"You're so good to me, Daciano."
"Call me Trehan."
She brushed a dark lock of hair from his forehead, well aware that she was gazing up at him dreamily. "Trehan."
"I will protect you, Bett. No queen will be more treasured than mine." Even as he said these tender promises, tension radiated from his body. "Tomorrow, I wed you. Tonight, I claim you forever. Eternitate." He slanted his mouth over hers, fiercely taking her lips.
I'm truly about to make love? Her introduction to passion had only whetted her curiosity.
As she met his fierce kiss, she recalled how his shaft had pulsated against her tongue. Would it do that inside her? She replayed feeling his hot seed on her hand-and watching it arc thickly over his torso. Now, with her tongue twining his, she imagined his se**n flooding deep into her body, filling her.
Her sex dampened from the mere idea.
His kisses grew more demanding, scattering her thoughts. Between his sensuous forays at her mouth, he began undressing her. She eagerly assisted.
Arching her back as he removed her shirt. Arms raised as he bared her br**sts. Hips up as he tore free her panties.
When he broke away to remove his own clothes, she opened her eyes, realizing he'd stripped her of everything but her jewelry.
Yet once he'd returned to bed, she noticed the injuries marring his mighty warrior's body. He had a swath of bandage tied tightly around his chest. "How badly were you hurt?"
"I feel little pain." His voice was roughened, his jaw now clenched. That tension rolled off him. His eyes were fully black as his gaze raked over her na**d body.
Bettina's excitement dimmed; his control was slipping. He looked like he was about to launch himself at her.
Her human friends had spoken about losing their virginity, had described the pain they'd felt-and they hadn't mated a thousand-year-old vampire who was strong enough to defeat a primordial!
Then his eyes dropped to the pulse she could feel fluttering in her neck. This time he didn't stare at it with mere lust; he looked ravenous.
She'd accepted that lovemaking would hurt at first. But did she have to get bitten as well? To experience so many milestones at one time-after the night she'd had-seemed . . . excessive.
Still, when he caught her gaze and laid his palm between her br**sts, she found herself easing back under the firm press of his hand.
"Open for me, love."
She hesitantly spread her legs. He knelt between them, his erection jutting hungrily between his narrow hips. The head was bulbous, daubed with seed. When he planted a fist on either side of her head and leaned over her on straightened arms, his thick shaft bobbed above her belly.
She couldn't help but note that it appeared even more swollen than it had the night before.
His onyx eyes again landed on her pulse. "Tell me I can do anything to you."
If a vampire's exceedingly thirsty or inexperienced . . . "Um, wait, Daciano." All the desire she'd felt began to evaporate, replaced by apprehension. "I can't say that."
Some big steps can come later, right?" she asked Trehan. "Like maybe in the near future. But not tonight."
His Bride was supposed to yield! Yet now she was about to tell him that she didn't want him inside her. Denying my claim?
She was glorious beneath him with her shining braids spreading over her pillow, her pert br**sts taunting him to touch, her lustrous eyes gazing up at him. Bettina was his treasure. Comoara mea. But now she seemed distant.
He wanted them connected completely; she felt a thousand miles away.
Chapter 43
There could be only one reason for her hesitation. "Big steps," he said in a toneless voice. Again and again he'd surrendered his exquisite prize.
Not tonight.
"I mean, maybe we could just . . ."