Christine Feehan - Dark Possession

Manolito caught her calf in his hands, drew down the zipper to her boot and pulled it off. «You may as well be comfortable, MaryAnn.»

There was a command in the firm touch of his fingers, but gentleness in his voice. She made no objection, just let him remove the boots and set them aside so she could draw her knees up. He sent her a faint, mocking smile and stretched out, fingers laced behind his head.

«I thought I'd be afraid up here,» she admitted, to break the silence. To find a safe subject.

«You are afraid.»

«This is an unusual situation.» She snuck a peek at him over her shoulder. He lay like an offering, casual and lazy and very deceptive when she could feel heat radiating off his body, when she could see the ripple of muscle and the bulge he didn't bother to hide. His features were stamped with raw desire, his eyes devouring her.

He brought one arm down to his side, the fingers curling against her thigh, rubbing back and forth through the thin royal blue silk. «I am your lifemate, MaryAnn, your husband. There is no need to fear the things I want from you. Like your hair and your skin and whatever dwells within you, what is between us is as natural as breathing.»

«I don't know you well enough to give you that kind of trust. A woman like me needs to trust a man completely to give herself to him like you're asking.»

«I do not ask.» There was a faint smile in his voice.

For a moment she thought he was saying he didn't want her, but then she realized he meant he would demand what he wanted from her. She rubbed her chin on the top of her knees, contemplating instructing him in human law.

The fingers along her thigh bunched in her skirt, continuing to slide up and down in mesmerizing strokes. «I am not human, sivamet, and more than anything else, I wish to bring pleasure to my woman. What is wrong with that?» He sounded genuinely puzzled.

«Maybe I don't want that.»

His laughter was low and sexy, playing over her body with the same mesmerizing stroke as his fingers. «But you do. It is what you fear most, but it is also what you want most. As I know you are sale in my keeping, there is no reason to deny you what you want-or need.»

«I'm afraid that may take some time.» His touch was light, but the heated silk against her skin made her muscles bunch in reaction.

«I do not think so, MaryAnn. When you lie beneath me, when my body is in yours, you trust me more than when we are apart.»

Color swept up her neck and into her face before she could control it. She couldn't deny it. She would have done anything he asked of her. She had and more. But it was too much, too soon. She moistened her dry lips with her tongue. «I'm not ready yet.»

«Fair enough.»

His answer was so unexpected she turned to look at him. It was a mistake. His black eyes glittered with possession, with raw lust.

He patted the mattress of flowers. «Lie down beside me. We'll talk.»

There was no hint of compulsion in his voice, at least she didn't think so, but she still found herself lying down beside him. Thigh to thigh. Hip to hip. She stared up at the sky and watched the mist sparkling above them and searched for a topic that would lead to a real discussion, one that might reveal more of who and what he was.

«Do you like living here?»

«I have grown to call this land home. I love everything about it. The rain forest, the cattle ranch, the people, even the horses. I was not the best of riders when we first began ranching.» He laughed softly at the memory. «I have not thought of that time in years. We knew nothing at all, but wanted to appear human. Fortunately, we had the Chavez family to aid us. We had the money and they had the knowledge. We have worked closely ever since.»

«I would have liked to see your first ride on a horse.»

«I did not spend a lot of time in the saddle. I wished to be macho like the Chavez brothers so I didn't use my mind to control the horse.»

She relaxed a little, laughter bubbling up. «I wish I'd been there.»

The pads of his fingers traced the shape of her thigh. «I am very glad you weren't. Unless you had controlled the animal for me.»

«That would have been interesting, and very tempting, although I have no idea why you think I have psychic ability.»

«Because you do.»

«If I do, how can I not be aware of it, yet everyone else is? What exactly do I do psychically?»

His fingers once again began that steady caressing through the silk of her skirt. «You are actually quite powerful. You gather energy and use it when you need it. I think you have been doing so all of your life, probably since you were a child, so it is normal to you. Completely natural. Like your hair.» His hand slid up to the intriguing curls. He tugged gently, just enough to bite at her scalp.

She felt the pull through her body, a flash of heat she couldn't deny or control. «I don't do that.» She didn't think she did. «How would I even use something I don't know about? How would it work?»

His hand slid from her hair down her arm to her wrist. He circled it lightly as if his fingers were a living bracelet. «If I knew that, palafertul, I would never be concerned about you knocking me on my rear.»

«I didn't.»

«You did.» He brought her hand to his mouth to scrape his teeth over her palm. «It was a good jolt, too. I was proud of you-once I got over the fact that my woman had slapped me down.» His tongue swirled over the exact center of her palm, easing the tiny sting of his nipping teeth.

«You're very oral, aren't you,» she said, tugging at her hand. He didn't let go, and the sensation of his mouth, hot and moist, closing tightly over her finger sent flames dancing across her skin straight to the junction between her legs.

«Very,» he admitted, his voice dropping low, his black gaze burning through the thin material of her blouse to her full breasts as they rose and fell with the fast tempo of her breathing.

She licked her lips again and stifled a groan when his gaze jumped to her mouth. «Stay on track here, Manolito. I really want to figure out how I could be psychic.» Because she was fast losing her ability to think with her brain.

«Of course you're psychic. You can read people, and you know exactly what to say to them to help them find their way.»

She laughed. «I was hoping for a real revelation, not fantasy. I went to school a very long time to become a counselor. Whether or not I'm any good has nothing to do with being psychic. I'm trained and I have a lot of experience.»

«You are able to get inside their heads. You think it is instinct, and maybe that is another word for your talent. You act a lot on intuition.» He turned her hand over and bit gently at her knuckles. «We could use a little instinct right now.»

«I don't think psychic ability is much good if you don't know how you're using it,» she protested. If she really did have some talent, it would be kind of cool, but not if she couldn't wield it properly. «I can connect with you because of the blood thing, but can't really do much else.»

«You do plenty well with your power. You throw people out of your mind at will. Very few people can do that, MaryAnn. It is a very intriguing ability.» His hand dropped to his side between them once again, fingers bunching in her skirt.

«Where does it come from?»

«Many sources. I think all societies had a few who possessed some ability to manipulate energy. Some species were stronger than others, but once they began to mix, over the years, you find both amazing talent and none at all.»

It made sense. She felt the caressing pads of his fingers as he bunched her skirt higher to expose the long expanse of skin along the leg closest to him. He remained lying beside her, staring up at the stars, but his hand slid under the silky material to move along her thigh and hip, shaping her curves.