As if he knew my deepest desires and wanted only to cater to them, he reached out and swirled a finger in my belly button, saying, “You are, without a doubt, the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

My breath caught. The words were so rough I could barely make them out. When I realized exactly what he’d said, any lingering doubt about my decision to be with him died the sweetest death. My nerve endings sparked with desire so complete it nearly slayed me.

He worked quickly, furiously, at his pants, no longer content to slowly strip. Finally he, too, was naked. I drank in the sight of him. The golden rays of the moon paid him absolute tribute. He was a buffet of muscles and corded strength. He was big and strong, utterly majestic, and I needed him inside me.

Neither of us said a word as we stepped toward each other in unison. I gasped; he growled. His arms closed around me; my arms closed around him. Our tongues clashed together, and his breath became mine. I burned for him, just as he’d wanted. Though my emotions were frayed and raw, I felt passion boiling inside me, flooding from me into Rome.

He instantly captured and caged the heat. Wave after wave beat around us. A groan purred out of my throat. My hands were all over him-his back, his stomach, his penis. I allowed my fingers to curl around the long, thick length of him, and my other hand gripped the heavy weight of his testicles.

He hissed in a ragged breath and suddenly I was falling down, falling backward. The kiss didn’t break. Instead of slamming into the ground as I expected, I landed on top of Rome. He had twisted, taking the brunt of the fall himself.

“Straddle me,” he said roughly.

I did. With pleasure. My legs settled around his waist, placing the core of me at the tip of his cock. The sensation of flesh against slick flesh rocked me. He tugged me down until my breasts rasped against his chest. Oh, delicious abrasion. Then he slid me up until my nipples perched above his waiting mouth. As he sucked and licked, I rode his cock without actual penetration. I arched and strained against it. Sensation after blissful sensation tore through me.

The deliciousness… the riotous intensity…

He captured my other nipple, giving it the same attention he’d bestowed on the first. “ Rome,” I said, his name a desperate plea. Up and down, I rubbed myself on his penis. The fire in my blood continued to spill into him. “I’m going to-”

“Ride my fingers,” he commanded. He reached between us, his decadent fingers gliding over my stomach, past my pubic hair. “Fuck them like you did before. I’ve thought about it a thousand times since and got hard every time.”

Quivering, I lifted slightly and gave him complete access. He sank two fingers into me. That’s exactly what I’d wanted, a part of him inside me. I fucked his fingers as he’d requested, like I wanted, riding them, driving myself to satisfaction.

“That’s it,” he praised.

My head fell back, and a cry parted my lips. Felt… so… good. Flashing lights winked behind my eyelids as I erupted. Pieces of me soared out of my body, to the stars. While my inner walls clenched and released, tide after tide of pleasure pounded through me. I don’t know how long I milked the orgasm, but when the last spasm tapered away, I collapsed on Rome ’s chest.

He flipped us over. Reaching out, he clasped his pants and dug inside one of the pockets. Expression tense, he withdrew a condom.

“When did you put that in your pocket?” I asked breathlessly.

“After meeting you, I put a condom in every pair of pants I own.”

I arched my brows and chuckled. “That sure you’d get laid?”

“That hopeful.” Sweat trickled down his temples. With muscles bunched, poised for release, he rolled the condom over his length, and then his mouth was covering mine. Consuming. Feeding me kiss after kiss.

I wouldn’t have thought it possible, so replete was I after that mind-shattering climax, but in seconds I began to heat up again. I arched and writhed against him. I strained. I purred.

I gasped his name.

He shouted mine.

“Inside you. Now,” he growled.

“Inside me. Now,” I commanded. I spread my legs, anchoring my ankles on his back. God, yes.

He slammed into me, all the way to the hilt. No more foreplay. No more going slowly. We were too far gone for that. My back arched. I cried out. My nerve endings caught on fire. Flames licked at me.

Rome drew them inside himself, and I think that must have increased his own pleasure because he pulled out of me and drove home again. Hard. In and out. Over and over. We strained against each other. As the pleasure increased, his strokes quickened. My nipples rubbed against his chest, a decadent friction.

He kissed me again, our tongues battling, following the same in and out pattern as our bodies. My eyes squeezed shut as I savored a frantic thrust, then I opened them-forced them open, really. I wanted to watch him, watch his face when he came.

I saw glimpses of the beast inside him, flashes of fur and fang, and God help me, it excited me all the more, pushed me over the sweet edge for a second time. Another orgasm blasted through me.

“Belle,” he roared, as he, too, erupted. “Belle, Belle, Belle.”

AFTERWARD, I LAY in Rome ’s arms for a long while. Thankfully, the only fires I’d started had been inside us. The trees were intact. The animals went about their business without interruption.

My body ached with satisfaction. It had been a long-long-time for me, and never like this. Sweat beaded our skin, sticking us together. I stretched languidly. “I’m going for a swim,” I announced.

“Mmm, but I want you to stay in my arms.”

I planted a kiss on his mouthwatering chest and eased to my feet. My bones protested, but I forced myself to remain standing. If I lingered in his arms, I was more likely to allow myself to think about what we’d done, more likely to fall deeper in love with him. I was already addicted to him.

“I do like the view,” he said, his tone heavy with admiration.

I tossed him a grin over my shoulder as I stepped into the water. The coolness of it lapped at me, making me shiver. I dove under, soothing my overheated cheeks and staying there as long as my lungs would allow before coming up for air. The pond was deeper than I’d thought. And tranquil. I treaded water, staying afloat.

“You should come in here,” I said. He was bathed in shadows, and I could barely make him out from my vantage point.

“No, you should come out,” he said, his tone deadly serious. Without a hint of teasing.

“You just want to see me naked again.”

“Actually.” His shadow grew taller as he stood. “I don’t want to be eaten by that alligator.”

I screamed-an ear-piercing, end-of-the-world scream-and scrambled out of the water as quickly as I could. I threw myself in Rome ’s arms, my heart pounding so fast I thought it would burst from my chest.

He was laughing. The ass!

“That’s what you get for Tasering me.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing, too. “You play dirty, Mr. Masters.”

“You were right.” He nuzzled my cheeks with his nose. “I really did want to see you naked again. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’ll be sorrier when I never let you see me naked again.” I dressed, and he reluctantly followed suit. “Catch me if you can,” I said, and raced to the cabin.

Rome jogged after me, his laughter echoing through the night. I loved the sound of it; he didn’t laugh often enough. He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to the cabin’s threshold, where he shouldered the door open. “You’re going to-” He stopped abruptly and sniffed the air. A strange look crossed his features, chasing away his good humor. He stiffened. “Get in the car,” he said quietly.

What the hell was going on? I turned, but-

“No need to leave,” an unfamiliar voice called from inside the cabin. “You might as well let her come inside, since I’ll shoot her if she takes a single step toward the car.”