She could no longer tell where she was, where she ended and he began. She existed out of time, in some place where there was nothing at all but passion, need, hunger, desire.
“Damien,” she heard herself groan as if from a distance. “Please...” Never before in her life had she begged.
She gasped as she felt him nip her clitoris, a pleasure-pain so intense she felt as if she had been launched from a catapult.
He murmured something and then, at last, he slid up over her, sliding into her all too ready and wet depths, filling her body, filling her soul. He pumped into her, slowly at first, giving her a chance to fully enjoy the feelings of union.
But then he speeded up, carrying her away, erasing everything from her mind but the point at which their bodies joined, making her forget everything except that intense concentration of feeling.
Up, up, until she could no longer catch her breath. Then with one deep thrust, he caused her to shatter into a million flaming pieces as if she had fallen right into the sun.
Stars exploded behind her eyelids, her body gave one last huge clench and then she fell into empty space, drifting as light as feather down.
Chapter 13
Caro returned to reality slowly. She discovered she was unbound and wrapped in Damien’s naked body as he cradled her close.
When she opened her eyes, the view over his shoulder told her the time. Nearly three in the morning? She felt a little shock, as she had certainly not been aware of how many hours had passed.
Her movement drew his attention. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’ve never been better,” she admitted frankly. “That was something else.”
A quiet laugh escaped him.
“Did it work?” she asked.
“On which level?”
“Power?”
“Oh, definitely.” He moved a little away from her and held up his arm. “See?”
Indeed she could. Those crackles of electricity she had before seen only around his fingers now danced along his entire arm. They vanished when he lowered it and drew her back into his embrace.
“Now reach out,” he suggested. “See if you’ve been enhanced.”
She did. It grew easier every time, and moments after she closed her eyes and sent her senses forth, she gasped. “I can see through Jude’s wards now.”
“It worked,” he said quietly. “We combined to create greater power in us both.”
“We combined to have one helluva time.”
He laughed, one of those rare laughs it always made her so happy to hear. “That we did,” he agreed.
Much as she didn’t want to move a muscle yet, much as she wanted to stay wrapped in him and savor the afterglow, she said, “We need to go hunting.”
“Indeed we do, but I’m not sure there are enough hours left. So relax a little while longer.”
“I thought you said this would take only a couple of hours.”
“Usually. But I wanted to share it all with you, and take my time. Are you angry?”
“Angry? How could I be after the most amazing experience of my life?”
“You make me happy, Schatz. Very happy. Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” She snuggled in closer, telling herself that if they didn’t have time tonight, they didn’t have time. He would know. “Will our power weaken by tomorrow?”
“No, it’ll last at least a few days. We’ll be as strong tomorrow night as right now. Ready to face a bokor.”
“So we won’t need to repeat this?”
Again he laughed. “We can repeat this anytime you want.”
That sounded suspiciously like a promise, but she warned herself not to take it that way. He’d already said he couldn’t give her what she wanted, that he would be returning to Cologne. She refused to think about losing him, though, because the mere thought of it made her heart ache.
Oh, crap, had she gone and given her heart to a vampire who didn’t want it? No, she assured herself. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t have happened so quickly. No way.
No, she was just feeling the afterglow of the best sexual experience of her life. She was so very glad she hadn’t allowed fear to hold her back. Who would have thought that she’d respond in such a way to being bound and whipped?
The memory of the gentle whipping between her legs made her cheeks heat a little. No, that thought would never have entered her head. And now that she knew how it could make her feel, she was going to want a lot more of it. A lot.
Too bad Damien and his clever little whip would be leaving. Especially since she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to give anyone that much trust again.
She certainly couldn’t imagine having done this with anyone in her past.
Damien had opened entire new worlds to her in a short space of time, and as she rested against him, she honestly wondered what had happened to the woman who had wanted nothing more than to become a detective.
That Caro seemed to have vanished. She hoped it was only temporary, because after Damien left she was going to have to pick up the pieces of her real life. She certainly wasn’t going to become one of those women who ran shops full of esoterica simply because she had discovered the powers her grandmother had always told her she had.
But maybe she could find ways to use her newfound skills to solve crimes. At least then it might be easier to handle.
Jude seemed to make a business of this kind of thing. Maybe she could help him as she had time.
Then she realized she was planning for Damien’s departure. Her throat ached and her chest grew tight. She didn’t want to think about that now, didn’t want to be planning it. There was time left, and if she were smart, she’d set her sights on enjoying every last bit of it.
“Schatz? What saddened you?”
“Nothing.”
“I can smell it,” he reminded her.
“Damn your nose. It was just a passing thought. Nothing important.”
Without even looking at him she could tell he didn’t really believe her. She could almost feel him deciding whether to question her further. Maybe her senses were growing.
“If you’re worried about another death,” he said slowly, “we can at least hunt for the bokor tonight, although I’m not at all certain we’ll find him in time to confront him. Sadly, I have a limitation at dawn. It’d be very bad to get into the middle of the fight and then have to quit, giving him another day to prepare after he knows what he’s up against.”
“I get it,” she admitted reluctantly. “No, I see the point.”
“Then?”
“Nothing. Truly nothing.” Because there was no way she was going to admit how much she wanted him to stay for a long, long time. How little she wanted to give him up.
He’d not only shown her new worlds, but he’d filled some emptiness in her that she hadn’t even known existed until him.
But what was that emptiness? Not having a lover? Not acknowledging her powers? Or a combination of both? She supposed she would get her answer only when he left.
“You know,” he said, distracting her from her morose line of thought, “I’d believed I lost my powers.”
“Really?” She tipped her face back to look at him. “Why?”
“Because I hadn’t been able to summon them for so long. I thought perhaps centuries of being a vampire had caused them to wane. Then when I’d been near you for a few days, I could feel them start to come back. I think it was being near your powers that reawakened mine.”
“Awesome. But I don’t have that much power.”