When Darkness Comes(51)

"You are so warm. I could drown in your heat."

"I think you would be warmer if you got rid of some of those clothes," she daringly offered.

"Much warmer." His movements were jerky as he helped her to remove the final barriers between them.

Her breath caught as she glimpsed his full arousal, a sudden ache clawing deep within her. She wanted to make this a slow, delicious seduction, but the thought of having him buried deep within her made her long to abandon her plan and simply join herself to him in a flurry of pagan heat.

Obviously misunderstanding her hesitation, Dante reached up to gently stroke her cheek. "Are you sure about this, Abby?"

"Yes," she managed to croak, wrestling control over her hot surge of desire. "At the moment it's the only thing I am sure of."

Giving her a long searching glance, Dante slowly framed her face in his hands, pulling her forward to kiss her with an aching sweetness. Abby melted toward him. She had not exaggerated. In this moment there seemed nothing more right than being in this vampire's arms.

Feeling a strange confidence that was usually lacking within her, Abby ran her hands lightly over his muscled chest. His skin was as smooth as silk, inviting a more intimate touch.

Without thought, she lowered her head to trail her lips over his shoulders, delighting in the erotic power that flowed through her blood.

"My champion," she whispered as she continued her persuasive caresses. "Do you like this?"

"Yes," he growled, his hands clutching her h*ps as he sought to remain in control of his building need.

"And this?" she whispered, moving steadily lower.

"God, yes."

"And this?"

"Abby," he choked as she reached the clenched muscles of his lower stomach.

'Yes, Dante?"

"Keep this up and it will be a fantasy for one," he ground out.

She gave a throaty chuckle as she deliberately rubbed her body back up the length of his chest.

Her every nerve felt alive, sensitized to the point of near pain.

"I'm only trying to convince you that I am no dream."

Without warning, he shifted her farther up his thighs. The air was wrenched from her body as the fierce jut of his erection settled in the damp heat between her legs.

She shifted experimentally, the dull throb in her lower body rejoicing as the tip of him slipped just inside her body. She was prevented from a complete entry, however, as he grasped her h*ps and regarded her with smoldering eyes.

"All you've done is made more certain this is a fantasy," he murmured.

'You need more proof?" she teased.

"Ah, no, my turn for kisses," he informed her, drawing her toward his waiting lips. "And I want to kiss you everywhere."

With a slow, deliberate motion, Dante branded her lips with a searing kiss. Then moving his mouth over her face, he stroked down the length of her arched neck. Abby's fingers dug into his shoulders as he pulled her relentlessly upward, catching the hardened nipple between his teeth. She gave a soft cry as he tugged and suckled her, her head thrown backward at die insistent pleasure crashing through her. He turned his attention to the other breast, relentlessly driving her need to a fever pitch.

She wanted him within her.

She wanted the powerful thrust of his erection driving her to that wondrous edge and tossing her over.

But even as she sought to bring them together, he was determinedly lifting her ever upward. She found herself on her unsteady feet as his mouth teased the contracted muscles of her stomach, occasionally nipping at the shivering flesh. She moaned in protest, and then her eyes flew open as he lowered even farther, and his seeking mouth found her moist parting.

She momentarily struggled to stay upright as his tongue reached out to stroke the highly sensitive flesh.