He paused. Tilted his head. Nodded.

“And it’s not crippling you? How fair is that?”

“I accept your emotions.” He moved closer until she had to crane her neck to meet his sharpening purple eyes. “I embrace them and take them into myself. But you are fighting mine.”

Because she had to.

She couldn’t give him any more access to her heart.

None.

“Ah!” Sara grabbed her head as his shadows tainted her mind. “Your… guilt…”

Korben tenderly took her elbow. As he held her, the anguish from the neural connection eased. His guilt was fading because of his concern for her. Sara’s pain eased with each breath he took.

Korben stood directly in front of her, his face hovering close. “Are you ill, my heras?”

She stared up at him, her mind churning. What would happen if she changed the current of his feelings completely?

“Sah-ah?”

Her eyes fixed on his lips. Giving in to the crazy inkling that this might work, Sara rose on the tips of her toes and slammed her lips on his. Korben stumbled back and she followed him, gripping his waist and attacking his mouth.

He started to kiss her back and their lips clashed together. Their tongues danced in a tribal sort of war. It was not the tender, romantic kiss they’d shared this morning in the hammock. Or the frantic, needy embrace from last night.

Thiskiss was primal.

Furious.

Dangerous.

As her mouth moved against his, the lust that pulsed through his body collided with hers. His desire for her was powerful enough to consume everything in its path, and she drew strength from that. Shereveledin it.

No more pain, damn it.

No more of his crushing guilt.

She was stoking the flames of another, more destructive force and it was taking over like a tsunami crushing everything on the shore. With a feminine growl, Sara bucked her hips. Korben grunted, his eyes picking her apart even as his body made it clear that he wanted her.

She could tell that he’d read her intentions. That he knew she was only trying to distract him.

She could also tell that he wanted to resist her.

Some small part of him.

On the principle alone.

But he didn’t.

Korben gripped the back of her neck, pressing kisses to the hollow of her throat and sucking on the lobe of her ear. “Say you want me.”

“I won’t,” she snarled.

“You are my heras.” He wrapped his fingers around her chest and squeezed. “Say it.”

Sara panted as Korben’s pinch shot delicious electricity into her stomach. She pushed her tunic off. The soft fabric slid down her shoulders and rolled over her legs.

A warm breeze caressed her body when she kicked her clothes away, but the wind was not as hot as Korben’s gaze on her skin. His hunger was a physical presence that stroked her, teased her and made her thighs tremble. His glare was masculine. A promise. A warning.