Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

her life.

    His hands worked their way steadily up her legs and her breath caught in her throat as he began pressing and rubbing above her knees. The strokes moved up higher, toward the junction of her legs, and she couldn’t stop the flood of telltale damp heat. She actually could feel her sheath pulsing, empty and in need.
    A small sound escaped and she jammed her fist into her mouth. She should have told him to stop, but it felt like heaven.

    “So what do you think we should do?” She tried to keep her mind on battle, on any distraction, but she was so aware of those strong fingers moving closer and closer to the place where she needed him most.

    “I think we have a couple of days before the big meeting takes place. More vampires are in the area. I want to make certain they stay away from Zacarias’s people.”

    She frowned. “Can you do that?”

    “I am going to try. It will be a difficult safeguard to cast, and I will need blood to do it.”

    “I don’t mind you taking mine,” Solange said, and realized it was true. She would rather provide for him than have anyone else do so. In the end, when she’d gotten past her fear of being conquered, she’d found it an erotic experience.

    His finger moved down her bottom, tracing the firm flesh and sliding across her very wet sex. She inhaled sharply and rolled over. She couldn’t take one more moment of his hands on her. She’d never felt so needy in her life.

    He stepped back and helped her to sit. She was too limp to stand. “I do not know if it is safe for me to take your blood, for either of us. Not until we get the information needed from the vampires.”

    “For either of us?” Solange found it hard to look at him. He was so gorgeous and she was so naked, her skin flushed, her breathing almost harsh. Hadn’t he been as affected by touching her as she was by his touch?

    “Your blood may be killing the parasites, and I need them,” he explained. “As for you, the act of taking your blood is very sensual, and I dare not lose control and convert you. How are you feeling now?”

    “I feel better. Thank you.”

    “More relaxed?”

    She bit her lip. She didn’t want to lie to him. He’d gone to a lot of trouble for her.

    Two fingers lifted her chin. “What is it, kessake ku toro sívamak— beloved little wildcat? I thought we had established that when I ask a question, I require an answer. Is that not easy?”

    She shook her head and attempted a smile. “Not as easy as you make it sound.”

    “What would you be afraid of telling me?”

    Now she was embarrassed to sit in front of him completely naked, her body so unbearably aroused she could barely think straight, let alone find the right words to tell him. She felt vulnerable all over again. Why should it be so difficult to voice her sexual needs? What more did she want from him? The way he’d said that taking her blood was sensual, and the tone of his voice when he’d uttered conversion had sent her already aroused body into a shocking frenzy of need. She stilled; in spite of her raging body, desperate for release, she wasn’t certain her brain would allow her to receive him without a fight. So classic jaguar and so difficult to explain.

    “It’s embarrassing and I don’t want to disappoint you.” There. She’d told him the truth. Okay. Maybe she’d whispered, but she managed to say the words without stammering.

    “You only disappoint me when you do not trust me enough to share your needs.”

    How could she possibly describe the slow-building, burning, relentless ache that refused to give her rest?
    The silence stretched between them. He didn’t move, his body still, his eyes on hers, refusing to allow her to look away.

    “I’m very . . .” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “I feel as if I’m burning alive. I ache.”

    A slow smile briefly teased his mouth. His eyes warmed. “For me? Did I put that ache here?” His fingers slid down her bare stomach to the smooth mound. The pads of his fingers did a slow massage “Do I make you this way? Is all the wetness a welcome for me?”

    She closed her eyes, her head falling back at his touch. Deep inside, her body began to pulse. “Of course for you. I didn’t know I could feel this way.”

    “You should never hide from who you are, Solange. Or hide from your needs. Certainly you should never try to hide them from me. I am the only one to give you satisfaction. Do you understand what I am