Shadow's Claim (Immortals After Dark #13)(48)

Slowly, tenderly, hotly.

He’d certainly been dexterous then, with an art all his own.

She didn’t need to be thinking about this right now! If she grew aroused, he would know, could probably hear her heart speeding up right now—

At that moment, one of his pen strokes went erratic. He paused, seeming to catch his breath before the pen moved once more.

When she glanced down next, he’d drawn a blade jutting from one end of the baseplate. “That’s a static blade?” she asked. “It’s always extended?”

In a hoarse voice, he said, “Yes, but if you can figure out how to eject spikes from an armlet, you can surely create a switchblade to eject from the baseplate.”

“So it’d look like it was shooting from the bottom of my fist?”

“Precisely.”

So that was the modification. Patroness would adore it. Maybe Bettina and Daciano did have some common ground.

Eyes anywhere but on her, the vampire slid the page over.



If Trehan’s female could guess even half of his thoughts at this moment, she’d run screaming from the tent.

With her so accessible on the desk, he could sweep her over in front of his chair and grip her knees, easing her thighs open.

He’d compared Bettina to a book before; now he dreamed of spreading her wide and devouring her, sampling her as he’d dreamed of all day. His shaft swelled painfully as the fantasy played out in his mind.

He wouldn’t let her go until she’d come half a dozen times for him. Against his tongue, her drenched sex would quiver, hungry for his shaft to fill it—

Control yourself, Trehan!

Easier said . . . When she’d hopped up on the desk, her bared thigh just inches from his hand, he’d wondered if she was a tease—or if she truly had no idea how much she affected him.

He suspected the latter. He also suspected she was catching on, and enjoying her newfound feminine wiles.

Gods help me.

Already her mannerisms had bewitched him: the way she absently licked wine from her red lips. The way she adjusted her mask when she was discomfited. The way she gazed up at him from under her thick lashes, taking his measure with those exquisite eyes.

When she’d tilted her head to analyze his drawing, her thick mane of hair had swept over her bare shoulder, sending him awash in her scent.

And, zeii, her smile. Earlier, when she’d realized she was enjoying herself, her lips had curled, the smile coming easily. Immediately, his mind had turned to ways he could coax another from her.

Everything about her made him want to either crush her in an embrace—or pin her hips as he pounded between her legs.

Worse? He was certain she was getting aroused as well.

But he’d governed his urges. He knew how important this interlude was. It was their beginning. An eternity of pleasure lay before them if his campaign with her proved successful.

He was building trust, demonstrating their commonalities. His actions followed a formula, but the method seemed to be working.

Next, he would deploy the second stage of his plan, using her desires to his advantage. He stood and moved before her, greatly looking forward to it.

She gazed up at him with those entrancing eyes. Success would find her in his arms, her moans in his ear.

Failure? Would find her with her hands all wet . . .





Looking for all the world like he was about to kiss her, the vampire eased closer until she could perceive the heat coming off his body.

Lips parted, brows drawn, he reached down to gently cup her face, tugging her to him—

She shoved against his chest. “Stop! This is not why I’m here.”

He eventually released her, his gaze narrowed.

Analyzing me. She knew vampires were an inherently logical species, but she’d never met any who exhibited that trait. Their minds had been tainted by bloodlust, their irises—and even the whites of their eyes—gone red from it.

She’d never met a clear-eyed vampire before, and now she was the object of this one’s study.

“One boon, then—for a kiss.”

She gave him a disappointed look. “You want my favors to be, well, sexual? Is that why you’ve maneuvered me into this bargaining? You’re hardly playing fair.”

Curling his finger under her chin, he said, “Do you really think I’ll play fair when the prize is so dear?” With his other hand, he reached for her mask, gently unlacing it to remove the silk. Seeming captivated by her face, he bit out, “Zeii mea, beauty, you speak to me of playing fair? You’ve vanquished me with one move.”

Her cheeks heated furiously. Why did she feel such a thrill at each of his compliments? Because others’ compliments were so rare?

She reminded herself that he was a stone-cold killer, clearly a manipulator. He was so much older, with lifetimes more experience than she had. “You told me you wouldn’t return for me. You seemed perfectly okay with the idea of never seeing me again. Now this? I want to know what changed.”

“Me. For centuries, I lived a life of service, never desiring anything for myself. And now I do desire.” He eased closer to her. “Bettina, I desire beyond reason.”

His scent and heat permeated her senses. Did all vampires smell this mouthwatering? Maybe as a predatory tool to lure quarry like her? It was working.

Again she felt weak and breathless, the flash-fever returned. It seemed like her body was so busy struggling to regain equilibrium that her thought processes suffered. “I-I have a hard time believing you’d leave your home, a home you treasure.”