Demon Forged

when she closed her eyes, when she twisted and screamed his name. Then she lay still for a brief second and laughed again.
    It had been a long wait. And he still wasn’t finished.
    He drove her hard, his mouth and fingers ruthless. Had it been any other woman he would have stopped, would have tired of it, would have been ready to seek his own pleasure. But he’d never found as much pleasure as this, watching Irena try to hold back, watching her give in. Listening to her breathless laugh each time.
    He felt a gradual change in her response, a softening beneath his mouth and hands. She had opened to him, yet the tension within her hadn’t only been erotic. And she’d reveled in her arousal, but now, she luxuriated in it, like steel that had heated to melting. Still hot, but no longer trying to hold a shape.
    He eased up, each lick a long slow taste, sliding his hands up her sides. Irena arched, her head tilting back.
    “You lied, Olek.” Her breath was ragged. “I am burning.”
    But not from the fire. His Gift still kept her safe. She came, not with a violent twist, but on an endless cresting wave that lifted her against him, her fingers clutching his hair—not in demand, but as an anchor.
    He lifted her out of the hearth and found his legs would not stand. With Irena’s thighs circling his waist, he sank to his knees. Her lips found his in a slow melting kiss.
    He settled her over his erection, felt the heat of her sex through his trousers. That would be all for now. And it would be enough. For although the need in his body still raged, hers was satiated. She would welcome him in, meet his every thrust, and find another release with that liquid ease. But her anticipation, her urgency would not match his, and he needed her wound as tightly as he was more than he needed to bury himself inside her.
    She must have noted the change in his touch. Her lips left his, and she leaned back to study his face.
    “You do not fulfill your second vow?”
    To his relief, Alejandro couldn’t sense any disappointment in her, only curiosity. “Not this night.”
    Her mouth curved. “You have finished me well. It would be difficult to follow that.”
    For an instant, his pride demanded that he prove her wrong. Then he admitted, “Yes.”
    She laughed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, rocking forward against his shaft. He tensed; she stopped.
    When she looked at him again, her eyes flashed with green fire. “You did come. I felt you.”
    “Yes.” Only a man of iron could have tasted her, could have watched and sensed her pleasure for that long and not found his release. But his erection hadn’t softened. For a Guardian, the spirit only needed to be willing, and the flesh was capable. “I am finished, Irena.”
    “But not satisfied.” She pushed her hand between his legs, pressing her palm to his heated shaft. “And not finished.”
    “I do not need—”
    Irena threw herself at his chest. Unbalanced, he fell over, his back smashing into the hard earthen floor. Irena rode over with him, straddling his stomach. Her mouth fastened to his.
    This time, it was no slow, melting kiss. She licked past his lips to duel with his tongue. Alejandro’s body ratcheted tight, as if she’d already wrapped her mouth around his shaft and drew on him. Her hand stroked beneath his trousers. Almost deranged by pleasure of it, he fought for sanity.
    “Irena—” He could barely speak. He would explode at any moment. “I don’t need repayment,” he forced out.
    Her hand froze. Her gaze clashed with his. Heat filled it, followed by determination—but no anger. Softly, she said, “You stupid man .”
    He couldn’t remember her using man as an insult before. Briefly, he wondered if he should pride himself in being the first who drove her to it, and tried to appear as if he had a modicum of sense left. “You will enlighten me, I hope.”
    “You think women do not take pleasure in it. Repayment .” She repeated the word like a curse.
    He struggled against his pride. “Many do not.” And sensing emotions was not always an advantage in bed. “Not for themselves.”
    And he could not enjoy the act if his partner didn’t.
    “Because they could not own you. Because you did not open to them.” Her fingers unfastened two of the buttons on his shirt before ripping away the rest. “I would not bother to suck you, either, if you gave me nothing in return.”
    Just as she’d said they’d been right to leave. She watched him