“I’ve never made love to anyone before,” she whispered, overwhelmed by what she was feeling, how strong, how unstoppable her emotions were.

He leaned closer and his mouth hovered over hers. But instead of kissing her, he whispered across her lips, “Yes, you have. Every time we’ve touched, you’ve let me love you.” His voice was even deeper than normal, and raw with emotion. “And you’ve loved me right back.”

His reply was utterly unexpected.

And, amazingly, just as true.

Just because she hadn’t wanted to let herself love him, didn’t mean she’d even come close to succeeding. From that first brush of their fingertips in the park, to the kiss she’d given him on his cheek, to passion exploding in the alley at the ballpark...no matter what she’d told herself, no matter how she’d tried to pretend none of it really mattered, every second with Zach had shifted the walls around her heart.

Until they’d come crashing down.

“Love me again, Zach.”

His mouth covered hers a heartbeat later with a kiss that was so sure and warm and utterly sinful it made her toes curl in her tennis shoes. He loved her mouth the way he loved every inch of her skin—with complete possession, unbridled pleasure, and pure male satisfaction.

His tongue slipped and slid against hers, before moving back out to run a sensual path across her lips, from one corner to the other. “So sweet.” He nibbled on the flesh of her lower lip. “So soft.” His tongue laved over the small bites, soothing her at the same time he built her arousal even higher.

And then she was in his arms and he was carrying her over to the bed, pressing her back into the duvet as he covered her body with his. Both of them were still fully clothed, but that didn’t stop her from wrapping her legs around him and pulling him even closer.

He deepened their kiss with a possessive growl that sent the dials on every last nerve in her body way past eleven. There was no space in their kiss for thinking, for worrying, only the sweet release of feeling herself open all the way up, inside and out.

For Zach.

He lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “Mine.” The word was rough, ragged from his lips. Fire burned in his gaze, hotter, more intense than her beautiful charmer had ever been before. “You’re mine.”

Before she could tell him yes, she was his, and always had been, his mouth was stealing her breath away again and his hands were pulling at fabric, unzipping where he could, ripping when fabric didn’t come off easily enough.

Heather loved every one of his rough demands, the same ones she was making of him as she kicked off her shoes, then yanked his shirt off and shoved his pants down with her feet.

She’d never felt this wild, or this free, before.

Only with Zach.

She had to run her hands over his hard muscles, his chest and arms, his back and shoulders, to make sure it wasn’t a dream. His hands were just as greedy as they stroked over every inch of her skin, his mouth following his fingers from her ankles, then up her legs to that spot behind her kneecap that had her trembling and gasping at how sensitive it was before he moved even higher to the needy flesh between her thighs.

Emotions crashed into her as his tongue slid over, then into her, until the combination of heart and body, mind and soul, had her release going on and on until she was begging Zach to stop with one breath, and for more the next.

She was lost—and then, miraculously found—as he slid his mouth and hands from her to replace them with such hard heat it took what was left of her breath away.

She was amazed by the beauty of their connection, the way her body had always recognized his as its mate every single time they’d come together, even when her head, and her heart, had wanted so desperately to remain unsure.

His mouth covered hers again as they rocked together, their bodies slipping and sliding in a perfect rhythm of strength. And surrender.

To love.

* * *

Heather’s hair spilled around them as she came over him. Even caught in his need to possess her, Zach could feel her need to possess him right back, to claim the heart he’d given her. As they shifted together so that he was lying beneath her and she was sitting up on her shins to take—and give—so sweetly, so beautifully, he could barely do anything but stare in wonder at the woman who had rocked his world so completely.

Her hands were pressed flat on his chest, her head thrown back as she rode him, and he shifted his legs so that she could lean back against his thighs to go deeper, to fly higher. Her gasp of pleasure at the small change, and then at the feel of his hands on her br**sts, her belly, between her thighs, was almost more than he could take as her body tightened around his.

“Heather.”

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes to look down at him.

“I need to hear you say it.”

Her eyes darkened with passion. And with all the emotion she’d finally stopped holding back from him.

“I love you.”

They were the three most beautiful words he’d ever heard.

“Again,” he demanded, even as he tightened his hold on her hips and slid in deeper.

“I love you.”

“Give me more.” He would never grow tired of hearing her say the words, of having her become one with him like this.

“I love you.” She leaned down to kiss his mouth. “I love you,” preceded another kiss on his shoulder. “I love you,” landed on his chest along with her lips.

Everywhere she could reach, she whispered her love for him, then sealed it with a kiss. Throughout, their bodies were joined, moving together.