Still kneeling behind her, he moved in her gently, bringing them both down from that floating space they occupied. His hands urged her to move back into him just as gently so that her body rippled and pulsed around him. He kissed the base of her spine, murmuring to her in his own language, his hands caressing her buttocks and smoothing over her thighs. Then he very gently slipped out of her. Gabrielle couldn’t help the small cry of protest at the loss.
He helped her to lie down, keeping his hands on her, tucking her into his side as he turned his body into hers. He kissed her eyes. Her nose. Moved his mouth gently over hers and then kissed her chin.
“Are you all right?”
“That was perfect.”
“So you enjoyed your punishment?” he asked, nuzzling her throat. She felt his smile against her pulse. “I certainly did. I liked seeing the way you look with such an intriguing color, my hand caressing all that heat.”
“Uh-oh. You’re in trouble, Aleksei, if that was my punishment. I’ll end up being like the bad girl of the century.”
His hand moved over the stretchy lace. Found her nipple and tugged. “This is a beautiful covering. I like to look at your body, but if you have to be covered, this is sexy. You are very sexy, Gabrielle.”
She snuggled closer to his heat. “Thank you. I like that you know what you want, Aleksei. I don’t have to worry. I’m a worrier. I never think I do anything right, and when you take charge like that, I love it.”
He shifted just a little so he could nuzzle her breast. Her body pulsed. She really was hungry for him. He didn’t seem to mind that she wanted his body so much.
“I like things a certain way, Gabrielle. You are my lifemate, my other half. It is natural that you would suit my needs and I would suit yours.” His tongue lapped at her nipple through the lace as if the stretchy fabric intrigued him. She wished she’d thought to add taste to the texture. Maybe next time.
“I like them your way, then,” she said. “If someone had ever told me I would like a spanking, I would have told them they were nuts, that I’m not a child.”
He nuzzled her breast again. “O jelä sielamak, an erotic spanking is far different than a man slapping the hell out of his woman. If you did not enjoy it, we would not have done it.”
“Even to punish me?”
“Of course not. I can think of far more creative ways to make you beg for forgiveness.”
The sensual note in his voice made her shiver. She realized the “punishment” wasn’t his hand on her bare bottom, but building the need in her until she begged him for mercy. She laughed softly. “You are very creative, Aleksei, and I appreciate that as well.”
His mouth moved right over the lace and pulled her breast deep inside where it was hot and moist. She was still ultrasensitive and the feel of his mouth through the lace fabric was sexy, exciting, and it sent streaks of fire straight to her feminine channel. She pulsed and throbbed. Needing. She had to get a handle on her cravings.
She liked how he fit her so close to his body. She loved his mouth suckling at her breast. She loved that she could wrap her arm around his waist and that his thigh was over hers and the other was in between hers. It felt safe. Sensual. Perfect. She suddenly wanted to know everything there was to know about him.
“When you thought about having a lifemate, what kind of world did you want for yourself? Where did you want to live?”
He moved his head slightly, unlatching from her nipple, his tongue broad and flat, stroking caresses there. “I thought only of making my lifemate happy. Of claiming her and being done with darkness. During those times, I imagined I would still hunt the undead. I did not have demons dwelling in me. Or such unrelenting darkness.”
She rubbed her hand over his chest, smoothing over his bare skin right down to his flat belly. She liked all the muscle. So much of it. Better than any six-pack she’d ever seen. She liked that he seemed to enjoy snuggling with her. She liked how strong he was. How in a world that seemed to be constantly shifting out from under her, Aleksei was a rock, a steady anchor. More, she just plain loved sex with him.
“What about you, Gabrielle. What do you want?”
She opened her mouth to tell him all about her dream home. The house. The gardens. The white picket fence. The children laughing and the all-important porch swing. She closed her mouth just as fast. Did she even know what she wanted anymore? That had been her human dream. What was her Carpathian dream?
“Kislány.”
His word for baby. The soft way he said it turned her heart over. Melted her insides. He was in her mind. She felt him there. Filling her emptiness, those lonely places, just as his cock filled her sheath. Already he was becoming a part of her. In her mind, he was the best part.