The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

compared to this man.
    He leaned down and licked her mouth from corner to corner. “You have the sweetest smile,” he whispered.
    She wanted to melt into the bed. “You must say that to all the women you pleasure.”
    “I do not pleasure them.” He dipped his finger behind her lips. “I make their fantasies real. I am not in them as myself.” He trailed his wet finger down her throat to the hollow. “But with you I am.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s what’s in your dreams.”
    Natalia laced one hand behind his neck. His hair was warm and silken, feeling so real. She daringly drew his mouth down to hers, and he kissed her.
    A soft kiss, no demands. Natalia explored the pads of his lips, hesitant, shy.
    “This is a fantasy,” Ochen whispered. “You can do whatever you want. There is no one to judge.”
    “Except you. Obviously.”
    “But I’m only a Dream Catcher. An animal. A reminder of what civilized people have lost.”
    Natalia slid fingers through his hair. “You don’t look like any animal I’ve ever seen. I once had a pet sand lizard, but he was scaly and slithered everywhere.”
    His smile widened. “I’m not human. I can be held in place simply with a piece of bewitched rope. I am a creature of base emotion. What does it matter what I think of you?”
    Natalia held his face between her hands. “It matters a great deal.”
    “Does it?” His hot breath scalded where he kissed the line of her hair. “But you’re a great lady of Bor Narga.”
    “A Sorvenska. Rich, eccentric, despised.”
    “Shh.” He stilled her lips with light kisses. “Beautiful, passionate, envied.”
    “Shunned.”
    “They all want to feel what you do. But only you are brave enough to seek it out.”
    Natalia pulled him close, suddenly impatient. “Make love to me. Please. Let me know what it feels like. I’m burning up for you.”
    He laughed again, low and throaty. “I burn for you. Can you not feel?”
    He positioned his body on top of hers, his hardness pressing through the thin fabric of her gown. It was positively wicked how good that felt. She wriggled against him.
    Ochen parted her gown with firm hands, lowered his head and traced her bare nipple with his tongue. Natalia arched against him, the heat of his mouth was incredible. Fire licked her body, making it tight and wonderfully loose at the same time.
    “Is this orgasm?” she moaned.
    “Not yet, my love. Not even close.”
    “I’m coming apart.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re beautifully whole.”
    “Do more.”
    “Mmm, so demanding.”
    “Please.”
    Ochen nuzzled her neck, lowering his bare chest to hers. The weight of him, the heat of his body, the tickle of his hair made her wild. She lifted her hips, loving the feel of his hardness behind his loincloth. She wanted no fabric between them.
    She slid her hands down his back, exploring his hard muscles. She lingered at the small of his back, then shivered as she moved to the bare mound of his backside. His eyes softened.
    Natalia had never touched a man’s backside before. She’d never seen one. Ochen’s was tight and compact, his skin smooth. She traced circles on it while he smiled at her.
    “Natalia, I want you so much.”
    She sighed happily. “This is a good dream.”
    His smile faded. A sharp sadness flickered through his eyes, then he kissed her. His tongue moved through her mouth in slow swipes, a man tasting her. His mouth was warm and velvety, wet and hot. Natalia moved her tongue to imitate his, loving the taste of him. She never knew kissing was like this, but it seemed so natural, so normal. Why shouldn’t men and women drink of each other?
    He pressed his body against hers, rocking into her to fit himself between her legs. The sensation burned, and she wound her arms around him.
    “Please,” she whispered. “Please.”
    He rose on his elbows, looking down into her face. His black hair hung like a curtain around them. “I want ...”
    “What? What do you want?” She was desperate for him.
    He lightly traced her cheek. “I want this to be real.”
    “Isn’t it real? It feels so real.”
    “I’m lying, broken, in an underground place. You are sleeping in a room far above me. The darkness, it presses me.” His gaze was remote, like he saw two things at once.
    “But you’re here with me.”
    “It’s illusion, all illusion. I’m very good at illusion.”
    “Show me what’s real then.”
    His mouth twisted. “You don’t want to see that.”
    “I