“Allowing anyone, even Mairelon, not only to come close to her, but to circle her waist with his arms brought back old fears, though she had to admit that the sensation was pleasurable on those rare occasions when she could relax enough to enjoy it.”

“When she brought her lips back closer to his face, his eyelids flickered and shut for a moment. In a swift motion he rolled on top of her, and his mouth was on hers before she could make a sound. His hand pressed on her lower back, tracing the curve of her waist. She felt the heat building inside her and the goosebumps rising on her arm. His other hand slowly moved upward, until his fingers flexed back and forth in her hair.”

“I don't need a mate,” she muttered, staring up at the bright circle of the early autumn moon. “But can't you send me a nice, sexy, strongmale to dance with? Pretty please?” She hadn't had a lover for close to eight months now, and it was starting to hurt on every level. “He doesn't even have to be smart, just good between the sheets.” Good enough to unsnap the tension in her body, allow her to function again. Because sex wasn't simply about pleasure for a cat like her—it was about affection, about trust, about everything good. “Though right this second, I'd take plain old hot sex.”That was when Riley walked out of the shadows. “Got an itch, kitty?” Snapping to her feet, she narrowed her eyes, knowing he had to have deliberately stayed downwind in order to sneak up on her. “Spying?” “When you're talking loud enough to wake the dead?” She swore she could feel steam coming out her ears.”

“He kept his hand on her lower back as they headed for the house.Halfway up the walk, she could take the tingling no longer. She whirled and hugged him. He squeezed her back and whispered something into her hair. She listened to his breathing and relaxed in the circle of his arms.“Should we get inside before your Dad pulls up and finds me ravishing you on this cement path?” he said, more clearly now. She could hear the snicker in his voice.”

“But for now, she would lie in her husband's arms, her eyes closed and her body still against his, thinking that if this was all she ever had, it would be enough.”

“And then those dusky lashes fluttered up, revealing a lambent gleam of jungle green.His hands circled her waist and she slowly flexed his hips, a wholly male sound of satisfaction escaping him when her eyes fluttered shut and she gasped.And then a small, secret, feminine smile appeared on her lips and Chase’s control snapped like a power line in a high wind.Wrapping her in his arms, he began to pump into her in a slow, relentless rhythm that was both too much and not enough.”