spark new thrills of desire skating over her body, before he kissed his way back up to her neck.
He tasted her first, with long sweeps of his tongue that had her blood pumping so hard, she could hear it pulsing in her ear. She speared fingers through his thick, dark hair—so soft and silky for such a fierce and deadly vampire.
He chose that moment to strike, giving no warning as his fangs sliced through her skin and pierced her vein. She whimpered as the first tendrils of heat licked into her blood, bringing that same exquisite pleasure that spread like flames through her body. Her breasts seemed to swell under the onslaught, sore nipples throbbing as they stiffened into firm peaks of lust, while a fervent need filled her womb and tightened her clit into a hard bundle of nerves that begged for his touch.
Xavier’s mouth stretched her neck where the skin had been sliced, every sucking pull on her vein like a tug on her breasts, a stroke through her pussy, pleasure coursing through her in great swirls of longing. His hand caressed the length of her body, starting at her shoulders, lingering over her breasts, playing down her belly before flattening over her groin as one thick finger slipped between the lips of her pussy and with no warning, crushed the taut, throbbing nub of her clit.
Her torso came off the bed despite his fangs in her neck and his full weight pressing her down. She wrapped her legs around his hips and thrust upward, rubbing herself against his stone hard penis, while she drowned in waves of climax. She wanted him inside her, needed the relief of being filled by his cock, by the searing heat of his orgasm.
Xavier lifted his head with an unrestrained howl, his fangs dragging from her vein as he flexed his hips and drove into her with all the ferocity she’d longed for. He slammed into her once, twice, and then they were coming together in a fury of frenzied hunger, and a wild and passionate love.
Chapter Seventeen
LAYLA WAS SPRAWLED over Xavier’s body when she woke. The room was pitch black around them, but she knew it was still nighttime because Xavier’s eyes opened as soon as she sat up. Every part of her body ached when she leaned down to kiss him, and the sharp pain between her thighs reminded her that the (cough, cough) delicate parts of her anatomy had gotten more exercise than they’d had in years. Ow.
“I have to shower and get over to the barracks. I have to review the data and brief my team before we head out. And I’ll want to talk to the helo pilot, too.”
When he didn’t say anything, she studied him a minute, needing to know the answer to a very specific question, but not sure she wanted it.
“What is it? What’s troubling you?”
She bit the inside of her lip, then went for it. “Does Sakal have the power to kill you? Could he have killed you if he’d caught you unaware in that ambush?”
Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her forehead, and murmured her name. “Layla, cariño. No. I am immune to magic, and Sakal knows it. That is why his trap was designed to hold me there until the sun rose. Had I not escaped, had you not assisted with that escape, the sun would have destroyed me. But I will not make that same mistake again. In any event, the sun will not be a factor in the battle tomorrow night. And I remain immune to magic.”
A new thought occurred to her. “Does Sakal know you didn’t die?”
“I have to assume he does. He has plenty of human acolytes or other minions who would have reported to him.”
“Which means he’ll be expecting you to attack.”
“Unless he’s a total fool, yes. He may expect the French vampire lord to present some resistance, but I don’t believe he’ll trust a vampire, not even his own territorial lord, to protect him. I fully anticipate a vigorous defense on his part. Which is why I’m sending you and your team in to reconnoiter before we launch. That said, you are officially under orders to return to me unscathed.”
Layla tipped her head from side to side. “I’ll do my best, believe me. But that goes both ways, dude. If you’re wrong about him, and he kills you, I’m going to be pissed as hell.”
He chuckled. “When I die, it will not be