Blood and Kisses - By Karin Shah Page 0,67

tight.

Nervous.

Reasonable when he considered she was about to face the most difficult challenge of her life, but he didn’t think that accounted for the wide dilation of her pupils and the skittering cadence of her heart. Her sweet, fresh scent held a hint of musk.

She hadn’t come to him to talk.

He should send her away. Nothing had changed. The reasons he’d broken it off earlier still remained and they were still good, solid reasons. But somehow he couldn’t seem to remember them.

Not with her standing here, her breath coming fast, the heady scent of her arousal in the air.

He held a hand out to her.

At that minute, nothing seemed more important to Thalia than having this time with Gideon. Not the challenge, not the community, not the rogue, nothing. She didn’t know where the courage had come from, but when she’d finally given up on sleep, she knew she had to be with Gideon. Their time together was running short. No man had ever called to her as he did. Maybe it was because he was a vampire. She didn’t care.

She’d almost lost him last night.

And maybe he didn’t want her, maybe he’d turn her away, but she needed to try. To be with him was worth the risk of rejection.

She could barely see him in the dark room. He was just a shadowy figure on the bed. She could see his eyes, though. They gleamed in the dim light seeping around the window shades.

She took his hand. He pulled her toward him and she went into his welcoming arms. He simply held her for a moment and though she savored the warmth of his embrace, she feared he intended no more than that. But then he cupped her cheek in his large hand. His thumb caressed her cheekbone, the slightly callused surface scraping her smooth skin and sending a flare of heat zinging though her. His eyes held hers for a long intoxicating second, and he lowered his lips to hers.

Her eyes closed as his mouth worked a dark magic as smooth as melted chocolate and just as sweet. The rough velvet of his tongue glided past her lips and delved into the inner recesses of her mouth. The touch of his tongue against hers ignited a spark that scorched her nerve endings, leaving them tortuously sensitive. She gasped for air, but her breathlessness had nothing to do with lack of oxygen and everything to do with the sorcery of his touch.

He ran his fingers through the silky skein of her hair. The brush of his digits against her scalp sent a shivery thrill down her spine. Her hand found the back of his head. His hair was soft. She stroked his nape. He groaned. The sound hummed within her chest. That she could elicit such a response from this man evoked an answering moan. His lips played over hers, the tiny, stinging nip of his teeth, hot alchemy. She discovered the sharp points of his fangs with her tongue and drew back. His eyes glowed red in the dark.

Chapter 19

The demon rose strong in him, but he couldn’t stop. His body cried out for hers. He had to have her. He took her mouth again before trailing tiny kisses from the corner of her lips to her chin and down her neck. He bit lightly at the sensitive base of her throat, careful not to break the skin. She clutched his head to her and her excitement fed him, inspiring him to greater heights.

He opened her borrowed robe. The room was as bright as day to him, and he relished the sight of the intimate curves and hollows of her body, the dark rose nipples, the downy hair guarding her sex. He struggled from his clothing, leaving it in a heap upon the carpet. He could tell by the way her eyes grazed his body that her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. Her breathing was heavy and uneven. She liked what she saw. There was a hint of fear there, too, and he remembered she was a virgin, but he had forgotten why he cared. He burned.

Nobility forgotten, he took her in his arms and brought her bare body against his. He rubbed his rough cheek on her satiny shoulder. The exquisite press of her nipples against his chest was more than he could stand. He drew her back to the bed and picked her up, setting her on top of him. Her moist center kissed