Chapter 17 #3
“I’m happy with you the way you are, Tomas.
I hope you see the real me. I have panic attacks at the worst possible moments.
I charge into the fire when I see something is wrong and I want to fix it.
I do a lot of things that may make you wish you had a different lifemate.
And as much as I’m committed to this path, I don’t want to risk my jaguar or my ability to help my people.
I expect you to help me monitor those things when the time comes.
If things go awry, I would want to talk over with you how we can fix things before we proceed. ”
Any other man, she doubted if she would trust, when he had the ability to compel her obedience and then hide from her what he’d done. She felt, in such a short time of using the intimate telepathic communication and the letters they had shared over the years, that she knew the heart of him.
“I see the real you, Sarika,” he assured.
“Since we agree that we’re going to continue forward, you might want to prepare me for what to expect. I caught glimpses of Solange after her third blood exchange, but not too much seemed to transpire. That doesn’t fit with the shadows I see in your mind.”
“My brothers, Luiz and the others will aid you, but it is painful. Your organs will be reshaped, and you must die as a human and be reborn as a Carpathian.”
Sarika pressed her lips together to keep from blurting out her first response, which would have been hell no.
“Put like that, it doesn’t sound like much fun.
” She went for levity, because really, what could one say to that revelation?
“And for your information, I look human, but I’m fully jaguar shifter.
I have a jaguar and a legacy to protect.
” She was adamant, hoping he would listen to her.
She needed him to hear her when she stated she wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her jaguar side.
“I know of two people—one is Solange and her jaguar—who remained nearly the same. She is Carpathian in that she can go to ground, but she also can walk in the sun, and no Carpathian can do that. It’s said her blood can extend our time in the early morning hours or allow us to rise an hour before sunset.
Dominic said it is ‘iffy’ and can’t be relied on. ”
“And the second one?”
“Her name is MaryAnn. She isn’t jaguar; she’s Lycan. When she was converted, she remained both. I believe you will as well. You have a gift, Sarika, one that I don’t understand, but I know it’s very powerful. I think that gift is a very integral part of who you are and can’t be taken from you.”
She liked that, mostly because she knew he meant it.
If his belief in her was that strong, she wanted to believe as well.
Her gift had always been a part of her. It had grown stronger as she got older, but she couldn’t imagine not having it.
When she was around other formidable women, that wonderful power in her magnified and spread, responding to feminine supremacy.
She knew the empowerment had little to do with gender.
If she tried to use her gift for her own gain, it would fail every time, and there would most likely be repercussions falling back on her.
While she knew her gift was potent enough to be a weapon, again, she couldn’t use it for personal power or gain.
“When we make our second exchange, Sarika, it will only add to our need to be together. You are still aboveground, and if you wake before sunset, you will feel grief. Your mind will reach for mine, and if I don’t respond, you will believe me to be deceased.
That is your mind playing tricks on you.
You’ll have to be very strong. I will attempt to wake as early as possible, even if I cannot rise, so if you’re in need, I will be able to communicate with you. ”
“We’re going to do the second exchange tonight?” She tried to push down the trepidation, reminding herself she wanted this. She didn’t want to give herself too much time to think about it. She needed to continue on the path of commitment.
He stroked another long caress down the back of her head. Her heart tripped. Stuttered. Even her stomach did a slow roll.
Sarika made up her mind. If she could at least control a small part of it, if she felt it was her decision as well as what was necessary, she knew she would do so much better. She took a deep breath and let it out. Another one for clarity and then she made her daring suggestion.
“I think you need to give me the full effect of Carpathian abilities, Tomas,” she ventured, trying not to blush. Just making the suggestion made her feel not only empowered but sexy, something she’d never felt in her life.
His thumb traced her jaw gently. “What would that entail?”
“A real bed, not a hammock. Lots of my favorite candles. Wave your hand and do the clothes thing. I wanted to experience that the moment I heard about it. If we’re going to do this, shouldn’t we do it right?”
“I told you that you’d be safe with me. In a bed, with candles and without clothes, you aren’t safe. There is no way, especially when we exchange blood, that things aren’t going to get out of hand.”
Sarika managed to look him in the eye, even if it was very brief. “I was rather hoping for the part where things get out of hand.”
“I always accommodate my lady,” Tomas said. “Show me what you like in the way of beds and candles and the room setup. Your wildest dreams.”
Sarika hadn’t thought in terms of a room being in her wildest dreams. The best she’d been able to do was dream of being with Tomas.
He was her wildest dream. She tried to think of what the bedroom had been like.
She loved candles, and she had pictured a room lit with many candles and a wide, very comfortable bed with four posters.
She had always liked the way a bed looked with sturdy columns for posts. She shared that with him.
Tomas waved his hand, and instantly the bedroom was transformed.
They were no longer lying together on the hammock.
The dark blue sheets covering the bed were luxurious, woven of bamboo, cooling, perfect for the tropical setting.
Sarika was very happy they were still in their clothes.
She had asked for this. She wanted this, but she wasn’t quite ready.
Dozens of flames flickered throughout the room, some lit up in sconces on the walls, while other candles were set in pillars around the room.
Those flames cast shadows on the ceiling.
Even the sconces lit the ceiling and didn’t shine on the walls so that the room seemed to be huge, a dark, mysterious cavern with the bed as the focus.
Tomas turned her into his arms, his mouth on hers, gentle, coaxing a response rather than demanding one.
Instantly, she felt feverish, burning everywhere, flames as hot as the candles, spreading through her body in a maelstrom of desire like she’d never known.
His lips feathered lightly over hers, strayed toward her high cheekbones and then down to her chin, leaving a trail of fire wherever he ventured.
He took his time, a leisurely assault, but when he returned to her mouth, it was with more precise pressure. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, and she instinctively parted them slightly so she felt the silken tip touch her like a hot brand.
Tomas cradled her cheek as he teased and nibbled, catching her lower lip between his teeth to tug and bite with exquisite gentleness. Everywhere he feathered those kisses, he left a burning flame behind.
Sarika caught at the nape of his neck and exerted enough pressure, urging him to kiss her again on her mouth.
Her lips. A real kiss. She needed that from him.
Tomas didn’t disappoint; his mouth took hers in a long, passionate kiss that poured those same flames down her throat.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t find air. Her lungs felt raw and burning.
She tore her mouth from his and buried her face against his shoulder.
The hot rush of his breath stirred tendrils of her hair as his thick chest rose and fell.
He grasped the mass of hair that was suddenly loose from her braids, pulled her head back to expose her throat.
Her heart stuttered and then began to pound as his lips burned a path, beginning at the hollow just beneath her left ear.
Every nerve ending came alive as he traced the line of her vein with his tongue.
His fingers slid over the top of her shoulder, his thumb finding the wing of her collarbone, his palm exploring the curves of her body. It was only when he nuzzled the side of her throat right over her pounding pulse that she realized she didn’t have a single stitch covering her body.
Sarika gasped, already on fire. Already anticipating.
She hadn’t been aware during the blood exchange, but her body remembered.
He kissed her again, distracting her as his palm brushed the curve of her breast. Her nipple peaked, pushing against him.
Just that slight touch sent heat waves rushing through her straight to her core.
He stroked caresses with the backs of his fingers over her nipple, keeping her attention centered on the fire he created.
She lost her awareness of time. Of where they were.
Of the fact that she was naked and moaning, exposing her throat to him when he once more licked over her pounding pulse.
His mouth traveled from her throat to the tip of her breast. She found herself gasping, arching at the gentle tugs of his mouth.
His tongue flicked her nipple and another moan escaped.
She couldn’t lie still, parting her legs involuntarily.
He slid one thigh into that space, and that was when she realized he wasn’t wearing clothes, either.
She felt the rough hair sliding against the inside of her thigh, another brand marking her.
Sarika brought both hands to his head, her fingers sliding through his hair while he brushed those featherlight kisses on her inner wrists and elbows. His mouth wandered lower, finding the shallow depressions between her ribs, exploring every inch of her. Claiming every inch of her.
She was lost in the feel of the shadow of his beard scraping along her breasts and down her stomach to her navel.
His fingers drifted down her body as his knee widened the angle between her thighs.
She felt the stroke of his knuckles through her feminine curls before he parted her to caress her most sensitive button.
Sarika gasped as his finger slid gently into her slick heat. Her heart pounded out of control as pleasure burst through her. His mouth continued exploring, following his hands, kissing his way down her body until he was directly between her thighs. He gripped her hips, holding her still.
“You have to be ready for me, sivamet. I don’t want to hurt you.”
The room around Sarika blurred into mysterious shadows and flickering flames.
There was nothing but sheer feeling. A kind of bliss, of rapture she had never experienced.
She didn’t attempt to hide her reaction to his demanding mouth and insistent hands.
She heard herself give a low cry as waves of heat rushed through her.
Tomas gently pushed her thighs wider apart. The broad crown of his shaft nudged her slick entrance. “You look incredibly beautiful,” he told her, one hand smoothing back the hair from her forehead.
“I feel incredibly beautiful,” she admitted.
He increased the pressure, pushing relentlessly into her.
She tried to relax for him as he continued in little starts and stops to get her body to accept his invasion.
It hurt at first, and that faded to a burn as her silken tunnel allowed him deeper.
She felt his heart beating deep inside her, and the sensation was so amazing she forgot to be scared.
Each time he moved, his hips surging forward, flames streaked through her. Then his mouth was on the curve of her breast, and she felt his teeth pierce her skin. She cried out as the bite of pain gave way to the most erotic, addictive sensation she could imagine.
Tomas shared the way she made him feel, the ecstasy, the pleasure beyond anything his centuries of existing had given him. Her slick, silken tunnel was tight, nearly strangling his shaft as her blood filled his mouth and spread through every organ, adding to the wild firestorm roaring through him.
His tongue slid over the twin holes he’d made in her skin, and he pressed his lips over the burning, throbbing mark. His body continued to move, his hips like a piston, burying him deep and withdrawing to create friction over her sensitive nerve endings.
Tomas used one hand, his fingernail growing to slide over the heavy muscles of his chest. A thin line of bright crimson beads appeared. His palm shaped the back of her head, and he gently guided her mouth to the temptation of his offering.
The memory of the addicting taste of him burst through her mind and added to the pleasure his body was producing in hers.
She licked along those beads, savoring the taste that was hers alone.
She wanted this. She wished she could take his blood without his help.
It didn’t matter, though; the pleasure wasn’t any less as his blood filled her, and his body took hers higher than she ever thought possible.
Time slowed down. The shadows of the room took on layers of beauty. The candles flickered and crackled, the sudden drifting breeze allowing them to illuminate Tomas’ face and the lines cut deep there with a mixture of love and lust. It was sheer beauty.
He gently stopped her from taking more of the perfect elixir.
She had thought he was serious before, but now his body moved in hers in a wild rhythm that sent streaks of fire spreading to every part of her.
The pressure grew and grew, and then she felt her body bite down on his, dragging at him, milking him.
The waves roared through her and, with her, Tomas.
He buried his face against her throat as the tension gradually left his body. He let out a long hiss of pleasure as he withdrew from her.
“I think this bed will be my favorite place,” he informed her, rolling to the side to remove his weight and then fitting her body into the side of his.
She liked that he wanted her close. She felt drowsy and sated. That moment, when he brushed a kiss across her mouth, was as perfect as she could have imagined.