His words had her temper spiking. "Wanting isn't everything!" It sure wasn't enough for her.

She'd wanted her entire life. Wanted her mother's love. Wanted a normal home. Wanted a husband.

A family.

Screw wanting-it got you nothing.

Taking, claiming-that was the way of the world.

"I could feel you, even when you were gone," he said and his lips pressed against hers in the briefest of caresses. "Smell you on my skin. Taste you on my tongue."

Maya swallowed as heat rose in her belly. Her sex began to moisten as the lust built with his softly spoken words.

"When I close my eyes, I see you," Adam told her, before pressing another kiss to her lips.

And she saw him.

"I've been alone a long time, Maya, too long. I didn't want to love another human-humans are too weak. They die too soon. There are too few of my own kind. I had no hope of finding a lover who'd shift like me, and then you-"

What the hell? Maya shoved away from him, rage wrestling with the lust her body felt. "So you wanna be with me because I'm a vamp and I can keep living as long as you do? It doesn't matter a shit who I am inside-you just want a long-term bed buddy and I'm available?" He was lucky she hadn't knocked him on his ass. And this was the guy she'd been mooning over? A thin line bisected his brows. "What? No! Dammit, listen to me!"

"I was listening, you said-"

"What I was saying was that I don't want anyone else-not another Wyvern, not a human-no one!" His voice was a roar now, shaking the streets.

And, no doubt, alerting the L7.

"You're the only woman in my life who has looked at the dragon– and still seen me. "

She blinked. Well, of course she saw him. The man's soul and the dragon's, they were the same.

"Others in my life have feared me. Ran screaming when they saw my dragon form." He lifted his hand as if he'd touch her again, but his fingers stopped just inches from her arm. "But not you. You felt the breath of the dragon on your skin, and even then, you didn't fear me."

She'd never fear him.

A muscle ticced along his jaw. "You're rare, Maya. Damn rare. I could look this whole world over and never find a woman with your strength."

Ah, now he was just bullshitting her.

"You are so fucking strong, but you're running scared now."

"What?" She wasn't-okay, so maybe she had run from Vegas, but-

"Maybe it's because you're afraid of your feelings-and I know you have feelings for me-and that fear is trapping you. Stopping you from having the life you want. A life with me."

She looked over his shoulder, staring at the darkened factory. "Nassor was right about me, Slick.

There are things inside me, a darkness that you just can't understand." That darkness was dangerous.

"Let me try." His fingers finally touched her arm, curled over the skin. "Give me a chance. I think you'd be surprised at the things I can understand."

Oh, damn, but his words tempted her. If she just had herself to consider, she'd be all over the guy already. "What about Cammie? The kid's been through enough, she doesn't need someone like me coming into her life and bringing demons and shifters and-"

"Cammie's asked about you every day that you've been gone." For a moment, humor glowed in the depths of his gaze. "She told me she wants to be like you when she grows up."

Poor delusional kid.

Maya rubbed her chest, where she could feel a dull, throbbing burn. "I'm not gonna change who I am. I-I can't. I'm gonna keep hunting, fighting-"

"I don't want you to change." His hand slid down her arm, curled around her wrist. "I'm crazy about you-vampire, demon slayer, wolf tamer-whatever. I'll take you, any way I can get you." He pressed a kiss to her palm. "Just don't walk away from me again." His voice was ragged. "Hell, I'd rather face Nassor and his vampires another time than to watch you walk away from me."

His words shocked a surprised laugh from her, and made her realize that walking away from him again, well, she didn't know if she could do it.

About Nassor. A stab of guilt had her stiffening her spine. "You know I had no choice about the compulsion, right? I had to put you to sleep, there wasn't any other way to get inside-"

His lips twisted into a faint smile. "Ah, Maya, you never put me under a compulsion."

"What?"

"I pretended to sleep and then pretended to wake when you needed me." A shrug.

Well, well. So the dragon still had a few secrets, after all. "You control the link, don't you?" It had never been her, even though she'd taken his blood.

"The Wyvern line is old, and very, very powerful."

Yeah, she got that picture, but she wasn't sure he was understanding her. "People who are around me, those who get close to me, they have a way of winding up either hurt"-like Sean-"or dead." Like her mother. She didn't want to risk him, too.

Adam just shook his head. "Don't you know yet that I'm one hard asshole to kill?"

She licked her lips. "Adam-"

"Our lives are about risk, Maya. That's who we are. What we are. Don't give me some bullshit line about me being in danger because I'm with you. Hell, I'm always in danger. That fact doesn't change anything for me."

There was a ring of truth to his words that she couldn't deny, and though she tried to fight it, a wild flaring of what could have been hope grew inside her. He knew the risks and still wanted to be with her. "So what is it that you're offering me, Slick?" She finally asked him, because she needed to know, needed to be sure.

"I'm offering you a partner. A lover. Someone who'll watch your back and hold you when you sleep."

Hold you when you sleep. Because Adam did hold her, keeping her wrapped in warm, strong arms. And, damn, but it felt right when he held her.

In the past, she'd always wanted to sleep alone after sex. She hadn't wanted a false closeness.

But with Adam, it wasn't false. The connection she felt, it was real. She'd missed him, missed his touch and his scent and his strength the last few nights.

She'd missed his arms, holding her.

"Maya…" The rumble of his voice made her swallow. She stared into his eyes, unable to look away as he said, "I'm offering you all the blood you need and all the sex you can handle," he continued, heat roughening his words.

Wow. No smart vampire would turn that down.

Silence, just for a beat of time, then, "I'm offering you forever with a man who'd do anything you wanted-just to make you smile."

Well, damn.

Maya parted her lips to speak, but found she didn't know what to say.

Forever. Such a long, long time. Especially for her. And for Adam.

"Nassor was right about the darkness in you," Adam said and Maya felt her heart lurch to a stop.

No, no-

"I've got that same darkness. I know what it's like to live with that kind of power inside." His gaze bored into hers. "I control that darkness, and so do you."

But what if she lost control? What if, one day, the beast inside took over? His fingers tightened around hers. "You'll always leash the beast, baby, because the woman in you is a hell of a lot stronger than the darkness."

He lifted her hand, pressed a kiss against her palm. "What will it be, vampire? Do you choose to walk with me or do you choose to walk alone?"

She'd thought she'd chosen before. When she'd left him, she'd planned to fight on her own. To live on her own.

But Adam was offering her something now-something she'd barely ever dreamed she'd have.

A partner, a lover of her own. Someone to turn to when the nightmares rose and even when the laughter beckoned.

"What about Cammie?" It was the only thing holding her back-if she ever did anything to hurt the kid…

"It took me a week to get here because Cammie and I had to pack up the house in Maine. She wanted to come to you, and so did I." The briefest of smiles. "Don't you know, you're her hero now? The woman who saved her from the monsters."

Oh, but she wanted to take what he was offering. The chance for happiness. For a life not lived in the shadows.

"I…love you, Maya. More than I think you'll ever know."

Shit. Her knees almost buckled on that one. He loved her? Her pulse raced now, far too fast. Her hands were soaked with sweat and a wild, raw pleasure filled her heart.

He loved her.

"I know you-you don't love me, not yet, but, dammit, we've got a hell of a lot of years ahead of us, and if you'll just give me a chance-" Adam broke off, drawing a deep breath. "One day, one night at a time, Maya. That's all I'm asking."

One night at a time. She could handle that, but Adam, well, he deserved more. Stop being afraid.

It was time she put her past to rest, and fought for the future she'd longed for. Her fingers curled over his. "Adam…"

He flinched.

She shook her head. "No, please, listen." Ah, but she still didn't know what to say. "Shit, Adam, I-I care for you." Care. Far too weak a word.

A muscle flexed along his jaw. "Like you care for your friend Sean? Or for Cammie? Or for-"

"No! Look, I worry about you. All the time. I mean, I know you're a freaking dragon and can pretty much kick everyone's ass, but I worry about you. I want to protect you. And I want you. I want you so much but I also, dammit, I just want to hold you." She was screwing this up.

A frown lined his brow.

"I like it when you hold me," she whispered and the admission was one of the hardest she'd ever made. "I like it when you smile, even when you get all arrogant and asshole-like on me, I still like it."

His eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

Did the man want her to have absolutely no pride? Fine. If that was what he needed, then-"I'm saying I think I love you, dragon."

Savage satisfaction flashed across his face. "Good, because I'm fucking insane for you." His lips took hers, the kiss hard and deep. She could taste his hunger, his lust.

It matched hers perfectly.

But then, Adam had matched her from the beginning.

Dragon.

Warrior.

Lover.

And with a soul as dark as her own.

She wanted to get him somewhere dark and quiet where they could be alone and naked and she could make certain this wasn't some kind of dream.

But first…"Hold the thought, Slick," she murmured against his lips. "I got a little bit of business to take care of here."

His head lifted, and he glanced back at the warehouse. "What did the asshole do?"

"Messed with the wrong cop." A good cop, one who just hadn't known how to handle a demon.

"Huh." Adam slowly stepped away from her, but he didn't release her hand. "Then lead the way, sweetheart. We'll take care of him, then I'll take you."

A quiver of excitement heated her blood. "That a promise, dragon?"

"Vampire, think of it more as a guarantee."

Maya smiled at him, reached for her gun, and got ready to kick ass.

It was, after all, one of the things she did best.

It had been a near miss, Adam realized as he stalked behind Maya into the darkened building.

She'd nearly escaped him-and left him in the darkness all alone.

But he'd managed to convince her that they had something together, and she was willing to give him a chance.

Willing to give them a chance.

She was still afraid. Maya didn't trust easily, and love for her, well, that would never be easy, either.

But as he'd said, they had plenty of time. Time for him to prove to her that he was exactly the man she needed.

Yes, they had plenty of days. Plenty of nights.

He could be patient.

After all, he'd already waited a thousand years to find her.

He smiled as he watched her kick open a door, shattering wood. The demon was running from her, and Maya was telling him that he had two options.

"Option one," she snarled, "I kick your ass and then watch you drag your sorry carcass out of L.A. And you stay away from my cops."

The demon backed into a corner. Its claws were up, but Adam could smell his fear.

Apparently, Maya's reputation had preceded her.

A tough bitch to stake.

An unstoppable killer.

And the woman who could tame a dragon.

"What's the second option?" the L7 asked, voice high.

Maya spared Adam a glance over her shoulder. "My dragon gets to show you how hot his fire burns."

The demon began to shake and then he started making promises, fast. Swearing he'd never so much as look at a cop, or any human, again.

Maya's words whispered through his mind. My dragon. He liked that. A lot.

Because she was sure as hell his.

A perfect mate.

A woman who could touch the fire and never feel the burn.

Maya Black .

The vampire who held the heart of a dragon in the palm of her hand.

Eternity with her was gonna be one hell of an adventure.

Blood, sex, and fire.

He could hardly wait.