Dark Wolf

17

Hunting. Just the word alone conjured up blood and death. Skyler had been a wildlife conservationist and advocate for most of her life. She didn’t eat meat. She didn’t believe in hunting unless one actually ate what they killed. The same with fishing. Killing for sport was abhorrent to her. Hunting sounded so . . . predatory.

Carpathians and Lycans, for that matter, are predators, Dimitri informed her.

He hadn’t given her time to explore the house, something she was very eager to do. Instead, he had taken her quickly through the forest to the edge of the village. They waited in the shadows, staying very still, not moving or speaking, just absorbing the rhythm of the village at night.

She could hear the footsteps, feel the vibration through the soles of her boots—she had become that sensitive. She could hear murmured conversations from various houses and bars. If she actually tuned in to any one of them, she could hear exactly what they said.

Already hunger had taken hold of both of them. She could feel the deep need throbbing in her veins. The scent of animals and humans filled her lungs with every breath she drew. She knew where every single person on the street was in relationship to her. Her body had a stillness it never had, and her heart beat in anticipation of what was to come.

There was a kind of excitement and elation in hunting she hadn’t anticipated. She actually could hear the ebb and flow of blood in the veins of those closest to her. Without thinking, she focused on one particularly strong beat. A male. She knew who he was, already tuning to him without conscious thought, as if her body knew exactly what to do. His footsteps were steady. He hadn’t been drinking. She didn’t want blood laced with alcohol.

What’s happening to me? She reached out to Dimitri, both frightened and excited at the changes in her.

You are Carpathian. You are light to my darkness, but you are still a predator. You cannot live without sustaining yourself. You will walk up to him, smile, say hello, engage him in a short conversation as your mind tunes to his. When you feel his exact rhythm, you calm him, cloud his mind just long enough to take what you need from him.

Skyler frowned. Like all of you have done for me. But I consented. I had knowledge.

They cannot know. It isn’t safe. Our species does not exist other than in myths and legends.

Skyler knew he was right. Carpathians, and even Lycans, who had integrated into human society, remained secretive. There were human societies that hunted “vampires,” unable to distinguish between Carpathians and vampires, so they indiscriminately killed everyone, just as the Lycans did with the Sange rau and the Hän ku pesäk kaikak.

She took a deep breath. She’d agreed to this, and a huge part of her wanted to do it on her own, but taking blood from an unsuspecting person made her feel as if she was making the man her victim, and that didn’t sit well with her.

You know you don’t have to do this.

She shot Dimitri a quelling look. It was difficult enough to force herself to become a predator, let alone fighting the impulse to take the “out” he offered her.

Once you are absolutely certain you have him out of sight of any other and in a thrall, under your complete control, your body will know what to do. Take only what you need to survive and thrive. There is no need for more, although the impulse will be there just because your body craves blood. Use discipline. If you can’t stop yourself, reach for me.

He would be monitoring her to ensure nothing went wrong, but he wanted to give her the opportunity to handle every aspect for herself. Children learned these lessons at an early age. She had been human and it could be more difficult.

Skyler moistened her lips and ran her tongue over her already sharpening teeth. She nodded and forced herself to take that first step out of the shadows. Once she managed that, she began to stroll toward her prey.

She was shocked at how quietly she walked, how she was so tuned to every heartbeat, every whisper of sound around her. Heat banded, changing her vision, so that she could see every artery and vein, the very heart of the man she approached.

Skyler flashed a smile. His head jerked up and he stopped in his tracks. A low growl came from out of the night, shocking her, shocking him. Instinctively he stepped closer, protectively to her.

“Good evening,” she greeted, turning her head toward the sound.

Two red eyes stared back at her. Her heart stuttered for a moment. Dimitri, you said this was necessary for me to learn.

I didn’t know how I would feel.

Stay in my mind so you know how I feel, not him. Carpathian women seem to mesmerize men fairly easily. He wasn’t interested in the least until I smiled at him. In any case, he feels protective, not sexual.

Do not fool yourself, and don’t let him touch you. I am disciplined, but find that perhaps I will need to work on control when other men desire you.

His unexpected reaction helped her to overcome her own nerves. She loved that Dimitri might have a small little weakness. It was so very human. Butterflies actually took flight in her stomach, wings fluttering against her abdomen. Her breasts tingled and she felt the heat rising between her legs, signaling her need of her lifemate. She was beginning to revel in her ability to want him. Each time it happened she felt more hopeful that she could meet his every need.

Stop! Stop thinking about sex when you’re approaching another man and you’re about to bite into his neck and take his blood.

The urgency in Dimitri’s voice brought her up short. She touched his mind and found—chaos—a red, almost blinding rage that had nothing to do with enemies and everything to do with the poor innocent man she had selected as her first target.

She stepped back from him immediately and lifted her hand. “Have a good night.”

“Wait. It isn’t safe for you to walk alone right now,” the man cautioned.

“My husband is waiting for me.” She indicated just ahead of her. “Thank you for your concern though.” She kept walking, moving quickly into the shadows, knowing Dimitri had moved to intercept her.

She walked right up to him, merging her mind more deeply with his. Be calm, my love, this won’t hurt a bit.

She slid the buttons from the clasps, one by one, deliberately slow and sensuous. When his shirt fell open, she ran the palms of her hands up his belly to his chest.

There’s nothing to fear. You’re safe with me.

She bent her head and followed the path of her hands with her tongue, stopping for a moment to circle his belly button and trace the links of a few of the chains, as if she had gotten a little distracted by his body. She found the reassuring beat of his heart and the rhythm of his blood, surging so hotly in his veins, beckoning her.

Her teeth lengthened. She let need rise—the terrible, sweet hunger—until the feeling completely enveloped her. There was more than just the desire to feed. Her heart matched his, and she trailed kisses over the vein in his chest, over those heavy muscles that always intrigued her. Her tongue swirled and danced, stroked, and then she bit deep, finding the vein unerringly.

He gasped, threw his head back, one hand pressing her closer to him. There was no horror at what she was doing, only a rising urgency that had nothing to do with feeding. She wanted him with every breath that she took—wanted his body. She wanted him inside of her, possessing her, completing her.

His essence was addictive and so was the feeling rising just as sharp, just as terrible and just as sweet. Feeding from Dimitri was wholly erotic. She wanted to wrap her body around his, rub against him like an alley cat. She wanted his hands on her breasts and his fingers pressing into her body.

You must stop, sívamet, he cautioned.

His voice came from far off, barely heard through the roaring in her ears. She managed to obey, but only because it was Dimitri who commanded her. Pulling herself away from that erotic well was difficult, but she forced herself under control, sliding her tongue instinctively over the small wound in his chest.

She lifted her head to look at him, knowing her desire was there in her eyes. He had to feel the way her nipples had grown tight, peaking against him. He had to smell the welcoming hot spice spilling between her legs.

He framed her face and bent down to kiss her mouth. Are you certain, csitri? Very certain?

This seems to be a perfect night for teaching. We have this night for us. Let them all wait. We haven’t asked for anything for ourselves, we should be able to have one night. She could barely breathe with wanting him. Teach me what lovemaking is. I want to know everything.

Wait one moment, Dimitri said. I will feed quickly and we’ll return to our home.

And a bed. I want a bed.

His eyes glowed in the dark, moving over her possessively. Instead of frightening her, she felt excited. If she was completely honest with herself, there was a little trepidation, but that added to the thrill.

You will have your bed, avio päläfertiil.

Dimitri moved away from her. He was so skilled she couldn’t really make out his image as he caught up with the man she had marked as her first prey. She blinked. Dimitri was on the man in half a second, wrapping them both in darkness, bending his head to the merchant’s neck even as he shielded them from all eyes.

He was back to her almost immediately, in complete silence. He gathered her into his arms and took to the air, back into the forest, moving swiftly toward their stone house. When they’d walked through it, the house had been clean but mostly devoid of furniture. He’d removed the damp, musty smell and replaced it with a fresh, clean scent, but he hadn’t had time to do much more.

Now he focused on the main bedroom, which was situated directly over the basement. There were numerous ways to get out of the room to safety should there ever be need. He put the bed in place with a thick mattress and soft sheets. Candles sprang up on the shelves and in the sconces, providing soft lighting.

As he took her through the house to get to the room, she looked around her, eyes wide. “We really need to work on the décor before we invite the neighbors,” she told him.

“I wasn’t planning on inviting anyone for a while,” he confided, and kicked open the bedroom door. He carried her through to the bed. “You’re certain, Skyler?” he asked again. “You don’t have to do this for me.”

“I’m doing it for both of us,” Skyler said. “You ought to know me by now, Dimitri. I’m ready. Merge with me. See me the way I am right in this moment. I knew when I took your blood that this was the time for us, and I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to look back and realize that we missed our perfect moment.”

Skyler looped her arm around his neck and reached up to kiss him. She didn’t just kiss him, she devoured him, unafraid to show her demands. She loved his mouth. She loved the way he poured his passion into her and she caught fire.

He lowered her to the bed and she caught his open shirt in both hands and pulled him down with her.

“Before we do anything else,” she whispered, “there’s something I’ve needed to do, but I’ve not had the courage. Lie down for me and remove your clothes.”

Dimitri did as she instructed, his eyes so intensely blue they could have been gemstones. He didn’t take his gaze from her. “I’m removing your clothes as well,” he told her. His voice had gone low and husky, need beginning to drive him. “Whatever you’re about to do to me, you can do it naked. I might need a distraction.”

“You’re such a baby sometimes,” she teased.

Skyler waited until Dimitri settled on the bed. He was a big man and he took up a lot of space, nearly the entire mattress. She studied his body for a long moment. His muscles were extremely defined, roped and fluid. His chest was deep, his waist narrow and his belly flat. Already his erection was heavy and full, long and thick, with desire for her. His long legs were very muscular.

From his neck down to his ankles, the loops of silver chain had been burned into his body. They went entirely around him, front to back. She had mostly tried to lessen the impact of the scars on his forehead and neck, but she had wanted to try something altogether different.

Slowly she slung one leg over his hips and straddled him, settling the heat between her legs directly over his erection. He sucked in his breath, but he didn’t move, allowing her to continue.

“I’ve thought about this for the last five nights,” she confided softly. “I’m Carpathian, a Dragonseeker and daughter of Mother Earth. I am Razvan’s daughter, mage is in my blood. I learned from Francesca, one of our greatest healers. I will not let silver defeat me. What is it? A metal of the earth. The properties that burned you can be undone.”

Dimitri opened his mouth, thinking to protest, wanting to complete the ritual of lifemates, but she leaned over him, her soft wet heat rubbing sensuously over his cock, robbing him of breath, of the ability to think, let alone speak.

Her tongue lapped at the chain burns high on his chest with her healing saliva. He heard her chant in his mind, a soft litany of words calling the tiny silver particles embedded in the burns to come forth, and take with them the damage they had caused.

I am Skyler, daughter of the Dragonseeker,

Great-granddaughter of the high mage,

I am Skyler, daughter of Mother Earth.

I call to thee, silver, let us break him from this cage.

Her voice rang with power, swelling in strength, not volume. She became commanding, a true child of both Dragonseeker and mage, as well as a child of the earth. Dimitri marveled at her poise and confidence, even as he tried to stay still beneath her ministrations.

You are silver, my beautiful brother,

But your beauty has been tainted by another.

You have been misled, you have been misguided,

I am calling to you, pleading, help me fight it.

The chant was in her mind. Her mouth moved over his skin, lapping gently, thoroughly, her fingers tracing ahead of her tongue. It was beyond sensuous, beyond anything he’d ever imagined. Skyler concentrated on healing him, but her body moved over his with such intimacy, her every touch mixed with passion and love for him.

Adoration, she murmured and stroked her tongue lower.

His cock jerked, as she slipped off of that intimate part of him to straddle his thighs. Her breasts pushed into his groin. He could feel the soft mounds and her erect nipples pressing into his center so that his heavy erection nestled in the heat between them.

I have adored you almost from the moment we met. You came into my life and there has been no other to fill those dark empty places. Only you, she whispered into his mind.

Her tongue continued to administer to his burns, following the chains lower and lower with those soft lapping velvet strokes until his heart nearly stopped beating in anticipation.

I call to my brother silver, let go,

Free yourself from this blessed soul.

Bring forth with you the damage to skin and bone,

My brother, give me aid, I cannot heal him alone.

Desire and love twined together until there was no separating the two. She used her devotion for Dimitri as well as her growing hunger for his body to chain the silver to her, to draw out the tiny particles, calling them to her, the worst of the burns adhering to the metal.

Her mouth moved lower, and a groan escaped him as her tongue lapped at the chain links across his shaft. Her tongue bathed him with soothing heat, her lips brushing kisses over him in between that soft stroking.

His lungs burned for air, but she didn’t stop, moving even lower, to the chain marks around his hips and thighs. She was killing him with her healing, a slow, deliberate assault on his senses.

He knew she wanted to heal his scars, to ease that tightness in his body that refused to go away, but she could explore, she could taste him, get to know his body intimately, claim every square inch of him for her own, getting lost in the sensations rising between them—and not feel threatened. She was in her element healing him. She was in control.

Dimitri knew she was making her way to him the only way she knew how, and for him, her determination was not only beautiful, but sexy beyond description. She moved over him with care, every touch loving. He felt her love intertwining with her power to lift the rigid tight scars and draw out the tiny particles of silver left behind in skin and bone.

Her mouth moved over him in a kind of worship that left him mad with desire, and trembling with such a terrible love for her he felt the burn of tears behind his eyes.

Come to me, silver, I offer my skin,

Bring all the scars away from him.

Join with me, brother, drive out his pain,

So that only my warrior, my beloved, remains.

To his utter shock, the chains around him loosened noticeably. He hadn’t realized he’d pushed pain to the back of his mind, accepting that it would be there for all eternity. He should have known she would find it there when she merged with him. It was impossible to hide anything from her. The pain eased and then slowly disappeared, leaving him lying beneath her, free of all silver, the chains only faint memories in his body.

Skyler sat up slowly, and at once he could see the burns covering her skin like a coat of armor. His heart jerked, his hands coming up to grip her arms. “What have you done?”

She shrugged, and the coat shimmied to the floor and disintegrated. “I’ve loved you the best way I know how.” She smiled at him and brushed her hand over his flat stomach.

He rolled her over. “Then it’s my turn, isn’t it?”

Skyler lay sprawled beneath him, but he was very careful not to pin her down, or make her feel trapped. He caged her in with his arms, but made certain she had freedom of movement. She didn’t flinch, but looked up at him, the love in her eyes wreaking havoc with his heart.

“I’m expecting great things, my love,” she whispered softly, tracing his lips with her fingertip.

A slow smile curved his mouth. Amusement crept into his glacier-blue eyes. “I’ll do my best not to disappoint.”

He bent his head to fasten his mouth to hers. Tasting her. Savoring her. Loving her. She was a miracle of heat, of fire, pouring into him, cleansing him until he felt brand-new. He tasted her passion and knew he was addicted for life.

He kissed his way from her mouth to her chin, and then down her throat. He stroked one finger over her breast and felt her immediate response, a shiver of pleasure. Her hips moved subtly, a calling, a need.

He cupped her breast, his thumb sliding over her nipple, brushing gently at first, and then tugging and rolling, all the while watching her reaction. She shivered again, not pulling away, but rather pushing into his hand. Her breasts were definitely sensitive. Each touch sent a small rush of liquid fire dampening between her legs.

“You realize you have a fixation,” she teased, her voice husky and a little ragged.

“Obsession,” he corrected and lowered his mouth.

While he suckled, he flattened his tongue, stroking and teasing, even using the edge of his teeth. His fingers tugged and rolled the nipple of her other breast. He was very careful not to let his own desire get out of hand. From the moment he first saw her—touched her—inhaled her—he was lost and he knew it.

He wanted her with him every step of the way, her passion growing until it matched his—until she got to that euphoria of pure feeling and let herself go completely. Skyler needed to be comfortable with him and trust him. No matter how aroused she was, there would be moments she would panic, and she had to know he was capable of hearing, even perceiving those moments before she did and stopping immediately if necessary.

He lifted his head from the sweet temptation of her curves and kissed her again, long and slow. Their world was about love and he wanted to wrap her in it. He had enough love for her to hold her for eternity and he wanted her to feel that always.

He lowered his head again to the sweet curve of her breasts, licking over the tempting pulse just along the swell that led to the valley, using the edge of his teeth, letting her feel the sensation. Her heart accelerated. Her hips moved again, urgency beginning to grow in her. He bit deep. She gasped. Arched. The bite of pain burst through her. Merged as he was with her, he felt that erotic bite spread like a firestorm through her body.

Her arms came up to circle his head, fingers fisting in his hair. She cried out as he began to draw her life’s blood from her body, merging them further, his hands once more at her breasts. She was his, this beautiful body, soft and warm and so responsive. Once she made up her mind, she gave of herself so freely, putting herself in his hands, trusting him. Her trust humbled him.

He lifted his head, watching the twin ruby beads began to flow over the slope of her breast. He chased them, drew them into his mouth and then closed those small wounds. He’d left his mark on her, and he found it pleased him.

He kissed his way down her flat stomach, taking his time, tracing each rib with his tongue, his hands exploring and shaping. Her breath came in ragged little gasps and she made a soft sound that sounded like his name, a chanting barely heard, but music nonetheless. His tongue dipped into her belly button and his hands slipped lower to cup her bottom.

Skyler’s hands went to his hair, bunched there. Her body writhed under his now. Her skin was hot, glowing. “Dimitri?” Her voice trembled, and in her mind he could feel the skittering of fear. But this time, she wasn’t afraid of her own reaction, or that he might hurt her; the pleasure engulfed her, threatened her control and she hadn’t expected that.

“I’ve got you. Just let yourself feel. You’re safe with me.”

Her eyes met his, searching. He looked at her steadily, letting her see he would always be there to catch her. She let her breath out and nodded, lying back again, but her fists remained in his hair as if she anchored herself there.

He kissed her belly button and continued his leisurely exploring, running his tongue along her hipbones, and then over to the dragon, the mark of the Dragonseeker, much like a tattoo, very faint just over her ovary. He spent time there, lapping at it, tracing it, nuzzling her over and over. His hand went to her thigh, parting her legs, letting her feel the cool air on her hot, wet entrance.

So much heat. He was drawn there, his mouth moving lower until he could catch drops of nectar. Her taste was addictive and he found he couldn’t stop. He lifted her hips to his mouth, pressing deep, his tongue pushing into that little tight flower, drawing out as much liquid as he could get. She gasped and cried out, thrashing again.

Dimitri lifted his head to look at her. He knew his eyes glowed with the heat of a predator. There was no way to hide what he was from her, but she was safe with him. “Let me,” he said softly. “Give yourself to me. All of you. You belong to me, csitri, you know you do. Let me have you.”

She nodded, but she looked frightened. “It’s too much. The sensation. As if I might fly apart and never be me again.”

Deliberately, watching her eyes, he swiped his tongue through her soft folds, circled her most sensitive bud and then stabbed deep again. Tremors wracked her body, but her gaze didn’t falter. He saw fear, but he saw trust. His heart leapt and his cock jerked. He was already caught between the intensity of love and urgent need for her body. The two were woven so tightly together he couldn’t separate them.

He began to devour her, driving her up that high cliff and stopping just before she tumbled over. Again and again. He needed to hear her soft little cries. He wanted to feel her fingers clamped in his hair, or her nails digging into his shoulders. Her cries were music to him, a symphony of desire, the notes so sweet he was nearly as addicted to that as he was to her taste.

Skyler crammed a fist in her mouth as fiery need licked over her skin. She had expected pain and degradation, not his worshiping her body as she had his. Her breathing came in harsh gasps, and she couldn’t stop writhing, no matter how hard she tried. She felt as if Dimitri’s passion and love were destroying her, tearing down fear and shame and forging her into a strong, sensual woman.

She heard herself chanting his name and she couldn’t stop. He was her talisman, her anchor, her very strength. He lapped at the hot nectar spilling from her body, his tongue licking and stabbing deep, moving in torturous slow circles, driving her insane as tension built and built, stretching her out on a rack of pleasure.

Her head thrashed back and forth. Tremors ran down her thighs. Her breasts burned and ached for him. Deep inside, she coiled tighter and tighter, desperate for release. She whimpered. Sobbed. Pleaded with him. She needed him inside of her, to sate the all-encompassing hunger. She felt as if she was soaring out of control. She was skating the edge of panic, only her trust in him keeping her from fighting. She was afraid of burning up from the inside out, fragmenting into tiny pieces, or going insane from sheer pleasure.

He lifted his head when she cried out, her hips bucking, as she pleaded with him. He knelt up slowly between her thighs. He looked . . . intimidating. He was a big man and the thought of him fitting inside her was daunting, but she was too far gone to care. She needed him. Desperately. She wanted him. More than anything she wanted to be fully his.

You are mine.

Her eyes met his. His had gone nearly all wolf, the glowing predatory, focused stare that should have terrified her, but kept her steady and sane. She terrified herself, never Dimitri. No matter what face he wore, he was hers. She moistened her lips, her heart pounding.

His hands were big as they ran up her thighs, and then slowly back toward her heated center. The head of his cock lodged at her entrance, pressing hotly into her. Her heart pounded so loud she feared it would burst from her chest.

“I take into my keeping your body.” His voice was rough with need.

His expression was sin itself, so sensual her body flooded with more welcoming heat. He inched into her, stretching her impossibly. Her gaze jumped to the junction where their bodies met. Her body struggled against the invasion, reluctantly giving way for him, strangling his thick shaft as it moved deeper inside of her.

He was everywhere, surrounding her. In her mind. Her heart. Her soul. And now, at last he was in her body, making them truly one. Another sob escaped. Tears ran down her face. He was in her mind, so he would know she wanted him just like this. It was all too perfect, too overwhelming and too good.

“Take a breath,” he ordered roughly. “Relax for me.”

She was used to doing as he said and she did both. He drove deep, burying himself to the hilt, so deep she thought he might have lodged in her stomach. She heard her own cry as her tight inner muscles gripped him nearly to the point of strangulation. The bite of pain as he stretched her only added to the erotic pleasure pulsing through her body, coming in waves now, from thigh to breast.

Dimitri blanketed her body with his, bracing his arms at her shoulders. His hips took up a fast, hard tempo that kept her breath rushing from her burning lungs. He moved in her with deep harsh strokes that drove her higher and higher, always up toward that impossible cliff. The pace was furious, his body a piston, moving harder and deeper, over and over, so that shocks of pleasure coursed through her.

Dimitri’s relentless, surging hips drove into her again and again, his hunger nearly insatiable. He felt as if flames licked at him, all over his body. His cock felt as though it was held tight in a fist of fiery, living silk. He was drowning in her. He never wanted it to end. He had known they were meant for one another, but her body was exquisite, made for him, the perfect fit.

She felt small and soft, her skin melting under him. Her ragged breathing and breathy chants interspersed with sobs and pleading only added to the sheer pleasure coursing through his veins. She had changed him for all time. She moved him, took him to places he never thought he could ever go.

Hunger was a monster that clawed and raged. It had been with him since he’d laid eyes on his lifemate, heard her speak and knew she was the one. It had torn at him every rising, yet even in his most savage moment, love tempered his touch. He kept his mind in hers, wanting her pleasure above all else, above his own.

She had given herself to him, body and soul, placing her absolute trust in him, a priceless gift he would treasure above all else. Her body was flushed, her eyes glazed, her hips bucked under his assault, but with every surge of his hips, every gasp she drew, there was pleasure streaking through her—through him.

He set a wild pace, and she followed. He knew she would. He had sensed the building passion in her, and no matter how fragile she was, she had a core of solid steel. She was determined to match him. His control slipped even more.

Tell me you want this, sívamet. Tell me I can lose myself in you.

His love for her was ferocious, consuming them both, and his discipline was fast dissolving before the urgency of his need.

Always, my love. Anything.

He closed his eyes briefly for a moment, listening to her voice. There was no hesitation, but there was that little edge of trepidation. She wasn’t afraid of him, only of the rising pleasure, rolling over her in waves now and the tightening coil of tension in her body, begging for release. She meant what she said, giving herself generously, wanted—no—needing to be what he needed.

He penetrated deep, allowing the fire pouring over him to take him to another place. The breath hissed out of him as he reared back and plunged deep. With every furious stroke, her body surrounded his, tight and hot, stroking and squeezing. Her strangled moans and gasping chant added to his pleasure, and filled him with the most protective of instincts.

Her head tossed back and forth, her body flushed, her breasts swaying temptingly as her hips rose to meet his. She was beautiful, with her eyes slightly glazed and the shock on her face. The little sounds she made resonated right through his cock adding to the fire that only seemed to grow hotter and hotter.

He was close, the power in his body coiling tighter and tighter, ready for release, but he refused to allow the pleasure to end. He gathered her hips tightly, holding her still, pushing them both into another realm where the exquisite pleasure skated close to pain.

Skyler could feel the thickness and length of him driving into her, stretching her, forcing her tight body to allow his invasion. She was so hot and slick, surrounding him with fire. The erotic tension winding so tight in her refused to release, refused to give her the time to catch her breath.

Skyler felt her body melting around his, and she cried his name, gripping his shoulders as the tension coiled so tight the edges of mind began to blur, to go dark. It was too much for her, too perfectly beautiful and too terribly frightening. She was losing herself in him, in pleasure, in their bodies coming together in a frenzy of heat and fire.

“Stay with me, sívamet,” he whispered roughly, his mouth moving over her neck, teeth nipping and scraping. “Soar with me.”

As always, just the sound of his voice calmed her, and she let go, knowing he would catch her, that he would keep her safe. Her body gripped his so tightly that she heard his roar of release and felt the hot spurts of seed filling her. Wave after wave rocked her body, but his arms were around her, holding her tight. She felt the ripples in her stomach, down her thighs, up to her breasts. Thunder roared in her ears. Her body clamped down hard, like a vise, around his while wave after wave of pleasure tore through her.

Skyler buried her face against his shoulder, gasping for breath, aftershocks rocking her, nearly as strong as the orgasm that had taken her over. He rolled them both over so they were on their sides, still locked together. She could feel his struggle for every breath. A fine sheen of sweat dampened his body. Even his long hair was damp.

She nuzzled his shoulder, pressing kisses along his collarbone. They were a tangle of legs and thighs, and she never wanted to untangle. He pulsed and throbbed inside of her. When he could move, it was toward her breast, and she changed position slightly to give him better access. The movement caused another rogue wave to burst through her body.

He licked at her nipple and then caught it gently between his teeth, tugging and then suckling strongly, bringing her fully into the heat of his mouth. His arm went around her, hand sliding down her back to her bottom. She had never realized just how sensitive the nerves were there. His every touch sent another spasm of pleasure through her core.

They lay together in silence while their hearts slowed down and their bodies cooled—a little. She had to admit to herself she loved his hands and mouth on her.

When he finally lifted his head to look down at her, his body slowly, reluctantly leaving hers, she had the urge to stop him. His eyes were so blue, so brilliant, and he looked at her with so much love, she wanted to cry. He was the true miracle, no matter what he thought, and she was determined to make him happy she was his lifemate.

“Csitri, I doubt I will ever be able to show you your true worth,” he told her softly. “You don’t understand what you mean to me.”

There were no words to explain to him what a miracle he was. He had given her the gift of making love, something she had been absolutely certain she’d never have in her life. More, she could lie next to him, completely naked and vulnerable and feel as if she was the safest woman in the world. She wanted to be naked beside him. She wanted him to touch her whenever he needed or—or simply desired. She loved stroking her fingers down his shaft just to feel him tremble at her touch. Who would ever have thought she would have a man such as Dimitri love her?

“I’ll understand how much I mean to you someday, probably a long time from now,” she said, “but it really doesn’t matter right at this moment. All that matters to me is that you gave me this incredible gift. I love you all the more for it.”