She took a breath and let it out, nodding. Giving him that. She was reluctant and embarrassed to admit it, but still, she gave the admission to him.
“I cannot stop being who I am, Gabrielle. I will always be controlling. I will do my best to try to remember you are modern, but I have centuries of being a predator with no one challenging me. When you challenge me, it makes me crazy. It makes me need to dominate you. To show you who you belong to. I need you to give in to me.”
She gave him a faint smile, her fingers trailing along his jaw. “It’s kind of nice to have someone else making decisions, especially when I question every decision I’m making. I can’t be any different, though, either, Aleksei, and I’m not all about obeying.”
He laughed softly. “Then we will have to make certain both of us enjoy your disobedience.”
“Is that possible?”
“Oh, yes, my innocent, it is very possible. You will learn that lesson this night. We have many lessons to enjoy together. We can practice shapeshifting so I will know you are safe, and then we will continue until you feel as if you were born Carpathian and are powerful in your own right. Does that sound like a plan?”
She nodded.
For the first time she relaxed completely, and she looked happy.
He ran his hand down her front, from her throat to her lap. Light. Possessive. Claiming her. “You can start by showing me these clothes of seduction.”
“I don’t think you need clothes of seduction to be seduced,” she said, her long lashes veiling the sudden sultry expression in her eyes. “I think you get all revved up without them.”
His eyebrows shot up. She was teasing him. He’d never been teased—or if he had, he didn’t remember. It tasted wonderful on his tongue. Her smile. The sound of her voice. The teasing tasted like Gabrielle and filled his mouth with the exquisite flavor he was so addicted to, the one he craved and now needed so urgently.
“What’s your favorite color, Aleksei?”
Her voice came out husky. Sensual. A whisper that had blood pounding in his cock.
“Color?” he repeated.
“You must have one color you like more than others.”
He didn’t understand where the conversation was going but he was willing to go along with it because her beautiful eyes promised him paradise.
“I like fire. Red.”
“Of course you do.” Gabrielle inhaled sharply, drawing Aleksei’s masculine scent deep into her lungs. She should have known he would prefer red.
She kept her gaze burning deep into his, waved her hands slowly down her body, letting her fingertips skim the sides of her breasts, trace her tucked-in waist and the flare of her hips. Her touch continued down her thighs. All the while, she pictured the daring image in her head of the sexiest lingerie she’d seen.
The camisole was a deep red, made of stretch floral lace, revealing and concealing, but definitely showing off her abundant curves. The front had a mock corset detail, so that the ties were crisscrossed but showed an abundance of skin. The garters attached to red fishnet stockings that were topped with floral lace. The small, red thong was more stretchy lace, and she had made certain she was smooth and bare for him.
Aleksei sank back on his heels, his face going hard, lust fueling the fire in his gaze. “Stand up,” he whispered, almost hoarsely.
A rush of heat flushed her body a deep rose. He hadn’t moved back, so when she stood, the junction of her legs was level with his mouth. That sent a quiver through her body. She was fairly certain she had a mini orgasm just from the look on his face. Damp heat flooded the little thong so she knew it would be soaked when he went to take it off.
“Walk. Slowly. Around the room.”
She did as he directed. She knew how to walk and she wanted him to look. She loved seeing that look in his eyes. He made her feel beautiful and special when he looked at her like that. Like a starving wolf determined to devour her. A predator, and she was his only meal.
She knew he liked her breasts and her butt. She had curves, soft and full, and he paid a lot of attention to both. She made certain to turn and strut, showing him her bare buttocks with that little strip disappearing between her cheeks as she walked away.
His breath hissed out of him, a slow exhale that made her nipples tight. She was already aching for him. Aching. He hadn’t touched her. Not physically. Not one hand. He knelt on the floor watching her, his eyes burning with lust. With such fire. All for her. She may have never felt beautiful before, or special, but she did now, walking slowly around the room, showing him her body.
“Mine,” he corrected, showing her he was in her mind. “That body belongs to me. You gave it into my keeping.”
She should have been upset that he was in her mind without her knowledge, but truthfully, she didn’t mind. Not at that moment. She wanted him to know how much she wanted to please him. To give him this. To give this gift to herself.
“Stop.”
She stopped right in the middle of the room, her back to him. She felt him. Close to her. Behind her. She shivered, but she stayed very still. Just standing there in the red lace and stockings made her feel sexy. His hand swept her hair from the back of her neck and around to her left shoulder. She felt his breath on her nape and she closed her eyes, drawing in a ragged breath.