Her eyes flew open as she landed, but not in time to prevent him from following her downward and covering her body with his much heavier frame.
"Very well." His head angled downward until his lips were pressed to her throat and the silken silver hair brushed her face. "I want you in my bed beneath me, screaming out my name as you come in pleasure " he murmured, his mouth moving against her skin to send a thousand tingles of delight through her body. "I want to drink deeply of your blood and bathe in your heat. I want to wrap myself in you until I can get you to stop haunting my dreams. Is that what you wanted to know?"
Her eyes slid shut as she battled the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and beg to be taken exactly as he described.
He wasn't the only one haunted.
"Not really," she rasped.
"Don't worry, pet. I don't force myself on women. We have an eternity to sate my hungers." His mourn shifted so she could feel the sharpness of his fangs. "Both our hungers."
She shivered even as she shook her head in denial. "You know nothing of my hungers."
"I intend to learn."
A sharp, poignant sadness swept through her, helping to dispel the seductive madness that this vampire could infect with such terrifying ease.
"What I desire you can't offer."
Easily sensing her withdrawal Viper pulled back to regard her with a fierce expression.
"Never doubt me, Shay. I am a vampire of amazing skills." He kissed her with a swift, but shocking intimacy before he was pressing himself fluidly to his feet. A smile touched his lips as he regarded her sprawled on the soft quilt, as if the sight of her lying there somehow pleased him. "Rest well."
Unbelievably, he turned and walked out of the room.
He hadn't chained her to the bed.
He hadn't locked her in the closet.
He hadn't even closed the door.
Cautiously pressing herself upright Shay gave a shake of her head.
What the hell was going on?
Viper made his way through the dark house to his private study. It was close to dawn but he still had a few details to tidy up before seeking his bed.
A pity one of those details wasn't the beautiful Shalott alone in her room, he acknowledged with a rueful sigh. His body still ached with the effort it had taken to leave her alone on that bed.
His mind might assure him that she would soon enough be offering herself without hesitation, but his frustrated desire insisted that it couldn't possibly be soon enough.
Five minutes from now couldn't be soon enough.
Entering the book-lined room he moved straight to the door hidden behind the walnut paneling. Pressing the lever that would let him into the security room beyond, Viper stepped inside and regarded the bank of monitors with a faint sense of pride.
Unlike many of his kind he had never shied from embracing the latest technology. It went beyond arrogant to downright stupid to ignore the ever-changing world.
Besides, if he were perfectly honest, he would admit that he was like any man. He had to have the coolest, the shiniest, most expensive toys with which to play.
At his entrance a small, redheaded vampire watching the monitors was on his feet with his fangs fully extended.
Viper raised a calming hand. "Be at ease."
Realizing who had snuck up on him, the vampire offered a deep bow. "Master."
"Have there been any disturbances?"
"No. It has been very quiet." The green eyes narrowed. "Are you expecting trouble?"