Shadow Rising

“I only pick up women I can easily discard. You’re making it hard as hell to stay away from you,” he said.



It was one of the more backhanded compliments she’d ever received, but it pleased her nonetheless.



He turned his head into her touch, feline in the way he rubbed his cheek against her wrist. The purring was incredibly arousing.



“That’s… lovely,” he said, his voice growing strained. “You’re so soft. And you smell so sweet… like roses.” His eyes slipped shut as she let her fingers play through his hair, over the light stubble on his jaw.



“I must be going mad,” Damien murmured, his eyes opening just enough for her to see slits of cool blue. “I have nothing to give you, kitten. If you knew me better—”



She pressed a finger to his lips, amused. He would stand here all night trying to talk both of them out of this, and the result would be the same.



“Stop trying to argue with me,” she said. “My requirements are very simple. Here, let me show you.”



She closed the distance between them, sliding her arms around Damien and rising up on her toes. And when she turned her face up to his, she felt him finally relent, lowering his mouth to hers.



Chapter Fifteen



HIS MOUTH WAS ALWAYS BETTER than any daydream, soft as sin.



At first the kiss was gentle, with a tenderness that surprised her. Before it had always been about heat and need. This time was… different. More.



Maybe because this time he sensed, just as Ariane did, that there would be no interruption, no excuse to end it. They were finally alone, and alone they would stay.



Damien coaxed Ariane with his tongue to open her mouth for him, and the kiss quickly turned from sweet to hot.



She heard his sigh, a sound imbued with so much pure pleasure that Ariane found herself trying to get even closer, winding herself fully in his arms and still finding that it wasn’t close enough. The purring thrummed against her chest, making her nipples tight and hard, leaving her breathless. She arched against him restlessly, needing the friction, needing more of him.



“Beautiful creature,” Damien murmured, teasing her lips with his as he slid his hands into her hair, letting it glide through his fingers as though he found it precious. “Why do you continue to have anything to do with me?”



“Because I want you,” Ariane sighed, letting her head fall back as he kissed a trail down her neck.



Her answer seemed to please him. She gasped as he nipped the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, very near her mark. Shimmering pleasure spread like wildfire through her, pooling into molten heat right at her very core. He laved her mark with his tongue, and Ariane gripped his shoulders, digging in her nails. She had wondered, on so many nights, what it would be like to join with another vampire.



She’d never imagined how hungry she could be for a man’s touch, his teeth.



Of course, she’d never imagined a man like Damien.



He looked flushed, hot, and hungry when he raised his head to look at her, the feral gleam of his eyes reflecting so much longing that it took Ariane’s breath away. The need she saw there was as deep as the ocean, and just as endless. It frightened her, even as it drew her.



For reasons impossible to fathom, he was all she wanted. And she was quickly learning that out here, a vampire’s life could be as easily and quickly and senselessly taken as any mortal’s. She would deny herself no longer.



Ariane pressed a soft kiss to Damien’s mouth, and pushing aside a sudden flutter of nerves, she slid her hands up underneath his shirt, feeling the hard muscles of his stomach contract beneath her fingertips. He sucked in a breath but didn’t push her away, instead pulling her closer as he teased her mouth with hot, deep kisses. Ariane let her hands explore his chest, his back, as his skin warmed to her touch.



Damien pulled back abruptly and pulled the shirt over his head before tossing it aside. Ariane drank in the sight of him, thinking he looked just as good as he felt. His eyes never left her.



“Now you,” he said, reaching for her, lifting the thin fabric of the tank top over her head. She had no time to let embarrassment get the better of her, no time to worry that Damien would be the first man to have seen her this way. The shirt was gone in an instant, and the way Damien looked at the simple black bra that remained was enough to scatter her thoughts to the wind.



He wanted her. That was all that mattered.



Damien ran his hands down her torso, then reached behind her to unclasp her bra with a simple flick of his wrist. She stepped away, forcing herself to keep her eyes locked with Damien’s as she let the bra slide off her shoulders and fall to the floor. Her skin felt hot where Damien’s eyes touched her, and her heart began to pound more quickly.



“Ariane…” He trailed off, swallowed hard. “You’re perfect.”



Her laugh was soft, wondering. “That’s not something I’m used to hearing.”



“Then we shall have to work on that.”



The look in his eyes nearly had her melting at his feet. All the wicked things she’d ever dreamed of were written there, a thousand seductive promises. All for her.



His eyes glowed, predatory and beautiful. “Let me worship you, Ariane. You’re long overdue.”



He didn’t wait for her answer, and when his hands touched her bare skin, almost reverently, Ariane could no longer formulate a coherent response. All she could think was, Yes. Finally, yes.



Damien’s hands skimmed deftly over sensitized skin, brushing against nipples that had become tight little nubs, then dropping to cup her backside and cradle it against him as he dipped his head for another deep, lingering kiss. The light dusting of hair on his chest abraded her breasts in a way that was exquisite agony, making them feel full and heavy as moisture pooled quickly between her legs. She rose against him, wanting to feel him hard between her legs. His breath caught in his throat.



“Slowly, kitten,” he said gruffly. “You have no idea how badly I want to be inside you.”



“Then do it,” Ariane breathed, sliding one leg up to hook around his hip. “It’s what I want too.” A tiny moan of pleasure escaped her as the pressure made her throb.



“Mmm,” Damien said, touching his forehead to hers. “I’m going to show you all sorts of other things to want first. I want your thoughts dirty and full of me at all times.” He unbuttoned her jeans and slid a hand between her legs, fingers slipping through the little thatch of curls to toy with the sensitive bud concealed beneath.



Ariane jerked against him, giving a soft, startled cry.



“Shhh,” Damien soothed, sounding slightly breathless as he moved his mouth to her ear, nibbling and licking at the lobe. He held her still with one hand and continued to play her with the other, his clever fingers parting her slick folds and swirling the moisture around her swollen sex. Ariane had to struggle to stay upright—her knees felt weak, and her hips began to move in time to Damien’s expert strokes. Everything within her seemed to tighten, pulsing in hot little bursts of pleasure.



She had wanted this, imagined this in fevered dreams. And nothing, nothing held a candle to what Damien was doing to her. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, and he gave her tender earlobe a final flick of his tongue before shifting so he could lock eyes with her.



“I’m going to make you come, darling,” he said hoarsely. “Look at me when you come. I want to watch…”



Her orgasm hit her like a bolt of lightning. She surged against Damien’s hand with a sharp cry, her womb clenching in waves as he continued to stroke her until she shook from the sensation. And the entire time, she saw only Damien and those burning eyes that promised so much more pleasure if she dared to let him give it to her.



“So sweet,” he rasped, removing his hand. “Come to bed, Ariane. I want to see how you taste.”



Somehow she managed to make her legs carry her into the other room, though they threatened to give out on her more than once. She turned when she reached the bed to find Damien stripping off his pants. Words were lost to her as she got her first look at him. His body was lean and firmly muscled, his fair skin dusted only lightly with dark brown hair. Ariane’s eyes drifted over his narrow waist, down the taut muscles of his stomach, to settle on the rigid thrust of his cock. She felt no fear of the unknown, no trepidation. Only gladness that after all this time, it would be him.



“What are you thinking, Ariane?” he asked.



“That you aren’t the only one who sees someone beautiful,” she replied.



He looked slightly taken aback, but pleased. “You are a wonder,” was all he said.



She slid quickly out of her jeans and underwear, savoring the way he looked at her as she shed the last of her clothes. He was all tightly controlled hunger, dangerous, lethal beauty. But there was something in his eyes, that fathomless need she’d sensed in him before, that pulled at her heart. She didn’t know if anyone could be capable of filling up the empty spaces inside of him… but she could try.



She wanted to try.



It was at that moment she knew that she was falling, right or wrong, and that after tonight, there would be no going back.



So she slid back onto the bed and held her arms out to him.



He came to her, drinking her in with his eyes as though she were the loveliest thing he had ever seen, crawling onto the bed like the cat that always lurked just beneath the surface of his skin. Ariane met him halfway, the two of them tangling together in the center of the bed, connecting skin to skin.



He lowered her to the soft bedding beneath them, his mouth leaving hers again to kiss a path down her neck, her chest, lavishing first one breast and then the other with attention. When he suckled her, Ariane sucked in a breath and then forgot to let it go. Every deep pull echoed inside of her, making her tighter, wetter. When his tongue teased her taut nipples, she threaded her fingers through his hair, gasping at each decadent flicker.



His mouth blazed lower, tickling sensitive skin, making the muscles of her belly jump as he neared the very heat of her. She waited, barely breathing, as he paused. The sight of him there, his head between her thighs and looking like he wanted to lap her up, had her trembling again very near the edge of another climax.