep inside.

He placed his hands on her hips, helping her to balance as the Scorching overtook her completely. She rode him hard, taking her pleasure with every stroke and roll of her hips. The tempo quickened, then quickened again, their bodies coming together in a crescendo of wants and needs that neither of them could deny.

She reached the breaking point before him, giving him the chance to watch her come apart as she orgasmed. Every pulse of her inner walls pushed him closer to his own release, and as she cried out his name in rapture, his world exploded.

Belatedly, he remembered what would come next, and he pulled her into his arms as his cock thickened and swelled, locking them together as he emptied himself into her.

“What?” she gasped.

“It is our way.” He whispered, then lost his voice as another wave of pleasure hit him. “Only with our mate can we find complete release.” He finally managed to explain.

“Only with…you mean you’ve never?”

“Never. Like this.” He thrust into her again. “Only with you.”

Her lovely face lit up with a smile that filled his heart with a new kind of fire. A deep, warming flame that would never die.

“Joran!” Maggie’s call tore him out of his fugue. She was still atop him, and her eyes glowed with emerald fire as she stared at him.

“Your eyes.” They both spoke at the same time.

“Gold,” she said.

“Glowing green,” he replied. Understanding dawned a moment later. There had been no time to warn her about the changes he’d undergo when he claimed his mate. His eyes were gold now, a sign of his status, and confirmation that he had unlocked his ability to manipulate fire. He was a true Pyrosian. And so, it would appear, was his mate.

“Your eyes are like molten gold now. They were brown before, but they turned gold a few times, just for a second. Is this another thing you forgot to tell me?”

“I have a great deal of explaining to do, don’t I?”

She flexed her inner walls around him. “You really do. And what do you mean, my eyes are glowing?”

“It would appear that undergoing the Scorching has awakened your Pyrosian genes. I’m not sure what else might have changed, but your eyes are now gleaming the most amazing shade of green. You are going to be the envy of every female on Pyros.”

“Pyrosian genes? What?” She sat up and folded her arms across her chest. Looking every inch the queen she would one day be. “Start talking. Now.”

Flames, she was glorious when she stood up to him. He was grinning as he reached up and set his hand on her arm. “We have a little time before the Scorching takes us again. I will tell you what I can before that happens.”

“And how long does this Scorching thing last?”

“Approximately two of your solar cycles—days.”

“Two days? Remind me later to let my friends know I’m not going to be around for a while.”

“I will remind you, seska.” And when he did, they would need to discuss what she would tell them when she left this world, and them, behind her forever. Her destiny lay elsewhere.