Shadow's Claim (Immortals After Dark #13)(101)

Arching her back as he removed her shirt. Arms raised as he bared her breasts. Hips up as he tore free her panties.

When he broke away to remove his own clothes, she opened her eyes, realizing he’d stripped her of everything but her jewelry.

Yet once he’d returned to bed, she noticed the injuries marring his mighty warrior’s body. He had a swath of bandage tied tightly around his chest. “How badly were you hurt?”

“I feel little pain.” His voice was roughened, his jaw now clenched. That tension rolled off him. His eyes were fully black as his gaze raked over her naked body.

Bettina’s excitement dimmed; his control was slipping. He looked like he was about to launch himself at her.

Her human friends had spoken about losing their virginity, had described the pain they’d felt—and they hadn’t mated a thousand-year-old vampire who was strong enough to defeat a primordial!

Then his eyes dropped to the pulse she could feel fluttering in her neck. This time he didn’t stare at it with mere lust; he looked ravenous.

She’d accepted that lovemaking would hurt at first. But did she have to get bitten as well? To experience so many milestones at one time—after the night she’d had—seemed . . . excessive.

Still, when he caught her gaze and laid his palm between her breasts, she found herself easing back under the firm press of his hand.

“Open for me, love.”

She hesitantly spread her legs. He knelt between them, his erection jutting hungrily between his narrow hips. The head was bulbous, daubed with seed. When he planted a fist on either side of her head and leaned over her on straightened arms, his thick shaft bobbed above her belly.

She couldn’t help but note that it appeared even more swollen than it had the night before.

His onyx eyes again landed on her pulse. “Tell me I can do anything to you.”

If a vampire’s exceedingly thirsty or inexperienced . . . “Um, wait, Daciano.” All the desire she’d felt began to evaporate, replaced by apprehension. “I can’t say that.”





Some big steps can come later, right?” she asked Trehan. “Like maybe in the near future. But not tonight.”

His Bride was supposed to yield! Yet now she was about to tell him that she didn’t want him inside her. Denying my claim?

She was glorious beneath him with her shining braids spreading over her pillow, her pert breasts taunting him to touch, her lustrous eyes gazing up at him. Bettina was his treasure. Comoara mea. But now she seemed distant.

He wanted them connected completely; she felt a thousand miles away.

There could be only one reason for her hesitation. “Big steps,” he said in a toneless voice. Again and again he’d surrendered his exquisite prize.

Not tonight.

“I mean, maybe we could just . . .”

She can’t even say the words. She knows better than to say them!

“Can we just make love?” she said in a rush.

His weakened arms began to shake, forcing him to sink down on his forearms. “You’ve lost me, Bett. What big step were you musing about?”

Looking anywhere but at his face, she said, “Um, bite play.”

“Pardon?”

“Losing my . . . virginity is, well, a big step for me. And maybe we could save your first bite for later. I’m not saying never, just not everything at once.”

Relief soughed through him. “Bite play, is it?” Even in the midst of his body’s craven need . . . even though he was wounded . . . he had to stifle a grin, not wanting to embarrass her.

“Maybe we could experiment with those kinds of things later?”

My virgin Bride is naked beneath me, talking about experimenting. How will I last?

“I want you to make love to me.” Her cheeks and throat flushed with blood, tempting him to take a nip. But he wouldn’t have, even before she’d voiced her concerns. “I-I really want you to. But I just need to take other things slowly.”

Now that he understood what she was talking about, he could recognize the new tension in her body, the blunted desire. She wasn’t nervous—she was afraid.

“Look at me, love.” When she did, he said, “I can’t drink from you anyway.” What I do tonight affects us eternally.

“You can’t?”

“I have to keep control to make this good for you, perfect for you.” He wanted to make love to her till dawn, to give her memories to last an immortal’s lifetime—and to coax more of her affections. Capitalize on her passion . . .

If it proved perfect, she would fall for him. He had to believe that. “Remember when I told you how often I’ve envisioned this? I never once considered biting you during your first time.”

“You don’t think about it?”

A humorless laugh. “Ah, Bettina, it’s a fevered fantasy of mine. And it will remain so for now.” Because perfect would be hard won tonight.

Already his injuries would hamper him. With both his cock and fangs deep in her body, he’d probably come in an instant, and he feared that once he emptied himself inside her, he’d weaken even more.

She cast him a brilliant smile. “Then you do understand?” He could feel her relaxing beneath him. “My human friends told me that there’d be pain—and they’d only been with mortal males.”