Carpathian 14 - Dark Hunger

that she slid toward him, her legs over his shoulders. I thought I would find out how you taste. If you're as tangy and spicy all over as I imagine you are. Without giving her the slightest opportunity to squirm away, he lowered his head between her thighs.
    Juliette jumped, but his hands cupped her bare buttocks, fingers digging deep to hold her still. His teeth scraped the inside of her thigh. She heard herself moan softly. Felt the first surge of moist welcoming heat.
    "Lie back for me," he said softly, "relax, float. Just feel. Just feel this time, Juliette."
    She loved the way he said her name with his peculiar, very sexy accent. She loved the way his eyes went dark and smoldered and hungered and burned over her body. His hair touched her sensitive skin, her body trembled. She felt his hand pushing against her heat.
    She stared up at the night sky, watched the droplets of rain come down in slow motion.
    Some landed on her face, some on her bare breasts. Water from the pool slid over her stomach, a silken blanket arousing her further. Juliette gave herself to him completely.
    His finger pushed into her, stroking deep caresses, teasing and dancing until she moaned with pleasure. His mouth replaced his hand, a hot pulsing of fire that left her breathless, unable to scream, unable to breathe. Pressure built fast and hard and raged through her body for release. When her orgasm hit, it was explosive and violent and shook her to the very core of her being.
    Riordan slowly lifted his head from between her thighs, holding her secure when she might have drowned, might have just sunk to the bottom in a heap of heated feminine flesh.
    He pulled her through the water to him, rocked her gently while her body continued to sizzle and spark and ripple with pleasure.
    Juliette wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "I accept your apology."
    His arms tightened possessively. He floated over to the small shelf near the water's edge.
    "I hoped you would feel my sincerity."
    "Do you think a woman can fall in love with a man she barely knows?"
    "I do not know, but she can fall in love with a man after she has walked in his mind and knows who he is and what he stands for."
    She kissed his neck. "I never once dreamed I would have a man in my life. Never once."

    "That is only because you could not conjure up the image of such a charming man." He sank down onto the shelf looking pleased with himself and pulled her onto his lap, cradling her close. "I have four brothers." He pushed the wet hair from the side of her neck and threw it back in a long, wet trail over her shoulder. "Our prince sent us out so many years ago this country has become our home. I am the youngest in the family, and my brothers worry for me, all of them. Nicolas and Rafael are out of the country at the moment so you are safe from meeting them en masse. We have very close ties to a family of humans…"
    "The ones who work your cattle empire," she interrupted.
    "Ranch. It is large, but it is no empire. Yes, they run the ranch. They have young orphaned relatives in the United States and two of my brothers went to help them smooth the way to bring them home."
    She looked up at him suspiciously. "What does that mean? Smooth the way. By using their voices with hypnotic suggestions? Their eyes mesmerizing people?"
    He grinned again, softening the lines in his face. "Is that what you think I do?"
    "You're shameless about it," she confirmed.
    "It worked on you, and that is all that matters."
    "You wish it worked on me. I just happen to like the way you're put together." She laced her fingers through his. "So you have a big ranch and live there with four overprotective brothers and a human family as well."
    "My other brothers, Manolito and Zacarias, the eldest, are probably heading this way as we speak to check on me as if I were an infant."
    She brought his hand to her mouth. "I'll testify you're long past the infant stage if you'd like."
    "I doubt if it will be helpful. I can handle my brothers. I am just warning you that their protection will extend to you. We have to avoid them until I know you're so completely captivated by my charm, you will not run away from them."
    "I live with my younger sister, and my cousin. Jasmine, my little sister, is beautiful inside and out." Juliette frowned. "She is able to shift once in a while if she is under tremendous stress, but she can't count on the ability as I do. My cousin and I are the protectors in my