She did this to him.
Took a man noted for his iron control, and obliterated it.
"Ava." The word exploded out of him, and he caught a fistful of her hair with his good hand, the other bumping uselessly against her. "Up. I want to be inside you."
Ava straddled his lap as he sat up, sliding into the V of his hips. His cock brushed against the curls between her thighs, and then he slid one hand down her hips, capturing her bottom and pressing her hard against him. She gasped. Fucking him with her mouth had made her wet, and the slick ache between her thighs demanded fulfillment.
"That's it," he rasped, the blunt head of his cock finding her. "Ride me."
He thrust up just as she slid down, and suddenly they were locked together again, two beings forming into one. Ava moaned, capturing his mouth as her hips rocked, taking in his thick length. He'd always been a big man, but it was easier to manage how much of him she took in this way.
Kincaid kissed her breasts, shoving her nightgown down over her shoulder to reveal them, and tearing it a little. She didn't care. She was wild with need, desperate to stake her own claim on his flesh.
"I love you," she cried softly, as her body began to tighten and he suckled on her nipple. "Oh my goodness."
And he laughed at the prim tone of her words, riding her through her orgasm, his hand more insistent upon her hip as he bared his teeth in a wordless snarl and came inside her with a spill of heat.
Kincaid collapsed back on the pillow, and Ava wilted over him, the thick mass of her golden curls spilling over them. He pushed some of it out of his face with a laugh, then rubbed her back, his cock softening inside her. "Stay like this."
She burrowed her face into his throat, feeling like she'd finally found a home for herself. Kincaid stroked her hair, twining each curl around his finger, the relentless urge to mark her clearly softening into affection as they cuddled each other and slowly caught their breaths.
His abdominal muscles flexed as he curled so he could look down into her eyes. An intimate confession turned his own gaze molten. "Perfect, Ava. You and I are perfect. I love you."
And Ava smiled with pure happiness, and fell asleep in his arms.
Thirty-One
THERE WAS SOMEONE in his room.
Someone who was not Ava.
Kincaid woke with a growl, his vision sliding through shades of gray. Every sense was alive in a way he'd never known before, when he was human. Malloryn came into focus, standing by the window and looking out, his hands clasped behind him and his face awash in the cool afternoon light. Kincaid automatically winced as that very same light stabbed his eyes.
"Good afternoon," the duke said. "You're looking better."
"Where's Ava?"
"Definitely better, if one is to judge by the surliness in your tone," Malloryn said, with no small amount of amusement, dragging the chair out beside Kincaid's bed and sinking into it. "Ava has gone to visit her friends at the guild, to make sure the guild master is all right."
"And is he?" He owed Garrett and Perry a debt, after all, for taking care of Ava for all those years.
"Garrett's wound has healed," Malloryn said, "though the next stage is to fit him with a biomech arm. Lynch and I pushed the Council to pay for it, considering all he's done for the city."
"Takes a bit of getting used to," he said, looking down at the ruined stump of his own hand. "I can show him how it all works."
"Ava would be appreciative of that, I think. How are you feeling?"
He considered the question. Every day he felt better than he ever had. There was a strength in his legs and arms he'd not realized was lacking. Every step he took was stronger, and he no longer feared falling.
The craving virus had worked. He'd not be 100 percent certain his illness had abated, until he had a chance to test his limits-or perhaps until years passed and he could be certain he wasn't getting worse-but hope filled him.
"As fit as a bull," he confessed.
"And mentally? The craving's not easy to get used to."
Heat flushed through Kincaid's cheeks. "Insanely irrational," he admitted. "Territorial. All my emotions seem heightened, and I have... strong urges at times." The last few days ran through his head in a sudden series of vignettes; of fucking Ava over and over, interspersed with moments where he drained a flask of blood dry, before he took her again.
The duke couldn't be referring to that, but all the same....
"Is it always like this?" he growled. The others seemed to be able to control themselves in polite company, but at just the thought of her, his cock was stiffening again.