“I’m always wet around you.” She heard the surrender in her voice, but then what was she to do, fight what she had no heart to fight against?
“I know,” he whispered and nuzzled at her ear.
“Can I keep nothing from you?”
“Definitely not when it comes to making love and also tears, especially when tears accompany sex.”
“They’re not sad tears.”
“I know, but it still hurts me when you cry. To know that you have found no pleasure in something that should be mostpleasurable disturbs me, though it also pleases me to know that I am the first man who has ever satisfied you.”
“Satisfy is an understatement,” she said with a laugh.
He lowered her to her feet, and she unlocked her arms around his neck with reluctance.
“I wish I could see you,” she said, the darkness making everything seem surreal, but then everything had been surreal since she had walked into this house.
“Raise your arms,” he said, and she did without question.
She felt a towel slip around her, and he tucked the edge just above her one breast. He then took her hand and led her out of the bathroom to the bedroom where the light of the flickering fire in the fireplace cast a soft glow over the room...over them.
He wore a towel wrapped around his slim hips and his dark hair glistened, still damp from the shower.
“You are beautiful, especially in the throes of climax.”
She yanked her hand out of his. “You can see in the dark?”
“Yes, and I have never seen anything more beautiful then you when I made you come.”
Her heart skidded for a second and her stomach fluttered. What was this man doing to her? He was making her feel things she had never felt before. And worse, he was making it much too easy to fall in love with him.
She quickly chased the thought from her head, not wanting him to hear it. Not wanting to think it herself, for it was absurd. Wasn’t it?
“That’s not fair,” she said playfully. “You saw me, and I didn’t get to see you completely naked.
“I can remedy that,” he said and dropped his towel.
Lara stared; she couldn’t help it. He was gorgeous from top to bottom and definitely in between. If perfection existed, then he certainly was perfect, except—of course—he was a vampire. How did she ever get around that fact?
“I am who I am, Lara, nothing will change that,” he said and took a step toward her.
She didn’t step away from him; she didn’t want to. And that troubled her even more.
“Vampires aren’t the evil creatures portrayed in books and movies. We’re simply a different species from humans.”
“Far different,” she added. “You can kill in a single bite.”
“A useful trait,” he said with a smile.
“It’s not funny,” she scolded.
“I would never hurt you,” —his eyes darkened and the tips of his fangs peeked from beneath his upper lip— “though I would kill anyone who did.”
Lara shivered, his intense tone making it apparent that he would do just that. But why did he feel so compelled to protect her? They had only met. It was nothing more than lust that he felt for her. Wasn’t it?
She felt gentle warmth encircle her, as if wrapped in a loving embrace and she wanted to turn into it and burrow in its overwhelming comfort. Never had she felt so safe and secure in her life.
“Two choices, Lara,” Michael whispered in her ear, though he had not moved from where he was standing. “Join me in bed now, only if you’re ready for me to make you mine or have a drink with me and we can talk.”