She gave a low whistle of appreciation as she took him into her hand. "You're even hung like a bear."
He laughed at her pun. "You just don't know, baby. You ain't ever been loved till you're loved by a Were."
"I thought Kattagaria didn't like to be called Weres." Kattagaria were the animal branch of the Were-Hunter race. Like Fang, they were animals who could shift into human form and as such they didn't want to be called human in any way. To many, it was considered an extreme insult.
"I'm not Kattagaria." Dev dropped the shield on his face so that she could see the tribal symbol that marked one entire side of his face. It was unmistakable and it designated him as one of the most powerful of his kind. A Sentinel. "I'm Arcadian."
She traced the pattern of his Sentinel markings with her fingertips. "They're beautiful. Why do you hide them?"
Dev glanced away as old memories surged. Because his mother had been Kattagaria and had despised the Arcadian branch of their people, he'd chosen at puberty to hide his true nature from her as well as the rest of the world.
Now that she was dead...
"Habit. Everyone assumes all the Peltiers are Kattagaria. I let them have their delusions. Far be it from me to attempt to educate the ever shortsighted, small-minded morons who happen into our bar."
Sam frowned as she heard the undercurrent in his voice. For the first time, she wished she could see inside him to find what had hurt him about that. "Do you count me in that group?"
"Not at all. You haven't tried to kill me for being something I'm not...at least not yet."
She ran her hungry gaze over his tawny body. Every muscle was a study of sinewy grace and perfection. All man and all hot. His chest was dusted by golden hairs. Not too thick, just enough to be manly and appealing. Goodness, how she'd missed touching a man and being close to one like this.
A part of her was still timid to touch him for fear that her powers would kick in, but the other part of her was desperate to be held. Just for a little while.
"You don't like false people, do you?"
He narrowed his gaze at her. "Are you reading my mind?"
"No. It's strictly from what you've said. I told you, I can't read your thoughts right now and I don't know why."
He gave her a cocky grin. "It doesn't take much to read them right now." He gave her a scorching once-over.
Sam laughed until he dipped his fingers into the part of her that craved him most. Her legs turned to Jell-O. "I haven't had anyone touch me there in centuries." She gasped as she realized she'd said that out loud.
Dev didn't blink or stop as he stared down at her. A wicked light came into his eyes as he kissed his way down her body. He paused to lave her breasts. Ribbons of heated pleasure burned through her while his fingers continued to tease her.
Then ever so slowly, he continued south until he replaced his hand with his lips.
Sam had to lean one hand against the wall for support as her body twitched and ached in response to his masterful touch. Before she could draw another breath, her body shattered as one of the most intense orgasms of her life claimed her.
Still he continued to please her until he wrung another one from her spasming body. She sank her hand in his soft hair, tugging at it as he continued to tease her.
Dev growled at how good she tasted. It'd been way too long since he last had a woman. Hell, he'd had so little interest in them lately that he'd been begun to fear he was broken. But there were no inhibitions or hesitation with her even though he should have them in spades.
He was sleeping with a Dark-Hunter. Who would have ever thought?
Unable to stand it anymore, he pulled back from her. He lifted her hips to brace her against the black marble-topped table in her foyer before he drove himself deep inside her body. She cried out his name.
Smiling, he thrust against her, seeking solace in her softness.
Sam balled her fist in Dev's hair as she buried her face in his neck to inhale the warm masculine scent of his skin. There was so much power in him, so much skill in the way he filled her and touched her. It was like he knew every way to wring as much pleasure from every thrust as he could. And to be able to have him and not have his emotions overwhelm hers...it was incredible.
For the first time in centuries, she felt human.
"Harder, baby," she purred in his ear, wanting him to love her with everything he had. This was the most incredible moment of her life and when he finally came, she joined him.
Completely spent and sated, she leaned back onto the table while he was still inside her. Her breathing ragged, she kept her legs wrapped around his waist while he stared into her eyes and toyed with her belly button. "That was incredible."
He flashed a devilish grin. "Glad I could oblige." He ran his hand around her breast, traced the line of her bow-and-arrow mark, then gave it a light squeeze as he brushed her hardened nipple with his thumb.