But not with Abby, he conceded.
This was not sex.
Not mindless coupling.
It was a joining that he could feel right to his dead heart.
Savoring the sweet taste of her, Dante circled her tightening nipple with the tip of his tongue. With light strokes he teased her until he heard her hiss of breath, and she grasped his head in her hands.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Is this what you want, lover?” he demanded, closing his lips about the peak to suckle her with gentle urgency.
“Yes.”
Her fingers tangled in his hair, her legs parting until she could rub herself against the length of his erection.
Dante closed his eyes at the intense shock of pleasure that flared through him. Bloody hell. Nothing had ever felt so good. And he wasn’t even inside her.
The warm water surged about them, and the candles flickered, adding to the erotic sensations. He arched his hips upward, his hands shifting to stroke over her inner thighs. Slowly he traced patterns on her wet skin, simply enjoying the feel of her. He could stay here an eternity, he realized with a tiny jolt of surprise.
Just the two of them, alone and at peace.
Still teasing the hard tip of her breast with his tongue, he slid his hands higher, tugging her legs farther apart until he discovered her center.
Her lashes lowered as he trailed a finger between her soft folds.
“Dante,” she breathed.
Nibbling his way to her neglected breast, he lightly scoured his fangs over the sensitive swell even as his finger stroked into her sleek heat.
Abby moaned, tangling her hands in his hair. He leaned back to watch the flush darken across her cheekbones. God, but she was beautiful. An exotic angel that had tumbled into his grasp.
With a slow expertise, he stroked his finger deep within her. At the same time he used his thumb to caress her tiny nub of pleasure.
“You feel so good,” he muttered, his tongue flicking over the tip of her nipple. “So ready for me.”
“Don’t stop,” she gasped.
Dante gave a choked laugh. “There isn’t a force on earth that could halt me now, lover.”
Sighing softly, Abby allowed her hands to smooth down the length of his neck and over the muscles of his shoulders. Her touch was light, but a trail of fire followed in the wake of her fingers.
A shudder of pleasure arced through his body. For centuries he had sought out vampires and demons to ease his needs. The fierce, mindless sex suited his frustrated mood. Besides, human women were a complication he didn’t need.
Now he realized just how much he had been missing.
The soft, lingering touch.
The scent of female desire.
The delicious foreplay that made him quiver with longing.
As if reading his mind, Abby lowered her head to press her lips to his chest. With open-mouthed kisses she moved to suckle his sensitive nipple, her hands stroking down the hard muscles of his stomach.
“Bloody hell,” he groaned as she briefly hesitated and then grasped his straining erection in a tender grip.
“Maybe you’re not the only one with skills, lover,” she teased as she stroked him from top to bottom and back again.
Dante hissed at the exquisite sensations that jolted through him. Skills? No. Her touch was not mere skill. It was magic.
His hips instinctively rocked to thrust his cock in her grip. God, it felt so good.
Too good.
Astonishingly he could sense the delicious pressure building deep within him. His climax was already beaconing, and he was far from finished with this woman.
Gritting his teeth, Dante concentrated on the feel of her beneath his fingers. He conjured all the expertise he had gained over the centuries to heighten her stimulation. Her moan of pleasure was all he needed to assure him that he hadn’t lost his touch.
“Come for me, Abby,” he whispered softly.
Her breath quickened as her fingers tightened upon him.
“Dante . . .”
“That’s it, lover,” he encouraged, using his thumb to bring her to the edge.
Lost in the delight of watching her face as she neared her climax, Dante was unprepared when she suddenly stilled above him, a small smile touching her lips.
“Abby?” he questioned softly.
Her smile widened, and the water churned as she abruptly shifted her weight. With a speed that caught Dante off guard, she rolled to one side, easily pulling him atop her. He floundered for a moment and might have protested at the sudden interruption if her legs hadn’t parted and wrapped about his waist.
Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands.
“You started this, Dante; you finish it,” she murmured with a gleam in her eyes.
Dante chuckled as she tossed his words back into his face.
Oh yes.
He intended to finish this.
To both their satisfaction.
His chuckle became a groan as he pressed himself into her ready heat. She lifted her hips to meet his thrust, and he knew if he wasn’t already dead, she would surely kill him.
What man could endure such bliss?
Thank God he was a vampire.
He intended to endure the bliss several more times before the day was through.
Some time later, Abby lay wrapped in Dante’s arm in the middle of the vast bed.
She felt pleasantly weary and sated. Just as a woman should feel after a great bout of sex.
Unfortunately she also felt more than a little creeped out.
She cringed as she lightly stroked her fingers over Dante’s shoulder, which was still reddened from the steam.
Who knew?
She had reached climax before. Well, at least what passed for a climax, considering the jerks she had dated. She had even reached climax with Dante. Glorious, wonderful, mind-numbing climax.
More than once.
And while she might have felt as if she were on fire whenever he touched her, she had never actually put out enough heat to boil water.
It was . . . unnatural. And embarrassing.
And, most of all, frightening.
Sensing Dante’s curious gaze, Abby reluctantly lifted her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
His brows drew together in puzzlement. “For what?”
She grimaced. “Nearly boiling you like a lobster.”
A slow smile curved his lips as he pulled her even closer.
An instant jolt of excitement raced down her spine at the feel of his stirring body.
Jeez. Vampires seemed to be insatiable when it came to sex. Not that she was complaining. In fact, her first thought was, Yippee.
“A very, very happy lobster,” he murmured. “I assure you that it was worth every singe.”
She bit her bottom lip, her self-disgust returning with a vengeance.
“Dante.”
He stroked a finger down her flushed cheek. “It wasn’t your fault, Abby. You have powers now you don’t even understand, let alone control. It’s bound to cause a few side effects. Some of which are more pleasant than others.”
Her flush deepened as he deliberately reminded her of her brand-spanking-new strength and seemingly endless endurance.
All gifts of the Phoenix, it seemed.
And incredible bonuses when it came to making love.
“I’m glad you can find some humor in the situation.”
The silver eyes glinted with amusement. “Trust me, lover, you can laugh or you can cry. It changes nothing.”
“Easy for you to say,” she grouched. “You don’t know what it’s like to have your body taken over and . . .” Her words abruptly trailed away as he arched a raven brow. “Oh.”
“You were saying?”
“Something incredibly stupid,” she muttered wryly. “I guess you do know.”
He gave a slow nod. “Too well.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. �
�You’d think if some being was going to take over your body, they’d at least have the decency to leave you a handbook. I could kill myself or, worse, someone else with my blundering about.”
He absently toyed with a curl that lay against her cheek. “I suppose a higher being assumes that you should simply know the rules and regulations.”
“A higher being?”
“The Phoenix is worshipped as a goddess by those who battle the dark lord.”
Worshipped. Well. A girl could get used to something like that.
“A goddess, huh?” She attempted what she assumed to be a regal look. It had a lot of thin lips and flared nostrils. “Does that mean you have to bow down and pray to me?”
He chuckled softly, that wicked glint returning to his silver eyes.
“I don’t battle the dark lord, lover,” he murmured, his lips brushing her temple, her cheek, and down the curve of her neck, “but I don’t mind bowing down and tasting this glorious sweetness.”
Abby didn’t mind his bowing down either. In fact, if she wasn’t so freaked out, she would have told him to get on with the bowing down right quick.
Instead, she lightly touched his face. “Dante . . .”
Nibbling at her collarbone, he was already distracted. “Hmmm?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said softly.
Dante stilled before he pulled back to regard her with a puzzled expression. Her heart gave a faint flutter. God, he was so beautiful. So perfect. She could spend the rest of eternity simply staring at him.
“You won’t hurt me, Abby,” he assured her in low tones.
“How do you know? When I . . .” Abby awkwardly hesitated. “When we’re together, the powers just burst out of me.”
His lips twitched at her shyness. No surprise there. She was lying naked in his arms after a three-hour bout of sex.
Now she couldn’t say the word orgasm out loud.
Go figure.
“I’m willing to take the risk.”
Her lips thinned at his hint of amusement. “This isn’t a joke, Dante.”
His eyes slowly narrowed. “Abby, what is it?”
“It’s dangerous—”
“No,” he interrupted. “You know I’m immortal. There’s something else. You’re frightened.”
She shifted. He was probing into memories and emotions she had kept locked away for years.
Memories she would have seared out of her brain if she could have.
“Of course I’m frightened,” she muttered. “I have this thing inside that’s changing everything, and I can’t do a damn thing to stop it.”
His hand stroked a soothing path through her hair. “Understandable, but I think there’s more here. Tell me what you fear.”
She swallowed heavily before forcing herself to meet his probing gaze.
“Losing control.”
“Control of what?”
“Of myself.” She sucked in a deep breath. “What if I hurt someone?”
There was a brief silence as he brooded upon her words. Then with care he shifted to touch the ugly scar that marred her shoulder.
“Like someone hurt you?”
Abby flinched. Not from his touch, but from the pain of dredging up her violent past.
“Compliments of my father in one of his drunken furies,” she said in clipped tones.
Dante’s expression remained stoic, but there was no mistaking the lethal fury that flashed through his eyes.
“What did he do to you?”
“He took exception to my attempts to keep him from beating my mother and stabbed me with a broken beer bottle.”
His fangs abruptly shimmered in the faint candlelight. He moved his hand to touch the tiny round scar on her upper arm.
“And here?”
Abby shuddered, her blood running cold.
The monster that walked in the night.
A child’s fear.
For her it had never been the bogeyman.
It had been her father.
“A cigarette burn when I tried to hide his whiskey.”
His features tightened, forcibly reminding her of the predator who had stalked through the wizard’s cavern to rescue her.
“Where is he?” he growled, making the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
“Dead.”
His eyes were flat. “There are means to reach him even dead. Viper—”
“God, no,” she breathed in genuine horror. “I don’t even want to think he might be anywhere but rotting in his grave.”
Easily sensing her distress, he pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“Shh . . . It’s okay, Abby. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
She pressed her eyes closed. He didn’t understand.
But then, no one did.
No one who hadn’t lived through her childhood.
“It’s not that.” She lifted her gaze. “I don’t want to be like him.”
He gave a jolt of surprise. “Bloody hell, Abby, you could never be like him.”
She barely noticed the manner in which his accent thickened when his emotions were roused.
“How do you know?” she demanded starkly. “We don’t know what this Phoenix might do to me.”
He cupped his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his fierce gaze.
“I know that it will only strike out to protect itself. Selena was incapable of hurting anyone. A fact that annoyed the hell out of her. She came from a time when no one would blink if she wanted to beat a servant. Even if she beat him to death.” He grimaced in reluctant memory. “There wasn’t a day that went by she didn’t long to have me tied to a post and have me properly whipped.”
She regarded him warily, desperately wanting to believe his soft words.
“What about the water . . .”
He took her hand and firmly placed it against the smooth silk of his chest.
“It was no warmer than most spas. I just happen to possess a sensitivity to heat.” He gave a shake of his head. “You are not your father, Abby. You could never be cruel. It’s simply not in your nature.”
She smiled wryly at his arrogant assurance. “You sound very certain for a vampire who has only known me a few months.”
He arched a raven brow. “It’s because I’m a vampire that I know. I can read your soul, Abby, and it is as pure and beautiful as any I have ever seen.”
She became lost in his gaze. She had never had anyone tell her such amazing things. Not her worthless parents. Not her brothers.
Not even those rare handful of men who wanted to lift her skirt.
It made her feel warm and gooey and remarkably cherished.
It also eased the last of her lingering self-disgust.
She was not her father. She was pure and beautiful.
Well, that’s what Dante believed.
And that was all that truly mattered.
Reaching up, she cupped his breathtaking face in her hands and pulled him down to her waiting lips.
Soon enough they would be battling the forces of evil. Damn the luck.
She would be a fool not to enjoy this rare moment of peace.
Dante’s lips landed upon her mouth with a searing kiss, and her body reacted with its usual zing of excitement.
His fingers found her already-hard nipple, and the zings became zooms.
Arching toward his ready erection, Abby gave herself to the dark desire.
Chapter 15
Abby awoke naked and disoriented.
Not always a bad thing. Especially when she was still warm and tingly from Dante’s touch. But she discovered that she didn’t care for being naked, disoriented, and alone.
Crawling from beneath the covers, she discovered that someone had kindly left a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on top of the dresser. There was also a new white lace thong and matching bra.
She grimaced. She had never been much of a thong woman.
Probably because she hadn’t been a size two since grade school.
Beggars, however, could not be choosers. After slipping on the tiny underwear, she pulled the T-shirt over her head before padding into the outer room.
A wave of relief rushed through her as she discovered Dante standing beside the wall refrigerator, looking extraordinarily fine in a pair of leather pants and black silk shirt he had yet to button. His silken hair was still loose about his alabaster face, and the candlelight shimmered in his silver eyes.
Fine, indeed.
So fine that Abby barely noted the empty cup of blood he set aside at her approach.
A smile twitched at his lips as he allowed his gaze to take a slow, appreciative survey of her scarcely covered body.
“Nice, lover. Very nice.”
Abby rolled her eyes, although inwardly she did a bit of preening. And why not? No one but Dante had ever made her feel as if she were thong-worthy.
“What time is it?”
“Almost nine.”
Abby blinked in surprise. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You needed your rest.” Dante reached into the refrigerator to pull out a plastic cup. “Here.”
Abby regarded the offering with a wrinkled nose.
“I don’t suppose it’s that hot fudge sundae you’ve been promising?”
His smile widened. “The next best thing.”
She thought of the green guck with a shudder. “Liar.”
He moved forward to press the cup into her reluctant fingers, his lips brushing the top of her curls.
“I’ll make you a deal. You finish that and I’ll buy you as many hot fudge sundaes as you can eat.”
Abby briefly sucked in the male scent of his cologne before stepping back to regard him with a suspicious glare.
“Okay, what’s going on? Zombies? Wizards? The end of the world?”
A raven brow arched. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re never this easy to get along with.”
He gave a startled chuckle. “Me? Lover, I’m not the difficult one.” Dipping his finger into the neckline of the T-shirt, he gave it a tug to inspect the barely-there bra. “Of course, there are moments when you are less difficult than others. Like when you—”
She swatted his hand away. “Dante, I’m not going to be distracted.”
He gave his fangs a meaningful lick. “Actually, I think I’m already distracted.”
Damn. Her nipples hardened. Determinedly she kept herself from melting into a puddle.
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