“?Co ti jebe?” Are you insane? “You tease me now?”
“I’m not teasing, but I am determined. You’re going to tell me what’s wrong with you. And I’m not demanding, mind you. I’m simply giving you a reason to want to tell me.”
“Such a dirty trick.” She attempted to maneuver to her knees. When it proved unsuccessful, she leaned into the waterfall. He merely followed her, fitting his mouth around a succulent nipple and suckling, tasting her sweetness.
The curses stopped—until he stopped.
“Chod materi do pice.” Fuck off.
“I will fuck you...just as soon as you give me what I want. Like for like. Nothing is free in this world.”
She melted against him and combed her fingers through his soaking hair. “You are a diabolical fiend...but...but...oh! Please.”
Please...yes... He suckled her nipple while once again rubbing his fingers between her legs...but when she gasped, close to falling over the edge, he forced himself to stop.
Eternity wins.
Destruction banged at his skull—more!—as Katarina banged her little fists into his shoulders a second time.
“Your decision, Rina,” he prompted. His mind was so fogged with arousal, his every nerve ending shouting; he wasn’t sure where he found the strength to remain immobile. “Talk or stay just...like...this.”
More beating before she finally gave up, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against the hollow of his neck.
Panting for breath, she told him, “I have the coin.”
He stiffened. Well, he stiffened worse. “When did you find it?”
“Today. Alek hid it inside his black heart.”
The one place Baden hadn’t thought to look.
“My options are limited. Use it to free you from Hades’s rule. Save the hounds from his ire. Or become immortal and be with you. I can have one, but not all.”
“There is no decision, krásavica. While I wear the bands, I won’t bond with you. I won’t allow you to fall under Hades’s command. So you must use the coin to become immortal, and together we will save the hounds.” He would have her always and forever.
Creases formed in her brow. “What happens when the bands are removed?”
“Not removed, but absorbed. I’ll become Hades’s son. A supernatural adoption. He won’t hurt what’s mine.”
She looked hopeful, but shook her head. “I can’t trust—”
“Trust me.” Finally Baden moved, sliding in and out of her once...twice...before stopping again. She clung to him. “Promise me.”
Her claws scratched his back, every mark stinging. “I’ll do what I think is best.” That said, she bit his ear and then, oh, then, she turned the tables on him, whispering all the things he made her feel, telling him how deeply she ached for him, how only he could satisfy her.
How had he ever thought this woman unsuitable for him? How had he ever thought her weak?
Of the two of them, she was stronger. By far. She had tamed the beast. She had walked away from a bargain with Lucifer. She had won the allegiance of a hellhound pack. There was nothing she couldn’t do.
And there was one thing Baden couldn’t do: stay still. Not any longer.
“Rina.” He flashed her to their bed, because there, with her, was home. He pinned her underneath him, his shaft still buried hilt-deep. “Will you wrap your legs around me?”
The moment she complied, he gripped the headboard and pulled out, farther and farther, until he almost slid free—then he slammed back in. He repeated the action again and again...moving in and out of her. My woman. Mine to pleasure.
Every thrust of his hips was a promise. Every gasp of his name was a new tie between them. A new bond: a man and his woman...a man and his greatest treasure.
Over the years, Baden had experienced the worst life—and death—had to offer. She had made everything better. She had made every trial, every battle, worth fighting.
Control slipping, he pinned her hands over her head. Their fingers wove together. He slowed...slowed his thrusts...until every inward glide lasted an endless eternity, her hips lifting as high as she could get them to greet him. Sweat slicked their bodies and her nipples teased his chest, the friction delicious, like running matches over a hard surface. Flames sparked.
He held her gaze, letting the tenderness only she elicited shine bright and true, without hindrance. “There will always be something, some reason we shouldn’t be together, but there will never be a good time to live without you. I will cherish you, Rina. I will never hurt you, not again. And I will show you the world—my world. Our world.”