"You said you'd answer any question."
His hand squeezed hers. "Avenge you." He pinned her gaze with his own. "Follow you."
Her lips parted in amazement just as sultry rain began to fall.
Trehan didn't understand her sudden question, only knew that his answer had surprised her.
When she peered up at him, blinking against the drizzling rain, he sensed they were at the precipice of something and didn't dare trace her away. Droplets shimmered over her braids like a sparkling veil, her eyes so luminous.
Her expression looked . . . lost, as if he'd done far more than admit a simple truth.
"Bettina? Why ask that-"
Two soft hands cupped his face, tugging him down. His lips met hers. Now I am lost. . . .
He looped an arm around her waist, drawing her body against his, groaning at the feel of her. Her skin was so warm, so slick beneath his hands. Their breaths mingled, the kiss deepening, rain now pouring; the night mirrored the intensity of what burned between them.
When he lifted her up against him, her slim arms closed around his neck, her long legs wrapping around his waist. He traced her to the furs, laying her down.
Between kisses, she said, "Are we about to go up to a point?"
"Almighty gods, we are!"
"Will you make me forget tomorrow?"
He drew back on his haunches. "I intend to. As long as we're here in this place, tomorrow doesn't factor. Just you, me, this storm."
When he only gazed at her, she frowned. "What do you want me to do?"
"Bare yourself. Show me your pretty br**sts as you did that first night." This time, to me. Only to me.
She bit her bottom lip. "You think about that night a lot."
"You don't?"
With a blush, she reached behind her, untying the lace of her top. When she peered up at him for courage, he rasped, "For me?"
She removed the material, revealing perfect pale swells tipped with rosy peaks. He'd seen them before, he'd kissed them before; a groan still burst from his chest.
The corners of her red lips curled. "You . . . like them."
"Like?" He covered one with his palm, giving a gentle squeeze. "Already I'm obsessed with them. I imagine an eternity tending to them and every inch of your ravishing little body." He leaned in to kiss her, promising her, "Soon, Bett," just before his lips met hers. He drank in her sweet gasp.
She met his seeking tongue, lightly swirling the tip of hers against his. He loved the way she kissed-with shy laps of her tongue, welcoming lips, and now a needy moan.
One of his shaking hands cupped the back of her head; his other eased down to unravel the ties of her skirt, pulling it free.
He broke away, but only to admire the gift he was unwrapping. "Loveliness itself," he declared when he saw her in only a scrap of black lace.
Slowly, so as not to frighten her, he tugged her panties down her legs, leaving them around one slim ankle.
The sight of her body stole his breath. Waist so small, skin so sleek. Water drops trailed over taut limbs, delectable curves, and those pert br**sts. The tiny thatch of dark curls on her mound beckoned. . . .
No, he was not a mere observer. As he raised his face to hers, he realized he couldn't be more present, more engaged. Scents washed over him. Warm rain lingered over their heated skin. The beat of their hearts sounded in his ears.
The two of them were a part of this storm, a part of this wild shelter.
And his female was awaiting his next move, studying him with wide, shimmering eyes.
"Do you know what I plan to do to you, Bett?"
She swallowed. "K-kiss my br**sts?"
"Would you like me to?" She nodded eagerly. "Then lie back."
When she reclined across the furs, he moved over her, leaning down to lick moisture from her delicate collarbone down to the curves of her br**sts. Two pouting ni**les taunted him. Which to suckle first?
He groaned as he closed his lips over one, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the other. With his tongue, he flicked fast and hard. With his thumb, he rubbed so slowly.
She arched her back for more. "Ah, Daciano, what are you doing to me?"
Anything I can-up to a point. Hard and fast. Lazily back and forth. Then he switched mouth and hand.
When her head began to thrash, he left two throbbing ni**les in his wake and started kissing down her flat belly.
By the time he reached her navel, she was shaking with need. But she raised herself up on her elbows. "Daciano? Wait."
"Do not stop me, Bett." His voice was a growl. "You know what I want."
"But your fangs?"
"I can control them."
"Are you sure? I-I don't want you to bite me."
"I won't take your blood again. Not until it's given." He stroked his palms up from her knees. "Do you trust me?" he asked her with a wet lick just above her curls.
"I do. I really do."
"Then part your thighs, dragă."
At length, she lay back, gripping the furs in her fists.
Am I to have this prize?
Though a furious blush suffused her skin, she slowly began spreading her knees. His heart twisted in his chest at this show of trust from his Bride.
Gods, yes, he would survive tomorrow!
He would live to know the full power of her desire. He'd live to claim his stunning female, to master her body with his own, to win her eternally-
She bared her succulent sex; his body reacted with an animalistic frenzy, his lusts raging.