She protested, but he ignored her. He only sank down into a chair in the corner of the room and watched her glare at him.

Sarafina grabbed her boxer shorts and T-shirt from a nearby chair and slipped them on. “You’re evil.”

He smiled. “Maybe a little. Sleep now and I’ll be even more evil later.”

SARAFINA WOKE THE SAME WAY SHE’D GONE TO sleep—aching for Theo. She craved the feel of his body against hers, his tongue on her skin, his hands on her body. Being with him, having him inside her, was the only time she truly felt safe anymore.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she moaned, stretching under the sheet that covered her. Theo was no longer in the chair. Actually, he was no longer in the room. That was strange since he rarely let her out of his sight.

She rose, not bothering to cover herself. “Theo?”

No answer.

She navigated the room in the predawn, headed to the hallway, and hit her shin on the bed frame. “Ow!” She hopped on one foot toward the living room, hand to her shin. “Theo?”

“I’m here.” A warm body pressed against hers, crowding her back against the wall.

“Theo,” she murmured, smiling. The dawn light just barely kissed the edges of his hair and bleached the color from his normally well-tanned skin. Shadows played over his face, obscuring his eyes. She reached up and let his long hair curl through her fingers. “I was worried you’d left me.”

“Of course not.”

But he would. Eventually, he would leave her. He’d push her away because he didn’t feel worthy of her. The pain that Theo had had to endure all his life—goodness, it had started at birth—had shaped him that way. Too damaged for love. His life had molded him in such a way that he felt unworthy of anyone’s kindness, anyone’s total commitment.

And, damn it, she’d fallen in love with him. Didn’t bode well for her, did it?

“I—” She snapped her mouth closed and swallowed hard. The darkness closed around them like a smaller room within the room. “I want you, Theo,” she whispered against his lips. “I need to have you inside me. I want to feel close to you, as close as I can get.”

He turned her toward the wall and pushed her hair to the side, his fingers running over the skin of her shoulder in a sensual sweep. His hands slipped over her bare breasts, caressing her nipples as his lips and teeth caught her earlobe and nipped.

A shiver ran through her and goose bumps erupted over her skin. Her sex plumped, excited, eager.

“Dally with the aeamon now for I’ll be coming for you soon.”

Bai’s voice.