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wings, stroking her skin. She'd thought about pleasuring herself as a form of relief, a way to focus, but in the end she stretched out on her bed, tired of struggling. To hell with it. Bring it on.
    Gripping Tigger hard in both hands, she focused on his silly face. "Only way to resolve this is to catch the Tigger by the tail. And hope he doesn't bite my face off. Here, kitty, kitty . . ." As drowsiness closed in, she began to murmur it. "Here, kitty, kitty . . ."
    It will be okay. Even if he's real, it's just a dream. We're just meeting in a dream. I will help him. It will be okay.
    FIRE. He was always surrounded by fire, but tonight the heat was uncomfortably hot and suffocating. Flames shot up in a wall all around her. Panic invaded her mind. But then he was there, several feet away, in the only circle where fire didn't exist. He was naked, all lean male muscle and arousal. His flesh had been cut, marks on his arms and stomach streaming blood. Since she was in her human form this time, she moved to him on burning bare feet. "What happened? You've hurt yourself."
    He watched her come with a peculiar still look, like an animal used to capturing its food and waiting patiently for it, no matter how harshly hunger gnawed away at his insides. Though the heat pressed in on all sides, he seemed unaffected. Even his silken black hair, rippling loose over his shoulders with the wind created by the flames, defied the flickers of sparks. She'd like to touch those long strands, weave beads and feathers into it as if he were a Native American. She imagined he came from a tribe of that race because of his broad brow and sculpted proud cheekbones, the firm, cruel lips.
    His hands closed over her upper arms. There was a different quality to his touch this time. Not slow and seductive, mixed with a thrilling tease of forcefulness. This was pure dominance as he brought her to him, taking her mouth. Alexis made a keening noise, caught between anxiety and pleasure as he delved deep, his tongue lashing at hers, his lips caressing and demanding at once. His hands moved, following the curve of her spine to her buttocks where they spread out and gripped, enough to lift her onto her toes. Her sensitive sex pressed against the hard bar of iron that was his engorged cock. She gasped. "Please . . . I'm . . . frightened."
    "You're mine," he responded ruthlessly, raising his head to stare down at her. Alexis tried to focus past the wave of demanding heat pulsing from his body, to feel what was going on behind the fiery eyes. Did he want to frighten her? Before she could delve further, he'd lifted her, forcing her to open her thighs and wrap her legs around his hips, her calves resting on his taut buttocks, crossed heels brushing his thighs. She had to hold on to his shoulders for balance, and that put her fingers in his hair as she'd wished. It was like her father's feathers, so soft and pleasurable, an odd contrast to their surroundings. It was the one reassurance she had, such that she gripped it with both fists. Then malevolent intent exploded in her mind. Anger, rage . . . revenge.
    "Don't--wait--"
    He shifted her body and with one powerful thrust, penetrated her.
    His kiss had moistened her enough that he'd been able to get his broad head in her gateway, but she'd never been taken before. The pain was immediate and excruciating, such that she cried out, but he wouldn't let her free. He held her on him, seated to the hilt in her body, his arms banded about her.
    "It hurts . . . please stop. Please."
    His breath rasped in her ear, a beast in mindless rut, and she struggled to get past the pain and panic of a pinned butterfly. She had to reach him, to understand why he was doing this. Gripping her buttocks again, he began to work her up and down his shaft. She whimpered at the abrasion of raw tissue, at his battering assault on her virginity. While it didn't feel exactly . . . wrong, it was far from right. He was supposed to care about her, protect her.