Darkness Unleashed (Guardians of Eternity #5)(32)

Bemused by the odd phenomenon, Jagr cupped her face in his hands and wiped the dampness with his thumbs.

“I killed them,” he murmured, his voice thickening with something other than ancient anger.

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

His lips twitched. “They weren’t nearly so pleased.”

A silence descended as Regan studied him with a searching gaze. Jagr didn’t flinch. He’d always feared that confessing the truth would make him feel vulnerable, exposed. Instead, he felt…cleansed.

Perhaps it was Regan’s sweet tears that washed away a portion of the bitterness that festered in his soul.

At last, she sucked in a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”

“I meant I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you when you said you understood. You do.” Her lips curved in a watery smile. “More than anyone.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why you haven’t forced me to Chicago.”

Jagr hid his flare of wry amusement. If she wanted to believe that was the only reason he hadn’t tossed her over his shoulder and hauled her to Chicago, then so be it.

“The thirst for revenge is a powerful force,” he agreed. “Nothing will keep you in Chicago while Culligan lives. I would just have to come hunting you again.”

“Hunting?” The emerald eyes darkened, then shockingly, she lifted a hand to lightly trace one of the scars that marred his skin. “Do you think I’m your prey?”

With a hiss, Jagr jerked from the searing temptation of her touch. By the fires of hell, what was she doing? Even a complete virgin should be able to sense that his legendary control wasn’t so legendary. Not when it came to this emerald-eyed Were.

“Regan,” he warned softly.

Deliberately she followed his retreat, her hand once again boldly stroking over his chest.

“What?”

He grasped her wrist, his fangs lengthening as scalding pleasure poured through him.

“Don’t toy with me.”

She didn’t try to tug her wrist from his grim grip. Instead, she simply lifted her free hand and continued to torment him with light, searching fingers.

“Why did you show me your scars?” she demanded.

Jagr shivered, his body swiftly going up in flames. “You’re playing a dangerous game, little one.”

She met his gaze squarely, ignoring his warning as she stepped close enough to wrap him in midnight jasmine.

“Did you think they would bother me?”

“Do they?”

“Only what they represent.” Leaning forward, she trailed her lips over a thick scar. “The fact that you were forced to endure such pain for so long.”

Jagr’s fingers loosened on her wrist, his thumb brushing the rapid beat of her pulse. Fine. Obviously she wanted to play. Already he could catch the scent of her arousal perfuming the air.

Who was he to be the voice of reason?

Soon enough she would discover you couldn’t dance with the devil without getting burned.

Sliding his hand up the elegant sweep of her back, he grasped the tender nape of her neck.

“Like you, little one, I survived,” he murmured. “And for the first time, in a very long time, I’m very glad that I did.”

“Me, too,” she whispered, her head bending forward to brush her lips over his chest.

Convulsively, his arms wrapped about her, tugging her tight against his hard body.

“Do you understand what you’re starting, Regan?” he rasped, his senses stirring with an intensity that was almost painful.

“Not really.” She trailed her tongue down the dip over his breastbone. “But I like it. Do you?”

His soft groan rumbled through the cavern as his hands shifted to cup her hips, compulsively pressing her to his thickening cock.

“Shit, if I liked it any more I would go up in flames,” he muttered, for the first time fully appreciating the powers that had become his when he’d been reborn a vampire.

He could hear every beat of her heart, feel the finest of tremors that shook her slender body, smell the midnight jasmine of her skin…the temptation of her rich blood.

His fangs throbbed in concert with his aching erection.

“I never knew…” She arched back to meet his hungry gaze. “Does it always feel like this?”

Unable to resist the sight of that slender neck arched in open invitation, Jagr lowered his head to nibble his way down the satin skin.

“No,” he rasped, his voice thick with need. “Never like this.”

She quivered as his tongue ran a searing path along the line of her collarbone.

“Then what’s happening?” Her fingers dug into his upper arms, as if her knees had suddenly become too weak to support her. “One minute I want to punch you in the nose, or at the very least get a restraining order, and the next…”

He nipped her earlobe, careful not to break the skin. One overwhelming lust was enough.

“And the next?”

“I want to strip off my clothes and feel your hands on my skin.”

Before she could even guess his intention, Jagr grasped the hem of her shirt, and with one smooth jerk had it pulled over her head. She gasped as he tossed it aside and just as easily rid her of the tiny white bra.