Tabitha moaned at the decadent taste of her general. Her tongue brushed against his fangs, giving her a chill. He was lethal and deadly.
Forbidden.
And for a woman who prided herself on following no one's rules but her own, it made him even more appealing.
She straddled him in the chair and sat down in his lap.
He didn't protest. Instead, he dropped his hands from her face and trailed them over her back while she pulled the tie from his hair and loosened the thick, black strands that slid like silk against her fingers.
She could feel his erection as it pressed against the center of her body, igniting her desire even more.
It'd been so long since she'd been with a man. So long since she had felt a desire this potent to wrap herself around one. But she wanted Valerius badly, even though he should be completely off her menu.
Valerius's head swam as Tabitha trailed her lips along the length of his jaw, then under his chin, to his neck. Her hot breath blistered him. It had been centuries since he'd taken a woman who knew what he was.
A woman he didn't have to kiss carefully for fear of her discovering his fangs.
Not once had he ever been with a woman this exciting. One who met him so openly. So wildly. There was no fear whatsoever in this woman. No holding back.
She was fierce and passionate and completely feminine.
Tabitha knew she shouldn't be doing this. Dark-Hunters weren't allowed to get involved with women. They weren't allowed any emotional attachments at all except for maybe a Squire.
She could sleep with Valerius just once and then she would have to let him go.
But more than that, her entire family hated this man and she should, too. She should be repulsed by him. Only she wasn't. There was something about him that was irresistible.
Against all sanity and reason, she wanted him.
You're just horny, Tabby, let him go.
Maybe it was just that simple. It'd been almost three years since she'd broken up with Eric and in that time she hadn't been with anyone else. No one had even appealed to her as anything more than a passing curiosity.
Well, except for Ash, but she knew better than to make a move on him.
And even he didn't make her sizzle like this. But then, he didn't have the pain inside him that Valerius carried-or if he did, he was better at hiding it around her.
She felt as if Valerius needed her somehow.
Just as she reached for the zipper of his pants, the phone rang.
Tabitha ignored it until Marla used her walkie-talkie to say, "It's Amanda, Tabby. She says for you to pick up the phone. Now."
She groaned in frustration. She gave Valerius a hot, quick kiss before she got up. "Please don't say a word while I'm on the phone," she warned him.
Since Amanda had married Kyrian, she had become incredibly psychic, and if she heard Valerius's voice, she would know instantly who he was. Tabitha was sure of it. It was the last thing she wanted to deal with.
She picked up the wall phone in the kitchen. "Hey, Mandy, whatcha need?"
Tabitha turned to watch Valerius as he put himself back together. He pulled his hair back and replaced the small black tie she had removed.
He returned to being regal and rigid as he picked up his fork and began eating again.
Her sister was babbling on about a bad dream, but it wasn't until the term "Spathi Daimon" came up that Tabitha pulled her attention away from Valerius.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked Amanda.
"I said that I had a bad dream about you, Tabby, that you were seriously hurt in a fight. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."