He raised his head, his hands on her bare hips, his warm breath teasing the vee of curls at the junction of her legs. "Pesamet andam." Still retaining possession of her hips, he stood, fully clothed, making her feel all the more vulnerable and sexy. "I give you my protection." His hands slid to her waist and he walked her backward until the backs of her knees hit the bed and her legs buckled.
Dax guided her down to the bed, helping her to lie on her back. Riley felt caught in an erotic dream. His hands were gentle as he positioned her on the soft silken sheets, but so firm and strong, she felt as if she couldn't move, her body molten lead, heated beyond the ability to do anything but wait in desperation.
Above her, the mist hovered like a white blanket, swirling into shapes of glittering stars, great constellations untouched by the thick ash that still hovered in the air just beyond the clouds of vapor. She knew Dax had created that beautiful outdoor ceiling for her. The wind touched her heated skin, the cool brush against her burning skin only adding to the urgency of need.
He grasped her ankles and pulled her legs apart, exposing her most vulnerable entrance to him. Again, his hands were gentle, but his grip unbreakable should she have tried to twist away. Her gaze jumped to his face.
"Uskolfertiilamet andam." He swept his shirt over his head and tossed it away. "I give you my allegiance."
Riley felt her heart jump toward him in response to his declaration. Something inside of her shifted. She could feel the difference, but there was a roar in her ears, blood pounding in tempo with his.
One hand shackled her ankle, holding her still as he shed the rest of his clothes with a single thought as most of his kind usually did. Her gaze drifted from his face to his broad chest and flat stomach, lower still to his thick, long erection.
Her eyes widened; her skin went from raging hot to ice-cold and then back to hot again. Both fists curled into the sheets to hold herself still as he lowered his head to kiss her calf. His lips felt cool against her skin, but sent those fingers of arousal skittering up her thigh. She nearly pulled her leg away, but his grip held her firm. His mouth moved higher, his kisses interspersed with little nips of his sharp teeth and languid licks from his velvet tongue.
He paused for a moment, his lips against her inner thigh, his hair sliding over her damp opening so that streaks of lightning arced through her. "Sivamet andam." His eyes met hers. "I give you my heart."
Air rushed out of her lungs. Besides being the sexiest man alive to her, the sincerity in his voice-in his eyes-mesmerized her. There was something much deeper, a tenderness, that made her weak. He was handing over his heart into her keeping. The idea of it was humbling to her. Dax was an ancient warrior, a different species altogether, more feral and powerful than the animals and yet he was giving himself into her keeping.
He turned his head, a lazy languid motion, as if he had all the time in the world when she was clawing at the sheet and tossing her head, her body no longer her own.
"Your scent is intoxicating," he whispered against her mound, his warm breath adding to the tension coiling tighter and tighter.
He was killing her slowly. Slowly. Every word he said. Every move he made. His touch. His mouth. His kisses. The feel of his body, so hard and unyielding against the softness of hers. He inhaled deeply once more and she realized that as the flowers in the field had taken on his scent for her, the strange petals held her scent for him.
He lifted his head to look down at her, those red-orange flames tinged with gold now. She could see stark, raw hunger stamped in the lines of his face. So sensual. Her entire body seemed to clench, waiting, anticipating. She held her breath. Her heart seemed to stop.
"Sielamet andam." The flames in his eyes leapt and burned with a fiery glow. "I give you my soul."
She was burning now, her head tossing back and forth on the sheet. She had his heart and soul. His allegiance. She wanted his body as well. Right. Now.
"Please, Dax," she whispered, a plea, a prayer.
"You have to be ready for me, sivamet. I want only pleasure for you for your first time."
"I am ready," she nearly sobbed. Her hands went to his hair, tugging on those silky spikes, trying to bring him over the top of her. Everything in her ached for him, pulsed and throbbed and demanded him. The tension coiled tighter and tighter, the pressure building until she thought her body might just implode.
She felt his tongue swiping over her and she bucked mindlessly. He clamped one arm firmly around her hips to hold her still.
"So impatient. Don't move."
"You're asking the impossible," she gasped.
He lifted his head just enough to give her one look of reprimand. His eyes burned over her, nearly all red now, glowing with a fire threatening to burn out of control.
Riley curled her fingers tighter in his closely cropped hair, holding on for all she was worth. She truly didn't think she would survive the gathering pressure, the intensity of the heat. Beneath the layer of his skin she caught the impression of scales and, like his eyes, his skin was fiery red. The temperature of his body, like hers, had gone soaring, as if both of them had caught fire. The red-gold dust from those scales rained down around them.
His mouth touched her again, his tongue stroked wickedly, and then stabbed deep. She nearly convulsed, bucking, her hips jerking in spite of the restraint of his arm. Her muscles clenched hard. A small keening wail escaped. He began a slow, leisurely assault, tongue and teeth, driving her out of her mind. Sounds escaped his throat, hot and desperate, as if he couldn't get enough of the taste of her. His arms tightened, holding her still as he licked and sucked and took small nips with teeth while she writhed under him, her head tossing and her body spilling more and more hot cream into his mouth. Pleasure gripped her stomach, rising sharply as he pushed a finger into her.
I'm not going to survive. Fear skittered through her mind as her body coiled tighter and tighter. He was so sexy, hot beyond her imagining, and there was no possible way she could keep up.
Hold on to me. His voice was rough with stark lust.
Dax lifted his head, possession in his glittering eyes. Her stomach spasmed as he wedged himself between her thighs, lifting her hips, positioning himself at her entrance. She could feel him tight against her, so hot and thick, velvet over steel. A small sobbing plea escaped. She couldn't wait another moment.
His fingers gripped her hips as he slowly, inch by slow inch, began to enter her. He threw his head back, his face a mask of raw pleasure.
"Ainamet andam. I give you my body."