Dark Possession Page 0,62

buried his face in the wealth of her hair. "I want to stay here with you and sleep the sleep of humans." He had never once, in all of his existence, thought he would want that simple pleasure, but now he wanted nothing more than to curl his body around hers and fall asleep with her in his arms.

"Why the sleep of humans?" she asked, snuggling against him. "That seems an odd thing for you to say."

"I want to dream of you. Drift off to sleep dreaming of you, and wake up to you by my side."

She rubbed up against him like a cat. "Well don't fall asleep. You have to go to ground, Manolito. Even I know that."

He looked around the room. Light was already creeping in through the windows. It should have been burning his eyes, but instead he wanted to stretch and arch his body, bathe in the early morning glow. "Maybe I will stay here. We can cover the windows."

Her heart jumped. "It isn't safe. No way. You have to leave."

He propped his head on his hand and stared down at her, his eyes once again totally black. "You do not want me to stay, do you?" he said with sudden insight. "You want me to leave you."

She swallowed the urge to deny his accusation. It would be a lie. "I can't think straight around you."

"No?" The edgy aggression in his voice softened to a throaty purr of male satisfaction. His hand cupped her breast, his thumb sliding over her nipple so that she shivered beneath his touch.

"No. Do you think I always act so-so submissive?" She nearly spat the word. "I don't do bondage and submission."

"Maybe I know more about what you like than you do," he said. "I am in your mind and look for the things

that please you."

She closed her eyes briefly, wondering if it was true. She had liked the things he had done. Like was a tame word for how she felt. She couldn't blame him for her own actions. She had wanted him fast and hard, almost brutal in his possession of her. She had wanted-still wanted-to belong wholly to him. To do whatever it was he asked of her. And that scared her on a whole different level. It was a major personality shift and needed consideration.

Manolito studied her face. She was puzzled by her behavior, and in turn, he asked himself why he had needed to be so dominant with her. He was a dominant man, so much so that he had no need to prove himself to anyone else, yet something in him had needed to mark her, to leave his scent, evidence of their mating. He brushed the hair from her shoulder and touched the small wound there. Carpathian males left pinpricks, maybe a strawberry, and he had left such a mark on her breast the first time he had ever taken her blood. The wound on her shoulder was something altogether different. Puzzled, he focused his gaze on it. It had been made with his canines.

MaryAnn turned her head to look at the mark as well, a small frown on her face. Why in the world had she found it sexy when he had held her like that? "I think you must have put some sort of spell on me."

"I believe it was the other way around."

"Did you?" she asked suspiciously. "Because Destiny can do that sort of thing. Get inside minds and influence them."

"Merge with me again and I will see what kind of influence I have. This time, I think I will have you kneeling at my feet, taking my cock into your hot, very sexy mouth." His hand stroked her throat, the pads of his fingers caressing. His body hardened all over again at the thought, pressing tightly against her, jerking at the erotic fantasy. "I might not live through it, but I am more than willing to sacrifice for the experiment."

She should have been alarmed, but the thought of exploring his body, of driving him over the edge, of him commanding her to give him that kind of pleasure and her robbing him of control, sent a coil of excitement spiraling through her body. His tongue was flicking at her shoulder, teeth nipping, and already her body responded with those light quakes that spread up her belly to her breasts.

"Maybe I'm the one influencing you," she said. "You're always telling me I'm the one merging with you."

"Of course you influence me.