She couldn’t share herself again now and not bare her soul to him. God, there’d be nothing left.

Gathering her strength, she pushed away from him and rose to her feet. Her legs had all the strength of rubber and gave way beneath her. She crumpled back to the ottoman.

Hunter sighed and lifted her onto his lap. “Stop, Kata. Let me take care of you.”

He carried her to the bedroom again. She tensed against the sublime pleasure of feeling his skin against hers. Part of her wanted him to go . . . but the thought of not being with him again shot panic through her.

That was a bitter pill to swallow. She sobbed harder.

Kissing the top of her head, he curled up on the bed and brought her onto his lap.

“J-just give me a minute alone,” she begged. And she hated the pleading note in her voice, but he’d stripped to the core. The only thing left was the scared girl inside so terrified of becoming her mother.

Hunter hesitated, then eased out from under her. “I’ll be right back. I’m not going far.”

A precious few moments passed, but Kata couldn’t center her thoughts or calm herself in the silence. Moments later, he returned, only to sit her on his lap again, then reach for the tray he’d placed on the bedside table.

“Open,” he demanded, placing a pastry with cinnamon and brown sugar right in front of her mouth.

She shook her head. Sugar wasn’t going to solve her problem.

He frowned. “You haven’t had a meal in hours. Eat. No arguments.”

Could the man never listen? “I don’t need this many calories.”

“By the time I’m done with you, you will. Open up.”

Exasperated, Kata opened, accepted the bite—and nearly groaned at the flaky, sweet texture of the pastry as it crossed her tongue. She reached out to grab it and feed herself. He pulled back.

“No, honey. Take from me what you need.”

Eat from his hand? She finally looked up, met his so-blue eyes, questioning. Yes, that’s exactly what he meant. He intended to feed her himself. The notion both thrilled and disturbed her. How intimate. How frightening that he was encouraging her dependence on him.

Even with those thoughts running through her head, Kata felt oddly contented to be so close to him, so connected. She couldn’t find the will to say no. He coaxed her into eating the whole thing, then followed with some grapes and a banana, taking a few bites for himself.

With his free hand, he stroked her back slowly, tenderly, dusting sweet kisses on her shoulder and neck. Finally, she relaxed, her disquiet waning under exhaustion.

Then he propped a finger beneath her chin and drew his mouth to hers. “You’re incredible. When I’m with you, I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

And she felt like the people of Troy must have with the Trojan horse, succumbing to a handsome, seemingly harmless beast, only to realize that she was under a siege that would only end in total surrender.

He fitted his mouth over hers. At first, she stiffened, but he kissed her long and deep and slow until her body went liquid. Until she sagged against him. Then he took her by the hand and led her to the shower.

After setting her under the steaming spray and easing into the small stall, he refused to let her wash herself. He did it in reverent silence. With a pounding heart and hollow, aching eyes, Kata watched as he kissed her shoulders, washed her breasts, soaped her backside.

“I know today has been a lot to take in. I pushed you hard. But I’m so proud of the way you took everything I gave you. And you’re still here with me, the same you.”

She didn’t feel the same. Her body hummed, her mind was blank. Emotions swirled in a giant morass that terrified her, but telling Hunter that would only start an argument that she was too overwrought to win. Instead, she stood still as he shampooed her hair, then knelt to wash her feet, calves, thighs, pussy.

He lingered on the last, toying, teasing with his fingers until Kata had to brace herself against the wall to avoid falling. She bit her lip hard against the rise of pleasure, but nothing could stop it—or him—despite the knowledge that, if she came again, there would be virtually no part of her soul he hadn’t claimed.

As if he sensed that, he knelt at her feet and lifted her foot to the shower bench, leaving her pussy open to him.

“Hunter,” she whimpered. “Please . . .”

“No holding yourself back from me. You’re so wet and sweet. I need all of you.”

She didn’t have an opportunity to say another word. He set his mouth on her so-sensitive flesh, coaxing her arousal until he surged past her fear, until she knew only the feel of his tongue flirting with her clawing need for ecstasy, until she craved only the orgasm he dangled just beyond her reach.

He slid through her wet folds, tearing through her defenses. She couldn’t help it; her hands slid across his scalp, trying to hold him in place. But he didn’t need to be forced. That wicked tongue of his kept driving her up, hotter, higher, until she’d have given her soul for release.

“Yes!” she sobbed. “Yes . . .”

“I want to hear you scream, honey. Come.”

As if the words were some mysterious catalyst, the climax pounded over her, flattening her. She grabbed him, her nails making half-moons on his shoulders as her deafening cry resounded through the shower. And still, he lapped at her, wringing every possible tingle and twinge out of the orgasm.

Then he sat her on the corner bench as he washed and rinsed himself quickly, then helped her out, drying her off like a child, running the comb through her wet hair carefully.

Kata watched him, watched herself, in the steamy mirror. He looked so big, capable, and content caring for her. So utterly reassured, almost at peace. She looked like a refugee from a war zone, one of those women who had survived but had seen too much.

Once finished, he led her back to the bed, checking his phone. “We have another five hours before your mother’s release. You look exhausted.”

She nodded. Sleep. She could escape this overwrought feeling when she slept. Eagerly, she curled up on the bed, rolled to the far side, tucked the sheet beneath her chin.

With a soft grip on her arm, Hunter rolled her to her back again. Without any warning, he slid his thigh between hers, his body over her own. Then he plunged the iron length of his cock inside her, all the way to the hilt in a single stroke.

That quickly, her body flashed electric with need.

“Again?” she panted.

Even as she asked, she parted her thighs wider, threw her arms around him, and clasped him close. Plunging deep, he gave her more of the powerful dominance that her mind could no longer fight. Pleasure soared inside her.

“Yes, again. And again. I will always give you more than you think you can handle. And I have no doubt that you will always thrill me with your surrender and your strength.”

Shock pinged through her. Before she could think of anything to say or any way to stop him from dismantling her even more, Hunter proceeded to undo her with one deep, destructive stroke after another.

From his very first thrust, moans fell from her lips, and Kata couldn’t stop them. They weren’t the pretty kind, not from any normal sexual soundtrack. These were animal pleas, punctuated by her nails digging their way into his back and thrusting up at him wildly.

Hunter held her hips down, controlling her movement, forcing her to take the torture of his slow thrusts. Every inch of him glided over swollen, sensitive flesh as he entered her repeatedly, each stroke ending with a nudge against a spot high and deep inside her. She jolted, gasped, clamped down on him.

“Ah, there. Perfect, honey. That feel good?”

It did, and he damn well knew it.

He withdrew, then slid back in to rub over that same nerve-laden spot. “I asked you a question.”

As he pulled back, her body clung, trying to keep him deeper, the intimacy of the act more stark and stunning than ever. Robbing her of the last of her feeble defenses.

Kata pressed her lips together and closed her eyes to shut him out. If she didn’t, she would say or do anything Hunter wanted.

“I want to make love to you, Kata, sweet and slow. But if you keep pushing me, I won’t hesitate to punish you again.”

Punish. Spank. Sensually torture. He’d drive her to the brink of sanity, then throw her into a black chasm of pleasure so overwhelming that the shelter of his arms were her only chance of survival. But his touch came with a price: her soul. He was fast becoming an addiction, and she didn’t know how to break free of something she wanted so desperately. Or what she’d do when she could no longer cope.

“It feels so good,” she admitted.

He caressed her face. “Open your eyes.”

Reluctantly, knowing he would strip her raw once more, Kata did. As their gazes connected, he surged deep inside the clasp of her body again, prodding that hungry spot.

No way could she hold back her needy moan.

“That’s so sweet, the way your pussy tightens on me while your eyes are all but begging. I look forward to taking every opportunity to push your limits, strengthen our bond.”

With his methodical thrusts, Hunter continued to nudge the nerve-laden spot inside her again and again, at a slow pace that set her on fire. She mewled and clasped him tight, panting. God, she was close.

“Come, honey. Don’t hold anything back.”

His whisper filtered down her ear, vibrating inside her. Pleasure gripped her, settling with a dark throb between her legs. The pulses started, shaking her body, bursting her wide open. A guttural roar sounded around her, ringing in her ears, and Kata realized she’d made the sound. Hunter fucked into her again, and the need bubbled over, jolting her entire body. Again, she screamed. A moment later, he spilled inside her with a possessive roar.

His stare locked on hers, and their breathing synced up, foreheads touching. Hunter was buried deep, as if he’d always be a part of her. Kata had never felt closer to another human being in her life—and it scared the hell out of her.

“I love you,” he murmured and kissed the tip of her nose before quietly withdrawing.

Kata closed her eyes. Minutes later, she felt a warm washcloth between her legs, soothing, cleaning. Exhaustion beat at her as she watched him caring for her so intimately. It, like him, was simply too overwhelming.

When he curled up beside her, spooning his body against hers, Kata knew that she should fight, not give him every part of herself.

A voice in her head whispered that it may already be too late.

AFTER a few hours of sleep, Kata and Hunter returned to the hospital. The doctor was in emergency surgery and hadn’t yet signed her mother’s discharge papers. Kata waited impatiently, wincing every time she looked at Mamá lying amongst her sheets. Despite the fact that her color looked a bit better today, she still appeared frail.

Finally, Hunter tracked down the nurse and pushed a few buttons until he’d arranged the release. Now, Kata looked down as he entwined his hand with her own. Even now, she didn’t know if she should grab on tight or push him away.

THEY pulled up in front of Mamá and Gordon’s house near dusk. The lights inside weren’t on, except the alternating flare and darkness of the TV visible through the front window. So, her stepfather was home. Yippee.

Kata wanted to curl into a ball and sleep for a month. For her mother, she had to deal.

“You all right, Mamá?” Kata asked, turning in her seat.

Lying down in the back of the Jeep, her mother smiled. She looked pale, her cheer forced. “You worry too much, Mija. The doctor said I will be fine. All the medicine, it has helped.”

But the doctors also prescribed a great deal of rest, and Kata knew she wouldn’t get any here with Gordon. “Please stay with Mari for a few days. Let her wait on you. I’m sure she’d love to have you.”

“We discussed this. She is busy with Carlos and the boys. I will not trouble her. Besides, I belong at home. Gordon will be waiting.”

Damn it, what did she see in that manipulative bastard? “You need someone to take care of you now, Mamá.”

“Truly, I will be fine.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Hunter frowning in question. He didn’t understand why she was fighting so hard to keep her mother from returning home. She’d explained Gordon, but . . . maybe it would compute once he saw the asshole in action. After the way Hunter had fed her from his own hand and bathed her himself, she didn’t think Gordon’s neglect would go over well.

She should be happy that Hunter would finally see the sort of woman she feared becoming and why. Maybe he’d pull back, give her space. But her immediate concern was that he and Gordon would come to blows.

“Ready?” she asked her mother as Hunter stopped the Jeep and jumped out.

When her mother nodded, Kata opened her door, then gathered her mom’s luggage. Mamá tried to get to her feet. Hunter was having none of that. Instead, he bent and picked her mother up as if she weighed nothing.

“Mr. Edgington, I am older and not quite so healthy as you, but I can make my way up the walk. You need not trouble yourself.”