Rowan flailed her arms, shooting excited looks behind her. Any moment now a hand would clamp on her ankle, she just knew it! Adrenaline pounded in her ears, her hands slapping and churning the water as she fled. She was making so much noise, her gasps more like tiny shrieks. When her hands finally found solid rock, she flinched, certain she was caught already. Not a chance he'd let her escape.

When nothing happened, she spun around. Thrax was nowhere in sight. Her breathing was labored as she scanned the choppy surface for any sign of him. The pool was dappled with dark shade from the embowering trees, and the agitated water stirred even the largest shadows awake so that she couldn't be sure which one was Thrax.

She felt every bit the hunted prey, yet eager for capture. She twitched at every movement below the surface, sensing him close. She steeled herself against imminent onset, tensing hard. She'd been expecting a sudden attack. But Thrax was anything but predictable. After her foiled escape, that much should've been clear.

Sharp wolf ears rose up through the waves, insidious and slow. Then golden, unblinking eyes emerged from the water, followed by a black muzzle gaping with fangs. When he inched towards her it was more terrifying than if he'd pounced. No attack. No growling, yet it was far more terrible this way. He nudged her playfully with his snout, his whispers prickling. His tongue flopped out in a smug, toothy grin.

She hadn't realized she was clutching her throat. "Are you trying to stop my heart?" she all but wheezed.

If wolves could laugh, he'd have done it then. With a waggish growl, he leaped out of the pool and began shaking the water off his pelt.

She flinched away from the colossal spray, muttering, "Wonderful, now I'll reek of wet dog."

He barked his agreement and trotted back to the edge of the pool where she was clinging. With an affectionate huff, he dragged his long warm tongue up her cheek.

She couldn't help but giggle at that. Strangely, she wasn't so shy of him when he was in wolf form. With no hesitation, she climbed out of the rock pool. Not that the water offered much cover, it was so crystal clear.

Not wanting to fall again, she took her time picking her way over the slick rocks. When she looked up, he was in human form, sitting beside her discarded clothes. He'd shifted faster than usual. She remembered Thesta saying that the full moon amplified warg power and ability.

His gaze roamed her naked body, heating her flesh with that bright golden touch. His muscled forearms rested on bent knees. He was thick and erect, unabashedly hungry for her. Waiting for her.

Times like these, he was more wolf than man even in human fettle. So unmoving and watchful. More like the animal gods of old. Like Lorcaon himself, the wolf god—son of Nixra and Mantor. Thrax was that very beast made incarnate. Powerful and comfortable in whatever skin he wore. But at this moment his human form was the more threatening. Her thighs squeezed and her nape rippled with heat.

Before she knew it, she found herself standing before him. Her feet had fetched up where her eyes were drawn to, such was his magnetism. A beautiful, dangerous loadstone pulling her in. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she knelt to grab her shift, but he caught her wrist.

That raw, consuming animal lust took over the moment he touched her again, and she willingly gave herself over to it. She was done with fighting and questioning. It was easier to give in. This was Hekki's Cauldron and nothing else in the world mattered except what she was feeling in this moment.

Their gazes fused. The shift slipped through her fingers as she settled between his bent knees. She felt as though her soul was being tugged from her chest. A drugging heat was spreading low, her pulse like a drum beat. It was coming not from her heart but her loins. It made her blood heavy and her head light.

The fingers around her wrist relaxed as he breathed her in. He was still as rock, only his gaze pulled her forward. She leaned in, her mouth drifting closer to his. Her eyes dropped to his firm wet lips. She wanted to taste him and he knew it. But he was making her lean in for the kiss. How could she not? She was so thirsty and the drops on his lips sparkled like nectar. Her tongue flicked out in suspense of the kiss. She angled her mouth over his and leaned in. Under the weight of his stare, her lashes drooped.

At first, he was still, letting her take the lead. Letting her explore the kiss. Growing bolder, she pressed in closer, her tongue questing tentatively. His breath rumbled out in a lazy growl. She brought her hand up to the back of his head, threading her fingers into his dark, wild mane. The other hand found purchase on his bicep, her fingers savoring the hard thews beneath his smooth damp skin.

That he wasn't howling in agony didn't occur to her. She was too wrapped up in his woodsy scent and warmth to notice her missing nixrath. Too busy savoring the heady feel of his tongue against hers and the pleasure swelling below. A slow throbbing began deep in her womb.

What if she touched him the way he always touched her? Would he let her? Would he like it? Before she could stop herself, she dropped her hand to his upper thigh. The long muscles jumped excitedly as she glided her fingers up and down his hot flesh.

She smiled against his mouth, enjoying the feeling of power as his breathing turned rough. The further up his thigh her hand ventured, the more his leash seemed to slip. Boldly, she walked her fingers up the side of his hip and over his taut belly. He answered with a growl of frustration, but that was all. His tacit stillness told her clearly that his body was hers to explore. To touch and kiss as each whim struck her. It gave her even more courage to delve further. And lower.

Her curiosity was unstoppable, her courage keeping pace with her soaring pulse. The need to touch him overmastered her fear as her hand slipped over the root of him. She slid her palm over his coarse hairs and let her fingers trail along his thick length. His cock was agitated, bobbing against her forearm as she pulled away to feast her eyes on him. All of him. His sack was soft as velvet and heavy in her palm as she cupped him. She decide she loved the feel of his soft skin and coarse hair. So utterly masculine. Her breasts became heavy and her sex quickened with liquid heat.

Her eyes drifted back up to Thrax and she gasped. His nose was flaring and his eyes were molten with need. Every muscle under her fingertips trembled. Her lips parted, his scent musky and hot.

With a swallow that sounded more like a gulp, she dropped her gaze, her face flushed. She wet her lips and curled her fingers around his shaft. His skin was even softer there, yet beneath that velvet shaft he was hard as iron. Hot as a blazing forge.

He sucked in a harsh breath, evidently grappling with control. She stilled. Had she hurt him? When she glanced up again, it was to see that violent pulsing lust. The darker freckles—like hot embers—mesmerized her.

But his cock was more fascinating still. Marveling, she brushed her thumb up from the root and slide her hand higher towards the head. A bead of moisture there caught her notice and she wondered how it would taste. Why shouldn't she taste him, she thought? He took delight in tasting her. In drinking every bead of lust she wept for him. She leaned in just a little and paused to look up again.

He watched her with such stillness, such needful intensity, that her mouth filled. His chest was frozen, every inch of him like granite. "Yes, min skani," he rasped, "kiss me there."

With a shy nod, her heart in her throat, she brought her lips all the way down to meet the straining flesh and turgid veins. She kissed him, her tongue gliding over the glistening head.

His breath rushed out of his lungs, the sound deep and guttural. From the corner of her eye, she noticed his hand darkening into claws. She stilled, turning wary. He swiftly gained control, though, and the shifting halted. A moment later, his paw was a hand once more, tense and digging into the earth.

She licked the salt off the tip of him, saliva pooling in her mouth. Another salty drop welled instantly, his flesh becoming harder still. Molten iron in her grasp. She licked him again, dragging her tongue over him, swirling it around the thick head. She expelled a pent up breath and closed her mouth around him, sucking gently. She took as much of him as she could into her mouth, working her tongue on him as he'd once done to her.

"Gods, woman..." the sound in the back of his throat was pure animal. "Where did you learn that?"

She looked up, her mouth full. From you, she wanted to say.

He gripped the back of her head, his wolf claws jutting against her skin. "Never mind," he said gruffly, "I don't wish to know." His gaze turned possessive, the yellow almost menacing.

She pulled away, blushing furiously. Of course, he still thought her...experienced. He thought some other man had taught her how to suck a man's cock.

She tried to withdraw, her mood souring, but he drew her up to his mouth and silenced her disquiet with a searing, hungry kiss. Like steel bands, his arms enveloped her. She'd never felt him like this—so wild. So frenzied. It was as though he was branding her, claiming her mouth, and expunging the memory of all others.

But there were no others. Not even Merritt abided in her mind when Thrax was touching her this way. There was only him. She unleashed some of her anger in the kiss, willing him to understand—to feel what she felt. She was his and no other's. She raked her nails over his shoulders, her anger spiraling into lust.

His hands were rough and wild, the wolf close to tearing free. He wrenched his mouth away, but only for a moment. His gaze was a turbulent yellow as he pushed her to the ground, rolling on top of her. She was so mindless with wanting him that she could think of nothing except that she needed his fingers on her again, delving in her folds, crooking inside her. She craved the ecstasy he'd brought her in the hot water.

She threw her head back, her voice so raspy with passion she hardly recognized it. "Now, Thrax! I want you inside me!" His fingers, his tongue, it didn't matter! Both!

The weight of him against her sex, his teeth dragging over her throat, those glorious hands on her breasts—he was driving her mad. He was strumming a beautiful chaos in her, and she was coming apart under his touches. Her thighs dropped open just thinking of the pleasure that awaited her at his fingertips.

She was so eager for it, so hungry and heedless, that she dragged her nails over him, pulling him closer. In her ignorance, she'd not bargained on his long-denied, driving need. It wasn't his tongue or his fingers that he drove into her this time.

In one fell thrust, his cock was sheathed deep inside. Her eyes flew wide and she jackknifed with a cry, gasping at the sudden stab of pain and fullness where he'd torn into her.

He stilled, his gaze turning dark. His body was preternaturally still as he glared down at her. His biceps trembled with tension as he held himself over her. He was so still and silent that it unnerved her, increasing the pain as she clenched in fear around him.

"I lied," she whispered, licking her lips. "I'm sorry."

He followed her tongue across her mouth, saying nothing. He didn't have to, the deep furrow in his brow was telling enough.

"You're angry." She pushed at his chest but he was like a boulder.

"Not angry," he growled. "Surprised."

Both her palms were pressed to his chest and she wasn't sure if she should try pushing him off more firmly. Was it over now? Were they done? Was the bond locked permanently?

His shaft was thick and rigid inside her, his gaze just as piercing. "I would've been gentle..." His jaw ticked with ire. "You should've told me."

"I thought wargs could smell lies."

"When the lie serves only to shame the liar, it's a little hard to tell."

She swallowed, wincing at how loud it sounded. "It was stupid, I know."

His silence was agreement enough.

She looked to the side, for the moment unable to meet that harrowing glare. Not with him buried so deep inside her. Why was he still hard? "So what now?" She pushed at his chest again, but again he made no move to obey. When she glanced back up at him, the anger was banked behind mounting heat of another kind.

He pulled out a few inches, watching her all the while. "Now," he said, with a slow thrust, "we finish what we started."