Christ, what a pair they were, he thought, catching her elbow when she stumbled. They had reached the end of the shaded path and had the long open area to cross, but Carolyn was now moving at almost a crawl. No sugar, no energy. It would take forever to get back to the minibus at this rate, and every minute of it under the glaring sun.
Grinding his teeth, Christian scooped her up into his arms.
"Christian, I can walk. I-"
She snapped her mouth closed as he began to jog, jostling her in his arms.
"Your blood sugar is low again," he said grimly, moving a little faster as her scent wafted to his nose. Unfortunately, he couldn't outrun her scent when he was carrying her.
People were gaping as he ran past with Carolyn, but he didn't care. He needed to get her to the bus, sit her in it, get her to eat her chocolate bar and then go find a blood donor. This was an emergency situation. He couldn't risk his need making him do something stupid.
Christian didn't slow until he reached the bus and found the door closed. Frowning, he glanced around, spotting their driver standing with two other men, the other drivers he supposed. But even as his eyes landed on the driver, the man was moving forward to let them in.
"Put me down," Carolyn hissed now that the risk of biting her tongue was gone.
"Your sugar's low," he said grimly as the driver opened the door.
"Yes, well if you set me down I will get out the other chocolate bar and-"
She gave up the argument on an exasperated sigh as he hurried up the steps and carried her back to their seat to set her down.
"Eat your chocolate," Christian ordered, straightening and taking a step back to avoid temptation.
"Stop ordering me around," Carolyn snapped irritably, opening her bag to retrieve the chocolate bar. "I am not a child. Hell, you're the child here. I'm-Crap!" she cursed when the chocolate bar slid from her clumsy hands and dropped to the bus floor.
She started to bend to find it, but he was there first, wedging himself between their bench seat and the one in front to reach around her legs for it. Her na**d legs.
Damn they were soft and smooth, he thought as his cheek brushed one. They smelled of sunlight and coconut. Sunscreen, he supposed, but they smelled good enough to lick and he was hard-pressed not to turn his head for a taste before his fingers closed over the bar.
"Can't you find it?" Carolyn asked.
"Yes, I-"
The words died in his throat as he glanced up and found she'd leaned forward. Her face was only inches from his, her lips soft and wet as if she'd licked or bitten them. His hand tightened on the chocolate bar as he watched her eyes dilate. He could hear that her heart rate had picked up and smell her attraction to him as her body released hormones and adrenaline in a potent cocktail.
When she licked her lips nervously and started to pull back, Christian reacted instinctively, the predator in him taking over. His hand was at the back of her head, stopping her retreat before he even realized he intended to do it, and then he was rising from his crouch, his mouth claiming hers and forcing her back against the seat as he settled on the bench beside her.
Carolyn went still, even holding her breath and he dropped the chocolate bar on the seat to move his hand to her waist. He slid it up her side, stopping at the underside of her breast, and then ran his tongue along her lips before allowing his hand to creep up to cover her breast.
When she gasped in surprise, he squeezed the soft flesh he'd claimed and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
Her resistance shattered, the sudden doubling of sensation he experienced telling him that. He was feeling her pleasure as well as his own now and the combination was a double whammy that slammed him straight in the groin, making him grow hard and heavy with blood.
Christian lost his head then and any semblance of control.
He pulled her to straddle him, his mouth slanting over hers repeatedly as his hands roamed freely, sliding over her br**sts and then dropping to slip under her T-shirt to find them again through the soft cloth of her bra.
When he tugged the cups aside to touch her without their hindrance, Carolyn broke their kiss with a groan and let her head fall back, her bottom moving against his growing erection.
Deprived of her mouth, Christian let his lips move over her neck, licking and nibbling the warm flesh as he lightly pinched her ni**les. He wanted to push her shirt up and close his mouth over the hard nubs one at a time, but couldn't seem to tear his mouth from her neck. It was so soft and smelled so good. He just wanted to sink his teeth in and-Christian froze in horror as his fangs suddenly pushed out of his gums and scraped across her skin. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he fought the temptation to bite.
He couldn't. She was in no shape to lose blood, and he couldn't make her forget if he did bite her. Carolyn wasn't ready to learn what he was. He couldn't risk losing her.
"Christian?" she mumbled uncertainly.
Cursing under his breath, he removed his hands from her br**sts, tugged her bra back into place and quickly shifted her, almost dumped her really, on the seat beside him. He then launched himself out of the seat and hurried up the aisle, desperate to get away from the temptation she represented before he did something so stupid it was irreversible.
Christian stopped outside the bus, his gaze searching the area. There were public washrooms along the parking area, he noted and glanced over the few people moving around the vehicles before settling on the drivers still gathered by the first of their three buses. Christian's gaze flickered briefly over the selection before settling on a robust balding fellow. He slipped into the man's mind and sent him moving toward the washrooms even as he headed that way himself. Dinner was served.