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Neona stiffened, her face turning white.
“How do you do it? Is it a special plant that grows only in your valley? Is it in your food? Your water?”
“Stop!” She ran toward him and placed her hand over his mouth. “Don’t say the words. Please.” Tears glistened in her eyes.
He took her hand in his. “Neona.”
A tear slipped down her face. “Don’t say the secret out loud. If you do, I’ll be honor bound to . . .”
“To what?” He searched her eyes. “Do you really think you can kill me?”
She pulled her hand from his and yanked the knife from the door frame. “Don’t push me. You already know too much.” She pointed the knife at his chest. “Leave. Now. Please.”
Damn if she didn’t have the tip right over his heart. He tensed, ready to grab her with vampire speed. “No.”
She pressed enough to cut a hole in his jacket but not enough to draw blood. “Leave.”
“No.”
Another tear fell down her cheek. “I don’t want you here.”
“Liar.”
She skimmed the tip of the blade down his shirt, past his belt to his jeans. “Leave.” The tip scraped against the metal zipper.
He winced. “What happened to the daughter you wanted? And those ten climaxes?”
“I told you. I changed my mind.”
“Then I’ll change it back.” When she glanced up at him, he made his move, wrenching the knife from her hand and spinning her around so that he held her with one arm locked around her middle, the other around her shoulders with the knife pressed to her neck.
She gasped. “How did you move so fast?”
He nestled his cheek against hers and whispered in her ear, “Do you know why I keep refusing to leave?”
“Because you’re a stubborn fool?”
“That may be true, but should you say that when I have a knife to your throat?”
“I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”
“Ah. Maybe you trust me after all.”
“No.” She trembled when he nuzzled her ear.
“The reason I refuse to leave”— he planted kisses along her cheek—“is that I want you. I want to be your mate and cherish you forever.”
“It’s not possible,” she whispered.
“We’ll make it possible.” He slid the flat edge of the knife down her crossover tunic and sliced through the ribbon that tied it shut at her br**sts. “Don’t you feel it, Neona? I was meant to find you. To court you. To love you.”
She shuddered. “Please . . .”
“And you were meant to be mine.” He nudged the knife under her sash and sliced right through it. She gasped as her tunic fell open.
“Neona.” He tossed the knife aside and slipped his hand inside her tunic, splaying his hand against her bare skin. Her rib cage heaved with each breath.
He kissed a trail down her neck. “Spend the night with me. Spend every night with me.”
A moan escaped her. “Don’t you understand why I want you to leave?”
“You’re worried one of your friends will kill me.”
“Yes! They already suspect me. An owl reports to my mother every time you come here. I cannot allow you to risk your life just to see me.”
“You care about me, don’t you?”
She shook her head. “We cannot be together.”
“We can. Let me love you.” He slid his hand up to cup her breast.
She gasped. “How can I trust you? I know so little about you.”
“You know you want me.” He gently kneaded her breast, then ran his tongue along the curve of her ear. “Let your desire be greater than your fear.”
With a cry, she turned to face him and grabbed his jacket with her fists. “If you break my heart, I will kill you myself.”
“You have a deal.” He swung her up in his arms and strode inside the cabin.
Stand guard for us, he ordered the cat, then kicked the door shut after the leopard ran outside.
Chapter Ten
She was still afraid, Neona acknowledged as Zoltan stretched out on the bed beside her, but her desire had overpowered her fear. She needed to feel loved in a way that only Zoltan could give her. The way he touched her as if she was a rare treasure, the way he looked at her like he hungered for her soul, the way he kissed her as if they could melt together and become one.
He was kissing her now. Touching her. Making her stomach quiver and her heart race. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting more. More. Why was she so desperate? Was she falling in love? Or so starved for affection that she was fooling herself?
She shivered as he nibbled down her neck. “Zoltan.”
“Mmm?”
“This is happening so quickly. Is that . . . normal?”
He propped himself up on an elbow and looked at her. For a second, his eyes appeared red and glowing, and she tensed. But after he blinked, they resumed their usual amber color. It must have been a reflection from the fire blazing in the hearth.
“I’ll go as slowly as you want.” He brushed her hair back from her brow. “I know it’s hard for you to trust me.”
“I’m not sure I can trust myself. I’m hurting so much from losing my sister, I may be desperate to feel love.”
He frowned. “If that were the case, then you could go to the nearest village and pick any—”
“No, I couldn’t.” She’d seen many male villagers over the course of her life, and none of them had attracted her like Zoltan. She touched his cheek. “They’re not you.”
He turned his head to kiss her palm. “If your sister were still alive, would you feel differently about me?”
She grazed her fingertips along his whiskers. “No. I would feel the same.” So her fear was groundless. She would have known that earlier if she could have talked it through with her sister.
Her heart squeezed in her chest. From now on, it would be Zoltan whom she entrusted with her innermost thoughts and feelings. “No man has ever affected me the way you do.”
A corner of his mouth curled up. “That’s good. ’Cause I’m crazy for you.”
“Crazy?”
“I’ll try to explain myself better.” He skimmed a finger down her nose. “I think about you all the time. You’re the most beautiful, brave, and intriguing woman I’ve ever met.” He ran his finger over her lips. “I want to bring joy back into your life. Whenever I feel that your heart is aching, my heart aches with you.”
She sucked in a breath. How could she have questioned her feelings for this man? “I want you so much, I feel like my heart will burst. How can you be so perfect?”
He winced. “I’m not. There are things about me . . . you may not like.”
“I know. You’re a little slow to get in the mood.” She raked her fingers through his long, soft hair. “But we can work on that.”
His jaw shifted.
She wound a strand of his hair around her finger. “You’re also incredibly stubborn, but I like that, because it made you refuse to give up on me.”
“That is true. I will not give up on you. I will not betray you, nor abandon you.”
God, how she wanted to trust him. Was it as simple as this? A leap of faith? She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then take me, Zoltan. Make love to me.” She glanced down at his pants. “When you’re ready, that is.”
With a growl, he pressed himself against her.
“Oh.” Her breath caught. He was definitely ready.
He peeled her tunic open and gazed at her br**sts. She shivered under the heated look. Were his eyes turning red again? Before she could get a closer look, he leaned over her and teased a nipple with his tongue.
She gasped. “Oh! I didn’t realize—” She cried out when he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
“Zoltan.” She dug her fingers into his scalp.
He continued to suckle her, then grazed his whiskers across her chest to the other nipple.
Her thighs squeezed together as a deep yearning settled between her legs. Heat sizzled along her veins, making her want to throw off her clothes. She pulled at his jacket—
He sat up suddenly, his head turned toward the door.
She scrambled onto her knees and tugged at his jacket. “Take it off.”
