"It is a sensation or feeling that comes to them, I'm sure. It's hard to explain. But whenever I meet a witch, they know me. Most may not understand why they put the two together-me and the grimoire-but they are respectful. It's much like the shimmer the vampire feels when he touches another of his kind. An innate knowing."
"When did you know my mother?"
"End of the nineteenth century. She's a force."
"That she is."
"Your father...he is remarkable as well. All those tattoos."
"Got them before he was transformed."
"Of course. You look a lot like him. Tall, dark, proud. Imposing, the two of you." He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. "I couldn't take my eyes off you during the meeting."
"I know. I could feel your gaze on my face, and in my heart. Felt good."
"Did you feel it here?" He stroked the underside of her chin, leaning over to kiss the side of her neck.
Goose bumps shivered awake on Dez's flesh, and she sucked in a breath. This boy was dangerous. "Yes, I did."
He lingered over her vein. She knew the thick carotid, if he pierced it with his fangs, would bleed out. Did the vampire not instead go for the jugular?
A brief moment of fear intensified her reactions. Her nipples hardened. Hairs rose on her arms. Dez crossed her arms over her chest, and sat up straight.
"What's wrong?" Dark eyes lingered but inches from her face. "That little whimper wasn't because you were turned on. You...
you're frightened of me?"
"It surprised me when you kissed me here." She stroked the side of her neck. It was so hot. The vein pulsed roughly. "I've never been bitten by a vampire. When a vampire takes a person's blood into them, you take a part of their soul. I'm not willing to give a part of myself away, not to anyone."
"I won't bite," he whispered. "Promise."
"I've seen your fangs drop when you've been holding me. I want to fight it, but...can you?"
"Yes, I can. I don't need your blood, Dez. And I didn't mean to scare you."
And why had she reacted so? Hadn't she faced worse foes in her lifetime? This man wasn't even a foe, really. Not during the day.
They both wanted the same thing. And come nightfall, well, she could understand his relentless pursuit of the book-the poor man had no choice.
What's happening, Dez? Losing it around this powerfully sensual man? You know he wants you; you want him. So why not let it happen?
She'd tried that once already. The vampire had morals, was what had happened.
Yet she had been acting rationally at the time, not by her heart.
Still she tried to resist the spell. But the truth of her fluttered in and out of her thoughts like the fairy whose heart had served the spell.
Just let it happen. You wanted to follow your heart. Succumb.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked. So innocently. Not about to simply take a kiss now without her permission.
"I feel I've offended you, if you have to ask such a thing."
"Not at all, Dez. We're learning each other. We're bound to take some curves and detours on the way."
He tilted her chin to look at him. As his fingers glided through her hair, the apprehension shivered away and true desire did rise.
"Your mouth is perfect. Small and thick and so curvy. I know it's cliche, but it is like a rosebud."
"Isn't any rose belonging to a witch bad news to you?" He smirked. "Will you stab me with your thorns if I take a kiss?"
Goddess. He would undo her with sweet words like that.
"Try it, and see what happens."
He touched her mouth first. Testing, perhaps? No thorns. She hadn't any she wished to release on Ivan. At least, not during daylight.
His breath heated her lips before they crushed mouth to mouth. And like that very first moment when the day begins and the world is quiet and coming to life, Dez felt an awakening within her.
Overhead, rain stormed upon the moonroof glass, beating an erratic tempo to the steady pound of her heartbeat. Summoned at her command, it would plunder the world until she gave it permission to cease.
Pressing a hand to Ivan's chest, she found his heart worked much faster than hers, perhaps racing the rain. He would never win that race. But it wasn't necessary; all that mattered to Dez is that he tried.
Lingering on the press of their mouths, Ivan didn't go farther. Not a demanding "take charge and show you who is boss" kind of kiss, this. No, this one seemed perfectly willing to exist in the moment. To learn her.
The connection felt right. No gaggle of geriatric rose growers could ever give Dez this kind of satisfaction. Was that it? She didn't so much desire friendship as good, solid contact. A closeness that defied reality and instead moved deep inside her to fill the pleading emptiness.
Dez clutched Ivan's shirt. It was a button-up, and the blue silk had been without a wrinkle at the council meeting. Now, she clenched the fabric and drew him in closer. He moved an arm around behind her waist, and fit her body up against his. To keep their embrace, she wrapped her leg around his back.
She was the first to open her mouth and dare him to venture deeper inside her. Like a lover fitting himself into her in a slow, sure way, his tongue invaded her mouth. A button on his shirt zinged her hard nipple. Dez arched her back, pressing her breasts up high against his chest.
And he did not break the kiss. Marvelous. More precious than any memento absent from her house. And one she would remember for all her days, as many and endless as they would be.
"The scent of your blood is strong, Dez," he murmured against her mouth.
"You said you wouldn't-"
"It's sweet and yet, spicy. Like you. Have you ever inhaled one of your perfumes and felt dizzy?"
"All the time."
"That's what you do to me. I don't feel entirely in control of my senses. Like if I tried to stand and walk away right now, I'd wobble and have to catch myself from falling."
"All that from the scent of my blood?"
"Yes." And the prick of a sharp tooth snagged her lip.
Dez stiffened. Not prepared for this, and certainly unwilling to be forced into anything she was sure she did not want.
"Sorry." Ivan pulled away, wiping the back of his hand across his lips. "It's reactionary sometimes." She understood vampires and that drinking blood was a very sexual thing. A vampire got aroused; he wanted to have sex and bite. Or, if he bit someone, that too caused arousal and it could lead to sex.
"I meant what I said about no biting. Am I safe with you, Ivan?"
"What?" He shook his head. Clearing away the desire to bite? "Oh yes. Dez, you can trust me. It's day, and-"
She pressed a finger to his mouth and slid up to kneel before him. The leather seat felt like butter beneath her knees. "And I want you, Ivan."
"Sex for sex's sake?"
"Can you deal with that?"
He nodded. Dark eyes flickered back and forth between hers. He nodded again, more eager this time. "Promise I won't bite. But I can't promise the fangs will stay in hiding."
She tapped his bottom lip, and dipped her finger inside his mouth. The canines on the top row had receded again, but they were sharp to the touch.
"I don't want the submission that comes with your bite."
"I can't imagine you submitting to anything, Dez. I'll follow your lead."
"We're here, sir."
Ivan smiled against her mouth. Oh, she wanted to eat that smile! Gobble it down and strip off her clothes right here. Sex in the back of a limo?
"The elevator takes less than thirty seconds to get to the forty-second floor, where I live. Can you wait that long?" he said.
"Let's race."
Chapter 13.
I t had been a while since he'd been home, but Ivan employed a maid who stopped in every Sunday. He didn't bother with the lights as he and Dez entered the apartment, wrapped around one another. Kissing. Groping. Undressing. He was halfway between control and surrender.
"The bedroom is down the hall. I haven't been here for months, but-"
Dez pushed him.
Ivan landed on the thick, overstuffed sofa in the dim shadows of the living room. "You think so?"
"I know so, big guy." She shed her shirt, which he'd succeeded in unbuttoning-okay, so maybe ripping it open and sending the buttons flying wasn't exactly unbuttoning. "You're going to pay for this. That was one of my favorites."
He stretched an arm across the back of the sofa and said, "I quiver in fear."
A fine brow arched above her left eye. "You did not just say that."
He spread his arms wide. "Have at me, witch."
"You know I can pin you with a little air magic." "Sounds kinky."
She strode to the end of the sofa. Braless, her breasts sat high and firm, her nipples deeply colored. Like wine, yes; the gorgeous rosettes would taste wickedly delicious. His body hummed with anticipation.
The air electrified. Magic brewed. Ivan's hackles suddenly went up, seeking defense-but as quickly, he relaxed. She wanted to use magic on him? Bring it on.
A thrust of Dez's hand sent a force at him he didn't try to defend. His shoulders pinned against the cushions, his hips sank and locked against the sofa as if she were physically pressing him down.
Ivan stretched out his legs. "Is that all you've got?"
Another wave of her hand tore the shirt from his muscles, rending stitches free and ripping fabric.
Dez bent over him, her eyes glittering. The tip of her tongue snuck out to wet the crease at the corner of her mouth. "How about this?"
A tiny movement of her forefinger caused the zipper on his jeans to unfasten and begin to slide down.
"Careful," he cautioned. "Don't let it get stuck on anything-"
"Big?"
Oh, did he love a good tease. Good thing it was daytime, and he had control.
As for his morals about having sex merely for sex's sake? Hell, he was a man bred for demonic slavery. He'd argue his angel side later.
An attempt to lift his hand found it remained pinned at his side. Some sort of grounding earth magic, surely.
"You don't want me to touch you?" he challenged.
Propping herself over him, one hand to the back of the sofa, and the other tracing long fingertips down his chest, Dez merely shook her head. "I think I want to play with you awhile first. Any objections?"
The light touch of her, gliding from his pecs down to his belly button, did not preach patience. But all good things..."Do as you wish. I am yours."
"I like the sound of that."
Another splay of her hand swept away her skirt to reveal she wore nothing beneath but a landing strip and legs that went on forever.
Straddling him, Dez hovered over his body, not touching, and so teasing. One foot, clad in a fuck-me black leather spike heel, dug into the white cushion.
Dig that into me, Ivan thought. It was pain he would willingly suffer.
The tip of her tongue dashed out, and she leaned forward to lick a trail from one nipple to the other. The sweet, tightening ache of her touch made him even harder. His cock bobbed at the opening of his pants, but it couldn't wriggle free to do some tormenting of its own.
"How many witches have you had sex with, Ivan?" That came out of the blue.
"None," he managed, in a desperate attempt to not moan. "Why?"
"You've never slept with a witch? So how do you know it's not dangerous, you being half vampire?"