The air left her lungs in a great whoosh of breath. Dressed in nothing but black leather trews, hair falling about his savage face, he was forbiddingly beautiful. When he bent and stripped off his boots, the muscles in his powerful back and wide shoulders rippled, reminding her that he was twice her size, his arms were bands of steel, his body a meticulously honed machine.

Something about him is different. . . .

It took her a few moments to understand what it was. For the first time, she was seeing him without his eternal reserve and icy control. His gestures were no longer smoothly executed. Standing there, legs splayed, he was pure male aggression, insolent and unleashed.

She was startled to realize she was panting softly. That big, rock-hard aggressive man who was coming unraveled was going to make love to her.

He paced two more silent circles around her—oh, yes, there was a reckless masculine swagger in his walk—then closed in on her, his hand working at the laces of his trews. He was regarding her with mocking, possessive amusement as if he sensed she verged on fleeing, knew he could outrun her, and rather hoped she’d try.

As his big hand undid the laces, her gaze was drawn there, down his rippling stomach to the bulge in his pants that was . . . quite large. And soon to be inside her.

“M-maybe we should do this really slow,” she stammered. “Dageus, I think—”

“Hush,” he snapped, as he freed himself from his trews.

Chloe closed her mouth, staring. The sight of him in leather pants half-undone, legs spread, hard body glistening gold in the sunlight, with his thick erection pushing hungrily up would be engraved in her memory until the end of time. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t even swallow. She sure as hell wasn’t going to blink and miss a minute of it. Nearly six and a half feet of raw, pulsing man was standing there, his hot gaze raking her, as if he were contemplating which part of her to taste first. She simply stared, her heart hammering.

“You know I’m no’ a good man,” he said, his voice deceptively gentle, belying the steel beneath it. “I’ve made no excuses. I’ve given you no pretty lies. You came with me anyway. Doona pretend you doona know what I want and doona think to deny me. Twice now you’ve tried to go back. There is no going back with me, Chloe-lass.” He hissed the last words, his lips drawing away from his teeth. “You know what I want and you want it too. You want it just the way I’m about to give it to you.”

Chloe’s knees nearly buckled. Anticipation shivered through her. He was right. On all counts.

He stalked. “Hard, fast, deep. When I’m done, you’ll know you’re mine. And you’ll never think of naysaying me again.”