“Mine,” he growled. “That you’re mine. And that you’re so beautiful, Morgan.”

  Just the raw desire she felt in his voice, along with the way he seemed to hold her so tight he didn’t want to let go, made all worry or preconceived notions about how this was going to go fly away from her mind.

  She felt wanted. Needed.

  Which was good because she wanted him so bad her toes were tingling.

  He carried her over to the small, steaming pool and set her in it before he fetched two glasses filled with champagne, and she threw it back as the bubbles tickled all the way down her throat.

  A little liquid courage never hurt anybody.

  “Champagne with a basilisk. Can’t say I expected this to happen in my lifetime.”

  Diesel drank a sip, then grimaced as if he’d never had champagne before.

  She giggled at the sight as he put his own glass aside. “What did you expect?” he asked, moving to sit next to her in the pool.

  The bottom of it was rounded out, but a little bench had been carved into the rock of the natural water spring where they could both sit.

  “I’m not sure. A movie and a night at a hotel. Frankly, any alone time is hard to come by.”

  “You’ve worked very hard for your family. I respect that.” Diesel’s eyes darted to her cleavage once, then twice. Then he looked away. And maybe it was the warm water surrounding them, but his cheeks seemed slightly flushed, visible in spite of his dark beard.

  Morgan tried to let the hot water just relax her tired muscles, but just being near so much man made it difficult to relax at all.

  Afraid of what the next step of tonight would even look like, she began to blurt out the things she was used to talking about with other adults, updating Diesel on Grace’s schooling, how the business was doing. Anything to distract from the delicious idea of his hands and lips on her.

  Diesel just listened patiently for several minutes. But before she could go into her plans for Grace going to college, his lips became a hard line, his expression both soft and stern at the same time.

  “This is all great to hear. But when will you start living for yourself, Morgan?” There was no judgment in his deep-blue eyes, which seemed to reflect the ripples of the water around them as he watched her. Just an intensity that she could only describe as Diesel being Diesel.

  For some reason, that set her off, though. “That’s a bit presumptuous, don’t you think? I have to live for Grace. She’s my whole world.”

  “I didn’t say she wasn’t.”

  Her heart raced as if it could escape this inescapable pull between her and Diesel by focusing on something else. Like it could make the fear in her heart go away. “For more than ten years, she’s been my everything. My reason for being. Why I’ve worked so hard. I don’t know what I would even do without her.”

  To her shock, Diesel just grinned as if he’d expected this response from her. And before she could protest, his arms came around her, pulling Morgan into his lap, making the water seem even hotter the closer they were together.

  “I never said you shouldn’t put Grace first. In fact, you should be proud of how well you’ve done. I’m proud of you. And amazed by you,” he said calmly, not letting her own runaway emotions get him riled up. “I meant when are you going to put yourself first too?”

  Her face flamed with his nearness. With the way her body seemed to want to meld against his. “H-how am I supposed to do that? I’m busy all the time. There’s so many things to focus on.”

  “What about now?” In a flash, his finger was on her chin, tilting her head to look up at him even as she tried to look away for fear she might lose herself in those sapphire depths.

  “I… It’s all too sudden. Too fast. Too much.” But that was a lie. She wanted him more than anything else for herself right now.

  She just didn’t know how to take it.

  In a whirl of motion, Diesel changed their positions, setting her against the seat as he came above her, kneeling in the pool yet still taller than her by more than a foot. In the same motion, his huge hands grasped her wrists, holding them at her sides, giving her no escape from the rising heat between them.

  His expression was dominant. A fierce, stubborn side of him she’d only seen hints of.

  “Is it? Is this too fast?” He leaned in and sucked on the side of her neck, and instant arousal coursed through her veins, hotter than liquid fire. She struggled against his grip, but he was as gentle as he was immovable, and being trapped, at the mercy of his pleasure, only made Morgan wetter. “What about this? Is this too much?” His kisses became harsher as he kissed up to her ear and sucked harder, then ran his teeth over her earlobe, drawing out a ragged moan from somewhere in her chest.

  Had she ever felt so wanton? So aroused like this?

  And why was this sudden, aggressive side of him so hot it made her body burn to have more?

  “I’m right here, babe. I want you so badly I would do anything for you. And yet you’re still holding yourself back.” As if to make his point, just to prove he had complete control, his lips crashed over hers in a mind-blowing kiss that made it feel like her heart stopped right there.

  When he pulled away, he just stared down at her, waiting for her response. Meanwhile, Morgan’s chest heaved with heavy breaths as though there wasn’t enough oxygen to catch up with how sexy that had been.

  Damn, I almost came just from that, she thought with shock.

  Then Adam’s face flashed through her mind, nearly killing the mood. Diesel must have noticed because he let go of her trapped hands and pulled back to float a couple of feet away in the center of the pool, just watching. Waiting.

  “I’m sorry. That was a little… sudden of me to do. Sometimes I can’t help the way I react to you,” he said, not looking ashamed at all but wanting to give her space.

  But space was the last thing she wanted right now. And it was Diesel’s turn to look surprised as she left her seat and floated into the middle of the pool to meet him.

  Not even her grief could keep her from what she wanted right now.

  There had been a wall in her heart for too long. One that had felt unbreakable—or at least not worth the trouble to break down when all her focus had been on Grace.

  But with the man of her dreams right here, it was now or never.

  She didn’t want to lose him just because change was scary.

  “It wasn’t too fast. Or unwelcome. You asked what I wanted, right?” she said, feeling nervous but trying her best to not show it.

  He nodded. And when she came up to him, her hands sliding across his chest, electrifying her senses, he pulled her in closer so she could wrap her legs around his midsection.

  Oh dang, just the feel of the huge bulge in his swim trunks against her belly, between her hips, was enough to make her forget what she was about to say.

  One thing at a time, Morgan, her thoughts yelled.

  “I want to feel like a woman. Not just the owner of a corner store. Not just a single mom getting by. I want to feel alive. With you, Diesel.”

  Not just Adam’s widow. Not just the broken person cut off by her family.

  Not just surviving.

  Living.

  “What about you?” she asked while Diesel drifted with her in his arms in the center of the pool.

  “You,” he growled, and she didn’t need a single word more to know exactly what he meant.

  Because the second he said it, he pulled her in tighter, close enough her breasts rubbed against his chest, her nipples aching to be touched by him.

  And grinding that wickedly thick and oh-so-hard shaft against her clit in a way that made her arch back instantly.

  Diesel’s hand was on her back, catching her before she dunked backward into the water.

  Such incredible reflexes.

  Such incredible everything.

  “I’ll have to warn you, though, Morgan…” Diesel said gruffly, his voice deeper, huskier, even sexier than it normally was.

  “About what?” She was already floating in a haze of primal want that only had one way it could be possibly satiated.

  “Basilisks are possessive. And I’m the most possessive basilisk I know.”

  She gulped. That just sounded hot, not like some sort of deal-breaker.

  He continued. “Once I see you come. Once I see you come apart, there won’t be any going back.” He nipped at her neck, then down to her shoulder, making her skin light up like tiny fireworks. “I only want you. And I won’t allow you to even look, even think, about another man because you’re mine. Is that clear?”

  She nodded. She wasn’t sure if he was just asking for exclusivity or something else, but she had zero intentions of doing anything with anyone else. Maybe ever, frankly.

  For the first time in her life, she wasn’t thinking about the ghosts of her past. Just of the sensual way their hips met. The fire in Diesel’s eyes as he looked down at her. The way his fingertips dug into her skin, squeezing her ass tightly like he would meld their bodies together if it were possible.

  She wanted to lose herself completely in him.

  “Crystal,” she replied, back already tight with the excitement for a release that felt like it would explode out of her the second she let go.

  At that, his mouth covered hers immediately, and wonderful pleasure tightened her insides at the sensuous contact.

  He could ask almost anything of her, and she’d say yes.

  Anything for just tonight, with Diesel, the two of them lost in pleasure.

  12

  Mine. Mine, mine, MINE. Diesel’s thoughts, in tune with his basilisk, roared in the back of his head like a thunderstorm.

  He’d held back for days now. Tried to not be too hasty or jump to conclusions about whether Morgan was his mate or not.

  But now he knew.

  She was his mate.

  And he was going to make her all his own. Erase all the worries and sadness from Morgan’s heart and fill it with pleasure.

  With one hand squeezing her delicious ass, keeping her body tight to his, and the other on the back of her neck, cradling her, he deepened their kiss further. And as his tongue thrust in to clash with hers, she tensed slightly as if she didn’t know what to do.

  But then she let go of control, giving him even better access as she relaxed in his arms while he plundered her mouth with his tongue. Then he stroked along the roof of it, exploring her as she groaned against him again, making him even harder than he already was.

  Seeing her come would be his undoing.

  Fuck, he’d been undone from the first sight of her.

  When he pulled away, she gasped for breath. But he didn’t lose a second, moving down to place possessive kisses on her neck, moving toward her shoulder.

  He was tall enough his feet easily touched the bottom of the natural hot spring. And as he kissed lower, he raised Morgan higher so he could suck down on the wet skin along her shoulders and across the top of her chest.

  “Oh, Diesel.” She sighed, bucking against a particularly rough kiss. But he was only just getting started.

  He raised her a little higher until her soft breasts were at the surface of the water, the blue bikini she’d put on not hiding the peaks of her nipples through the fabric. Using his teeth, he pulled down the fabric, revealing one breast, then the other.

  “Fuck, so beautiful,” he couldn’t help saying even as Morgan looked away for a moment, her cheeks blazing in a blush so deep it nearly matched her fiery hair.

  Was she embarrassed?

  He’d erase her embarrassment too.

  Both his hands were squeezing her ass, his fingers digging into the soft flesh there as he lowered himself to kiss one nipple, lightly at first. When he did, she looked down to watch with rapt attention as he placed gentle kisses all along her chest, wanting to show her how beautiful she really was. Not with his words but with his actions.

  By the time he kissed directly at the center of one of them, she bucked in instant arousal, her hands pushing against his chest as her eyes shut.

  He paused, and when she looked at him again, then at her hands, she didn’t seem to even realize what she’d done.

  “Sorry, it’s just… so strong. I didn’t know it could feel like this. I’m not used to it. It’s so wonderful.”

  “Then I’ll just have to make sure you’re not going anywhere,” he growled, and he carried her back over to the sitting area at the side of the pool.

  Hot water continued to steam around them, making the contact between their bodies slick and sensual. The night air was cool and utterly calm, not even a breeze or the sound of a single cricket to bother them up here.

  He sat down and set Morgan in his lap, her body facing away from him. And when he wrapped one arm around her midsection, trapping her arms at her sides with it easily, she wriggled a little.

  “There’s no escaping me now,” he said with a growl as his other hand ran up her arm, then across her belly, teasing her with his touch. “Or what I’m going to make you feel.”

  And as his hand brushed across her breasts, she gasped, arching into him as the back of her hips pressed against his cock.

  That seemed to only turn her on more.

  “Oh… ah…” she moaned. Every direction she tried to move just pressed their bodies closer together. And when she looked over her shoulder at him, her mouth was hanging open, brown eyes lost in a haze of lust. “I don’t want to escape anyway. I like this.”

  Then he reached his free hand up to lightly tweak the firm point of one nipple, and her head flew back, landing on Diesel’s left shoulder as he really started to go to work.

  “How’s this?” he asked, taking her left breast in his hand, squeezing lightly, then more and more firmly. And when he pressed his thumb into the center, she moaned loudly, letting him know exactly what she was feeling.

  For several minutes, he explored Morgan’s body, squeezing and touching and letting his available hand rove across her. Memorizing every curve. Finding all her sensitive spots.

  All the while, Morgan seemed to get more comfortable in his lap, testing his strength every now and then before she gave in completely.

  After all, she was safe with him.

  “Fuck, I can’t wait a second longer,” Diesel said with a rasp, unable to simply take his time when he could be seeing Morgan’s eyes roll back in release right now.

  He brought his hand down to the apex of her thighs, and Morgan didn’t relent. Instead, she sighed as he reached beneath her bikini bottom and slowly spread her folds, giving him better access.

  “I… I’m so close, but I can’t tell how close—”

  “I’ve got you,” he whispered calmly into her ear, reassuring her as his finger stroked over her clit, lightly at first, then more firmly.

  “Ah!” She squeaked, and Diesel felt her go tight, not yet going over the edge.

  Whatever her worries, whatever hardness she’d had to put on that made her seemingly so afraid of pleasure like this, Diesel wouldn’t let her down.

  He’d make her come as many times as it took for Morgan to see what he saw.

  That she was beautiful and strong and deserved to lose herself in pleasure like this, just like everyone else.

  More than everyone else, in Diesel’s opinion.

  He went slow to start, stroking over and over and making Morgan’s breaths start to race.

  Then, as he used two fingers, using the warm water to increase the friction between his hand and her clit, Morgan started to clench from head to toe.

  “Close, I’m…” She seemed to lose her own words as the water rippled around them from their thrashing, but Diesel kept her tight to him.

  “Come when you’re ready,” he said, continuing to go faster, focusing on her pleasure, waiting to see her crest over the beautiful edge of her release.

  She didn’t last more than three seconds as, suddenly, she went completely rigid, even her legs going still as everything tightened.

  And then, with an explosion of energy Diesel could feel everywhere their bodies met, Morgan orgasmed.

  She dug her face into Diesel’s neck, and Diesel lightened his grip slightly so she could come more easily and not feel restrained.

  With a muffled scream, Morgan’s body rippled with release, strong pulses moving over her skin and through her muscles in ways Diesel could feel down into the very depths of his soul.

  And if there had been any doubt in his mind at all that Morgan was his mate, it was gone in that moment.

  With a sharp intake of breath, Morgan relaxed against him. And when Diesel turned her around in the water, moving them both out toward the middle again so she could catch her wind, she wrapped her legs around him, clutching him tightly.

  “How was that?” he asked.

  “Just… wow… Thank you.”

  “Save your thank-yous. I’m not even half finished yet,” he said gruffly, which just made Morgan’s eyes go wide at the notion.

  But when he looked into her autumn-colored irises, he saw want mirrored there, even more certain than it had been before.

  She surprised him by grinding her hips into his, and she groaned as she wrapped one arm around his neck to keep her steady.

  “You might want to hold on for this next part,” Diesel said, needing to have her sex on his mouth, right here and right damn now. “And don’t worry about me. Basilisks can hold their breath a long time.”

  “What?” Then she yelped as he picked up Morgan and set her on his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his head, her blue bikini and soft thighs against his face.

  At the same time, he lowered himself into the water until only Morgan’s head bobbed at the surface of the pool, not wanting her to get cold as his arms supported her back and hips so she wouldn’t feel unbalanced on him.

  “Are… are you sure this is safe?” He heard her muffled words from the surface of the water.

  He just lifted a hand, gave her a thumbs-up to signal she needn’t worry, then brought up his hand to cup the small of her back.

  Then he pulled her bikini away with his teeth and licked up her hot center.