Daire held her gaze. They had a long flight ahead of them, and while he trusted the two witches in the cockpit, he was nowhere near a hundred percent. Even so, her confident gaze licked across his skin, and his blood started to burn. “I’ve had a constant erection since the first night I met you, lady. But we should both get some rest, finish healing ourselves, and regain our strength.”

She chuckled, and the throaty tone might as well have been wrapped around his dick.

Then the vixen dropped to her knees and gracefully made her way between his legs. “I can think of a better way to regain our energy.” Her shoulders made room for her, and she hummed as she unzipped his jeans.

Heat flushed down his torso. “You’re awfully brave right now, baby.”

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips, and he fought a groan. “I’ve always been brave.” Smooth as silk, her hand slipped inside his pants and ran along his cock.

Nerves sparked, and his body shuddered. She was the exact opposite of what he thought he wanted in a woman, and yet he’d never hungered more for one. Never. “You’re the wildest woman I’ve ever met,” he murmured.

Absolute delight filled her dark eyes.

He breathed out, an unwilling smile rising up inside him. “That was not a compliment.” Giving in, he caressed a hand through her soft hair. Her former mate had been a smart guy to knock her up so quickly. God knew what kind of havoc she might’ve wreaked if she hadn’t had responsibility right off the bat.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, continuing to stroke him.

“Nothing.” Which suddenly became true. But a ringing clamored through his ears, and his vision was still blurry. He needed to heal and get his faculties back.

Her sweet hand on him shoved all thoughts to the abyss.

She leaned down and placed a very gentle kiss on the tip of his dick.

That was it. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed, following her down until he lay flattened on top of her. She bent her knees, making more room for him right where he wanted to be.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “I really like you, Daire.”

Such sweetness and unusual honesty from her pierced right to his chest. “I like you, too.” Slowly, just to keep things in control, he reached down and released the buttons of her shirt, revealing a pretty flowered bra with a front clasp. He loved front clasps. One quick flick, and the material sprang free, her delicious breasts pouting at him.

He peppered kisses along her neck to take one nipple in his mouth. She gasped and slid her fingers into his hair. His body rioted, and his vision wavered even more. “I’m not a hundred percent here, Felicity.”

She reached down and yanked his shirt over his head. “You feel ready to me.”

He grinned and paid homage to the other breast. Her nipples were pink and fully erect, and he could play with them all day. “My vision is fuzzy,” he admitted.

“Then close your eyes,” she whispered, sliding off her pants and helping him to kick his off.

Good plan. He closed his eyes and just let himself feel, sliding inside her with a couple of hard pushes.

Her sex convulsed around his shaft, and he groaned, moving up her so he could stretch out. “No fire this time,” he whispered against the rapidly beating pulse in her neck. He didn’t have the energy.

Smooth and toned, her thighs clapped against his hips. “Don’t need fire. Just need you,” she whispered.

That sexy voice licked right down his spine. One quickie might give them both energy, and when they were done, they could sleep. Getting shot in the chest hurt more than he’d thought. His vision went completely dark, but his body thrummed with hunger. It slaked through him, aimed solely on Felicity Kyllwood.

Her nails bit into his butt.

He licked her jugular and started to pound. She met him thrust for thrust, her fingers digging into his ass, her hot core caressing around his shaft. The sounds she made, hoarse and sexy, whispered through him, straight to his heart. He thrust harder, giving in to his need and hers.

Fine tremors shook her feminine body. Her core gripped him with enough strength to catch his breath. He tilted his pelvis, just a bit, and scraped over her clit.

She stiffened and then cried out his name. Waves ripped through her body and crashed against him. Fire lit his ass, hot and desperate, shooting electricity through his veins. Her teeth lashed on to his pec, and she bit. Deep.

He held her tighter, gripped her hip to lift her, hammering into her with everything he had. His canines lengthened. All instinct, he sliced into the vulnerable flesh at her neck and held on. Sparks burned through him, igniting every nerve, throwing his senses into overdrive. Lava scalded down his spine to land hard in his balls.

His release stole his breath, jerking rapidly through him. His teeth met in the middle, and a sense of contentment filled him. Finally, he went lax.

She panted against him, her palms drawing soothing circles on his aching butt.

Wait a minute. His canines retracted, and he instinctively licked her wound clean. His body flared awake, and he opened his eyes. He could see, but she was blurry. He’d bitten her.

Oh God.

Glancing down at his hand, he slowly slid to the side and pulled her over. His brand, bright and Celtic, was healing on her hip. “I mated you.” His voice was hoarser than hers would ever be.

She blinked, and her mouth formed a perfect O.

He hadn’t been strong enough to fight both biology and fate, and he had known better. He should’ve rested up before having sex.

“Um,” she said.

He winced. “Let’s just keep calm minds and talk this out.”

She twisted her lip and then drew her arm up to glance at her hand. A perfect Z appeared in the center, dark and somehow feminine.

Both of his eyebrows lifted so quickly his head jerked. “What the fuck?”

She winced and then tilted to the side, peering around his body.

Almost in slow motion, he turned his head to see a perfect match on his left buttock.

She bit her lip. “I marked you, too.” Then, crazy woman that she was, she threw back her head and laughed, long and hard.

Chapter 20

Ivan Bychkov threw a paperweight across the home office. The heavy disk smashed into the window showcasing a lovely view of the Seattle skyline and dropped to the antique rug in three perfect shapes. “I can’t believe this.”

Vadim Deeks continued reading a tablet that looked impossibly small in his massive hands. “The consortia is holding a vote tomorrow morning about your leadership. My sources confirm that you’re about to be voted out.” He tapped the tablet with strong fingers, causing a protesting ping from the computer with every stroke. “There’s also rumor of a vote to cut off your head.”

No shit. Once leaders were replaced, they weren’t wanted any longer. If he set foot on his continent, he’d be dead within hours. “Any idea who’s behind this?”

Vadim shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. There’s enough momentum that if you don’t turn the tide and now, you’re out.” He spoke without inflection. “We need to regain the cash, jewels, and gold from the bank accounts, or we’re both finished with the consortia.”

“That bitch,” Bychkov said, running a shaking hand through his thick hair. He had seriously underestimated Felicity. The bank strikes had been perfectly orchestrated, and combined with the mining incidents, had crippled him financially. More important, it had crippled the consortia, which meant his head was wanted on a stake. “She went right for my weaknesses.” Before the last week, he hadn’t realized he even had weaknesses.

Vadim nodded. “Now we go after hers.”

A computer dinged on the walnut desk, and Bychkov hurried over to read the screen. His stock portfolio. “We’re bleeding money,” he muttered, leaning over to type in several commands. What in the world? As he watched, the stock values plummeted. His gut rolled over, and he swallowed down puke.