“You are not helping me,” he scolded, his body an unrelenting ache.
Desari had slowly merged her mind with his. She saw his terrible need of her, the images of them intertwined. She felt the fire rushing in his blood, the heaviness pooling between his legs. The monster roaring for release, inciting him to take his lifemate with heat and passion and damn the strangers he was trying to be considerate of.
It was a measure of her own raging passion that she had not considered the men, their hearing, their ability to smell. The wind would so easily carry to the others what went on in the forest. “You are far more deserving of me than you believe,” she whispered softly, pride for him making her want to throw herself into his arms.
The fire of hunger and need was on her. She wanted his body crushed against hers, filling hers, his blood running in her own veins. She needed the closeness with him to take away her fear of being separated from him.
Julian shook his head, his hand curling around the nape of her neck. “You cannot look at me like that,
piccola,
or I am sure to go up in flames.”
Desari allowed her fingers to tangle in his golden mane. “Thank you for thinking of my family when I could not.” Her voice was a whisper of seduction, sliding over his hot skin. Just the sound of it made every muscle in his body clench.
Julian made another effort to breathe. Air. It was all around him, yet he couldn’t seem to drag enough into his lungs. He took her hand in his and carried it to the warmth of his mouth. “We need to find a safe subject,
cara mia,
or I will not make it through these next few minutes.”
Desari’s soft laughter was like music in the wind. She perched on a large tree trunk that lay across the forest floor. The breeze tugged at her long hair so that it shifted around her like a veil, one moment hiding the temptation of bare, gleaming skin, the next revealing it. “A safe subject,” she mused aloud. “What would that be?”
The air slammed out of his lungs once again at the sight of her. She looked so much a part of her surroundings. Wild. Sexy. Provocative. “You might try closing your shirt.” His voice sounded hoarse and desperate even to his own ears.
Desari had made no attempt to button her blouse, and her breasts jutted toward him, a temptation he knew he would be unable to resist for long. Her button-fly jeans were partially undone, exposing her tiny waist and narrow rib cage. She continued to smile at him, a blatant seduction, while her fingers fiddled with the third button of her jeans.
His hot golden gaze touched her, then moved quickly away. “You are not helping me, Desari.” His voice was husky with his terrible need. Much more and he might truly go up in flames, spontaneous combustion.
The tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her lush mouth. “A subject that will keep our minds off other things.” She touched his chest gently, hardly more than a brush of her fingertips, but she felt him jump. “I am thinking, Julian,” she said softly, innocently, her large dark eyes staring up at him. Her fingers slid the buttons of his shirt free so that the palms of her hands could find the heavy muscles of his chest.
Julian gritted his teeth. “You are killing me, Desari. My heart cannot stand much more.”
“I am merely touching you,” she pointed out demurely. Her nails slid lightly over his skin, tracing each well-defined muscle with exquisite care. “I like the way you feel.” She bent her head closer so that her long hair brushed his sensitized skin, and a sound escaped his throat. “I love the way you smell, too. Is that so bad?”
He captured her hands and held them tightly to him. “You are going to get yourself into trouble.”
“I wonder if you would be more comfortable if I just opened the front of your jeans. They seem a bit tight.” Desari slipped her hands out from under his, wickedly tracing the path of golden hair down to his flat belly. Her fingers were already at work, parting the material before he could think to stop her.
“You are a tease, Desari,” he accused, groaning again when his body burst free from the restraint of the denim.
Her eyelashes swept up so that he was staring into her dark eyes. Sexy, mischievous, intriguing. “Mmm, nice,” she whispered, staring at the evidence of his desire. “Very nice.”
He would be lost forever if he continued to look at her. He would never be able to stay in control. As if she could read his mind, her hands slipped even lower, brushing the strong columns of his thighs, moving up again slowly until he was once again unable to breathe. Then she cupped his heavy fullness in her hands, feeling the thickness of him, stroking the velvet tip with knowing fingers.
Julian couldn’t help himself; his head went back as pleasure ripped through him, as fire raced through his veins. His teeth clenched. “What are you doing, woman? Trying to drive me insane?”
Desari’s dark eyes trapped the moon and shone brightly. Her voice purred with innocence and laughter, silvery notes that danced over and caressed him. “I thought I was bringing you a measure of relief.”
Her hands followed the images in his head, became more skillful, more persuasive, teasing and gliding over and around him until he was tempted to beg for mercy. “Is my family gone yet?” she whispered, intrigued by his reactions. She moved her head to brush his stomach with her mouth. Her hair cascaded around her face, fluttering against his skin, until his body was raging for release.
A low growl escaped his throat. “They are just now beginning to move their vehicles,” he said between his teeth.
“Really?” Desari said, distracted by his hot fullness. Her hands slipped around his hips as she dropped even lower, finding the carpet of vegetation with her knees. She heard him gasp and looked up at his face, etched with harsh lines of need. She smiled slowly and once more bent her head to him.
Julian had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. The trees swayed and dipped in the wind. Her face was white and flawless in the moonlight, her long lashes and dark eyes so mysterious, her mouth so erotic he wanted to hold this moment for eternity. Her blouse gaped open so that her breasts were bare and inviting. She looked like a pagan goddess of ancient times.
Then her warm breath effectively knocked out his ability to think. Her mouth, moist and warm, took away all self-control. As her soft lips slid over him, he grabbed two fistfuls of silky hair and pulled her close. His hips began thrusting almost helplessly into her. Her nails raked up and down his thighs gently, urging him closer still. Her mouth tightened until he wanted to scream with pleasure. Her hands moved over his buttocks, lovingly tracing them, then moved to cup him once again.
“Thank God they are away,” Julian gasped, his body thrusting into her hot mouth. Then he clenched his teeth and began to pull her to her feet. Reluctantly Desari left her erotic exploration and allowed him to tug her up against his rock-hard frame. His mouth fastened itself to hers, devouring her, dominating her, possessing her. His arms threatened to crush her.
Desari reveled in the strength of his arms, in his desire for her, his need of her. He was kicking his jeans away in a frenzy, forgetting in the moment his ability to simply will them away. She loved his wild, uncontrollable need, the fire and hunger in him for her. Only for her. She felt complete, feminine, powerful. She was lost in his arms, giving herself up completely to be whatever he might need or want. She wanted him with the same savage fury and need. Her body was going up in flames. His kiss alone was causing her bones to melt. She allowed her blouse to float to the ground, and her arms slipped around his neck. She pressed herself even closer.
Julian ripped at her jeans, jerking them in strips away from her legs. He lifted her in his arms so that she could wrap her legs tightly around his waist. She buried her face on his shoulder, breathing in his wild scent, gasping as he lowered her over him, filling her completely. It was a miracle to her the way her body stretched to accommodate his invasion, the way her muscles welcomed him in. The pounding of his pulse caught her attention, and instantly her hunger surged. She needed him flowi
ng into her, his mind merging with hers, his blood flowing into her veins, his body taking hers with wild abandon.
Her tongue stroked his neck. Once. Twice. She felt his heart leap against her breasts. His hips thrust forward, burying himself inside her. Her teeth scraped back and forth over his skin, lightly, gently, in teasing bites until his hips moved in a savage frenzy and he growled a warning, his hands tightening on her bottom, urging her into a fiery, turbulent ride. Her teeth sank deep, and he cried out with ecstasy, somewhere between heaven and hell. She could feel what he felt, his mind a haze of heat and passion.
Julian moved closer to the fallen log so that he could lean Desari against it. The angle gave him the ability to deepen his stroke so that her body was forced to take all of him. He moved aggressively, hard and fast, burying himself in her over and over while lightning blazed through and around them. He wanted to make it last for eternity. She took away his terrible loneliness, the darkness crouching within him; she held it at bay with her velvet fire.
The wind rose around them, gusting at the branches overhead. She closed the tiny pinpricks at his throat with a sweep of her tongue. Very slowly she began to lie back against the tree, her breasts thrusting upward toward the sky, her hips filling his palms as he drove into her. As he stared down at her, he saw the triangle of silky black curls that met his golden down. He was mesmerized by the beauty of their bodies coming together.
Her muscles clenched, her moist sheath tightening and releasing him until the friction between them was so hot he felt flames dancing over his skin, her skin. He was swelling, growing, thick and hard, and still he wanted to go on.
Julian.
It was the softest of pleas, Desari’s beautiful, haunting voice shimmering for release in his mind. It sent him hurtling over the edge, taking her with him so that they clung together as the earth shook and the skies exploded.
Julian nearly collapsed on top of her, his great strength drained for a moment. His body gleamed in the night air, his golden mane wild around his face. Desari touched his mouth with the tip of her finger in wonder. “How can this be, Julian? How could it be that all these long, lonely centuries, I did not know of this? Why did I not hunger for such a thing?”
His eyes glittered at her, a warning menace, the ice cold of death itself. “You were made for me, Desari, only me. There was no need for you to seek another.”
She refused to feel intimidated. His face was harsh, a hint of cruelty around his mouth. “Not now. But I have lived long. Why did my body not hunger for this? I read books, heard of things while among humans. Syndil and I talked of such longings, but I have never felt such a need. I have gone centuries without ever knowing the beauty of this. What if you had never found me?”
Julian’s hands tangled in her ebony hair. “You are mine,
cara mia,
only mine. There is no other who could make your body feel the things I can. And if you tried to experiment, I would have to kill him. Make no mistake, Desari, knowledge is a good thing to acquire, but there is no need for you to go to any other. If you wish to try something new, I will oblige you, but I will not tolerate another male near you.”
She shoved at the solid wall of his chest with her palms, glaring at him. “Oh, shut up. I was not contemplating running around with every male I saw. I was just wondering why I had to wait so long.”
Julian refused to move an inch, his heavier frame pinning her beneath him, his body still firmly buried in hers.
“You waited for me, as you should have. For us there is only one.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Oh really? Then why did Barack use human women in this way? Have you? Be warned, I will not accept a double standard.”
Julian swept back the fall of hair from her forehead, the gesture tender as he bent to brush a kiss on her eyebrow. “Men feel for two hundred years or so,
piccola.
Some act on their urges, although they are a poor imitation of what we feel for our true mate. True sexual heat comes with the finding of our lifemate. It is more than infatuation or chemistry. It is stronger than love or sex. It is a combination of mind, heart, soul, and body. The emotion is so strong, one must always be in proximity to the other.”
Desari was silent for a moment, suddenly aware of how vulnerable she felt. It wasn’t just her body so open to his, or the depth of her desire, it was the emotions he evoked in her. Her long lashes swept down to conceal her sudden doubt.
At once, Julian’s hands tightened in her hair. “
Cara mia,
do not fear our union so much. I will see to your happiness. I could never hurt you. Do you not understand yet?” He captured her hand, brought it to his mouth, and kept it pressed against his finely chiseled lips. “Even if you chose to be with another male, I would never harm you. It would not be possible for me to do such a thing. But I am being honest with you when I tell you I would kill the man. I am a predator. Nothing, not even your light, can change completely what I am. I will allow no one to take you from my side.”
“Does it not scare you, Julian, the intensity of our feelings?” she whispered, her dark eyes clouded. “It frightens me more than anything I have ever encountered. I could not bear to be the cause of another’s death.
I see you struggling with your emotions, those that I have brought to you. It is a battle within you that you cannot hide from me. And there is something else, something you struggle to hide even from yourself.”
His teeth scraped the knuckles of her hand lovingly. “Yes, the emotions are new and strange, unknown to me these many centuries. And yes, they are difficult to learn to deal with, as they are intense and violent.” The “something else” he could not yet share with her, could not yet face. “But we have centuries for the learning,” he concluded. Reluctantly he eased his body from hers. “I feel your discomfort,
piccola.
Come here to me.” He was already drawing her up so that he could examine her body for marks.
“I am perfectly fine, Julian.” For some reason it embarrassed her that he was searching her fair skin for telltale bruises his passion might have left on her. “Explain to me why Syndil has experienced sexual feelings while I did not before you. Am I so different? Not feminine?”
Julian’s head came up, his amber eyes heating. “How can you not know how desirable you are, Desari? Surely you see the effect you have on males, mortal and immortal alike.”
Her fingers clung to his. “You are the first immortal I have ever encountered outside of my family. And just because human males find me desirable does not mean I am. Our race often has that effect on mortals. It is not me. Besides, I felt nothing in return.”
“For which I am eternally grateful. Why Syndil has felt these urges, I do not know. Perhaps she has sensed her lifemate near but without recognition of him.” There was a faint frown on Julian’s granite features. “It is possible some women are able to have sexual affairs with men other than their true lifemate prior to their claiming. But I cannot see how, given how closely our women are guarded. I cannot see Darius allowing males near you or Syndil, even though he was not raised in the traditions of our people.”
“That is true. Darius would never have allowed either of us to carry on with a male. Neither would Dayan or Barack. They watch us all the time. Since Savon’s treacherous behavior, they watch one another just as closely,” she added sadly.
“It is only Darius who fights the darkness so desperately,” Julian answered grimly. “He has been drawn deep within the shadows because he has had to kill to protect you all. The others can hang on longer if they wish it. Darius’s battle is a difficult one.”
Tears swam in Desari’s dark eyes. “I cannot leave him, Julian. He cannot think we can do without his protection. I have seen the same thing in him, and I fear for him constantly. More and more he keeps to himself. He rarely shares his thoughts with me. He is a great man, and I do not want to lose him.”
Julian bent his head to brush each of her eyelids with
the soothing touch of his mouth. “Then we can do other than see to it he remains with us.”
Desari lifted her face to his, smiling up at him as if he had given her the moon. “Thank you, Julian, for understanding. If you only knew Darius, you would see how important it is.”
“I have been in your mind many times,
cara.
I can see him as you do. I have also seen the iron will in him that allowed all of you to survive impossible odds. He is one truly worth saving.” Then his golden gaze was sweeping the length of her body, and once again there was a hungry gleam in the depths of his eyes.
Chapter Nine
At once Desari was gone, leaping away from him like a gazelle, her taunting laughter floating on the wind as she alighted on the huge fallen tree trunk. She took his breath away, standing there naked in the moonlight, branches swaying all around her. The wind tugged at the waves of hair cascading around her body like a cape. A sound escaped his throat, something between a growl and a groan.
Julian was a hard man honed by centuries of a harsh existence. If he had ever had a sharing of laughter with others, it was but a vague memory of his youth. He had been damned to a life of solitude, yet now he wanted nothing more than to be with this one woman, to share his life with her, the mountains, the cities, the world. He didn’t know how to play, didn’t think of having a sense of humor other than an occasional strange amusement at the actions of another. But something new was rising in him. The sound of Desari’s laughter was finding an answering playful note somewhere deep within him.
He leapt after her onto the fallen log, reaching for her waist, but she was already gone, her body shimmering in midair then changing even as she landed lightly on another log and sprang away. Sleek, glossy dark fur now covered bare skin; her muzzle was rounded and beautiful. The female leopard glanced back once enticingly, then was gone, running lightly through the forest, blending in with the foliage.
Dark Challenge (Dark Series - book 5) Page 16
