Eternity Embraced

The sight undid him. Heat shot like flame through his balls and up his shaft as his release blasted through him. They both cried out as she joined him, her thighs crushing his waist in that primal way every male loved, and he came again, his cock pulsing against her tight walls.

He sank bonelessly on top of her when it was over, his limbs trembling, his vision blurred. When he could move again, he rolled off her and brought her with him so they were tangled together and facing each other. He liked holding her like this, liked watching her as she drifted off with a satisfied smile on her kiss-swollen lips.

"Kaden?" She opened her eyes, which were bright and not sleepy at all.

"Yeah."

She propped herself up on one elbow. "Turn me."

He sat up with a start, unable to believe he'd just heard that. They'd never talked about their future, not even when he'd asked her to marry him. The fact that she was human and would grow old and die while he lived on had been a sleeping werebear in their relationship, and he'd carefully tiptoed around it.

He hadn't wanted to hear that she was okay with dying, but at the same time, he didn't want to hear that she would be willing to give up her humanity.

So yes, he'd been fully engaged in avoidance mode.

"Turn you?" he rasped. "Andrea--"

"Not right this minute," she said, sitting up and taking his hand. "Not even this month or this year. But eventually. I don't want to get old and force you to watch me die." She nibbled on her lower lip for a moment, as though trying to come up with her next words. "I've learned so much about the underworld in these last few months. About vampires and the demons we call our friends."

That still blew him away, that he could actually be friends with demons. But Tayla and Eidolon regularly invited them to dinner and hospital events, and Kaden and Andrea had spent a lot of time at Eidolon's brother Lore's Italian house he shared with his mate, an ex-angel named Idess.

Kaden reached out and tucked her hair behind one ear, more of an excuse to touch her than anything. "So hanging out with these people has you jonesing to become one of them?"

"It's made me realize that I can do a lot of good if I'm stronger and harder to kill. It also means I can spend more time with you." She cupped his cheek and brushed her thumb lightly over his skin. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So yeah, I'll make sure we have really long lives." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Though you might come to regret that."

Her laughter buzzed through him, all the way to his soul. "I told you I'm through with being a quitter. You're stuck with me, buddy. For eternity."

He wrapped his arms around her and sealed his lips to hers. "I'm ready for eternity, Andrea," he whispered. "Ready when you are."

# # #





ABOUT THE AUTHOR


New York Times best-selling author Larissa Ione grew up reading Stephen King, Jack London, and Dean Koontz. She began writing horror and fantasy, but during her enlistment in the U.S. Air Force, she learned to love romance.

She now writes sexy, gritty paranormal romance for Grand Central Publishing and Kensington Books, steamy contemporary romance for Red Sage and Samhain, and erotic fantasy romance under the name Sydney Croft (with Stephanie Tyler), for Random House.

She is also lucky enough to write full time, which is a blessing given her husband's very mobile military career. Though she considers the Pacific Northwest to be her home, she has lived all over the world and currently resides in Wisconsin. For more information about Larissa and other books in the Demonica series, please visit her at: www.LarissaIone.com