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He hummed against my skin, the vibration traveled straight through me, and switched sides. Fang. Tongue. Soft suction. The careful pressure of his tail around the full curve of my breast. Every sensation layered until I was panting, fingers tangled in the dark silk of his hair, careful of the horns.

"You're so soft. I love touching and kissing you." He rasped.

His free hand—claws carefully retracted—skimmed down my stomach and between my thighs. Two fingers slid through the slick heat there, finding me soaking wet and aching for him. He stroked once, twice, then pushed inside slowly, curling them just right.

I cried out, and his hips lifted in response. He watched my face the entire time, eyes glowing brighter with every sound I made. When I was trembling on the edge he withdrew his fingers, settled between my thighs, and pushed into me in one long, controlled thrust. The stretch was deeper like this. Fuller. I felt every ridge, every thick inch of him, until he was seated to the hilt and we were both breathing hard.

He held still, forehead against mine, giving me time to adjust. Then he began to move. Slowly, he rolled his hips. Deep strokes that dragged against every sensitive place inside me. His wings shifted above us, the soft rush of air cooling the sweat on my skin. His tail never left my breasts—still wrapped, still teasing—while one hand braced beside my head and the other slid beneath my lower back, tilting me so he could sink even deeper.

"Look at me," he demanded.

I did.

Those ancient eyes held mine as he thrust harder, still careful, still controlled, but no longer gentle. The headboard tapped the wall in a steady rhythm. Soft, broken sounds spilled from my throat with every stroke. I cried his name. "Azaren." until I was shaking apart beneath him.

His fangs grazed the side of my neck, not biting, just pressing, claiming. The tip of his tail flicked across my nipple one last time as the coil around my breast tightened.

"Come for me, Poppy."

I did.

The climax crashed through me hard enough that my vision went white at the edges. I clenched around him, crying out, my nails dug into his shoulders. He followed a heartbeat later with a low, guttural groan, burying himself deep and pulsing inside me, wings flaring wide as pleasure overtook him.

For a long time neither of us moved.

He stayed inside me, his weight carefully braced, his face buried in the curve of my neck. His tail loosened its hold on my breast and simply rested across my stomach, the tip traced idle, affectionate patterns on my skin. One wing curved around us like a living blanket.

I stroked the damp hair at the nape of his neck, careful of the horns, and felt him shiver.

"I love you," I whispered into the quiet.

He lifted his head just enough to look at me.

The fierce, ancient hunter was still there.

But so was something else.

Something warm.

Something wonderfully, impossibly human.

Something that belonged only to me.

"I love you," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "More than I knew it was possible to love anything."

My heart swelled so full I thought it might burst.

"I love you too," I whispered.

He rolled us carefully onto our sides so he wouldn't crush me, never letting me go. Outside the bedroom window, dawn painted the sky in soft shades of gold and blush. Birds welcomed the new morning, their songs drifting across Screaming Woods.

For the first time since the Frankenpunch had turned our little town upside down... I felt at peace. I smiled against his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

I was just dozing off, when my phone rang. I groaned. "Seriously?"

Azaren's lips twitched. "It appears the world refuses to acknowledge your desire to remain in bed."

"Rude."