“Victor.”
“Look at me, little one,” he whispered.
Allowing herself to become lost in the silver gaze, she made no demur as he tugged the smock over her head and tossed it aside. The remainder of her clothing swiftly followed until she was lying na**d on the satin sheets.
The world had somehow slipped away. There was nothing but the dark eyes and the slender fingers that tenderly explored her body as if he were memorizing every angle and curve of her.
“This is madness,” Juliet whispered.
The faintest smile curled the corner of his mouth. “This is fate.”
“Fate?”
“Destiny.” His head lowered, his lips brushing her mouth as he spoke. “I have waited an eternity to find you. I will never harm you.”
Of their own will her hands lifted to grasp his shoulders. The brocade was smooth and delicious to the touch and she found her fingers stroking down the wide width of his back.
A low sigh hissed through his lips. His kiss became more demanding, his tongue dipping into her mouth with a sweep of wetness. At the same moment his hand cupped her breast and his thumb rubbed over the tight peak.
Juliet bucked against him as the shock of sensations jolted through her. “Oh.”
He pulled back enough that she could see herself reflected in his shimmering silver eyes. Or at least someone who looked vaguely like her.
Her curls were tumbled like a river of fire onto the pillows, her face flushed with pleasure, and her parted lips still damp from his kiss.
She looked like a decadent sacrifice offered up for some sensual beast.
“What has brought that frown to your beautiful brow?” he whispered.
Her attention returned to the man poised above her. Good heavens, he was so beautiful. Astonishingly beautiful. Unable to resist temptation, her fingers lifted to plunge into the heavy thickness of his hair.
Ah…yes. It was just as soft and silky as she had imagined.
“I have wanted you from the moment I saw you in the ballroom,” she confessed in soft tones. “But that does not mean I intend to complete the mating bond.”
His chuckle slithered down her spine. “You are my mate. You hold my heart and soul. We are one, whether you are too stubborn to admit the truth or not.”
Holding her gaze, he pulled the brocade robe from his body. Her eyes widened at the sight of the hard, chiseled muscles that rippled beneath the ivory skin that was tattooed with a beautiful dragon. His shoulders were broad, his chest so pale and smooth the ni**les appeared startlingly dark in contrast. Her gaze refused to lower beyond the contoured ripple of his stomach. Her body already felt as if it were burning from within.
Holding her gaze, he slid slowly downward. The rub of his skin against hers made her breath catch painfully in her throat.
His lips touched her collarbone, tracing the delicate line with the tip of his tongue before slowly traveling down the curve of her breast. Juliet shifted restlessly beneath the teasing mouth. Good lord, nothing had ever felt so wondrous.
“You are so warm,” he whispered against her skin, turning his head just enough to capture the tip of her nipple between his lips.
“Blessed mother.”
She arched off the bed and her hands slid to frame his face in silent encouragement. Whatever she had thought she knew of passion had never included the tender caresses that were sending a storm of sensations lashing through her body.
With obvious expertise he used his tongue and even his teeth to torment her nipple to a hard peak. Her eyes squeezed shut as she groaned low in her throat. He turned his attention to her other breast, his hands sliding down the curve of her waist.
Juliet was lost in the tide of building sensations when his arms encircled her and without warning he had rolled onto his back. In one powerful motion she discovered herself perched on top of his hard frame. Her eyes widened as she regarded the fiercely handsome countenance.
“Victor?”
“Do not fear,” he murmured as his hands smoothed down the curve of her back.
“What are you doing?”