Succubus Dreams Page 0,83

a woman in love. The floodgates burst, and all the passion we kept restrained flowed forth. I could feel him, how hard he was and how much he wanted me. My own body responded in kind, pushing closer and grinding against him. His hand on the back of my thigh tensed and then pulled my leg up. It was barely around his hip when I felt...it.

It.

Seth's life. Sweeter than kissing, sweeter than whipped cream. It came into me pure and bright, unlike anything else I'd ever tasted - well, other than the last time I'd stolen some from him. I would have moaned if my mouth wasn't preoccupied.

Reason seized me, and I did my best to squirm free. My best wasn't good enough, and all I could do was slide my mouth away from his. He simply moved down, kissing my neck. The energy didn't stop.

"Seth. Seth. We made the point. We saw how far we can go."

His eyes, full of so much longing and passion, held mine. "Please, Georgina...we're so close...just this once..."

We were so close. Too close.

"No." I pressed my palms to his chest. "Seth! Stop." I shoved hard. "Stop!" I broke free all at once and staggered a few feet back, my hand catching the counter for support. The energy transfer cut off abruptly.

He reached out a hand to help steady me, but I stayed out of reach. "Are...are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said, breath heavy. "But you aren't. I got a little - a little of your energy."

"A little is nothing."

"Not to me," I said, still keeping my distance.

"It's not your energy," he said. His eyes were still heated and hungry. "It's mine. And I think it was worth it." He took a step forward. "And I'd think it was worth it, even if I lost more."

I held out my hand, palm-first. "Stop. Don't come closer. I don't trust you."

His expression became less aroused and more dumbfounded. "You...don't trust me? I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"That's not what I meant. Exactly. I mean, I don't know. I don't think you're going to rape me or anything, but you're...uh, persuasive. And you haven't been yourself lately. Ever since you got shot. You've been...I don't know. Risky. Like you're having a mid-life crisis."

"I'm having a life crisis, Thetis. I don't want to be one of those people who discovers on my death bed that I didn't do anything. Why can't you understand this? You're so quick to encourage Maddie to do exciting things, but you're still trying to protect me."

"It...it's different."

"How?" he asked. "Why is it okay for her to take risks but not me?"

"Because there's a big difference between going rock climbing and sleeping with someone who's going to take years off your life. How long is this phase going to last? You always said it wasn't about sex between us."

"It's not," he said stoutly. "Not at all. I love you for...so many reasons. More than I can even begin to describe. But I don't want to die never having touched you. Really touched you."

I stared. He was serious. How could he say he didn't want to die without touching me when touching me would only lead him closer to death?

"You're only saying this because you haven't had sex in so long," I accused. "You got all turned on and now you're not thinking straight."

"I am turned on," he agreed. "By you. The woman I love." He took another step toward me but still stayed far enough away so we didn't touch. "I want you, Georgina. So badly it kills me. I know you want me too. How can we go on being afraid of something we never tried? I'll take a hit for it, yeah, but if we go on for years...without ever knowing..." He shook his head and sighed. "Please, Georgina. Just this once. Let us be together - really together."

I swallowed. He was so earnest. So sweet. So sexy. And so help me, he sounded reasonable. The calm way he spoke almost made me believe it didn't matter, that if I gave in and let our bodies come together, the loss would be small and inconsequential. I looked into his eyes and tried to convince myself of his rationalization, bringing up what Carter and others had said. That it was Seth's choice to make, nothing for me to worry about.

But, of course, it was.

"No," I said. "I can't. Please, Seth. Don't do this. Don't look at me like that. I