Zacarias didn’t like sharing control with anyone or anything. He nodded his head and laid his hand on Thunder’s neck. Instantly he felt the horse’s spirit brush against his. He knew he could do nothing to hide his nature from the animal. He was born to lead, and if the horse didn’t accept the dominance in him, there would be disappointment for Marguarita.
Her soft amusement slid into his mind. There you go again. You disregard your own feelings. The disappointment will be yours. You want to do this. Thunder knows and he’ll do as you wish. I want this for you, because you want it, not for myself. It’s all right if you’d rather just watch me ride.
“Not a chance. I will be at your side every moment you are outside and exposed to danger.” He couldn’t help the hard edge in his voice—the one that should have told her there was no give to that side of him.
Marguarita smiled at him, caught the horse’s neck and leaped on in one smooth, practiced movement. He could see how her male jeans were an asset. The moment the thought entered his head, so did the memory of her body encased in nothing but black lace. A thick erection was not going to be an asset on the back of a horse and he willed the erotic picture of her out of his mind.
It was easy enough to slip onto Thunder’s back—after all, he was Carpathian and could levitate—but it wasn’t quite as easy ridding himself of the picture of Marguarita’s body, bare but for those small wisps of lace, her cloud of blue-black hair tumbling like a waterfall down to her waist. He raised his head and looked at her. Her eyes met his, full of mischief, sexy, dark desire flickering in their depths.
She was temptation. And she was fun. Her soft amusement stroked him like fingers, and the flow of her spirit into his was suggestive, sensual, erotic, her mind circling his thickening cock like a fist and stroking. Her eyes transformed to dark, melting chocolate, filled with lust—for him.
Her horse turned abruptly and exited the stables. Horse and rider flowed over the ground, not at a particularly fast pace, but a ground-eating four-beat gait that was breathtaking. He urged Thunder to follow, and the horse immediately responded, taking them from the stable. Zacarias felt almost as if he were floating through the air. He felt every muscle of the powerful animal beneath him, felt the joy in the horse as it trotted over the ground, gathered itself and sailed over the fence right behind the mare.
As connected as he was, spirit to spirit with Thunder, he felt the way the earth seemed to rise up to meet the dancing hooves, he felt the wildness as the wind blew the mane across the horse’s face as he trotted. They flew across the field and then the next one, riding the edge of the rain forest where the tangle of fern, trees and wildflowers winding up trunks added to the beauty of the moment.
He urged Thunder to Sparkle’s side so that the horses moved in perfect unison. Marguarita sent him a smile and his cock stirred again. The moon spilled down a silver glow over her, pushing moonbeams into her hair. Her skin was gorgeous, and her spirit was alive in his, all that hot flowing magma, slowing working its way through his mind and deeper, into his soul. She filled those empty, jagged holes with her brightness.
He looked for her smile. He watched carefully for the desire rising in her eyes. He waited for the moonlight to shine through the silken strands of her hair. Moments of beauty. Of pure delight. He’d never known such things and now, in her, everything he needed was there, in this strange human woman. He was beginning to realize life with another was lived in moments. Heartbeats of time, and this was one of them. A perfect moment. It would last centuries, stored in his mind to be pulled out again and again as if it were brand-new.
She reached out to him and he linked his hand with hers. They walked the horses along the fence line and he found he was at complete peace. The sound of the hooves hitting rock and ground added to the rhythmic beauty of the horses’ easy gait. The wind blew gently and the stars vied for space in the sky.
“You keep giving me incomparable gifts, Marguarita. What have I given you?”
She was silent a moment, her dark eyes moving over his face. You. Your life. You stayed with me against everything in you telling you it was time to go. You stayed when I asked. You know better than I the future we face together. You were weary of fighting, and yet, when I asked, you stayed. Thank you.
“I meant every word of the ritual binding vows. I will cherish you and place you above all others. I am a dominant being, I cannot change what is fundamental in me, Marguarita, no matter how much either of us would wish it, but I will see to your happiness.”
I see into your heart, Zacarias. I know you will.
“The things I demand of you will not always be easy,” he warned.
I was aware of that the moment I realized you were not vampire and I had condemned you once again to this world. I took the time to see who you are. I know you are not a modern man and it worries you that I will one day rebel against the chains you put on me. Her fingers tightened around his and they locked gazes. If it is what you need—truly need—my obedience to your will in that moment, it will be the most important thing in the world to me. No matter how hard. I meant what I said when I asked you to stay. I serve you out of choice. I want your happiness.
He knew the truth of her words. She was prepared for his dominance, but she also realized things he did not. She had taken into account his feelings for her. He didn’t recognize those emotions ninety percent of the time, or acknowledge them, yet she knew they were there and that the feelings were growing each moment in her company.
He tried one more time to let her know what it would be like with him. “I will rarely leave your mind, Marguarita. You will never be alone, never have a thought I do not know. Every breath in your body, I will feel. I will know where you are, who you talk with. There will be nowhere that you can go that I will not be with you.”
She smiled at him and let go of his hand to lean forward and pat the neck of her horse. I am growing used to feeling your eyes on me and it’s becoming lonely when I am without you in my mind. I had not realized how truly alone one can be until I felt you inside me.
Zacarias took control of both horses, turning them back toward the stables. He wanted to be inside more than her mind. He wanted to see her body without the denim hugging her skin so lovingly. He needed the feel of her hands on him, the hot velvet of her mouth fitting tightly over him. He looked at her, knowing she could see the hunger in his smoldering gaze.
Her answer was that small, mysterious, all too sensual smile that teased his cock into hardness. He urged Thunder forward, needing Marguarita. She’d given him this night, a gift, and he wanted more. Maybe he would always want more.
Marguarita contemplated Zacarias’s thoughts as she quickly rubbed down the horses and led them into their stalls with a small mixture of hay and feed for thanks before turning to face her man. Excitement had been building in her from the moment she’d slipped the lacy underwear on right in front of him. It had been a daring thing to do and made her damp just thinking about it.
The erotic images in Zacarias’s head made that dampness grow into distinct wetness. He couldn’t fail to scent her welcoming call to him, but she took her time, letting the sexual tension stretch out right there in the stable while she washed her hands and dried them carefully before she turned to him.
How can I please you? She loved the sound of inquiry, that soft submissive questioning. She didn’t need a voice or words to indicate she wanted her hands and mouth on him, that she wanted his every desire met—by her.