“You have capabilities that few have, sivamet, and it has become clear to me that you are very headstrong. I cannot protect you during the daylight hours and you insist on leaving my side. There is no other path.”
What path? That didn’t sound good. There was always more than one path. Her mouth went dry when she saw him bend his head toward hers. He turned slightly, presenting the side of his neck the vampire had shredded. His skin she couldn’t help marveling over because there was nothing but perfection there. In spite of everything, she had a strange compulsion to bury her face in his neck, fling her arms around him and seek comfort.
You’re scaring me. She couldn’t speak, but she was still in his mind and it felt intimate and right. You said you would never harm me.
You are the safest person on this planet from me. I would never harm you. I am incapable of harming you. However, csitri, you have taken all choices from me.
There it was again. All choices. She hadn’t taken all of them. There had to be other ways than this, right? She swallowed, but she still wanted to bury her face against his neck, right over the vein where she could feel his heart.
Her gaze was captivated by the pulse beating so strongly in his neck. He had a great neck. Great shoulders. Awesome muscles. She leaned into him. It wouldn’t hurt anything to touch his bare skin, with her lips, right there. To taste him. She wanted his kisses, but he wasn’t giving them out, so she could just get a little whisper of a taste.
Abruptly she pulled herself together. What the hell was wrong with her mind? She had to stay focused if she was going to get out of this.
You will not be getting out of anything, Teagan. Running is not the answer.
Maybe running isn’t the answer for you. She tried to glare to let him know he was being a total jerk. You can fly. She made that an accusation, because really, who could fly? Superman maybe, but Andre wasn’t wearing a big geeky S on his chest so he had no real explanation.
Running sounds really good to me about now. I am so not drinking blood. I don’t judge. I’m not in the least judgmental. Well—she hedged because he was in her mind and he’d see that was a teensy lie anyway—I totally am opposed to vampires. I might have judged him a little harshly when I bashed that one over his head, but I’m not judging you. I’m just saying, blood is not exactly my cup of tea.
She watched in a kind of fascinated horror as he lifted his hand, fingers up, and one nail slid across that beckoning pulse point in his neck. Small ruby red beads welled up and dotted his skin. Anticipation beat at her. Her mouth watered. She could taste him in her mouth. It was both horrifying and wonderful. Wonderfully horrifying.
His palm shaped the back of her head and pressed her face toward him. She closed her eyes and immediately was enveloped with his warmth. She felt secure. Loved even. Comforted. Her racing heart slowed to match the steady beat of his. She heard them, two hearts, beating in exact synchronization.
With his one hand at the back of her head and the other wrapped around her, holding her close to the incredible heat of his body, she was completely surrounded by him. She kept her eyes closed and let herself sink into his warmth. He was there in her mind, comforting her, gently pushing her mouth to taste his skin. To just kiss his shoulder blade and move up his collarbone to his throat.
She had to breathe him in. He’d been in a battle and yet he smelled fresh and clean. All male. As wonderful as the forest after a rainfall. She inhaled, taking him into her lungs. He was there in her mind, filling every lonely place, caressing her, whispering encouragement.
Teagan felt his swift intake of breath when she dared to press her lips to his skin. She felt the impact on his body, the incredible moment when she realized the chemistry between them was just as great for him as it was for her. She tasted his throat, a slide of her tongue, and his body was instantly hard.
His heavy erection pressed shamelessly against her bottom, so hot she thought he might burn through their clothing to touch her skin. She kissed her way to the fascinating place where his shoulder and neck met. His arm tightened, and he groaned.
She heard him. He groaned. She’d made gorgeous Andre actually groan just by burying her face in that warm, perfect spot on his body. Just by skimming his pulse with her lips. The tip of her tongue teased and caressed his skin, needed his taste, wondering if he tasted the same or different on various body parts.
You are killing me, sivamet.
His voice was husky, sensual, brushing along the walls of her mind. She felt the stroke of his whisper over her skin. Her nipples peaked, pushed against the lace of her bra, seeking contact with his heat. Needing his touch.
Avio päläfertiilam, I have given you my heart. I need you to give your heart to me. I need your body. Give yourself to me. All of you.
She felt him moving again, in his mind, and she was skin to skin with him. She was hazily aware that suddenly neither of them had a stitch on. She should have been embarrassed, but she was elated. She wanted to touch him. To run her hands over his chest and down to his lap. She needed to feel every bit of him against her, so she simply turned her body and pressed her front to his front as she lapped at the hot spice spilling from him.
She’d already given herself to him. She didn’t sit in a man’s lap without her clothes on and not want more. Want everything from him. And she did.
As if hearing her unspoken answer, Andre’s hands slid over her bare skin, a delicious feeling that sent little flames dancing through her. Delicious. Her tongue tasted him again. A rich spice. The flavor of him burst on her tongue, addictive. Wild. Exotic. Nothing like she’d ever tasted before, but she craved it. Needed it. Or had she tasted that exact richness before, setting up her addiction? Her obsession. Once maybe. She had a vague recollection, and hadn’t he said something to that effect? She found herself licking at the tiny beads, no longer caring, only needing.
Andre groaned again, his body shifting restlessly against hers. His palms stroked caresses along her rib cage. His fingers traced each rib, every indentation, the soft mound of her belly and then up the sides of her breasts. Perfect. She melted into him, against all his hard muscle, feeling the incredible softness of her own body. Her mind was so firmly entrenched in his that she could feel everything he was feeling, not just the sensations his sensual hands gave to her, but his actual responses.
She felt his heart, the love he already had for her growing deeper and stronger. She felt part of his soul, tiny threads binding them so that instead of two lost souls, they were one very strong soul. She felt his hunger and need of her body. She drove him wild with her soft skin and the feel of her mouth and tongue against his skin.
A delicious burn between her legs spread flames through her. The fire started right there, as she spread kisses over the droplets of hot spice. She needed more. She had to have more. He was in her mind. She needed him inside her, flowing through her veins. She wanted him inside of her, in her body, so they were one, not two.
She tried not to be greedy, but the taste was exquisite and there seemed to be an endless supply. Better yet, as she drew out the spicy liquid, Andre’s body got hotter and tighter, and she felt his hunger for her growing. It was there in her mind, a need that seemed to grow, matching her own almost desperate desire for him.
His hands cupped her breasts, and her breath left her body. His thumbs slid over her hard nipples and she gasped, arching into him. His fingers and thumbs tugged and rolled, until fire spread straight to her sex and sent hot flames licking over her skin.
She tried to gain some control, but once she closed her eyes, she couldn’t open them again, which was strange, because her body was her own again. Her hands moved up the strong column of his broad back, spreading across his skin to take in as much of him as she possibly could. She had to touch him. There was no stopping herself. She wanted all of him. She was desperate to have all of him.
His back was every bit as muscled as his chest. Beautiful, deliciously defined, very masculine muscles. She had a thing for muscles and he had them everywhere. His skin was hot and hard and smooth. She couldn’t get enough of touching him, of kissing him. Of tasting him. An addictive taste she would crave forever.