Chapter 29

Sam's every muscle tensed with uncertainty. Distract her? Surely she couldn't mean… she couldn't actually want to… He closed his eyes. Her scent and proximity were making him doubt his ability to understand her intentions.

"Sam?" she said softly. Her hand was still on his jaw. "Is this okay? If I kiss you?"

Swallowing thickly, he asked, "This is what you want?"

"Yes, I mean, not… all the way. Just messing around. Kissing and stuff," She bit her lip and leaned back. "Unless you don't want to—"

"I want to," he interrupted, suddenly panicked that his hesitation could change her mind. He brought his mouth down to kiss her. Hard.

Sensation spread through his body, making him feel drunk with desire. Her lips were so giving against his. Soon he found himself stroking his tongue over her bottom lip.

Her mouth opened, and he swept his tongue inside then angled his head to deepen their kiss. She moaned, and this time he recognized the sound as one of pleasure. The way she teased and licked at him was maddening, but he needed more contact. Encircling her waist with his hands, he dragged her to sit sideways across his lap.

When she looped her arms around his neck, the hard points of her nipples rubbed against his chest through the robe, making tension coil even tighter within him. Her fingertips danced over his chest, making him consider tearing off his shirt. But that would mean he'd have to let go of her for a moment, which was unthinkable. Not when he desperately wanted to touch her more. He wanted to cup her breasts, to tease her nipples, then slip his hand between her thighs. To feel how soft she was there, how well she could receive him if he were to take her now. He could scent her arousal, but to feel her become wet for him was unbearably tempting.

Yet he held back. Merely kissing and holding her was so arousing, he wasn't certain he could handle any more. She began to writhe on his lap, causing dark urges to claw at his mind. His horns, deeply connected with his emotions, began to pulse.

Need more.

He needed to claim her. To take her body, hard and fast, right now. He imagined himself pushing her back on the bed. Immobilizing her so she couldn't rub against him in that intoxicating way, then tearing off everything she wore. He would pin her wrists above her head so he could lick every part of her, possess every inch. Cover her body with his and drive into her, deep and hard. Then pound against her until she clawed at his back and cried out his name.

No. Gentle.

He needed to slow down before he lost control. She had asked for distraction—more precisely, a kiss. Not to be rutted over by a lust-drunk demon. He broke away from her mouth to brush his lips down her neck. Lightly. Softly. To settle him and cool his ardor.

She could undoubtedly feel his erection throbbing against her, and at first, he relished it. But when her fingers skimmed the top of his trousers, he pushed her hand away. She made a sound of frustration, but he didn't care. There was only so much he could take. He noticed that she was wriggling out of his lap, and anger flared that she was trying to escape him.

"What is it?" he demanded. She wore an expression of building ecstasy, but perhaps he had gotten too rough.

"Sam… I… I need you to… " her voice was breathy as she kneeled on the bed.

"Tell me."

"Don't hold back. Touch me."

His entire body shuddered. To be asked to perform his deepest desire? He had never imagined such sweet torture. "Where?" he demanded.

"Everywhere."

He tried not to lunge for her. She wanted more? He could give her more. He could give her everything she needed.

"Lie back," he commanded, drawing from the deepest depths of his self-discipline. He needed to exercise some measure of control. To put limits on their encounter and remind himself that he was in charge of his own drives.

She did as he asked, and he stretched out beside her. This was his fantasy come to life. She was here—in a bed, willing and needful. And yet, he had become paralyzed with fear of making a mistake or spiraling out of control.

Propping himself up on an elbow, he couldn't resist grinding his cock against her hip. She stretched her arms out, but he pushed her hands away.

"No. I need you to not touch me," he said gruffly. When her face fell, he shook his head, hating that she thought this was a rejection.

"It's too much," he explained. "My control is… tenuous right now. I just need less pleasure. Will you help me in this way?"

She didn't look convinced, yet she agreed. He gathered her wrists in one hand and lifted her arms to rest above her head on the bed. He brushed a stray hair from her face before saying, "Stay like this. Please?"

"Yes."

When he had raised her arms, the motion pulled the robe apart, revealing a sliver of flesh. His eyes locked on the bare skin that stretched from her neck to her waist. Where should he start? What would she expect? He wished that instead of asking "where" she wanted to be touched, he had asked, "how."

Slow build.

The term came to him suddenly. It was one of the tenets he remembered from his many explicit books. Females like a slow build. They like to be teased and tantalized, not pounced upon, and clumsily groped. So even though she was laid out for him like a banquet, straining for his touch, he would go slow. To make it good for her. To make her forget everything she had seen that night.

Softly, he touched her collarbone, careful to keep his claws sheathed. Then he traced his fingertips down the exposed flesh between the lapels of her robe. He caressed her from the hollow at her throat, across the valley between her breasts, to her quivering stomach. And when he reached her navel, he circled back to do it again. Back and forth, slowly. Gently.

She rocked her hips, seeming impatient. Tentatively, he became bolder with his strokes and skimmed his hand over the silk covering her breast. She arched up into his touch, so he did it again. When his hand fully closed around her fullness, his cock jerked. When she whispered, "Yes," he couldn't hold back his groan.

He swiped his thumb over the fabric straining around her nipple, fascinated by how tight it had become. This motion made her gasp, so he continued, growing more bold with his touch. Pinching and tweaking her flesh until she cried, "Ah! Too hard."

He jerked his hand back. He knew he was going to ruin the moment somehow. His inexperience and questionable restraint could only be hidden for so long. "Sorry," he mumbled.

She pulled his hand back to her. "Don't look so stricken," she said, smiling. "Just do it a bit lighter."

He studied her. She wasn't upset or angry; she was expecting him to continue. A slow smile spread across his face. She's teaching me how to touch her. He suddenly became filled by a rush of appreciation—for her patience, understanding, and the serene way she carried herself. Even in intimacy, she eased his qualms. Heartened by her instructions, he took more care as he lavished attention on the other breast.

Just as he was debating what to do next, she shifted her hips again. The motion dislodged the robe, exposing her body fully to his gaze.

He sucked in his breath, staggered by the sight. Queen Thema's library had an extensive collection of nude depictions, but Sam was certain that none of them rivaled Selene. The breasts that he had been fondling were full and lush, with pink-tipped nipples that made his mouth water. Her stomach was sweetly rounded, the waist nipped in before her hips gracefully curved out. Her legs were long and shapely, but it was the triangle of dark hair visible through the cotton she wore that drove him close to the edge.

Tear it away. Bare all of her.

"Sam?" she whispered, making him realize that he had been staring for several moments.

"Beautiful," he murmured. He would not tear off her underlinen. Not unless she asked him to. He would enjoy this moment as it unfolded.

He traced light circles around her breast with his finger. "May I kiss you here?" he asked.

"God, yes."

Their eyes met before he leaned down to run his tongue over her nipple then drew it into his mouth. Selene moaned and forgetting his instructions, tangled her hands in his hair. He didn't correct her. The idea that she wanted to hold him in place while he did this was too exciting.

He flicked his tongue, then sucked wetly, surrounding the pearled bud with heat. At first, he wondered if he was being too greedy, but when she arched against him, he realized she was enjoying this as much as he was.

As he moved to kiss her other breast, his free hand roved over her body. He was growing fevered, dancing on the edge of pain, but he didn't want it to end. Nothing had ever been as good as this.

He drew his hand down the full length of her body, and she moaned when his hand brushed against the mound between her legs. He brought it back up to cup her core and found it wet. She was wet for him. She spread her thighs wider so that the heel of his hand pushed into the top of her sex.

"Oh! Like that!" she cried. "Just like that. Again!"

Her instructions made him nearly come. Right there, in his trousers. But he didn't release his control. He couldn't, not when she was so clearly enjoying what he was doing.

Sam did as she asked, pressing down, then moving his hand in a slow circle. He wanted to touch more of her, to dive past the fabric barrier to stroke her slick folds. But she hadn't asked him for that. She had asked him to keep touching her just as he was doing now.

She began to pant, and her head thrashed from side to side. He knew what it meant, and the sight made him surge with satisfaction.

When he was young, and Eldridge had talked to him about the act of mating, the Goblyn had stressed that the female should always find release first. If you take care of her, she'll take great care of you, he had said. But the stories Sam had read of pleasuring females made it seem difficult, as though only a very experienced lover with honed techniques would do.

It was not so with Selene. She made it easy. All her little moans and gasps were like signals to him. Guideposts on how to delight her. All he had to do was pay attention. And when that failed? She simply gave him instructions. A revelation. He rubbed his erection against her, feeling as desperate to come as she was.

"Keep going," she murmured, as if anything could make him stop.

This was real.It wasn't a dream or a fantasy. This beautiful, passionate creature was nearly naked and asking for more of his touch. He hovered above her lips, overwhelmed by a deep need to kiss her. But then the sound of a loud bang coming from outside the cottage made them both freeze.

"What was that?" Selene whispered; her voice panicked.

"Probably just Brunie and Eldridge coming back," he said, turning his head to listen.

The sound happened again, followed by a shout.

Selene sat up on her elbows. "Someone's outside."

That someone was about to die.Using a power of will he didn't know he possessed, he pulled away from her to stand.

Sam's senses for danger tingled. More vampires could be lurking. Some could have strayed from the hall, or seen the Harpies carry off Selene. Cautiously, he peered out the window. The yard was empty and dark. "I don't see anything, but I'll go down and check. Stay here."

Selene sat up fully. He watched with regret as she belted the robe closed. "Be careful."

Sam crept down the stairs. The house was still dark, but there was movement outside. He went to the window and pulled back the curtain a fraction.

It was Brunie and Eldridge. Each filling buckets of water from the pump at the side of the house then pouring the contents over each other. Eldridge spotted him in the window and beckoned. Sam trudged out, right as Brunie poured another bucket of water on Eldridge.

"C-c-cold!" Eldridge cried.

"You're not tracking vampire blood inside!" Brunie scolded. She turned to Sam. "Are you all right? How is Selene?"

"She's fine. My thanks to you and the Harpies for rescuing her. All is well back at the hall?"

"Fine, fine," Eldridge said. He gestured to the sky where Sam could see a tower of smoke rising. "We had to set fire to everything, but the threat is gone."

Eldridge shook water from his ear. "There were more than a few vampires who cried out for Zaybris before their final end. One even asked me to tell his king that he never wanted the gold, only his gratitude. Why would they say that?"

Sam shifted his weight uneasily. Queen Thema must have sent word to Zaybris that a human gift was forthcoming. And naturally, being the greedy parasite Zaybris was, he didn't want to wait. Sam cursed Queen Thema"s recklessness. Her obsession with finding her lost sister was endangering more than just Selene. It was putting Aurelians in jeopardy too.

"I"m not certain," Sam said.

"Selene should give up her quest to go home and build a life in Aurelia," Brunie said. "Perhaps with you, dearest. There"s a darling little cottage for sale just past the mill--"

"I don"t want to discuss this," Sam said. "Selene and I will leave as soon as the sun rises."

"It"s late, and we"re all tired," Eldridge said. "Let's all get some sleep. There'll be no more violence tonight."

Sam had not forgotten he had left Selene unfulfilled, and when he climbed the stairs he imagined her fully naked, arms outstretched waiting for him. However, when he crept into the room, she was tucked under the covers, sleeping peacefully. Her hair fanned out over his pillow, while her chest rose and fell softly.

Looking down at her, his throat choked with emotion. He had nearly lost her tonight. If the Harpies hadn"t intervened, he was certain she would have been taken from him. She would have been drained on the spot or turned into a blood slave for Zaybris"s pleasure. This human, who had been ripped from everything she knew and brought to a strange realm just as he was.

My mate.

Was it possible that she was truly his fated mate? His feelings were deeper than an infatuation, more fervent than an obsession. She was calm when he was volatile, gentle as he was fierce. He was full of secrets and shadows while she brought light to all darkness. There was no one he could imagine more perfectly matched for him. He could no longer deny the pull that drew him to her.

In that moment, he made a decision. They would continue their journey north to Queen Lilith"s castle. He would keep up the ruse, and use Selene as bait to gain an audience with Zaybris. However, when they met, Sam would kill the vampire quickly. A true act of mercy when he deserved nothing but an eternity of pain. And then once the traveler"s stone was in Sam's possession, he would scry for Thema's lost sister, as he promised, before using the stone to transport himself home.

But he would not be leaving Selene behind in Aurelia.

He was taking her to the Underworld with him.