Christine Feehan - Dark Demon 16

Mikhail only rose higher, shedding more light, until even the eyes of the hunters burned and they had to shield their eyes. Maxim's skin began to split and peel. Long strips fell to the ground and sizzled under the heat of the unbearable light. His long pointed nails curled and turned black. Noxious smoke poured from his body and rose upward, absorbed by the light and Maxim shrieked louder, raising his arms in an effort to take back his fading spirit.

The vampire's chest split apart and worms poured out of his body, the blackened, wizened heart spilling into the radiant light. Maxim stretched his arm toward the organ. The heart tumbled back toward the vampire, but it was already beginning to smolder. The organ burst into flame and the vampire could only watch in horror. His hair, skin, even his teeth began to smoke.

Gregori stirred and with an effort, dragged himself over to Mikhail. The hunter staggered to his feet and reached his one good hand toward his prince. Mikhail caught it. The light arced between, surrounded them and for one long moment shone through them. When Gregori pulled Mikhail back to the ground, Gregori's hand had already regenerated.

Mikhail walked over to Maxim and stared into the red eyes. «My opinion of the Daratrazanoff family will always remain the same.»

Maxim slid to the ground in a puddle of melted flesh, the eyes staring up at Mikhail and Gregori. Black smoke drifted up from the pupils. Tiny flames burst through the smoke to incinerate the last of the vampire. There was a long silence. A wind rose and cleared away the stench of blood and battle.

Natalya let out her breath slowly and reached for Vikirnoff's hand. «Okay,» she said. «He can have the book.»

Chapter 20

Vikirnoff stood shaking his head, his narrowed gaze on Natalya as she leapt over a boulder, danced through a small creek, all the while wielding her lightning sword in and out of the trees fighting imaginary opponents. «Nothing is safe anymore. You have lost your mind.»

Her laughter floated back to him, touching him, warming him. «I'm practicing to be one of the three Musketeers. Or better yet, Luke Skywalker. I could see myself being Luke Skywalker. Totally.»

«Why not Princess Leia?»

Natalya stopped and spun around, mouth open in astonishment, her sword pulsing with light. «You've seen Star Wars?»

He folded his arms across his chest and grinned at her. «I believe everyone has seen Star Wars.»

Natalya held the lightning sword in the air and grinned. «No wonder you all thought of making these swords. They negate the need for hairspray and flamethrowers.»

«I have never needed either.» He indicated the pulsing blade of the sword with his chin. «We use lightning. It is much more lethal to reshape it.»

«I didn't have that advantage.» She stared hard at the sword and it wavered, but didn't disappear. «Bloody thing annoys me when it doesn't mind.»

He shook his head, laughter warming his eyes. «You are trying too hard. Picture it gone. It is not quite the same thing as using a spell. You always think first of spells.»

It was true, Natalya knew, but it was still aggravating. Vikirnoff had awakened her with kisses, made love to her several times and even provided blood for her. She found it amusing that he had gone hunting without her, not wanting her to feed from another man. Perhaps she felt the same way about his taking blood from a woman, but she wasn't going to admit that to herself-or him.

She concentrated on the sword and thankfully it disappeared. She had a tendency to get violent with weapons if she happened to have a bad practice session. «You know, Mr. Smug, it might be good for you to practice a bit every now and then. I thought your skills with a sword were a little rusty. You rely too much on other things and when the melting vamp, which was disgusting by the way, took your toys away, all of you bad boys had a bit of difficult time. It was a good thing I was there to save you.»

«Yes, it was.»

Vikirnoff was standing just below the fallen tree trunk she was balancing on. Natalya leapt off and he caught her, just as she'd known he would. Happiness burst through her. Of course he would catch her, he was always there in her mind, loving her, wanting her, feeling it was such a miracle to have her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. «Yes, it was. and you remember that next time you get all He-Man on me.»

Natalya bent her head to his, her hair falling like silky rain on his skin. It was the most

sensual thing in the world and she'd barely touched him. He felt a series of small butterfly licks over his pulse and immediately his blood began to pound in response.

«You always smell so good. Even in the heat of battle, you smell good,» she murmured, her body rubbing much like a cat's along his. Her tongue did another flickering dance over his pulse and down his throat. Once her teeth scraped, featherlight, but her touch seemed to burn right through his shirt to brand his skin.

«Sometimes, Natalya, I do not think I can survive without touching you.» His hands cupped her rounded bottom, giving her support. At the same time he applied enough pressure to press the heat of her core tightly against his suddenly hard erection.

«I never imagined being this happy,» she confided, resting her head on his shoulder, her teeth tugging at his ear. «Even when I thought we might not make it through that battle, I looked at you fighting and you were breathtaking. I was proud that you were mine.»

Her tongue did a little foray over his pulse again and his erection thickened, jumped in response, his blood catching fire. «I do love you for yourself, Natalya, never doubt that. I may have a difficult time accepting you in a dangerous situation, but who you are is exactly what I want.»

Her soft laughter teased his senses, gave him another heady rush. A strange roaring started in his ears. Vikirnoff sank down onto the fallen log urging her to straddle him. She cuddled close, fitting snugly in his lap, just the way he loved. «I'm what you need. If it wasn't for me, Vik, you'd be a bossy, snarling grump.» Her teeth tugged at his bottom lip. «Don't get me wrong, it's a little thrilling to have you get all masterful and try to be the dictator.» Her tongue fluttered along the seam of his lips, sent a flame burning through his body.

Her touch was so light, barely felt, yet it shook him, tightening every muscle until the blood rushed to his groin to center there, but more than that, he felt the shift in his heart that left his eyes burning with unshed tears. She tasted his skin, her tongue a delicate velvet rasp traversing along his collarbone. He had never thought that might be an erotic spot, but his entire body was strung as tight as bow.

«You have too many clothes on, Natalya.» His husky declaration was somewhere between a plea and a command. He discarded his own clothes when the material of his trousers became too painful to bear over his bulging erection. If he got any larger he was afraid he might split his skin open.

«Do I?» She nibbled her way down his chest, sounding slightly distracted. «If I take off my clothes, I won't get to play anymore. You'll get all serious on me.»

His fingers bit into her waist. «I am getting very serious here. Feel how serious I am.» He grounded his body against hers, feeling the answering heat of her right through her clothes. The friction made him groan with need.

«I love it when you're wild and crazy and can't take me fast enough,» Natalya admitted, her fingernails scraping along his chest with a small bite. «But this is so perfect. Lazy and slow. Eating you up. I love this muscle right here.» Her tongue teased and flicked as she kissed her way over his chest.

«I would not mind eating you up,» he said. The sight of her, eyes going dark with hunger, the sensual look on her face, the slow torture of her hands and mouth were all going to kill him. He'd just had her two hours earlier and yet he was burning from the inside out, so hot, he feared he might go up in flames. She was so soft, so delicate, yet steel ran through her and that excited him nearly as much as her wandering mouth.