Kyrian stripped off his clothes and lay down on the large bed he'd had since the fourteenth century, but his troubled thoughts spiraled through his mind.
Desiderius had eluded him and for the next few days, he would be out of Kyrian's reach.
Damn. But there was nothing to be done about it. Nothing, except to wait and be ready when Desiderius emerged. At least he had the comfort of knowing Desiderius would come after him first.
It would give him time to keep Amanda and Tabitha safe.
Amanda.
Her name hovered in his mind, along with a mental picture of her bright blue eyes. His groin tightened instantly against the cool silk sheets. He growled at the deep-seated ache that burned through him.
"She is not mine," he whispered.
And by all the gods on Olympus, she never would be, no matter how much the corner of his heart that remained might wish otherwise.
Amanda moaned as she felt a warm, strong hand sliding over her bare stomach to her hip. Instinctively, she turned into the caress, her body instantly on fire with need.
Kyrian rolled her over, onto her back, and captured her lips with his. Her head swam at the contact. At the feel of all his strength and power. Never in her life had she felt anything better than his tongue on hers. Or his exquisitely hard body sinuously sliding against her.
She burned even more.
His kiss was fierce and hot, yet strangely tender. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the spicy scent of his skin and tasted the heat of his mouth.
She ran her hands through the silk of his golden hair, delighting in the way the waves curled around her fingers.
He pulled back and stared down at her with a powerful hunger that made her burn as those gorgeous muscles of his shoulders bunched and flexed under her hands. "I will have you," he said fiercely, his voice possessive.
"And I will have you," she said, smiling as she wrapped her legs around his narrow hips.
His devilish, fanged smile took her breath. With her cradled in his arms, he rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. Amanda bit her lip as she stared down at his handsome face while she felt his hard, masculine body between her thighs.
Needfully, she rubbed herself against his long, hard shaft. He growled in response to her caress.
He swept a famished look over her, then reached up and cupped her breasts in his warm hands. She covered his hands with her own as he squeezed them gently.
"I could stare at you all night," he whispered.
She could definitely relate because nothing would please her more than watching him move around naked for the rest of eternity.
That walk ... that body...
It was more than a mere mortal woman could handle.
He lifted his hips, sending her forward.
Amanda caught herself with her arms. She leaned over him, her hair falling around her face to form a dark canopy over them.
"Now that's what I want." Kyrian reached up to cup her face and pulled her lips to his. His mouth teased hers as he gently sucked her bottom lip between his teeth.
Amanda moaned at the contact as he trailed his hand from her breast down her side and to the center of her body. "And this is what I want most." He plunged two fingers inside her.
Amanda hissed in pleasure as his fingers teased her relentlessly. In and out and around they swirled, making a hot fire to consume her.
He pulled back from her lips. "Now tell me what you want."
"You," she breathed.
"Then you shall have me." Kyrian moved his hands to her hips and pressed her body toward his erection.