Her arms circled his neck. She fit her body close into the cradle of his hips. “Now you are trying to scare me by sounding like a stalker. Just make love to me. Does it matter that we may have to talk about our future later?”
She smelled so good. Clean and fresh and tempting. Her head was back, her throat alluring. Byron buried his face against her neck. Against temptation. His tongue found her pulse. Felt the beat. The rhythm went through his body so that he shuddered with the pleasure of it. With the hunger of it. His need was so intense he burned throughout every cell in his body. Teeth teased her skin over her throbbing pulse point. He inhaled her scent. “It matters that you know I tried to court you in the way of your people.” He closed his eyes, aching with need.
“I think you did an admirable job.” She rubbed her body against his, much like a cat, skin to skin.
His mouth moved over her neck, left a trail of fire, of flames. His teeth scraped gently back and forth, his arms tightened possessively. His body was alive against hers, hard and thick with life and energy and hunger. Matching the hunger sizzling in his veins. His mouth moved, once, twice. Mesmerizing her.
Antonietta’s entire body clenched in reaction. Heat spread, built like a wildfire. A firestorm of need and far more emotion than she wanted to admit. There was white-hot pain, instantly giving way to erotic pleasure flooding her body, heart, mind, and soul. He lifted her as if she weighed no more than a feather, as if she were his entire world. She felt like she floated across the room, a dream of passion such as she’d never known.
He murmured to her, the caress of his tongue stealing the ache from her neck as he laid her on the bed, his body blanketing hers. His mouth drifted over her face, her eyes, settled on her mouth.
How could you think I would not love you?
His teeth teased her chin, feathered down her throat to blaze a path of fire to the swell of her breast.
Antonietta cried out, arched into him, craving more. She cradled his head to her while her body rippled in response, tightening in exquisite need. Hunger built, swamping her with its strength, until she was frantic for him to be inside her, frantic for some semblance of relief. “Byron, don’t wait.” She tried tugging him to her, trying to drag him over her, her hips urging him into her. Byron was patient, taking his time, his hands leisurely exploring her body, memorizing every detail, imprinting her body on his mind for all time.
Antonietta closed her eyes, the pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, as his mouth moved over her belly, lower to explore the triangle of curls. She felt frantic to have him. To feel him deep inside of her. The need was so strong, so intense, her entire body shook. Everywhere he touched her, kissed her, she ached and burned for more.
His hands parted her thighs. She waited, holding her breath, and then the air exploded from her lungs as he tasted her, as he stroked and caressed and brought her body to full life. His name came out in a sobbing plea for mercy. Antonietta had never wanted anyone more. Byron. Only he could complete her. Her fingers found the silk sheets, bunched there, as waves of ecstasy swept over her, through her. She transferred her hold to his hair because she couldn’t, wouldn’t burn alone.
Byron lifted his head, slid over the top of her, his hips settling lovingly into the cradle of hers, a coming home. She was wet and hot and slick, so tight he gasped with joy as he entered her. One slow inch at a time.
His entire body shuddered with pleasure. He caught her hips in his hands, surged forward to bury himself deep inside of her. A safe haven. His world was changed forever. He no longer walked the earth utterly alone. He would never be alone again. Antonietta changed his world. Brought him light in his unrelenting darkness. He tilted her hips, wanting more, wanting her to take all of him.
Antonietta’s body rippled with life, an earthquake that went on and on until she thought she might die of ecstasy. Nothing had prepared her for the strength and intensity of her orgasms with Byron. She hadn’t expected such a gift. No previous experience had even come close. She actually sobbed, her senses so heightened, her body so sensitized, his every movement sent whips of dazzling pleasure sizzling through her.
Her world narrowed to one man, one being, his body moving in perfect rhythm with hers. Blood sang in her veins, her pulse pounded in her ears. Music rose in a crescendo as he threw back his head, his body driving deep into hers, long, hard surges meant to weld them together. Two halves of the same whole. Antonietta thought she screamed with the intensity of it, with the dark endless joy sweeping through her. Byron’s voice blended with hers, or maybe it was only in her mind, she honestly couldn’t tell. There was only the heat and fire and blessed melting together until they were exhausted, two puddles lying in ecstasy on the sheets.
Chapter 9
His body shuddering with pleasure, Byron put his lips against her ear and whispered a command. His fingernail lengthened, razor-sharp, and slowly opened a wound on his chest. He pressed her mouth to his skin. The first touch of her lips had him gasping, whips of lightning dancing in his bloodstream. He heard the words beating in his mind. His heart. His soul. Clamoring to be said aloud. The beast lifted its head, unsheathed its claws, and roared loudly for its mate. Ti amo.
If I have been remiss in telling you,
ti amo
, Antonietta.
He took a deep, calming breath for both of them, holding on to his control while he fought down madness. “I claim you as my lifemate, I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be placed above my own. You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care.”
He could feel the ties binding them, millions of threads tying them together for all eternity. Everything inside him shifted and settled. Peace stole into his heart and mind. He gently stopped her from taking more of his lifeblood than necessary for a true exchange. He woke her from the enthrallment with a long, drugging kiss, taking the haze from her mind, pouring the intensity of his emotions into the kiss.
Antonietta wrapped her arms around Byron’s neck, giving him back kiss for kiss, reveling in the thickness of his body buried deep inside of her. “I’ve never felt like this in my life. Never.” For one moment there was a peculiar taste in her mouth, not unpleasant, but unfamiliar, but then it was gone, and fire sizzled hot and out of control.
“You sound so astonished.” Byron nuzzled her throat. “You obviously had little expectations.”
She laughed, and there was real joy in her voice. “I had great expectations, and you lived up to every one of them.” She wanted to hold him forever. Her hands smoothed his hair, found his back, moved to inspect his chest. “Roll over. I want to check your stomach. I still can’t believe you’re alive. I was so certain you were dead. I reached for you, over and over, but I couldn’t connect.”
Reluctantly, Byron eased out of her, separating them. At once he felt bereft. “I think I will have to make love to you again, Antonietta.”
Her fingertips found the wound in his chest. “You should be dead.”
“Yes. My kinsman saved my life by giving me his blood. Where is Paul? Has he been questioned?”
She pressed her lips to the wound. “Not by me. I couldn’t bear to talk to any of them. I didn’t want to hear his excuses.” She shivered suddenly. “I didn’t realize that it was cold in here. I didn’t even notice, you should have told me.”