Dark Peril Page 0,116

my little cat. I want to hear you beg me never to leave your body."

He kept his tone the same, as if they were discussing jaguars and vampires. Her eyes went wide. Her body flushed and she shifted restlessly in her chair. He caught the scent of arousal. Her small tongue darted out to lick nervously at her lips. Beneath the thin green fabric, her nipples grew harder.

"You can't say things like that to me."

"It is true." He nodded toward the bowl of fruit. "You need to eat some of that as well."

"I can't eat when you say things like that." She pushed her hair from where it tumbled around her face. Her hands trembled. "I think, since we've been home, I've been in a constant state of arousal."

"Is that a bad thing?" Her eyes intrigued him, but it was that little reprimand in her voice that sent a wave of heat through his body.

"It is when we're supposed to be concentrating on planning out how you're going to survive walking into a meeting with who knows how many vampires, all of whom would love to tear you apart and feast on your blood."

"Before I consider trying to survive vampires, I have to figure out a way to survive this relentless ache you have put here. It refuses to go away, Solange." His hand deliberately dropped to his immaculate trousers, calling attention to the thick bulge there. "And you put it there."

Her eyes changed. The almost painfully shy woman disappeared, only to be replaced by a temptress. She flashed a small, rather smug smile as she picked up the glass of sparkling champagne even as she shifted again in her chair, drawing his attention to her lush breasts. "It's very gratifying to know I'm not the only one suffering."

His voice dropped an octave. "Are you suffering?" She licked the drops of champagne from her lips. "You know I am."

"Why?"

"I've had a few dreams of my own," she pointed out. "While you sleep, I am thinking of all the things I'd like to do to you."

"Now you have my full attention." He sat back in his chair, his heart beginning to thunder. At last. She was thinking of him and how best to give him pleasure. He could see the determination in her expression and that sexy, intriguing tilt to her mouth.

"Actually," she corrected, playing with the stem of her glass, "I always have your full attention, your complete, absolute focus. You make me feel not only beautiful, but important and sexy and everything you need. You make me feel important."

"You are all of those things."

She ate another bite of her steak, a small frown of concentration on her face. "I've had a lot of time to think about things while you were sleeping, and I realized it's really all about courage. I have to find the courage to put myself totally into your hands." She looked up at him then, her eyes showing that same determination, but this time mixed with fear. "That's what you're saying to me, isn't it?"

He nodded. In that moment of self-discovery, she was more beautiful than ever to him.

"You want me to recognize this side of me is every bit as important as the fighter in me."

"Important not only to me, Solange," he agreed, "but to you as well."

"It's much easier to contemplate all of this when I'm in my jaguar form. I feel safe."

"I want you to feel safe with me."

Her eyebrow shot up. "Yes and no," she pointed out, proving to him that she was every bit as shrewd and intelligent as he'd suspected. "You like me a little off balance with you. I get the feeling that tangling with you is a bit like trying to play with fire." The pulse in the side of her neck fluttered. "I don't want to get burned."

He flashed a predatory smile at her. "Only you can decide if it is worthwhile to give yourself into my care. Only you can decide to trust me with your heart, Solange."

She took a bite of apple, her expression thoughtful. "If we do this, Dominic--"

"When," he corrected. "When we do this. Because, kessake, there is no question that you belong to me. You will come to accept me eventually." She was so close. He could feel her reaching for him in her mind, wanting to give herself to him, but fear of betrayal held her paralyzed. He loved that she was working it out, analyzing each step cautiously, just