His teeth scraped her jaw and then moved lower to her neck. His breath blew hot over her skin, scorching a path from her ear to her shoulder.

He alternately nipped, sucked, and kissed her until she was sure she’d wear the marks for an entire fortnight. He was insatiable, as if he’d starved himself of her for too long and could no longer control his intense hunger.

She threw back her head, surrendering to his power. She offered her submission freely. He awoke a fierce longing within her. Feelings that she’d never considered. She wanted to belong to him. She wanted to be cherished by him.

She was his wife. She closed her eyes and her heart to the reason for their marriage. Just because it had begun one way didn’t mean it couldn’t change to something else entirely.

She wanted his love.

Aye, she demanded it.

Now that she’d had a taste of his regard and his tenderness, she knew he was capable. Aye, he was more than capable of more tender feelings. No matter what he thought, his heart wasn’t completely closed to love.

It was up to her to show him.

Faster and harder he moved between her legs. Refusing to lie passively as he staked his claim, she returned each kiss and each caress with equal fervor.

He might be claiming her, but she was staking her claim as well.

This warrior was hers. He was her husband. Her lover.

Never would she let him go.

He slipped one hand between them and brushed his fingertips over her quivering flesh just as he thrust fiercely into her once more.

’Twas all that was needed for her to lose all sense of herself. The flash bewildered her. One moment she was drawn as tight as a bowstring and the next she was being flung across the star-filled sky, scattering just like the twinkling lights.

Her mind went completely and utterly blank. All she could process was the incredible pleasure that flooded her veins and slugged like thick honey through her limbs.

She couldn’t draw a breath. She panted, her nostrils flaring with the effort it took to pull air into her lungs.

Above her, Caelen gave a shout and then thrust forward so hard that he collapsed onto her body, driving them both deep into the mattress.

His forehead hit the pillow beside her head and he dug his arms underneath her so that he gathered her tight against his body.

Between her thighs, he flinched and flexed as his big body shuddered helplessly above her.

His chest heaved, and she knew that he had the same difficulty in drawing breath.

With a smile, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek in the curve of his neck as she absorbed the wondrous sensation of their bodies joined so tight that naught could separate them.

CHAPTER 12

Chapter 13