Levet (Guardians of Eternity #9.5)(11)

His jaw knotted, as if battling against the urge to toss her over his shoulder and haul her to the protection of his lair.

Predictable.

He wasn’t going to be happy until he had her locked away so he wouldn’t have to worry about her.

“Then why would you put yourself at risk?”

“I saw a creature in need so I did what I thought was necessary.” She met his burning gaze without flinching. “Besides, I was never at risk. I fired a few arrows from the bushes.”

“You think a bush would have protected you from gargoyles?”

She knocked away his hand, annoyed that even when she was furious with this vampire she still longed for his touch.

“This conversation is over.”

“Valla . . .”

“No.” She pointed a finger into his obscenely handsome face. “I’m not a child that needs to be told what I can or can’t do.”

The chill remained, but it was no longer edged with anger.

Instead, a far more dangerous emotion swirled through the air as he studied her with an unwavering focus that made her heart slam against her ribs.

“Believe me, I have never mistaken you for a child.”

Her lips parted to point out the numerous occasions he’d tried to coddle her, but the words went unspoken as he grasped her face in a firm grip and kissed her.

Or more precisely, he devoured her.

Her hands lifted to grasp his forearms as his tongue slipped between her lips, tangling with hers as he maneuvered her until her backside pressed against the counter.

He tasted of raw male power and opulent sensuality. A taste that was swiftly becoming her addiction.

A groan was torn from her throat as his thickening arousal pressed against her lower stomach, his fangs fully extended. Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach, spreading through her body.

Oh . . . crap, she was melting.

And it was the most wondrous thing she’d ever felt.

Easing his kiss, Elijah stroked his lips over her flushed cheek and then down the length of her neck, finding a sensitive hollow just below her collarbone.

Lightning zigzagged through her, setting her blood on fire with a need she’d never even dreamed possible.

When she was young she’d thought passion was a sweet, giddy emotion. She’d certainly felt it often enough among the nymph males who were renowned for their beauty. Then, she’d been captured by the slavers, and desire had become dark and ugly and terrifying.

Something to be avoided at all cost.

But now . . .

Now this vampire was revealing that physical need could be thrilling and consuming and so intense that she was shaking from the power of the sensations pulsing through her.

“Elijah,” she croaked.

“Hmm.”

“What are you doing?”

He chuckled, his hands skimming down her back before slipping beneath her shirt to tease the tense muscles of her stomach.

“Proving I do not see you as a child.”

“But . . .” She forgot how to speak as his hands skimmed up to cup her bare breasts. Nymphs never needed to wear bras. “Oh.”

He pressed his lips directly to her ear. “Do you like that?”

Like?

Her breath left her in a rush as his fingers teased the tips of her nipples to stiff peaks. Her toes curled in her shoes and her fingernails dug through the expensive silk of his shirt.

Dear god. It was nothing short of paradise.

“I can’t think,” she breathed.

“Bon.” His lips nuzzled up her throat and along the line of her jaw. “Just feel, mon ange.”

That was the problem. She was feeling too much.

The exquisite brush of his fingers over her sensitive breasts. The tantalizing press of his erection against her lower stomach. The silken glide of his tongue over her lips.

It was overwhelming.

She shivered. “This is madness.”

“The most delicious madness,” he murmured, kissing a path toward the side of her face she always kept turned.

Immediately she was jerked out of her sensual haze, a sharp-edged panic making her shove her hands against his chest.

“Don’t.”

Elijah stilled, seemingly caught off-guard by her reaction. Then slowly he lifted his head.

“Valla, look at me,” he commanded softly.

“I can’t.”

“Do you trust me?”

It was a ridiculous question.

They both knew that he was the one and only person in the entire world that she trusted.

Still, she knew that her answer was important.

“Yes.”

“Then look at me,” he urged.

It took a long minute to gather her courage. Then, with a frustrated sigh, she tilted back her head to discover him regarding her with a somber expression.

“Happy?”

His hands shifted to stroke her neck lightly. It was a gesture of reassurance from a vampire.

“Tell me what you see.”

“Fishing for compliments?” she tried to tease.

“I want you to look into my eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to see what I see.”

She found herself peering into the dark, velvety depths of his eyes. Not because he commanded. She no longer took orders from anyone. Especially not from an arrogant, sexy, overly possessive vampire.