When Danii licked her lips and pressed him back on the bed, his expression wavered between excited - and agonized.

And the seducer might even be nervous.

Kneeling between his legs, her palms flat against his chest, she kissed down his torso, nuzzling the trail of crisp hair below his navel. "Remember when I said I'd do this at my leisure? For hours?" When she took him in hand, he bucked as if helpless not to.

"Hours? This might be over before it starts." His accent was thicker than she'd ever heard it. He was watching her as she gave her first seeking lick. "Daniela! Ah - "

Another lick silenced him. A third made him growl. Soon she was raining wet flicks over the slit, tasting him, just as he'd described all those nights ago. He was delicious, with a salty tang.

"Umm, I love your taste," she murmured in a delighted tone.

He cupped her head with shaking hands. "You want me to lose my mind for you? We're on our way."

"But Murdoch, I need more of this." Unable to stop herself, she continued her wet kiss, closing her lips over him. And while her mouth slid down his length, her fingers explored, hefting his sac, which seemed to madden him more.

"Ah, that's it, Danii... "

Sucking hard, she darted her tongue all around until she'd built up a cold, freezing friction.

He groaned, "You're doing it so good, kallim." Digging his heels into the bed, he let his knees fall open. "I'm close. Pull back."

She ran her cheek along his damp shaft. "Let me make you come," she said before she took him back between her lips.

He seemed to be struggling to keep his hips still. Hoarse groans erupted from his chest.

"Daniela, going to come in your mouth... if you don't stop." The big hands palming her head couldn't seem to decide if they wanted to draw her away or press her down.

"No!" He tried to pull back, but her claws were sunk in his ass, so he couldn't move without hurting her. "Ah, baby, I can't hold on."

She could feel his shaft thickening, straining as he began to ejaculate against her tongue.

She's done it - made me lose my fucking mind.

"Daniela!" he roared as he came into her hungry mouth.

His eyes rolled back in his head when she sucked him as if she were starved for him. As if she'd waited two thousand years just to swallow him down, over and over...

Once she'd drained him dry, they both lay back on the bed, gasping, as they had that first night together. Only now could he reach over and hold her hand.

Recalling every wicked instant of what they'd just done had him rebounding in a rush. When he raised himself over her, Daniela's gaze dipped and her lips curled. "My man has talents."

But as he used his knees to spread her thighs, she tilted her head at him. "Murdoch, are you nervous?"

"I want this to be worth the wait."

"It already has been. Anything else is a bonus."

"I haven't done this for a while." He frowned. "Actually, I've never done this." When she quirked a brow, he said, "Claimed my virgin female for all time."

"Oh." She gave him that soft look from under her lashes, the one that made his heart twist in his chest.

"When I make you mine tonight, I'm never letting you go."

She gazed up at him with that exquisite elven face, mesmerizing him. "I never want you to."

He took himself in hand, positioning his cock at her slick entrance. The crown met her wetness, beckoning him inside. He wanted his shaft covered in it, wanted to stir himself in it.

As the head nudged inside, he stared down at her eyes. "Ma armastan sind."

Her eyes glinted at the words, and she whispered, "I love you, too."

Mounting her untried body, he inched inside, stretching her sheath. "Don't want to hurt you," he grated, fighting to go slow.

"It's not... too bad. Just keep going." She was clutching him to her, her curling claws holding him as if she'd never let go.

"You're so tight. Like a fist squeezing me." Once he'd seated his cock deep, he forced himself to go still, letting her grow accustomed. With untold will, he waited until she began undulating under him.

Only then did he draw his hips back, giving her a measured thrust. The pleasure was so intense that his vision wavered.

"Murdoch, yes!"

Another withdrawal, another pump of his hips that made her moan low. Once he began a rhythm, rocking between her thighs, he kissed her again, delving his tongue in time with his body.

The friction made it warmer, but it was still cold, and cold felt so damn good.

"Daniela, tell me that you're mine."

"I am yours... "

Already, he didn't know how much longer he could last with her nipples rubbing against his chest. The drenched clench of her sex called for his seed, demanding...

"I'll never get enough of you, never," Murdoch rasped with his brows drawn.

His expression made Danii's heart squeeze, even as his determined thrusts were sending her closer to orgasm. His scent drove her wild; his strength captivated her.

As his body worked hers, magnificent taut cords of muscle stood in relief. The latent power of a male vampire. She desired that power, savored the way he toiled under her claws.

His arms bulged as he held himself up to alternately buck his hips hard, then languidly stir them. Gods, the man knows how to move.

Cupping her ass with his fingers splayed, he lifted her, wrenching her along his shaft.

"Murdoch!" she cried, already on the verge again.

He worked her up and down, harder and harder until her teeth clattered with each landing.

She wrapped her legs tight around his waist, which seemed to spur him. He went wild, possessively pinning her arms over her head, so that even more of their bodies could touch.

Surging over her, he rode her sheath in a frenzy. His face was an agonized mask, his body straining for her. "Come, kallim. Let me feel you."

At that moment, she wanted to give him anything he desired. She needed to surrender to him. Surrender everything to him.

"Take my blood," she managed to whisper.

"What?"

"Drink me."

"Ah, Daniela, you don't have to ask me twice... " He licked her neck, then sank his fangs into her.

As he pierced her, Danii's eyes went wide, and she gave a shocked cry - she'd begun to come immediately. He must have felt her, because he gave a frenzied growl.

"Murdoch! Ah, yes!" As her orgasm ripped through her, his shaft thickened even more, swelling until he could barely move inside her.

Then he went motionless, snarling against her. Just when she felt the first lash of his semen, his hips began plunging like a piston, taking him to the very end.

As he drew her blood, he flooded her with seed. She felt every pumping jet, prolonging her own ecstasy.

With a final groan, he released his fangs, collapsing atop her, his breaths cooling against her new mark. With seeming great effort, he rolled off her, but only to enfold her in his arms.

She lay on his chest, skin to skin. He clutched her to him, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"That was worth my wait, vampire."

"I'm glad, Valkyrie. Because I'd have counted down eternity for that."