Chapter 10 #3
What was it about this man, she wondered despairingly as her fingers started making identical patterns on his back that he was making on hers.
How could she feel such safety and comfort with someone who would kill her without blinking?
How could her body feel such hunger for someone who only wanted her out of vengeance?
And how could someone who only wanted her out of vengeance treat her with such care when she was naked and at her most vulnerable?
She didn’t know if he’d read her mind, but when he slowly eased her onto her back and quietly said, “Do you trust that I won’t hurt you?” despair almost choked her.
He rubbed a thumb over her cheekbone. “Never trust me in life, Siena, but when we are alone in this bed, just you and me, I need you to trust that I won’t hurt you.”
Skimming her hand up his back to his broad, muscular shoulder, she met his stare. Even in the dark, she could see his eyes so clearly. They shone like moonlight.
Tears filled her eyes. Blinking them back, she could only whisper the truth. “I do trust that.”
“Then let me give you what that man took from you.”
“What…?” It was the sudden intensity in his eyes that made his meaning clear.
Before she could say the automatic, frightened no forming on her tongue, his mouth came down on hers for a gentle, gentle kiss.
She swallowed. She couldn’t. Just couldn’t. Even when his lips parted hers for one of his dizzying, life-draining kisses and his fingers skimmed down her throat, her heart was beating frantically, her body readying itself for fight or flight.
Gripping his shoulder tightly, she was a whisper from pushing him away when he cupped her breast. His thumb brushing over her hardened nipple, he pulled his mouth away to gaze into her eyes.
“You’re my wife, Siena,” he said hoarsely. “Whatever brought us here, that does mean something.”
Her fingers tightened their grip on his shoulders. Her heart felt like it was trying to punch its way out of her ribs.
His throat moved. “Look in my eyes and trust that I will make it good for you.”
“Your eyes scare me,” she whispered, gazing deep into them.
The hand cupping her breast began to massage it. “Why?”
“They’re like vampire eyes.”
The corners of his mouth curved. “Are you scared I’m going to sink my teeth into your neck and drink your blood?”
Her throat caught. “I’m scared that if I have a soul, you can see into it.”
“And what would I see if you did have one?”
She managed a small, tremulous smile. “That’s what scares me.”
“If I had a soul, what do you think you would see?”
“Shadows. Dark, dark shadows.”
“For there to be shadows, there must be light.”
“Sometimes, I see light in you.” The light was there when he made love to her...
“There isn’t any light in me, Siena. If I do have a soul, it’s black.”
“If that’s true…” She sucked in a sudden breath and felt her eyes widen in fear. While their gazes had been locked together and they’d been talking with such quiet heat, Elio had been lazily exploring her body with his fingers, and now they were tiptoeing down her pubis.
“Keep looking at me,” he whispered. “Finish what you were going to say.”
“I…” Holding so tightly to his shoulder that her nails were in danger of breaking the skin, she swallowed hard to clear her constricted throat. His fingers were moving lower… “I can’t remember.”
“About my soul being black.”
“It can’t…” His fingers skimmed between the slick folds of her sex.
“Can’t what?”
“Can’t be black.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” There was pressure on her bud, and as she became aware of the sensation forming from it, a finger slid slowly inside her.
“Keep talking to me, Siena,” he urged, sliding in a little deeper while slowly increasing the friction on her swelling bud.
“I…” Her throat closing, she shook her head dimly. Holy mother of God.
Barely aware of her hand gliding to his neck, she was no longer capable of speaking. All she could do was gaze into Elio’s vampiric eyes. He was all she could see. All she could feel. Smell. Touch. Everything.
Lifting her head, she pressed her mouth to his and closed her eyes.
Another finger slid inside her, but his movements were so gentle and yet so assured that it felt like she was being massaged inside and out.
With the scent of his skin and breath infusing her, the last of her fear melted away, and she sank into the pleasure, trusting her body entirely to him.
Scraping her fingers through his hair, she held him tightly as the coil of release wound itself with such burning compactness that when it sprang free, she was carried away on the wave of a climax so powerful it shook the foundations of her world.
When the waves of her orgasm had subsided and the bed she was lying on felt less like a cloud, she kissed Elio deeply and trailed her fingers down his chest and abdomen to the hard ridge between his legs.
Before she could take hold of it, he covered her hand and rolled onto his back, effortlessly pulling her with him so her cheek was resting on his chest.
Snaking his arm around her back, he kissed the top of her head. “That was all for you, my princess. Now you can sleep.”