“I can do that faster,” she said.

  “I like to take my time.” When he finally had it all loose, he brought her hair to his nose to take in its perfume. Could a human smell like sunshine? It reminded him of the scents of her sunny backyard. And when he spread it around her body, it reached nearly to her waist.

  “Now, you’re perfect.” He used his hands on her shoulders to turn her back to face him.

  She immediately stepped into his arms and tilted her head back for a kiss. As intimate as they’d been, they’d spent little time kissing, and he sampled her now with care to taste all of her sweetness. She was honey and flower petals and utterly intoxicating. As she melted against him, his mind clouded with images of arousal. Both of them naked and wrapped around one another, frantic in their movements as they approached orgasm. The sounds she made just before she climaxed.

  His cock grew thick in his pants, straining against the leather. This time, he’d have to pace himself. Use patience to pay attention to all her pleasure points. He could make her come more than once, and he’d do it so she’d realize they belonged together. No separations… ever. She was his mate.

  She broke off the kiss, her breathing labored. “You are potent.”

  “We are.” The sooner she thought of them as “we” the better.

  “Maybe. All I know is you turn me on like no one else ever has.”

  He’d take that for a start. They had magic together. Magic called love. Using that word could scare her off, so he’d save it for later.

  “I was made for you.”

  “What an odd thing for you to say,” she said.

  “Not odd. It’s literally true.” Before she could object, he kissed her again, this time cupping her buttocks and pulling her hard against him so she could feel the effect she had on him. Her answering gasp told him she’d felt his hardness.

  He took her mouth over and over, never getting enough. She gave of herself freely as she answered his caresses with her own. Now he could move on, sliding his lips along her jaw and then down her throat to her shoulder. Her hair fell around his face as he moved, creating a veil. As he pushed that aside he uncovered more and more flesh to taste. Over her chest and to the valley between her breasts. He uncovered one easily and closed his mouth around the nipple. With a moan, she cupped the back of his head with her palm. He was giving her pleasure and would do much more before they finally joined for the final movement of this symphony.

  With his hand, he freed her other breast and toyed with the peak until it had hardened. Her breathing became more labored. Her arousal fueled his own, but he fought for control. He could probably take her now. They’d both climax, but he’d promised her things wouldn’t end quickly. This time, he’d do the job right and draw out her pleasure until she begged him to enter her. Only then would his cock get its satisfaction.

  No matter how lovely, the negligee would have to come off. So, he bunched it up in his hands and rose to pull it over her head. As he dropped it to the floor, he took a moment to memorize the sight of her eager and waiting for him. No one else. Just him.

  Her skin had flushed all the way down to her chest, and her eyes were half closed, her eyes hazy with sexual excitement. Her lips were swollen and moist from his kisses, and she appeared ready for a really good fuck. She’d have to wait.

  Instead of taking her to the bed, he knelt before her and pulled her hips toward him. In this position, he could ease his face between her legs and caress her clitoris with his tongue. Yes, there. He licked between her lips and found her bud, already swollen and ready for him.

  “I’ll fall,” she said.

  “I’ll catch you.” Actually, he’d only start with her standing up. Her legs would become weak, and he’d take her to the bed… or carry her. She’d enjoy her orgasm more there. But for now, he’d feast on her, sharing her excitement as it grew.

  She let out a soft “oh,” and rested her hands on his head for balance as he continued. This was the ultimate kiss, the best touch to make her eager for him.

  Think of me. Want me. She wouldn’t be able to read his thoughts when he was in human form, but surely, his heart could reach to hers. He had to convince her he was better for her than the man she’d had before or the types who hung out at her bar. He had to make her want him more than anyone else, more than her comfortable life alone.

  “Oh, sweet Jesus,” she said. “No one’s ever done this to me.”

  He stopped long enough to look up to her face. “Never?”

  “Not like you do.” Her eyes were closed and her lips parted. The perfect picture of feminine bliss. So, he went back to work, making pass after pass over her clitoris.

  “Kurt,” she finally called.

  She’d had enough. She needed to climax, so he rose, scooped her up, and laid her on the bed. He stripped out of his pants quickly and joined her, taking his place between her thighs again. This time, he finished her, lapping at her sweet pussy until her voice rose to a shout. Her hips moved as the orgasm took her, and he held on to draw it out as long as he could. When it ended, her whole body relaxed, and he stayed there, resting his head on one thigh to let her enjoy the glow.

  “Oh, man,” she said after a bit. “That was something else.”

  He scooted up beside her, threw an arm over her, and buried his face in her hair.

  “I’m going to have to do that for you,” she said.

  “I’d rather climax inside you.”

  “Sure,” she said. “But I can drive you wild first.”

  He had to chuckle at that. “I don’t doubt it for a minute.”

  She rolled over so she could gaze into his face. “Were you a human before you came here?”

  “I didn’t become fully human before I met you.” Klaus had had him delivered to an empty building near the bar with instructions to shift and join her.

  “Then, how did you know how to do that?”

  “I had a good teacher.”

  “Mannhof?”

  “Klaus, yes,” he answered.

  “I’d like to thank him.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “He doesn’t see humans.”

  “Can you thank him for me?”

  He wasn’t currently in touch with Klaus, but that could change in the future. “I will.”

  She sighed and reached down to stroke his erection. “You aren’t finished yet.”

  “I told you I’d take more time when we next had sex.” He could use her term -- fuck. Make love felt better but was probably old-fashioned and would sound odd to her, anyway.

  “You’re pretty impressive, you know.” She made a fist around his shaft and pumped.

  “You’re not going to make it larger that way.” She would, however, arouse him so completely he’d have to finish quickly. The opposite of what he’d had in mind.

  She moistened her lips and gave him a wicked smile. “I’ll bet I could if I tried.”

  “Next time.” He closed his hand around hers to stop her from taking the top of his head off. He was not ready to come yet.

  “That’s a promise,” she said.

  He laughed. “Or a threat?”

  “Take it any way you want to, big guy. I will have my way with you.”

  He fondled her breast, running his thumb over the peak. “These are so beautiful.”

  “They’re not very big.”

  “Perfect.” He leaned over her and took the nipple into his mouth. After all, he hadn’t tasted this one the first time. Sighing, she laid back and let him worship her body again.

  She was the ultimate lover, so eager and responsive. Even playful. While he loved her breast with his mouth, he let his hand wander over her abdomen and toward her pussy. When he arrived at the set of curls covering her sweetest parts, she spread her thighs in invitation. Some women might be too sensitive after orgasm, so he proceeded carefully, just brushing his fingers over the lips. With no negative reaction, he became bolder.

  When he touched her clitoris, she sucked in a breath, so he stopped. “Too soon?”

  “No, it’s… wonderful.”

  He gave that magic organ all his attention. She’d come with him inside her this time, but he’d make sure she was highly excited before entering her. Soon, she’d slipped into that unreal space between consciousness and orgasm where she could live in long minutes of pure pleasure. He continued now with his head resting over her heart so he could listen to it beat as he pressed and rolled her clitoris.

  “It’s going to happen again,” she whispered.

  “It is.”

  Now, he inserted a finger into her, feeling her muscles clamp down on it. She craved this stimulation, too, and she’d have it soon. His poor cock had waited so long. It lived with demands, not logic, but it would find satisfaction in the end. Now he rubbed her own moisture over her clitoris and listened to her breathing turn to gasps and little cries. He had her so close. He needn’t wait much longer to take his place inside her, driving them both to the inevitable.

  “Inside me, Kurt,” she whispered.

  “Soon.”

  “Need you.”

  “Only a little more.” He rubbed harder now, faster and listened to the rising pitch of moans. She would climax soon. She was ready. “You on top.”

  “God, yes.” After he’d rolled onto his back, she rose, swung a leg over him, and grasped his cock to guide the tip. Then, she lowered herself onto him, taking every last inch. The pressure of her muscles around him almost robbed him of any thought but to push up into her until he exploded. But he would make it last this time. He’d savor the feel of her -- her heat around him.

  She moved first. A rocking motion that grasped at him and released much the way she would during orgasm. Nothing could be sweeter than that. He answered with slow thrusts as deep as he could go. She’d been close to climax before. Now he’d let her enjoy these new sensations before finishing her, which he knew well enough how to do in this position.

  They became one being in perfect tune with each other as the thrust and rock created a rhythm of its own. He forced himself to open his eyes to witness her consumed by their passion. The blush that ran from her cheeks downward across her throat and chest. How she concentrated completely on the movements that completed them. Klaus had told him to expect heaven, but he couldn’t have described this.

  “Oh, God,” she cried. “More.”

  He’d give her everything he had, so he grasped her hips and took her with greater force. Over and over. He had lost control. Couldn’t stop. Damn it. He’d wanted to do this for longer, but he was only flesh and blood.

  He placed his hand over her sex and found her clitoris with his thumb. A shudder went through her as her voice rose. Now. Now. He worked her bud until her pussy went wild, first gripping him and then bursting into spasms.

  He’d made her climax, and so he could stop fighting his own. While she still shouted, he came with a force that set off explosions behind his eyelids. Semen streamed out of him, hot and urgent. In all that chaos, he never lost the sense of her presence in this ecstatic moment. They’d shared it together, and it would forever change them. And when she finally sagged against him, she moistened his face with her tears.

  * * *

  It appeared Allison wasn’t going to be able to shake Kurt from her side, even when she had to work her shift at Smokey’s. They’d spent the day together, taking the dog to the vet. Jerome, after St. Jerome’s, the church where they’d found him, was okay but underfed and dehydrated. Then, when she’d planned to leave Kurt at home, he’d insisted on coming along.

  He was an utter distraction, of course. How was she supposed to think of anything with him sitting at the end of the bar nursing the beer that had been in front of him long enough to come to room temperature? How was she ever going to pay attention to anything other than how he’d fucked her that morning?

  “Come on, Allison,” Smitty yelled. “I’ve been waiting for five goddamn minutes.”

  “If you don’t like it, go down the street to that other bar.” They could all F right off. She didn’t have to put up with their shit. Or maybe she did. Her job prospects didn’t look too good anywhere else.

  “There is no other bar down the street,” Smitty said. “Why are you being such a bitch tonight?”

  She grabbed a glass, poured him some Scotch, and set it in front of him. “Have one on the house.”

  Smitty looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Thanks.”

  Next she’d be buying drinks for Dutch. No, she was never sinking that low. Then, as four or five more of her regulars stood around making demands, the door to the bar opened, letting in some cool, nighttime air. A huge party came in, maybe eight of them. No, ten. Five women dressed in leathers, each with a man in casual clothing.

  The whole bar shut up to stare at them. Kurt jumped from his seat to go and join them.

  “Well, if it ain’t the Brady Bunch,” one of the patrons says and got raucous laughter in response. If not for the leathers, they did resemble the cast of a wholesome television show. All showered and shaved and in clean clothing. The men all started talking German to each other, including Kurt, while the women marched up to the bar.

  Allison took out the rag and wiped down the bar in front of them. “What can I get you?”

  “What kind of wine do you have?” one answered.

  The woman next to her elbowed her ribs. “This isn’t a wine sort of place. Make it beer. Draft is fine.”

  “I’d just like a seltzer,” another one said softly.

  While Allison poured from the tap, the fifth woman came straight up to her. “Are you Allison Hall?”

  “How did you know that?” Allison answered.

  “We’ve been sent.”

  “Excuse me?” Before Allison asked for an explanation, her regulars shouted at her again. “Let me take care of them so we can talk.”

  She did exactly that, and the men disappeared back into the crowd. No one else approached, thank heaven. So, she served four beers and a seltzer and put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean you’ve been sent?”

  “Klaus Mannhof told us about you.”

  Was the whole fucking world going crazy? First, the guy who’d made her happier in bed than any other lover had revealed himself to be half-man/half-motorcycle. Then, a bunch more people showed up who claimed to know the mysterious Klaus Mannhof.

  “He texted you, did he?” she asked.

  “Klaus is a little old for texting,” the woman answered. “The guys talk to him on e-mail.”

  Wait a minute. They were all drop dead gorgeous men who spoke German, and Kurt seemed to know them. “There are more of them?”

  “All our men are Mannhofs,” the one who’d ordered the beer answered.

  Wasn’t that something to absorb? A whole troop of them, and women who obviously rode them. Hence the leathers.

  Dutch must have smelled fresh meat because he oozed his way up to the bar and stood a bit too close to the newcomers. “Can I buy you ladies a drink?”

  The woman closest to Allison held up her beer. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  “I see you’re wearing leathers,” Dutch said in his best impression of charm. “You ride?”

  “I sure do,” the woman answered.

  “You want a ride on my hog? More fun than hanging out with your gay friends in the back.”

  The woman Allison had been talking to stood straight up, bristling. She wasn’t a lot shorter than Dutch. “You have something against gay people?”

  “Hey, Dutch, the Neanderthals called,” Allison said. “They want their brain back.” The woman snickered. The absolutely best way to treat hateful speech, as far as Allison could see. Make fun of it. “Shucks, that wasn’t fair to Neanderthals,” Allison added.

  “Why don’t you shut up for half a minute, Allison?” he said.

  “Because you’re bothering my customers,” Allison answered. “Even you ought to be bright enough to figure that out.”

  “Go fuck yourself,” Dutch muttered.

  “Really? Even someone as talented as you in the sack can’t pull that maneuver off.”

  “I swear, Allison. Someday, you’re going to shoot your mouth off one too many times.” Dutch walked away, obviously pissed. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  “That sounded like a threat,” the woman said.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it.”

  “Anyway…” The woman reached into a pocket of her jacket and produced a business card. “I’m Claire Wilcox.”

  According to the card, Claire Wilcox, the CEO of a corporation Allison had never heard of. She had way too much money to hang out in a place like Smokey’s. “Why are you here, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “For you. To welcome you to our club,” Claire said. “These are the other members, Lauren King, Charley Thomas, Rae Morris, and Megan Bristol.”

  Allison did her best to get all that. Lauren had ordered the seltzer. Charley, the beers. Rae had extra curves, and Megan’s hair was a crazy red. Claire herself was a stunning brunette. Allison wouldn’t have any trouble telling them apart.

  “We’re staying at an Airbnb at the address on the back of the card,” Claire said.

  “And we want you to come ride with us tomorrow,” Charley said.

  Allison set the card on the bar. “I don’t ride.”

  The women looked at each other. “You’ll ride a Mannhof,” Lauren said.

  “No, I won’t.”

  Kurt seemed to have sensed trouble because he approached the bar. The other men still hung back. “I only got here last night,” he said.

  “But she knows what you are, right?” Charley asked.

  “We are not going to talk about that in this bar,” Allison said. “Understood?”

  “She’s not entirely comfortable with it yet,” Kurt said.

  Damned straight she wasn’t. “You can stop speaking for me. I’m not a child.”