Dark Peril Page 0,109

"What is it, kessake ku toro s?vamak-- beloved little wildcat? I thought we had established that when I ask a question, I require an answer. Is that not easy?"

She shook her head and attempted a smile. "Not as easy as you make it sound."

"What would you be afraid of telling me?"

Now she was embarrassed to sit in front of him completely naked, her body so unbearably aroused she could barely think straight, let alone find the right words to tell him. She felt vulnerable all over again. Why should it be so difficult to voice her sexual needs? What more did she want from him? The way he'd said that taking her blood was sensual, and the tone of his voice when he'd uttered conversion had sent her already aroused body into a shocking frenzy of need. She stilled; in spite of her raging body, desperate for release, she wasn't certain her brain would allow her to receive him without a fight. So classic jaguar and so difficult to explain.

"It's embarrassing and I don't want to disappoint you." There. She'd told him the truth. Okay. Maybe she'd whispered, but she managed to say the words without stammering.

"You only disappoint me when you do not trust me enough to share your needs."

How could she possibly describe the slow-building, burning, relentless ache that refused to give her rest? The silence stretched between them. He didn't move, his body still, his eyes on hers, refusing to allow her to look away.

"I'm very . . ." Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. "I feel as if I'm burning alive. I ache."

A slow smile briefly teased his mouth. His eyes warmed. "For me? Did I put that ache here?" His fingers slid down her bare stomach to the smooth mound. The pads of his fingers did a slow massage "Do I make you this way? Is all the wetness a welcome for me?"

She closed her eyes, her head falling back at his touch. Deep inside, her body began to pulse. "Of course for you. I didn't know I could feel this way."

"You should never hide from who you are, Solange. Or hide from your needs. Certainly you should never try to hide them from me. I am the only one to give you satisfaction. Do you understand what I am telling you? Only me. I want you to embrace yourself as a woman, as my woman. I have never understood why a woman should be unfulfilled sexually, or in any other way. Partners should trust one another enough to share their needs."

Very gently, he pressed his hand against her shoulder, forcing her to lie back down on the bench. "Just relax again and let me put you where I want you." She swallowed her apprehension and let him shift her body so her bottom was at the end of the bench and her legs straddled the end of it. He opened her thighs, draping her there, her feet flat on the floor.

Her first instinct was to close her legs, but his hand rested on the inside of her knees so very gently, and she found she couldn't move. She tried to breathe evenly. He wasn't physically preventing her, but still, the power of his mind did. She didn't want him to stop, yet she felt so completely vulnerable. Her body was open to him, her most private center. She was a woman and she would have to accept invasion.

A small sob escaped. Invasion. Was that how she viewed sex? Making love? What was wrong with her? And how could he put up with her being so absolutely terrified of such a natural act? She wanted him. She needed him. She was extremely aroused, so much so that she knew her scent was pervading the air. But she didn't move. She couldn't move .

Dominic loomed over her nude body, completely clothed, and she found the situation even more arousing, especially when his heavy-lidded gaze drifted so possessively over her. She could see he was hard and thick and ready for her. She had done that. Solange Sangria, with her not-so-perfect body and her idiotic stammering ways and the millions of mistakes she made in a relationship. She had been the one to put that tremendous erection on such an amazing, powerful, very sensual man.

"When you let out those little breathy sobs, Solange, it should be out of pleasure, not because you are upset with your thoughts. You are not ready for joining with