Dark Destiny Page 0,78

came out a husky blend of need and urgency.

She nodded, swimming very close to him. "It feels like tongues on your body, not fingers. On my body too." She stood up. Water ran off her body, ran down the valley between her breasts to the tight curls just below the water line.

His hungry gaze followed the beads of water like a man parched and thirsty, greedy for moisture. Nicolae realized that she was right. If it were possible, his body swelled even more at the thought. He became conscious that she was reading his mind again, that she caught every erotic image, every sensual thought. "You know what I want to do, Destiny. What is it you want? Just tell me. Say it out loud. There is no one here but the two of us. Tell me what you desire most at this time." He wanted that much from her. He wanted the words even if he couldn't have the action.

She blushed, the color delicately staining her cheeks. "I want to touch you, to feel my hands on your skin. The need is as strong as any compulsion I've ever been under, but it isn't coming from you."

His fingertips traced the line of color in her face. "Need between lifemates is strong, Destiny, as it should be. We live long in this world. If what was between us were a weak thing, it would never last. I have given my body into your keeping. What you choose to do with it is always right. It is good. If you feel the desire to touch me, to learn to know me physically, it is not an intrusion or a violation. I would welcome it."

She turned her face away from him. "It can't be, Nicolae."

His hands framed her face, gently turned it back to him. "You are in control of this, Destiny. What we do is with both our consent. It is not for me, not to satisfy me alone. You have to have the courage to take what you want. Stay merged with me as you are touching me. You will always know what I am feeling, whether you are heightening my senses or making me uncomfortable."

There was a small silence while the water lapped at their bodies, the tiny bubbles bursting against their skin. Now that she had put the image in his mind, the feeling definitely reminded Nicolae of tongues stroking and caressing every inch of him, and he nearly groaned under the strain of erotic sensation. He wasn't altogether certain he was going to live through this experience with her.

Destiny might have nightmare images and memories struggling to break free, but she didn't lack courage. She wanted her time with Nicolae. She refused to allow a monster to rule her life, to rule Nicolae's life. She wanted to be able to enjoy fully what was her right. She wanted to have the complete freedom of exploring her lifemate's body. And she wanted his hands and mouth on her body. She wanted all of it, the complete fantasy.

She allowed her gaze to drift slowly over his body, to dwell on his defined muscles, his powerful chest, his narrow waist and hips, to drop lower and study the thick, heavy erection he had never once attempted to hide from her.

A sound escaped his throat. A small groaning plea for mercy that produced a leaping fire in her body. Destiny smiled. "So if I tell you to keep your hands on the rocks and off of me while I see if I can do this, you won't touch me?"

She was going to kill him for certain. Nicolae thought his body couldn't get any harder. Or any hotter. Yet it did just that at the sight of her teasing smile. At the images in her mind. He stepped back so he could rest his hands obligingly on the large boulders slightly behind him, leaving most of his body exposed and out of the water.

There was a heartbeat of time when she didn't move. While she summoned her courage. The only sounds were the lapping of the water at their bodies and the pounding of their hearts. She lifted her eyes to his face. Found him waiting. Saw his terrible hunger. He didn't move, didn't attempt to persuade her, allowing her complete freedom of choice. Destiny chose Nicolae.

She stepped close to him. So close her nipples brushed his chest as she lifted her arms to circle his neck. Her fingers plunged into his