Free Beyond the Dark by Lora Leigh Page A

and to those you knew, you would have had no choice."
    But she couldn't face a life with him, never knowing who he would kill next, or why, or living with the fear that the day would come when he would make a mistake. That he would take an innocent life. No man was perfect, and eventually she feared, he would shed innocent blood. That she found too hard to accept.
    "So I make this promise to give it up. It doesn't mean I won't continue to fight for Breed rights. I won't sit back and watch my people die without working to help them."
    "I understand that."
    "The least I can do is be an enforcer, an agent for the Bureau of Breed Affairs."
    "I can handle that." She knew about the bureau and their work.
    He nodded slowly. "Then come here, mate, take me."
    Instantly, Matthias's expression transformed from pure self-assurance, to wicked, carnal arrogance. His lips became fuller, his gaze darker, his thick black lashes lowering as a hard flush stained his cheekbones.
    The sensuality he had kept locked inside was finally free. It glittered in his eyes, turned them to dark, whiskey fire, as he watched, waited for her to come to him, for her to accept him.
    Grace cleared her throat. "An aphrodisiac in your tongue, huh?"
    His lips quirked with a decidedly anticipatory grin.
    "Hot, uncontrolled sex?"
    A growl rumbled in his throat.
    "Well, in for a penny, in for a pound." She stepped to him, her hands sliding from his chest to his shoulders, as his head bent and her lips touched his.
    There was no drugging sensation, only sweet, hot pleasure. His lips moved slowly over hers. They both learned the shape and texture of each other, held back, and relished this first touch.
    Grace lifted one hand from his shoulder, her lashes lifting, so she could stare into his face with dazed fascination, as she touched his whiskered cheek.
    He looked disreputable. Wild and bold. And he was all those things. But his gaze, though burning with arousal, was tender, his hands gentle as one threaded through her hair and the other gripped her hip.
    "Like sunshine," he whispered against her lips. "That's how you taste, Grace."
    Her lips parted, accepting his again, her tongue reaching out to lick at the harder curves of his. He jerked, his hands tightening on her, as he pulled back.
    "Come on." He gripped her wrist and began striding quickly to the cabin.
    "Wait." She stumbled along behind him. "What happened? What are you doing?"
    "I refuse to take you outside," he snarled, moving up the steps to the porch. "We're going to the bedroom."
    "Well, you could have kissed me properly, just once," she argued a bit peevishly. She had been waiting for that kiss.
    "Once I get my tongue in your mouth we're both goners." He slammed the door behind them, set the security alarm on the doors and windows, and continued toward the bedroom.
    As the bedroom door slammed behind him, he turned, wrapped his arm around her hips, and jerked her to him.
    "Now," he groaned. "Sweet God in Heaven. Now!"
    His lips descended on hers, parting them, making way for the stroke of his tongue and the spicy, heated taste of lust.
    Grace had never imagined that lust had a taste, but it did. It was spicy hot, a hint of jalapeño and the taste of a tropical breeze. It was fine whiskey with an undertone of honey, and it was addictive. Once she had the first taste of him, she knew why he had hesitated to kiss her. Because she could never get enough. She wanted his kiss inside her forever.
    Her lips surrounded his tongue, hers battled with his and suckled at it with delirious demand, arching in his arms. She moaned into his lips, felt his groan and his hands. Hands that pulled her clothes from her body. Hands that moved her fingers to the band of his pants.
    She tore at the metal closures, releasing the band quickly, before sliding her hands inside to test the muscular contours of his sexy male ass.
    "You taste good," she moaned, as his lips lifted from hers to lower her to the bed. "I need more."
    "More