Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(75)

“Dios, Anna, I can’t take much more.”

She slowly smiled, clearly pleased with her power over him. “Patience, Conde Cezar.”

Patience? Patience?

He could write a book on patience.

But after two centuries of wanting and longing for this woman, patience was not top on his list of priorities.

“Patience is highly overrated, Anna Randal,” he groaned.

That wicked smile curved her lips. “Maybe I can change your mind.”

On the point of assuring her that nothing could change his mind, not in this moment, Cezar gave a strangled shout and nearly shot off the bed as Anna shifted upward and took his straining shaft into her mouth.

He could die in this moment and be a happy vampire, he decided as she used her tongue to make his torture complete.

Oh, so, so, so happy.

His hips lifted off the bed as she enthusiastically explored every quivering inch of him, seeming to take special delight in tearing moans and groans from his raw throat.

At last Cezar could bear no more. One more lick and the entire game would be over.

Reaching down he grasped her arms and jerked her to sprawl on top of him. She sighed as her legs fell on either side of his hips, her slick core pressed to his erection and her hair draping around him like a river of honey silk.

Dios. Until this moment he hadn’t truly believed that there could be a paradise on earth.

“Anna, we can practice my patience skills later, I need to be inside you,” he groaned, his fingers skimming up her inner thighs to stroke through her moist heat.

“I…yes,” she breathed, bending down to kiss him with such tenderness that Cezar shuddered with bliss.

This woman—this wonderful, precious woman was his.

And he would give his life to keep her safe.

Stroking and teasing until she was at last pleading for release, Cezar gripped her hips and with one smooth thrust he entered her.

With his lips, he caught her moan of satisfaction, careful to keep his fangs from grazing her fragile flesh. The last thing he needed was to accidentally take her blood in the heat of the moment.

Lifting his hips from the bed, Cezar angled himself even deeper, the pleasure so intense that he had to pause a moment to simply allow himself to absorb the exquisite sensation.

“Cezar,” Anna groaned, her fingers tangled in his hair.

He hissed. “Am I hurting you?”

“God, no. It’s…”

“It’s what?” he demanded.

“I can sense everything you’re feeling.” She pulled back, her hazel eyes glowing in the pale light. “It’s as if you’re a part of me.”

“I am.” He shifted his hands to frame her face as he began to stroke in and out of her in a determined rhythm. “You hold my heart, my very soul in your hands, querida.”

“Cezar.”

Her head once again lowered and their lips tangled as Cezar continued to thrust deep inside her, his entire body humming with a joy that he had never dreamed existed.

Wow.

Anna decided that the word pretty much summed up what had just occurred between her and Cezar.

Well, maybe super duper wow.

Struggling to catch her breath, she snuggled next to the gorgeous vampire on the bed, feeling amazingly at peace considering in the past few hours she’d been ripped through a portal, nearly killed by an angry fairy, and woken up mated to a vampire.

Of course, it really was on par with how her days seemed to go lately.

No, that wasn’t quite true, she thought with a tiny smile. Everything had changed.

With a sense of wonderment she opened herself to her awareness of Cezar’s feelings. She was aware of his sated satisfaction, his pleasure in holding her in his arms, his restless anger that she was still in danger, and an odd fear that she was to be taken away from him.

It was beautiful and baffling and most of all…extraordinary.

She would never, ever be alone again.

For the rest of eternity, no matter what happened, Cezar would be a part of her.

Unaware that Cezar was closely watching the various expressions flit over her face, she gave a startled blink when he stroked a finger over her lips.

“I’m not sure I trust that smile, querida,” he said, his voice a pleasant rumble as she rested her head on his chest. “What are you thinking?”

She paused, then, tilting back her head, she met his curious gaze. “Tell me about the rest of the mating ceremony.”

His expression was instantly wary. “Anna?”

“You said it wasn’t completed,” she prompted, her eyes narrowing as she easily sensed he was guarding his emotions. “What else does it take?”

His fingers traced a path through her hair. “It would first take your willing desire to become my mate. You would have to be committed without reservation and without fear.”

She smiled wryly. Just a few days ago she would have been convinced that no one could enter a relationship without at least a few reservations. After all, there was nothing more terrifying than opening your life and heart to another.

Now, however, she knew that she was prepared to leap headfirst, without a parachute or safety net, with this man.

No, not man. Vampire.

“And then?”

His dark eyes flickered, as if in pain. “And then I would take your blood.”