Shades of Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #16) - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,58
first mate,” he reminded her. “I don’t have a lot of practice.”
The word hit her again, but this time it didn’t make her flinch. Instead she quivered with pleasure.
“Mate,” she breathed.
He held her gaze. “Does that frighten you?”
“Yeah,” she admitted without hesitation.
She felt him stiffen at the soft word. “Do I frighten you?” he demanded.
“No.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
She grimaced. Her awareness of this male was snuggled in the center of her heart. Like a secret treasure she wanted to hoard for an eternity. And now his every touch was enslaving her more firmly than if he’d bound and shackled her to his side. No doubt most females would be enchanted to tumble into love with such a worthy male. But she…
“I just earned my freedom,” she protested.
He didn’t look shocked. Or annoyed. Instead he offered an understanding nod.
“And you think I intend to imprison you?”
She struggled to breathe. She wasn’t sure it was entirely necessary since she was a ghost thingy, but it felt weird to not to do it.
“Do you?” she asked.
“Never.” The word came out with a fierce insistence. “I’ve spent endless years in my own prison. We are going to rejoice in our freedom together.”
The breath returned to her lungs. Was it possible? Could she share her life with this male without feeling as if she was being smothered?
She tangled her fingers in the lush satin of his dark hair. “Even when I want to go to the Diablo Club?”
His lips twitched. She was well aware he detested when she spent her evenings at the rough, demon-filled bar. Then, bending his head, he scraped his fangs down the side of her throat.
“Even then,” he assured her.
Chaaya pressed against the back of his head. She wanted those fangs in her flesh almost as much as she wanted to sink down on the steel-hard arousal that he was stroking against her lower stomach.
Almost.
“And when I want to gamble away your fortune?” She continued to test his tolerance.
“As long as you aren’t playing strip poker.” His fingers moved to unzip her leather pants. “That’s going to be our private game.”
“You know how to play poker?”
“You can teach me.”
His lips traced the line of her collarbone, his hands tugging her pants over her hips. Bending down, he paused to pull off her boots before he finished stripping her bare. He might not know much about cards, but he obviously knew exactly how to get a woman out of her clothes.
He kissed his way back up her body, pausing to explore each line and curve with diligent care. Chaaya groaned, her toes curling in bliss.
“Now, that’s a temptation I can’t resist,” she admitted.
He stroked his fangs over the upper curve of her breast, his icy touch far more erotic than the heat from any other demon.
“And me?”
She shivered, relishing in the ruthless pleasure that jolted through her. Had she always known that beneath Basq’s solid dependability was a male who could create magic with his touch? That might explain why she went to such lengths to try and smash through his façade of calm control. She wanted the fiery male he kept buried.
“A temptation I don’t want to resist,” she rasped.
“Exactly the words I longed to hear.”
She dug her nails into the flesh of his nape, the need inside her becoming a physical ache.
“Basq…wait.”
Chapter 17
Basq swallowed the rancid curse that hovered on his lips. His entire body trembled with hunger for this female, but the last thing he wanted was to pressure her into a decision that she was going to regret. Especially when it was a forever and ever and ever decision.
Eternity was a long time for regret.
With a heroic effort he lifted his head, gazing down at her with a wary expression.
“Is something wrong?”
She glanced around the darkness that surrounded them. “Where are we?”
“Ah.” He occasionally forgot that Chaaya had spent most of her existence trapped in a hell dimension. Her ability to peer into the world meant she had kept up with the changes to modern culture, but she was still learning and discovering hidden magic. “It’s a warp.”
“Wharf?”
“A warp,” he gently corrected. “It’s the space between space between space—”
She placed her hand over his mouth. “I get it, but why would Kgosi bring me here?”
It was a question that was nagging at the back of Basq’s mind. Jinn were notoriously cruel to lesser demons. And they considered any creature not a jinn as lesser. But it was possible that Kgosi’s role as an oracle overcame his