Christine Feehan - Dark Demon 16

Natalya somersaulted across the distance, wielding her sword as she flew past, slicing through the vampire's legs as she did so. He screamed horribly, over and over as he fell backward. Vikirnoff was already turning, striking as he did so, his speed so fast, he had the heart before Gene hit the ground. Lightning flashed and flames raced from the blackened hearts to the two bodies. Vikirnoff lifted his head and looked at her.

Chapter 14

«What the hell were you thinking, following me like that, Natalya? You could have been killed.» He knew the moment he uttered the words, how ridiculous he sounded. Natalya might easily have taken care of the vampires and that just upset him more. He wasn't even certain why he was so distressed. Maybe it was the smear of blood along her shoulder and the bruise on her face from the earlier battles. He swore under his breath and rubbed a hand

over his face.

Natalya smirked at him. «Just say thank you and we'll call it good.»

He looked at his hands, held them up for her to see. «Look at this. I itch, actually itch to shake some sense into you.» His palm slid over the top of her head, down her hair to the nape of her neck. He pulled her closer, bent his head and kissed her. It was brief, electric and not at all satisfying to either of them. «You terrify me. You make me feel things I do not want to feel. You are so courageous you terrify me.» He took her mouth again. Hard. Possessive. A little brutal.

She tasted his terror. She tasted his need. There was so much hunger. So much resolve. Vikirnoff could be gentle, but he wasn't feeling gentle. She had scared him and that wasn't a good thing. «Let's get out of here, Vikirnoff. This place gives me the creeps. Can't we go somewhere and talk?»

«I do not feel much like talking.»

She took a deep breath, let it out slowly and looked him directly in the eye. «Neither do I.»

His body tightened at her words, but more than that, his heart turned over. He reached for her without preamble, gathered her close and took to the air. Deliberately, Natalya wound one leg around his thigh, allowing the damp heat of her body to tease him as he took them across the night sky.

«Are you afraid?»

«No.» She tugged at his earlobe with her teeth. «Yes. I don't know. Maybe a little.»

«You know what you are doing?» His hand was low on her spine, fingers spread wide, palm burning her right through her clothing. His voice was harsh with hunger. So much hunger. Her womb clenched and her nipples hardened into tight peaks.

«You're asking me if I'm committing to you.» Her body ached. Felt empty. She turned up her face to his, her arm circling his neck and kissed him, tongue licking his lips, her hand sliding down his chest to brush the thick bulge pressed so tightly against her.

«Be very certain. Because once you do, I will not let you go, Natalya. Even if you somehow managed to undo an ancient binding ritual as old as time itself, I will not let you go once you are mine.» His beast was roaring for his lifemate. Save me. Choose me. Be forever to my heart connected. She was his. His.

She liked that he didn't close his mind to her. She wanted to feel the possessiveness of his thoughts. She wanted to be swept away so the small scared part of her wouldn't be able to think too much and she could just take what she wanted. Do what she wanted. Have someone for herself. Someone to talk with, share laughter, be angry, be frightened for. She

wanted it all. Vikirnoff was offering all of those things.

«I am not an easy man to be with-«

She kissed him again, stopping him in midsentence. He tasted hot. Carnal. He tasted sweet and close to love. «I'm not an easy woman to be with either-« She broke off to kiss him a third time, her fingers sliding beneath his shirt to feel his chest. She was careful to avoid his still tender wounds, not quite healed from his earlier battles. «I think I'm going to be addicted to kissing you.»

She circled his neck with her arms as he made the descent with dizzying speed into a small chimney in the mountain, closing her eyes and hiding her face against his shoulder. The entrance was narrow and long. They plummeted straight down into a wide chamber with cathedral-like ceilings. He set her on her feet, holding her steady until he was certain she wouldn't fall after their flight.

Natalya tossed her pack into a corner and surveyed the large chamber as Vikirnoff waved his hands to light the candles. Instantly the air was filled with the scent of soothing lavender. «Wow. This is wonderful. Our own hot tub.» She pointed toward the natural pool surrounded by flat rocks.

«I used to come here when I was a fledgling. I spent a lot of time here studying. I covered the entrance before I left, but never expected it to still be intact.»

She nudged him with her shoulder. «So you said, you have to see to my happiness. Didn't I hear that when you so rudely married us without my consent?»

He groaned softly. «I can see this is going to be one of those difficult days.»

She tossed her head so that her tawny hair fell around her face in waves doing things to his heart he didn't want to examine too closely. Even her rude noises were becoming endearing and that was just plain frightening.

«I think you're going to have a lot of those.»

«Difficult days? I think you are right.»

«So answer the question. You have to make me happy, right?»

«I can do no other,» he agreed.

A slow, wicked grin curved her mouth and set her eyes sparkling. «I need lots of things to make me happy. And keep me happy. I'm that kind of girl.»

«What kind of girl?» Suspicion crept into his voice.

«Needy. High-maintenance.»

«I do not doubt that for a minute.» His gaze drifted over her face and something in him shifted. Stilled. «Come here.»

Natalya backed up. She meant to hold her ground, but his eyes had gone to a smoky gray and darkened with intense heat. With desire. A shiver of excitement went down her spine. She licked her lips and wasn't certain whether it was necessary or deliberately provocative.

«You heard me, Natalya.» His voice was low. Utterly soft. A whisper of velvet stroking her body, stroking nerve endings. «Come here to me.»

Excitement surged through her. He looked grim and forbidding, his face etched with lines from the battle, his hair flowing like silk and his body so hard with his need of her. But it was his eyes, the deep hunger, the way he looked as if he were starving for her body that set her pulse pounding. The way he looked as if nothing could or would stop his possession of her.

She needed that look. She craved a man who wanted her so much nothing could stand in his way. She didn't care if that made her strange, it was who she was, who the tigress was. She wanted that implacable resolve. She wanted that possessive mouth commanding hers, his hands rough and his body hard and painfully full.

She stepped closer. Just out of reach. Tantalizingly out of reach. She wanted to prolong the moment. Heighten his desire. She wanted to see his eyes glaze with the same brutal hunger clawing at her.

Vikirnoff felt lust rising sharply, mingling with something far more potent. He caught her arm, pulled her the scant feet separating them so that her body fell against his. Her heat nearly melted him. Her skin was satin soft. Her breasts pushed into his chest so that he felt her hard nipples rise and fall against him with each breath she took. His fingers fisted in her hair, pulling her head back so his mouth fused with hers.

Natalya was certain electricity crackled in the air around them. Liquid heat poured through her body, through veins and muscle, nearly catching her on fire. She felt the harsh tug on her hair, his mouth crushing hers, eating at hers with a wild abandon and she needed more. Demanded more. She caught at his shirt, tore at it, desperate to get at his skin. All the while she devoured his mouth, kiss for kiss, exploring with teeth and tongue, making her own demands, deliberately pushing his need higher.