"Do it again," he said, his voice hoarse, his eyes almost black.
"But if it's burning you—"
It's a good burn. Do it again, Hasi. Feel what I feel.
My worry dissipated at his command. Obediently I merged into his mind, feeling his reaction as I stirred the chocolate, painting another ward on his sternum. His body clenched as the warm chocolate touched his flesh, but it was the act of tracing the ward that left a little tingle on his skin. He was right. It was a good burn. It was just hot enough that it left his skin sensitive, but not so hot that it hurt. I smiled my most wicked smile, and lolled across him to retrace the ward with my tongue.
He bucked beneath me, an erotic pleasure skittering between us as the protection ward sizzled to life. Hasi, if you knew what you do to me…
What makes you think I don't know? I asked, painting another ward on his hipbone, sucking it off as soon as it glowed gold. Next to my head, his arousal was standing at attention, all hard unabashed maleness. I sucked the last bit of chocolate from his hip, turning my head to consider it. I'm thinking I need to ward Vlad the Impaler here.
His eyebrows rose as I got to my knees, stirring the brush in the cooling chocolate. It has never been at risk before. What exactly do you intend that you must draw a protection ward on that part of me?
I leaned forward and dragged my tongue along the sensitive underside. Adrian almost rose off the bed. Who said anything about a protection ward? Allie showed me something while the chocolate was melting. I'm going to ward this puppy for stamina.
Adrian groaned as I painted the strength symbols on his penis, his hands clutching the bedspread convulsively as the soft brush swirled around his shaft, curling around the head before swooping back down to the base. Admittedly, it was an overly elaborate version of a strength ward, but the rapturous anticipation that Adrian felt with each stroke of the brush made it worth a little extra effort.
"Is it burning?" I asked as I set the bowl and brush down, glancing up to his face.
His eyes had rolled back in his head.
"Yes," he said in a half groan, half gasp.
"Good." I nudged his knees aside and crawled between his legs, looking with no little pride at his chocolate-covered arousal. Warded as it was, it could probably bring down a few trees should Adrian wish to put it to that use.
I, however, had other plans for him.
His hips shot up as my tongue began to trace the ward, his fingers tangling in my hair as I moved up and down, around and around, retracing the ward's elaborately detailed design. By the time I reached the end of the ward, his body was as tightly strung as I had been in the museum, his jaw clenched with strain. I dipped into his mind and felt the enormous restraint he'd clamped down on the surge of need and want and desire that filled him, just so that I'd be able to complete my love play. His body and mind told me what I'd suspected—the flicks of my tongue had fired him to the point of spontaneous combustion, but it hadn't satisfied his true need.
"Dessert was fun, but now I'm hungry for the main course," I whispered as I straddled his hips, guiding his now slick length to where my body was crying for him, mentally querying him as to whether he was ready.
"Christus, Hasi, yes! Take me inside you now!"
I sank down upon him, reveling in the sensation of him invading my body, his velvet-covered steel shaft stretching me anew, burrowing deeper until it seemed as if he had touched the very center of me. Adrian groaned as I sat still for a moment, cherishing the feeling of his heartbeat so deep within me.
As you are within me, Hasi. You are life itself. I could not exist without you. You are everything. He sat up, his hands on my hips to guide my movements as his lips nuzzled my collarbone, slipping down to where my breast ached for him. I arched back, my breasts thrust forward as I heeded his direction, setting a pace that left me breathless with elation as I rode him. His bliss folded into mine, sending us both spiraling. A warm touch on my breast had me jerking in surprise.
You are right, his voice rubbed inside my head with the sinuous grace of a cat. I should not say I dislike chocolate before I try it.
My breath caught in my throat as his mouth descended to my nipple, now covered with warm chocolate. My breast ached, positively ached for his touch, and when it came, first the soft wetness of his tongue, then the gentle tugging of his teeth, finally a hard suckling, I almost exploded with rapture.
My orgasm caught me by surprise, but even in the middle of it I realized that Adrian wanted more.
Take it, my love. Take what you need from me, I coaxed, pulling his head tighter to me as my body burst into a shower of euphoric sparks, lighting up us both. He didn't hesitate, his teeth piercing the soft flesh of my breast. I knew from the need within him that, after feeding earlier, he sought my blood not as a form of sustenance, but to satisfy the primal need in him to bind us together in all ways, body and soul, life to life. As my blood mingled with his, he poured life into me, his climax so elemental that it seemed to rock our world, ripping a scream of pleasure from me that flew straight to the heavens.
Minutes, hours, days later I pulled myself from where I was plastered against his chest, my body weak and shaking with the effects of our lovemaking.
"You think anyone heard that?" I summoned enough strength to ask.
Adrian lay exhausted, his eyes closed, his body still. The only sign I had that he was alive was the chest that heaved with ragged breathing beneath me. He spoke without opening his eyes, as if he were too tired to even manage that. I was strangely pleased by that. "Hasi, I believe everyone in greater London heard your scream of completion."
I propped an elbow on his slick chest, frowning down on him. His stubborn jaw and lower cheeks were shadowed with reddish brown whiskers, the black slash of his eyelashes suddenly parting, framing eyes of the purest indigo. I leaned forward until my lips teased him. "I love you, Adrian. I don't know how we're going to defeat Saer, but I promise you, I will never let you go."
His fingers tightened on my hips. We may have no choice.
There are always choices, I answered, sucking his lower lip into my mouth. We just need to find them.
A sudden burst of emotion swept over me, originating in Adrian as his arms wrapped like steel bands behind me, crushing me to his chest. His mouth moved on mine, ceasing my teasing touches, his tongue sweeping inside in a move of blatant possession. I will fight to the death for you, Hasi. You are light and love and life. You saw good in me when no one else did. Do not believe I would give you up so easily. I love you with all the passion I possess. I love you with every beat of my heart. I love you with every atom of my being.
My tears mingled with his as I lay clinging to him, seeking reassurance and offering everything I had. We were bound together by a love too strong to be destroyed.
Or so I prayed.
Chapter Nineteen
"We have got to get rid of Saer," I announced as I preceded Adrian and my cadre of mummies into the long, L-shaped room that a housekeeper had pointed out as Christian's library. It had nothing on the library in his castle, but was interesting enough that I paused to eye an incomplete suit of armor before facing Christian and Allie. "Adrian and I are madly in love, and I'm not going to stand for Saer trying to destroy him. Something's got to give, and I intend to see that it's Saer."