His fangs lengthened when his eyes latchedonto the pulse beating within her neck. After what she’d beenthrough, she might never allow another to feed from her again, buthe desperately longed to taste her.
The muscles in his forearms flexed when herfingertips rested against the vein in his throat. The heightenedscent of her arousal caused his cock to harden in response. Hegritted his teeth against the growing pressure of his erection. Ifshe let him touch her, he’d have her stripped and be inside of herbetween this heartbeat and the next.
With a restraint he’d never known hepossessed, he remained unmoving while she continued her explorationof him. The only way anything between them would progress was ifshe trusted him, and that would require patience.
She ran her fingers over his mouth. Her eyesdilated when she saw the tips of his fangs, and she licked herlips. Her dampened lips caused something within him to unravel. Helifted his hand to rest it over hers.
The gentle touch didn’t cause the panic toimmediately well within her, but Mia didn’t know if it would soon.Sometimes, just when she thought she was perfectly fine, the panicwould hit her out of nowhere, and she didn’t want to take thechance of that happening right then. She was enjoying herself toomuch to risk ruining it by having a meltdown.
“Please just letmetouchyou,” she whispered.
He suppressed a groan as his hand fell backto his side. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve suchexquisite torture, but he knew he’d never deny her anything sheasked of him. Mia’s fingers dipped to the hollow of his throat. Sheran them along the edge of his coat collar.
“Unzip it,” he said hoarsely.
Mia’s eyes flew up to his when he utteredthe gruff command. “It’s cold out,” she protested.
“I’m anything but cold right now, Mia,” hereplied.
She swayed instinctively toward him asliquid heat spread between her legs. Like him, she was anything butcold. Her hands trembled as she pulled off her other mitten andshoved them both into her pockets. Taking hold of the coat’s zippershe tugged it. When it was halfway down, she spread the heavymaterial wider and slipped her hands inside. She rested her handson his chest, savoring the heat of his body as his skin rippledbeneath her palms. The rigid muscle of his pectorals flexed whenshe moved her fingers over them. His heart beat so wildly she couldfeel every pulse of it against his ribs as if it were her own.
She inhaled the increasing scent of him asshe slid lower over his chest toward his stomach. Her movementspushed the zipper farther down until her hands rested against thehard ridges of his abs beneath his navy blue sweater.
She’d never felt this attuned to anyonebefore, never been so aware of another’s reaction to her as hismuscles and skin rippled in reaction to her touch. Images ofrunning her tongue over the entire length of him, of tasting everyinch of his hard body, flashed through her mind until her kneeswent weak.
“You feel… amazing,” she breathed.
“Do whatever you wish to me. I won’t touchyou until you tell me to,” he promised. The way she pulled herplump lower lip between her teeth and nibbled on it had his cockhardening to the point of pain. He deserved to be named a saintafter this, but he wouldn’t touch her, not until she gave him theokay to do so.
“Anything?” she asked as her eyes flew up tohis.
“Anything.”
Her fingers slid lower to tug at the edge ofhis sweater. She pulled it up a few inches to reveal his tannedskin beneath. Between his woodsy scent, golden skin, and athleticbody, David seemed to be made of the outdoors.
Before she could think, she flattened herpalms against him and whimpered at the exquisite feel of his smoothskin stretched taut over his etched muscles. She traced every lineof his abdomen before running her fingers down the trail of blondhair from his belly button to the waistline of his jeans. She drankin the evidence of his need for her in the heavy bulge outlinedagainst his jeans.
The wetness between her legs grew as sheimagined taking him deep within her and riding him until both ofthem were too exhausted to move. But that would mean being close tosomeone in a way she’d never been close with anyone before. She’dbeen with multiple men over the years, but she’d never beenclosewith any of her partners. She didn’t even remembertheir names; they had simply been a diversion.
She would be close with David though. Shewould be opening herself up to him in ways that mattered far moreto her than sex did. Was she ready for that? No, she wasn’t, or atleast she didn’t think she was. However, she’d long ago startedliving in thenow. The past was too painful to stay in, thefuture too uncertain.
She may not be ready for what might developwith David, but right then she wanted to feel more of him, toexplore him further. Standing in the snow, at the edge of a lake,was not the way to do that.
“I think we should go back to the compound,”she said.
David’s breath exploded from him in a plumethat danced in the air.Patience, he remindedhimself.He’d never been an impatient man; he’d never seenthe point of it. Things would happen as they did and in their time.Trying to rush them wouldn’t make it happen any faster.
But his instincts were screaming at him totake her, to brand her, to make herhis. He couldn’t do anyof those things, yet, but he’d been enjoying watching her explorehim. He wasn’t ready to have that stop.
“Then we will go,” he somehow managed to getout.
Mia slid her hands away from his stomach,dipping them lower to his jeans where she cupped his heavy ballsand throbbing erection. His lips skimmed back to reveal his lengthyfangs. She made a mewling noise the likes of which she’d neverheard from herself before, as those fangs caused the yearning inher to grow deeper.
She’d been abused by those vampires who hadplaced her in chains. They’d hurt her in ways she’d never knownpossible when they’d drained her blood unwillingly from her, butshe knew it wasn’t always excruciating when vampires exchangedblood. And right now she craved David’s bite almost as much as shecraved his body.
“We are not done,” she murmured.
David thought his heart was going to tearout of his chest when she said those words, and her hand strokedthe rigid length of him through his jeans. If she would haveallowed it, he would have scooped her up in his arms and run allthe way back to the mansion with her. Instead, he watched as shestepped back and turned away from him.
