her.
“And what’s that?”
“You want me.”
She shuddered at his blunt claim, feeling the urge to purr beneath the stroke of his finger, like a cat.
“Baine,” she breathed.
He lowered his head, their noses nearly touching. “Admit it,” he commanded.
She planted her hands against his chest. She was going to push him away. At least, that’d been the plan. But as soon as her palms came into contact with the satin heat of his skin she was dangerously distracted.
“Why does it matter?” she muttered, exploring the sculpted muscles that flexed beneath her light touch.
Yow. She’d never realized the male body could be so beautiful.
She could pet him all day.
There was a rumbling sound of pleasure deep in his chest, his fingers tightening in her hair to tilt her head back, exposing her throat.
“When I take you to my bed, I want it to be because you are eager for my touch. Not because it’s your duty.”
Oh. Tayla struggled to hide her small smile. Clearly her earlier claim that she didn’t want to want him had struck a raw nerve.
Now he was determined to prove he could make her forget her pride.
“You’re so arrogant,” she accused, forgetting how to breathe as his lips blistered a path of kisses down the side of her neck.
“Say the words, Tayla,” he insisted, his lips trailing over the dragon marque that rested against the upper curve of her breasts.
Her hands moved to clutch at his shoulders as her knees went weak. Oh lord. His lips were magic. Sheer magic. It was no wonder he had to build a harem to keep the females who were anxious to be his concubines.
Who could blame her if she gave in and…
No. Bad imp.
She dug her nails into his skin, desperately trying to hold on to sanity.
“You can’t make me,” she stubbornly denied.
Open-mouthed kisses singed over the tender skin of her breasts as his arm lashed around her waist and he pulled her tight against his hard body. Tayla moaned, her nipples acutely sensitive to the heat seeping through the thin fabric of her gown.
“Is that a challenge?” he demanded, lifting his head to regard her with a smug smile. “Accepted.”
Tayla swallowed a curse. Yikes. Had she actually just challenged a dragon? Not good. Not good at all.
“No…I…” Her stumbled words were brought to a sharp end as he swooped his head down to kiss her with a stark hunger.
She stiffened, then with a strangled groan, parted her lips.
Desire raced through her like wildfire, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck as his tongue dipped into her mouth. Yum. He tasted of raw power and exotic spices.
It was addictive.
Tayla lost track of time as he held her tight against his stirring erection, plundering her mouth over and over as she softly moaned.
He was passionate, demanding, and increasingly aroused, but Tayla was acutely aware of the thunderous power he was keeping leashed. It crackled around them like a thunderstorm, filling the air with electricity.
The tingling sensations should have set off all sorts of alarms. She might be stronger than a human, but she couldn’t begin to match this dragon in power or magic.
Instead they only intensified her arousal.
Catching her bottom lip between his teeth, he gave it a tiny nip before he lifted his head far enough to study her dazed expression.
“Say the words.”
Words? What words? Tayla struggled to think. Oh yeah.
Those words.
She narrowed her gaze. “If I don’t?”
He pulled in a deep breath, a wicked smile curving his lips at the heavy scent of her arousal that filled the air.
“Then I’m not trying hard enough to convince you,” he warned, abruptly grabbing her around her waist so he could sling her over his shoulder.
“Baine,” she shrieked in protest. She didn’t have to ask him what he was doing. Not when his long strides were taking them back to the cottage and down the short hallway with dizzying speed. A dangerous anticipation clenched her muscles. “Don’t you have some dragon business to take care of?” she muttered.
“Nothing is more important than this,” he assured her, bending forward to dump her onto the center of the bed.
She landed with a small bounce, the air knocked from her lungs.
Okay, it wasn’t actually landing on the soft mattress that stole her breath. It was the sight of Baine as he leaned over her.
With the morning sunlight threading through the raven darkness of his hair and emphasizing the perfection of his features, she was struck by his otherness. The fey were a beautiful species, and vampires could