“You shouldn’t challenge me, sweet Laylah,” he growled in warning. “Or what?”
A slow smile curved his lips. “I promised I would make you beg.”
“Not even in your wildest … oh … oh …” Her head fell back, her eyes squeezing shut as he released a jolt of power. Her nails dug into his chest, the tiny pain making his hips jerk upward in pleasure. “Dammit,” she muttered. “That’s not fair.”
Gripping her hips he stroked her over the hard length of his erection, hissing at the exquisite sensation.
“But you like it,” he said, his hand skimming up the curve of her waist to cup her breast.
“I didn’t say that.”
His smile widened as her soft sigh of encouragement filled the room.
“Your moans of pleasure gave it away.”
She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes opening to reveal a dangerous sparkle in the dark depths.
“Did they? Well, maybe we should discover what you like.”
Before he could guess her intent she was bending forward, deliberately rubbing her breasts against his chest before brushing her mouth over his lips.
The caress was as soft as a feather, but Tane jerked as if he’d been punched in the gut. It was this woman. Her touch, her scent, her soft sounds of pleasure. It all combined to send his lust into hyperdrive.
Just as gently she parted his lips, running her tongue down the length of his massive fang. He groaned, wondering if she knew what the hell she was doing to him.
“Be careful that you’re not starting something you’re not prepared to finish,” he husked.
“I’m making sure you’re prepared.” She laughed, spreading kisses down his clenched jaw. Then, with an evil disregard for his shattered restraint, she forged a brazen path over his chest and journeyed southward.
His hands clutched the sheet beneath him as she tormented him with light nips and nibbles, touching him everywhere but where he most ached.
Sadist.
Lifting his head off the pillow, he glared down at his tormentor, his words of protest dying on his lips as he caught sight of her beautiful features intent as she concentrated on her self-imposed task and her brilliant hair shimmering like fire.
The mere sight was nearly enough to make him come.
Then her tiny tongue peeked out and she licked him from root to tip.
Tane roared in pleasure, his fingers threading through her hair as her lips parted and she closed around his head, her tongue doing things that threatened to enslave him far more effectively than her Jinn magic.
With an obvious intent to punish him, she explored him with her lips and tongue, her caresses a slow, deliberate exercise in torment.
He moaned, at last grasping her shoulders and hauling her up his body.
“You prepare me anymore and our fun will be over before it’s begun,” he muttered.
She gazed down at him, a smug hint of amusement shimmering in her dark eyes as she straddled his hips.
“What about the famed stamina of vampires? I suppose it was too good to be true?”
His predatory instincts flared. A direct challenge.
With a motion too swift for her to anticipate, Tane rolled so her slender body was trapped beneath him, her hands pressed to his chest and her eyes wide.
“You want stamina?” He brushed his lips along the stubborn line of her jaw and scraped his fangs down the length of her neck. He smiled as she shuddered in reaction. “I can give you all the stamina you’ll ever need.”
“Tane …”
Her words broke off with a sigh as his lips closed over the tip of her breast, his tongue teasing the puckered nipple before trailing down the center of her body, pausing to dip into her belly button before he was arranging himself between her spread legs for the most delectable feast.
Drowning in the scent of her arousal, Tane nibbled at her inner thigh, a smile curving his lips as her soft whimper filled the air.
With deliberate care, he turned his head to slide his tongue gently into the waiting heat of her body. He stroked through her slick honey, once and then twice, his hands pressed against her legs as she bowed beneath the fierce pleasure. Tane had barely found the tiny nub he’d been searching for before Laylah had reached down to grasp his mohawk and struggled to yank him upward.
“Please.”
Tane had every intention of making her suffer as he had, but his cock was ready to explode, threatening to embarrass him.
Rising upward, he studied the woman spread below him, her eyes dark with passion and her lips parted in anticipation. His gaze slid down the perfect ivory form, with the rose-crested breasts and softly flaring hips.
A stunningly beautiful creature.
That was his.
All his.
“Your wish is my command,” he softly swore, his hands shifting beneath her legs to tilt her upward.
Their gazes locked as he slid into her welcoming heat with one smooth stroke.
Tane froze as a stunning ecstasy combined with a sense of … rightness blazed through him.
God almighty. He would have sworn that he knew everything there was to know about sex.
The women he’d bedded had been entertaining companions for a few hours and he’d done everything in his considerable power to make sure they both enjoyed their time together. But this …
This was touching him in dangerous places. Places he had deliberately kept shut off since the night of the god awful bloodbath.
Ignoring the perilous sensations, Tane softly groaned as he pulled back his hips before pushing slowly back into her tight channel. His hands cupped her ass as he watched her dark lashes lower, her teeth biting into her lower lips as he pressed back into her body.
Magic. There was no other word for what was shimmering through his body.
Pure Laylah magic.
His slow, deliberate pace gradually quickened as her hips rolled upward to meet his thrusts, his initial desire to make this last the entire night being undone by the looming promise of paradise.
Laylah stretched her arms over her head, her soft pants as beautiful as any music as she climaxed.
His fangs ached as he felt the ripples tug at his cock, the compulsion to claim her with his bite almost overwhelming.
Then his own orgasm overtook him, making him forget everything but the shattering pleasure.
They were left to cool their heels in the dungeon until the following evening. Not that Tane protested.
He was recklessly content to share the tiny cell with his beautiful mongrel. An attitude that might have made sense if he’d spent the past hours sating his persistent lust. What vamp wouldn’t enjoy several hours of uninterrupted sex?
Especially when it was mind-blowing, balls-to-the-wall, best-sex-ever sex.
Instead, Tane had held Laylah tightly in his arms as she had tumbled into a deep slumber, clearly exhausted by the past few days.
Hour after hour, he had watched over her, refusing to allow anyone to enter the dungeon, including Uriel, in case they disturbed her.
Dusk was falling when he sensed that Laylah was beginning to stir and realizing she might feel awkward at having him hover over her, he left the cell so she would have privacy to pull on the jeans and T-shirt that Uriel had sent down earlier.
Offering such tender care was an unfamiliar experience for him.
He was a cold-hearted assassin, not a babysitter for vulnerable half-breeds.
Not that the pigheaded female appreciated his efforts, he acknowledged as he moved to block the door of the cell, glaring down at her stubborn expression with a surge of annoyance.
“We’re not going to argue about this, Laylah.”
“You’re the one arguing, not me.” She stabbed him in the middle of the chest with her finger, no doubt wishing it was a stake. Ungrateful wench. “I’m going with you to speak with the clan chief and that’s final.”
“Damn you, Laylah.” His hands curled into tight fists. “Victor isn’t a lame-ass cur like Caine who you can manipulate with a smile and too-tight shirt.”
Her face flushed as they both glanced down at the stretchy shirt that lovingly clung to every curve.
“Hey, this wasn’t my idea.”
Tane’s jaw clenched. “Believe me, I intend to have a long talk with Uriel the first chance I get.” “As if you have a say in what I wear.” It was a ridiculous argument.
What did it matter what she was wearing so long as she could easily run or even fight if necessary in the clothes?
Hell, his only interest in female clothing was how quickly he could get her out of them.
Now, however, the thought of any other male seeing so much of Laylah’s ivory skin and soft curves was making him homicidal.
“I’m your lover,” he said with an arrogance that brought a glitter of anger to her eyes. “I intend to have a say in everything that concerns you, sweet Laylah.” He shrugged off his gray hoodie, leaving him wearing nothing more than a pair of cargo pants. Not that it mattered. The chill in the air didn’t bother him. Wrapping her in the soft jersey, he tugged up the zipper and stepped back to regard her with satisfaction. The hoodie was too large, but it at least covered her from neck to well below her hips. “Much better.”
She held out her arms to display the cuffs that fell past her hands.
“Seriously?”
He reached out to tug the hood over her head, hiding her face in shadows.
“The fewer people who can describe you once we leave this lair, the better,” he smoothly improvised.
With a roll of her eyes, she shoved the arms of the sweatshirt up and over her elbows before regarding him with impatience.
“Fine. Can we just go?”
“As I was saying before you distracted me, Victor is a vicious clan chief who is notorious for striking first and asking questions later.” He resisted the urge to shake some sense into her. “If it’s true he holds a prejudice against Jinn he will attack before I can protect you.”
“I don’t want your protection,” she snapped. “I want answers.”
“Then perhaps I can be of assistance,” a soft female voice said from behind Tane.
Whirling on his heel, Tane silently cursed his inattention, his fangs on full display as he watched the small female with a long mane of reddish gold curls and faintly slanted eyes that were the palest shade of green halt mere steps away. It was the towering vampire with long black hair, and silver eyes rimmed with black, however, that held his attention.
Victor’s power was a tangible force in the air, challenging Tane’s aggressive need to prove his superiority. It was never comfortable having two alphas in the same place.
“Easy boys,” the female murmured.
Tane sent Victor a tight smile. “Boys?”
