Serengeti Lightning by Vivi Andrews

as friends, at least. And he was her friend, as unlikely as that seemed. Over the course of the last few months, Michael had become one of her best friends. She would miss the way he could make her crazed with lust, but she would also miss the lazy conversation in the quiet hours before morning. They would talk about everything and nothing. Nonsense conversations that hadn’t really meant anything, until she realized how much they meant to her.
    He listened to her. He didn’t always understand her—they came at life from such different angles—but he always listened, with such intense concentration, bringing everything he had to puzzling her out.
    Through the stillness of the spring night, she heard footsteps rushing up the path to her house. A fist pounded on her door and Mara hesitated for a moment before going to open it.
    She was safe, protected here in her pride. But would she have that same confidence in another pride? Or would she have reason to fear an unexpected knock in the small hours of the morning? Doubt seemed to be wrapping around every aspect of her plan.
    She knew who would be waiting on her front porch before she opened the door, but she made herself walk slowly. Michael often surprised her. They’d played out this moment dozens of times before and the thought that this would be the last shortened her breath. Mara wanted to drag out the feeling of nervous anticipation, to live in it forever.
    As soon as she turned the knob, the door sprang open. He stalked through, grabbing the door from her hands and flipping it closed behind him. The sheer size of him made her breath catch. He exuded strength, his blue eyes lit from within by the force of his determination.
    “We aren’t done yet,” he growled. Michael caught her around the waist, jerking her forward, and she fell eagerly into his arms. His body slammed hard into hers. His mouth was rough and demanding, dragging against hers hungrily. He closed one hand around the back of her neck, kneading her nape with firm pressure as his kiss turned the world inside out. Everything was pressure and heat, every touch a push, as if he could press his will into her until she was nothing but his.
    She tugged at his shirt and he ripped it in two, flinging aside the pieces. Mara gasped, more turned on than she cared to admit by the sight of the animal driving him so hard. He was out of control and her only thought was bring me with you . She wanted that wildness. If this was going to be her last time, she wanted everything. She wanted all the insanity in his blood to be rushing through hers too. Only if she got it all would it be the closure she needed.
    Their clothing only lasted a matter of seconds, and then they were flesh to flesh. He was so hot his skin seemed to burn right through hers, branding her with his scent, his need. He pivoted, pinning her between his body and the wall. Mara cried out, surprise and arousal blending in the sound. He was so strong. For a man with no control of himself, he was in perfect control of her.
    Michael caught her wrists, trapping both of them above her head with one hand. “Admit it,” his dark voice rumbled into her ear before his mouth slid down the side of her neck. His sharp teeth nipped at the sensitive point where her neck met her shoulder and Mara moaned.
    “Admit…what?” she panted, arching into his touch as his free hand cupped her breast, plumping it then sharply tweaking her nipple. Sensation shot straight to her pussy. She pressed her thighs together, wet and wanting.
    “You need me,” he growled against her skin, licking his way down to her breasts, teasing flicks that made her writhe. He shifted his hand to torment her other breast and sucked the nipple he’d released into his mouth.
    “Michael.”
    “Admit you love me.” He took her other nipple into his mouth, catching it gently between his teeth. His fingers speared between her folds, sliding to either side of her clit and curling just barely inside