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growing more annoyed by the moment. She sank down onto the floor and glared at him. "You started this."

"I thought I could stay in control enough to separate the parasites and keep them from contact with you, but they go still when you are close and I cannot think straight. I am sorry, Solange. I had thought I would make love to you this rising."

She reached up, her fingers caressing the hard, thick length of him, watching with a heated gaze the shudder that ran through his body. "Have you ever heard of a condom? Don't Carpathians have condoms? Because I'm thinking that if you're all that worried, a condom might be just the thing."

His smile was slow in coming. "I had not thought of that. As a rule Carpathians do not need such things."

Chapter Seventeen

Look at me--now see yourself through my eyes. Look at you: the most beautiful on this earth.

DOMINIC TO SOLANGE

Dominic reached for Solange. His body burned for her. He could barely reason with needing her touch, needing her soft skin sliding against him. Needing desperately to be inside of her. His soul raged at him to bind her to him, to claim what belonged to him. To unite them for all time. His discipline was at an end and nothing stood between him and the woman he loved.

He lifted her into his arms, cradling her to him. Beloved Solange. She looked excited, sexy and fearful all at the same time. His every protective instinct surged to the forefront. The mixture of sensual woman, as desperate for him as he was for her, combined with innocent inexperience only added to his need to be tender. He had expected, with the intensity of her cat's heat, that she would be very experienced in her lovemaking, but it was clear that she wasn't.

Love was nearly overwhelming, threatening to drive him to his knees. She had no idea of her beauty or her appeal to him. Carpathians saw what was inside. The body was simply a shell. Perhaps because they could shift into any form they chose, the outside mattered little to them. But he could see into her heart and mind, and he'd fallen deeply in love. Solange was exactly the woman for him, with her fierce loyalty, her unfailing courage and her natural sensuality.

He had waited for so long, so many centuries, until all hope for this one woman had faded. He held her cradled against his bare chest, hardly able to comprehend that she was his at last. His body ached for her, hot blood pounding through his groin, his cock a constant, heavy ache that refused to go away. Her skin, all that soft expanse of silk and satin, drove him to the brink of madness. He'd been patient, waiting for her to give herself to him, to trust him enough, but the demons raging in Carpathian males had never quieted, never given him peace, demanding he bind her to him, claim her for his own.

Her hands smoothed over his chest, small, just a whisper of a touch as he laid her gently on the bed. He was so shaken with need, he'd nearly forgotten a bed. He caught her small moan in his mouth as he kissed her, her silken hair bunched in his hand. He allowed himself the luxury of getting lost in the sensations of Solange as he kissed her again and again. Hot silk, a promise of things to come. Her fantastic mouth, moving against his, all honey and spice and uniquely her.

A fever of love and desire raged in his body. Dominic Dragonseeker, perfectly controlled and disciplined, could no longer control his own temperature. He wanted her so much he could barely breathe. Discipline and control were his way of life. It was a unique experience to burn inside and out, to have his heart pounding in his chest and cock, to tremble from sheer need of a woman--need of a lifemate.

He loved the way she looked beneath him, her eyes so dazed and hungry, desire naked on her face. The flush that spread over her body delighted him. Her breasts were beautiful in the candlelight, a temptation he couldn't resist. He lowered his head, his hair sliding over her body so that she writhed beneath him, her nerve endings already inflamed.

Her breathy little whimpers drove him mad, and he wanted--needed--more. His mouth closed around the soft swell of her breast and drew her nipple inside. A tremor ran through