her hands, palms up, helplessly.

“Don’t, Les.”

“Why not?” Leslie murmured, running a Þ ngertip along the edge of Dev’s

jacket.

“I can’t take it,” Dev whispered. “I miss you so much, and I want you so

badly.”

Leslie slipped both hands beneath Dev’s jacket and traced the ridges of Dev’s

collarbones, leaning her lower body lightly into Dev.

Dev’s body was rigid, but still Leslie sensed the barely restrained


hunger, and she wanted it. God, how she wanted Dev to still want her in the

delirious, boundless way she had before. She wanted it like nothing else in her

life. “I miss you too. Terribly. Kiss me, Dev. Please.”

“You’ll break me,” Dev warned hoarsely. “If I kiss you, I won’t stop. Not this

time. I can’t.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” Leslie caressed one hand up the side of Dev’s neck

and behind her head, curling her Þ ngers into Dev’s hair.

She pulled slowly, easing Dev’s head back as she pressed her lips to Dev’s

throat. “I don’t want you to stop until you’re inside of me where you belong.”

Dev made a sound that was part groan, part sob, her hands ß at against the

door, Þ ngers ß exed against the metal. If she let go, if she touched her, she was

afraid of what she might do. She wanted her, had wanted her since she was old

enough to recognize her desire for a woman. And all the years of denial had

honed her craving until it ran dangerously close to the wild part of her that

functioned from primal memory, when mating dictated survival, not pleasure.

She wanted Leslie beyond civilized reason, because without her, some essential

part of her would die. She understood then why the great beasts tore and

slashed their mates in the frenzy of joining. The same need scorched through her

with unrelenting ß ame and fury. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

Laughing, eyes bright with exultation, Leslie pressed hard against her. Her full

breasts tensed with arousal. Her hips rolled in a slow rhythm of invitation. She

tightened her Þ ngers in Dev’s hair and slid her other hand around to Dev’s

back. She set her nails into ß esh through the thin fabric of Dev’s shirt, claiming

her. “You won’t. You can’t. I love you. I want you to take what’s yours.”

Leslie punctuated each word with her teeth on Dev’s neck, leaving marks, not

caring. She hadn’t known. All these years she hadn’t known what passion was,

what desire was, what belonging meant. She was liquid with desire, her need

simmering like lava buried for millennia and Þ nally streaking a path to freedom.

“I need you so much, Dev, please, please. God, come to bed with me.”

Dev couldn’t breathe. Leslie was all over her, stroking her, exciting her, reaching

inside and throwing open the bars on the passion she’d kept caged all her life.

She hurt. Her body quivered. A terrible pressure Þ lled her chest and belly,

threatening to explode. “Rachel…

what about—”


“Gone.” Leslie wrapped both arms tightly around Dev, her hands raking Dev’s

back. “I left her. I had to.” She tilted her head back, face suffused with need,

eyes pleading. “I want you. Help me, Dev. Touch me.”

Dev drew a breath, and another, each sweeter than the last. The painful

pressure eased, replaced by pleasure. The beast was free, still Þ erce, but no

longer hunted. No longer haunted. For the Þ rst time, she welcomed her

passion.

“I love you,” Dev whispered, cradling Leslie’s face as gently as if she were

holding a newborn bird. She brushed her mouth over Leslie’s, soft as a feather.

“I’ve always loved you.”

Eyes closed, Leslie offered her throat. “Forgive me.”

Dev kissed her throat, the hollow at the base of her neck, the V

bared by the open collar of her blouse. “There’s no need. Not now.

Not then.” She opened Leslie’s blouse, one button at a time, her hands shaking.

Carefully, she teased the bottom from beneath the waistband of Leslie’s skirt

until Leslie’s abdomen was bare and the satin cups of her bra exposed. Dev

splayed her hands over Leslie’s breasts and Leslie sagged against her.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Dev murmured, teasing Leslie’s nipples into erection.

“I’m going to touch you everywhere.”

“I’ve never been this excited,” Leslie warned her breathlessly. “I feel like I’ll

come right away.”

“It’s okay if you have to. The Þ rst time.” Dev skimmed her tongue over the

surface of Leslie’s lower lip, then sucked gently. “I’m going to make love to you

all night.”

“I need you to.”

Dev kissed her again, tugging her nipples as she danced her tongue over the

warm inner recesses of her mouth. Leslie’s breasts seemed to swell and Þ ll her

hands, stretching the sheer fabric tightly over her tense nipples.

“Ready for bed?” Dev whispered, her mouth against Leslie’s ear. Dev’s thighs

and abdomen ached from holding back, from going slow. The sounds Leslie

made, the way she shivered as Dev plucked on her nipples, the insistent rocking

of her hips against Dev’s crotch were making Dev crazy. She wasn’t sure she

could hold out until Leslie touched her.


Leslie moaned and pressed her forehead to Dev’s shoulder. “Yes.

Please, now.”

Hands linked, mouths searching for quick kisses, they stumbled to the foot of

the bed. Arms entwined, they freed buttons and lowered zippers and shed shoes

and clothes until they were nearly nude.

“Let me,” Dev said as Leslie reached to unhook her own bra.

Leslie let her hands fall to her sides, clad only in her bra and pale silk bikinis.

Her stomach was ß uttering with arousal, her breasts almost painfully engorged.

Her breath had ß ed at the Þ rst brush of Dev’s hands on her skin, and she’d

never recaptured it. “Oh, yes.”

Dev, naked except for her briefs, slid her Þ ngertips beneath the thin straps of

Leslie’s bra and eased them down over her shoulders. She dipped her head and

kissed Leslie’s breasts, Þ rst one, then the other, moving down the smooth

curves as she lowered the bra, millimeter by millimeter, until Leslie’s nipples

were exposed. Rapidly opening the clasp, Dev freed Leslie’s breasts completely

and sucked a nipple into her mouth. Leslie cried out, her knees buckling.

“I’m so excited, Dev,” Leslie moaned, clutching Dev’s shoulders.

“I feel like I might come.”

“Let it happen,” Dev whispered around the hard nub, refusing to release her.

She pressed one hand ß at against Leslie’s stomach, sweeping her Þ ngers in a

slow steady arc, tightening inside as Leslie’s hips thrust in the air. Keeping one

arm Þ rmly around Leslie’s waist, she pushed lower, dipping her Þ ngers

beneath the edge of Leslie’s panties, sucking harder. First one nipple, then the

other.

Gasping, Leslie covered Dev’s hand as it circled beneath the damp silk. “Oh,

don’t touch my clit. You’ll make me come.”

“I want to,” Dev growled, her mind a red haze. Leslie was hers now. Maybe

just for these few moments, but she was Þ nally hers. “I want you to come. I

want to hear you come.”

“I will, I promise.” Leslie didn’t recognize her own voice. Her body was

spinning out of control. It was wonderful. It was terrifying.

“I’ll come for you. I will. But I need to see your face, Dev. I need to see you

when I come. Please.”

Dev heard what sounded like fear and Þ nally raised her head.

Leslie’s eyes were nearly closed, her lips trembling. Her face and neck were ß

ushed, her breasts heaving. She was seconds from coming. The


heat from Leslie’s center beckoned and Dev ached to drive into her, drive her

over. Take her hard and deep. She wouldn’t hurt her, she knew she wouldn’t.

She would be inside her at last and Leslie would be coming for her. For her.

“Let’s lie down,” Dev said hoarsely, easing her Þ ngers from beneath Leslie’s

panties. She guided Leslie to the side of the bed and yanked down the covers

with one hand. She kicked out of her underwear as Leslie stretched out.

Carefully, she slid Leslie’s bikinis down her legs and settled beside her, one

thigh over Leslie’s. The touch of Leslie’s hot skin against her tense clitoris made

her want to come. She fought not to Þ nish herself off against Leslie’s leg, even

though it would only have taken a second. Instead, she held very still until she

mentally pushed back her body’s demand to climax. Leslie’s eyes were hazy,

her legs twitching on the crisp white sheets, her hands restless and urgent on

Dev’s back. She whimpered, words beyond her.

“Take my hand, baby,” Dev urged.

Leslie gripped Dev’s wrist.

“Take me inside, Les,” Dev pleaded. “Take me inside and come for me.”

Barely breathing, eyes Þ xed on Leslie’s, Dev kissed her. Dev moaned as Leslie

guided her Þ ngers between her legs. Leslie was wet, warm, open. At the Þ rst

light touch of Dev’s Þ ngertips to the hard prominence of Leslie’s clitoris,

Leslie’s head snapped back and she cried out.

Dev gritted her teeth at the surge of pressure in her groin. She wouldn’t come,