When Darkness Ends (Guardians of Eternity #12)(25)

“How long can you maintain your connection?”

She shrugged. “As long as I want.”

Cyn felt an unexpected sense of pride spread through his heart as he moved to stand at her side, his fingers smoothing a stray curl behind her ear.

“No wonder Siljar was so anxious to get her hands on you.” His lips twisted in a rueful grin as he felt tiny sparks of pleasure shoot from the tips of his fingers directly to his groin. “I know the feeling.”

Instant arousal pulsed in the air, the scent of warm champagne making him hard with need.

His fingers drifted over the pale silk of her cheek, moving to outline the sweet temptation of her lips.

“Cyn,” she breathed.

His mind was filled with delicious images of her mouth wreaking havoc as it explored his naked body, eventually taking his aching erection between those lush lips and . . .

“Hmm?” he murmured.

“What are you doing?”

“The hell if I know.” His voice was a low growl.

“Your lover—”

“Lise is my most trusted lieutenant, not my lover,” he interrupted with a grimace. He’d been an idiot to ever have suggested there might be more between him and his clan mate.

“It doesn’t matter.” She licked her lips, the exotic emerald flecks in her amber eyes darkening with an unconscious invitation. “This isn’t happening.”

He slowly lowered his head, giving her plenty of opportunity to pull away.

“This?” He pressed a line of kisses down the length of her stubborn jaw. “Or this?” He gently bit her lower lip, allowing her to feel the razor-sharp points of his fangs.

Not a threat. A promise of the pleasure to be found in a vampire’s arms.

She released a shaky breath, her lashes sweeping down in a futile attempt to disguise her primitive reaction to his touch.

“Don’t mock me.”

He pressed his lips to the vulnerable curve of her throat. His fangs ached to slide into her tender flesh, drinking deep of her rich, decadent blood.

“We’re going to be trapped here together.”

“And?”

“And there’s no reason we can’t enjoy our captivity.”

For one delectable second he felt her melt beneath the soft exploration of his lips, her skin heating with an arousal she couldn’t disguise. Then, as if she’d been struck by a sudden, unwelcome thought, her hands lifted to press against his chest, her head tilting back to stab him with an accusing glare.

“You intend to make me an addition to your harem.”

Harem?

He was momentarily confused. Granted, he was a vampire who’d enjoyed his share of females. Sometimes more than one at a time. But his lovers had always been eager to be in his bed. He’d never kept a stable of women who felt compelled to offer him their bodies.

Then his fangs lengthened as he recalled why she would be so suspicious.

Dammit. How dare she compare him to her faithless fiancé who kept a herd of females rather than devoting himself to pleasing this exquisite, utterly captivating creature?

“I’m not Magnus. I would never parade a pack of concubines beneath the nose of the woman who was to become my mate.”

He instantly regretted the words as she paled, her eyes shadowed with a soul-deep pain.

“Don’t.”

“Hell, I’m sorry,” he rasped. What the hell was wrong with him? This beautiful fairy princess was truly screwing with his mind. With a jerky motion he was turning, heading for the door before he could make the situation even worse. “I left your food and clothes in the hallway.”

“Where are you going?”

His cowardly retreat never faltered. “To save the damn world.”

Chapter Six

Fallon was settled in the center of the floor, watching the images flicker in the bowls as she seethed over the vampire’s assumption that she was going to become another notch on his bedpost.

Or at least, she told herself it was anger that was heating her blood and sending tiny quakes through her body. Because there was no way she was going to admit that it might be heart-pounding, gut-wrenching desire.

That was . . . unacceptable.

The oversized vampire was just like her worthless fiancé.

No, wait. That wasn’t fair.

Magnus was an aloof, self-absorbed bastard who considered his giggling gaggle of groupies his right because he was a prince.

Cyn, on the other hand, was a charming brute who obviously adored women. And if Fallon was being completely honest with herself, she’d admit that her anger was directed more at her own reaction to his experienced touch.

She might not want to admit that she was as susceptible as the next female to a blatant playboy, but there was no doubt a very large part of her wanted to ignore her duty to her father and her virginal wedding bed.

How would it feel to forget she was a princess and just give in to the passion that exploded through her whenever Cyn was near?

A tiny shiver of anticipation raced through her body.

She sensed he would be a powerful lover. But tender. And thorough. Head to toe, and everywhere in between, thorough.

The sort of lover that would make a woman know she was in the hands of an expert.

Lost in the fantasy of being deliciously ravished by the vampire clan chief, Fallon was unaware of the tiny gargoyle who was silently crossing the room. Not until she nearly jumped out of her skin when a soft, male voice spoke directly into her ear.