yet he was right behind her. "breaststroke?" he said in a rumbling voice. "sounds like a great idea."

not really. the water streamed past her nipples, turning her on even more. her hair must've come loose because strands tickled across her breasts. she chanced a look over her shoulder. by the way his molten gaze narrowed, she got the sense that he liked the chase.

i think i might too.

reaching the bank, she scrambled up the edge. he looked like he was about to lunge for her, so she dived, arcing over his head to start for the opposite shore.

as she surfaced, he was still groaning. "that image'll stay with me for the next nine hundred years."

she was gunning for land when he snagged her ankle, snatching her back to him. when they were face-to-face, he informed her, "playtime's over, mate. i mean to be inside you." then he looped his arm around her thighs, lifting her until she was forced to bend over one brawny shoulder.

"what the hell are you-"

smack! down came his palm across her wet bottom.

"macrieve!" she wriggled over his shoulder, no longer surprised by how that turned her on. her stiff nipples grazed his back with each step he took toward the shore.

"that's what happens if you make me chase you." another smack! "and that's what'll happen if you doona make me chase you."

when he started kneading her there, she bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning.

he sloshed through the water to a grassy bank that dropped off to the lake. "down you go." he settled her so she was sitting with her feet still in the water, and with him between her knees. their faces were level, which meant her breasts were within easy reach of his mouth.

he inhaled deeply. "rough play got to you again? how i'm goin' to enjoy discovering everything that pushes your buttons."

busted. she lifted her chin. "and what pushes yours?"

he reached beneath the surface, pulled off his swim trunks, then tossed them on the shore. "simple. tawny-haired female footballers who like to have their arses swatted. gets me every time."

her lips parted around shallowing breaths.

he brushed a drop of water from the bottom one. "you're all wet. i told you that you'd never need a towel when i'm around," he said, raising his hands to cup both her breasts. he bent his dark head over them, lowering his mouth to one.

he alternated nuzzling kisses on her nipples. when he scraped his stubble over the tips, she gasped with delight.

then he gave a loud suck on one peak, rendering it swollen red. he moved to the other one, repeating the process.

when he blew on them, she cried, "macrieve!"

"you tortured me thus when you suckled on my cock." he rasped in her ear, "i'll do the same with your wee clit, sucking till it's throbbing, then blow on it."

she whimpered. not fair, and he knew it! his brogue plus dirty words equaled chloe about to orgasm.

he kept at her breasts until she was murmuring, "please," over and over.

"shall i make you come just from nursing your sweet tits?"

how about just from talking? he could make her come from his voice. she beat against his back, but he just chuckled against her skin.

yet when he hooked his fingers into her shorts, she gave herself a mental shake and stayed his hands. she had an agenda-and a championship trophy at stake. "um, wait. i don't know about sex."

he drew back to face her. "what's wrong?"

"macrieve, twice is really damned close to three times." she gave a nervous laugh. "the succubus hat trick?" she wanted to win him over; they shouldn't be rushing into anything.

and what if she got pregnant from this time? munro had said succubae had cycles throughout the year, but he didn't know when or how a cambion could get pregnant. considering macrieve's past, how would he react to part-ubus kids? "i'm just saying it's a big step, and i don't want you to have any regrets."

"we're already bound by fate, chloe. what if i would do anything to have you? even something that . . . that i'd no' envisioned for myself?"

of course he hadn't envisioned a bond with a succubus. but his admission seemed to carry a wealth of sentiment.

"can't we just take this more slowly?" today she'd glimpsed what life with him could be like, and she wanted it.

"i would dearly love to take you when you are no' hungry. when you would no' strew. when i could have control of my own actions." though his tone was even, his bearing told her he was aching for this.

her resistance was melting.

"i dinna want to make you nervous, but tomorrow night's the full moon."

"what does that mean?"

"my beast will rise. it'll seek to mate you all night, with much more power. i'll have no control over it."

"remember, i don't have a problem with your beast. we got along great."

macrieve's expression was disbelieving, like a wolf sensing a trap-because the bait was too good to be true. "then you'll receive me under the moon? if i feed you between now and then, you'll be strong enough to take me."

the bond would definitely be completed tomorrow; today would make no difference. was she ready for this?

"you have tae feed, mo chridhe."

my heart. he hadn't called her that since the day of her turning.

he brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. "i canna be easy until you have fed at least once a day. besides, you will no' want tae miss what i've in store for you."

the sinful look in his eyes made her stutter, "n-no?"

he kissed her neck, her jawline, her ear, telling her, "i plan tae lick your sweet cunny right up tae the point when it's quivering, about tae release right on my tongue. then i'm goin' tae fit my thick cock inside your sheath, fucking you till you come all over me."

she moaned, "you're not playing fair." she was losing this battle-happily losing it. so why was she still wavering?

"play fair?" he gave a husky laugh. "if you understood how badly i want you, then you would no' even expect me tae. . . ."

will's shaft pulsed, his ballocks full for her. he loved that chloe responded to dirty words; now that he'd learned the power of them, he knew he was just going to get worse.

sex as a man was infinitely more exciting than sex as a beast.

so stay down, creature. as if in answer, his beast started prowling.

when will reached for her shorts, this time she lifted up to help him remove them. once she was unclothed, he savored the sight.

her vivid eyes were heavy-lidded, and sunlight glinted off the drops all over her supple body. he would never tire of seeing her breasts swelling for his greedy gaze, her nipples pouting for his mouth. never tire of seeing her shapely legs trembling with anticipation. the way the tawny thatch of hair between her thighs sheened in the sun . . .

leamsa. mine. at that moment, he didn't feel cursed-quite the opposite.

determined to make her come during sex, he decided he would take her to the very edge. she'd pay for all her talk of whiskey dick and uneven scores. "spread your legs for my kiss."

when she dutifully did, her heart sped up.

"my wanton mate loves tae be tongued." as he bent down to her sex, her luscious lips were pink and glistening. he used his thumbs to spread her moist folds wide, then thrust his tongue inside her.

she mewed, arching her back and drawing her knees up around his head.

"gods, you heat my blood!" he groaned against her. he felt like a race was on-to take her to the brink before he lost his battle with his beast. and with his cock. it throbbed to replace his tongue, was spilling pre-cum into the water. he grated, "play with your breasts for me." then he set back in, burrowing his tongue into her.

with a cry, she lifted her hands, cupping those full mounds. when she pinched her nipples, he growled praise against her flesh.

between deep licks at her entrance, he said, "my seed's going right in there. right where you need it. do you crave it, hot and thick within you?"

"y-yes!" she panted. her thighs were tightening around his ears, her hands clutching her breasts.

already close. he kissed up to her clit, rubbing it with his tongue.

"oh god, macrieve, oh god, i'm about to . . ."

somehow he drew back.

"no! why?" legs still spread, she undulated for him with a breathtaking lewdness. so he speared her there with a thick finger. slippery flesh clenched around it.

"ahhh!"

he took his finger away. "feels empty?"

when she could only moan low, he knew chloe had given him her fire to tend once more. he was steering this encounter, he was leading them. he'd married his mate's will to his.

now, if only he could govern his beast so well.

will dragged her closer, so her arse was at the edge of the bank. with her spread even wider before him, he cupped her sex possessively. "is leamsa so."

she mindlessly rocked to his palm.

"this is mine. look at me and tell me that."

she opened her eyes. they were green-telling him she was about to orgasm for him.

"it's y-yours."

"and what are you?"

"i'm yours too."

"good girl." he entered her with a swift thrust of his cock.

she came immediately, freeing him, lessening his nerves. as her sheath squeezed his length and wetness coated it, he rasped, "tapadh leat, aingeal." thank you, angel. then he plunged into her come, yelling out to feel it. "your honey's all over me."

her head lolled, her mouth open on a soundless cry.

keep the beast down. this was too powerful to share; will wanted her all to himself. he wrapped one arm around her arse, one around her neck, lifting her to him.

with each thrust, some indescribable need seemed to awaken more and more, one that had nothing to do with his beast or his instinct. he felt like he couldn't get close enough to her-though he'd clenched her body seamlessly to his.

he felt like he couldn't fuck her hard enough-though he was pistoning his hips between her thighs.

he was inside his mate, and yet he was desperate for her. madness seemed to dance at the edge of his consciousness. how could he want her so . . . violently?

his heart thundered in his ears; his chest felt scored inside. crazed, he drove in and out of her. only one thing could make him this frantic for her! "your strew, it's happening."

"how c-can you tell?"

he clamped her nape to meet her gaze. "because i am"-thrust-"fucking"-thrust-"ravening for you!" his roar echoed off the rocks, louder than the falls.

when she whispered, "i feel the same," emotions he didn't understand overpowered him. dangerous feelings. demented. dark.

i'll die without her. i'll bluidy die! he roiled with confusion, his thoughts tangled. sometime in his frenzy, she'd come again. she was now limp in his arms, moaning with ecstasy, simply taking his manic shafting. he clasped her beautiful face, dipping his thumb between her lips. she sucked it with bliss, eyes rolling back in her head.

my lass, my lass. love.

when his beast rose up with redoubled strength, will was too dazed to fight any longer. he receded. tend her well, beast, she's yours.

for now.

never withdrawing, the beast maneuvered her body, flipping her so that her front lay on the grassy bank.

pressing her head down and lifting her arse, it pounded into her from behind like the animal it was.

it moved her thick mane of hair to bare her neck, gazing at her flesh with longing, baying to mark her there.

give her enough, but no' all. . . . will reined the beast back in, denying its bite-allowing only the strongest ejaculation they'd ever known.

chapter forty-one

is it like this for other people?" chloe asked. she and macrieve were lying on the bank together, reclined on their sides, naked in the late afternoon sun. his smooth, damp skin was flushed from exertion, his muscles still bulging. his eyes were heavy-lidded and warm gold, his beast at rest.

macrieve gave a short laugh. "i know i've never felt anything like it."

with a grin, she said, "did your ballocks beg for mercy?"

"they still are."

she laughed. "i used to wonder why everyone was always thinking about sex. i couldn't understand it. now i do."

and more, she'd been reminded today of how good it could be between them, her hope-spark flaring unchecked. to think she might've missed this if she hadn't given him a second chance!

"hey, aren't you supposed to mark my neck?"

"in time." had his gaze darted?

"if we're going to keep doing this, i need to get on birth control. munro said he didn't know what my cycles would be like."

"you've no need to worry about that."

"how can you be sure? macrieve, what if i did get pregnant? what would you do?"

there. a flash of anguish before he disguised it.

her heart fell. she'd wondered how he'd feel about having children with her. now she knew. she could even understand it, considering his past. that didn't mean she wasn't hurt.

she got up to dress. "message received." then she sucked in a breath. "would something be wrong with them? would they be monstrous?"

he sat up with a weary exhalation. "monstrous? nay. but they could be incubi or succubae."

she stilled. "you just so much as said, 'they wouldn't be monstrous, however, they could be like you.' "

"that's no' what i said." he ran his fingers through his wet hair. "you are the one who wanted to take this slow. the idea of children is a lot to wrap my head around."

she yanked on the wet shorts, searching for her bra. "what if it's already happened? it might have!"

"rest easy, chloe. the talisman you wear has been imbued twice. once to keep you hidden, and again to keep you from getting pregnant."

"what?" she turned on him, draping her arm over her breasts. "you put me on birth control without even discussing it with me?"

"your eyes are glowing with anger? do you want me to impregnate you?"

"no, but i hate that you made a decision like that for me! that shit might've flown in the eleventh century, but not today."