Dark Promises(95)

Fane knew he was taking unfair advantage of his lifemate, but right then, it didn’t matter. She wanted to leave him. She had a life far from the Carpathian Mountains, one she wasn’t willing to give up. He could live with that. She had no intention of incorporating him into her world. He couldn’t live with that. He had thought to give her time, to allow her to get used to the idea of Carpathians in the world and then she would become one and live with him.

Andre chased the master vampire. That meant the human assassins, the puppet traveling among them and any lesser vampires would be trying to reach the monastery. Fane had the other ancients to protect. He couldn’t allow them to battle. A single kill could send them over the edge. He knew Aleksei would stand with him, but, although Aleksei had a lifemate and had completed the bond, he wasn’t certain how far the darkness in the man had spread, or if it would continue to spread with each new kill.

There was no living without this woman. She didn’t see herself as he did. She saw herself in human terms. She considered herself old. She was a mere child by Carpathian standards, barely out of her teens. He knew she thought herself too old for him, but that was more amusing than anything else.

Standing so close to her, her mouth moving over his skin, drinking his essence, his body went hard. Aching. He wanted her again. They needed to talk, to sort things out, but his body wasn’t going to wait for that to happen. She was so beautiful. He especially loved her skin. The color. The feel. The way her muscles moved under all that softness. The way her lush curves invited his body to paradise.

Her second exchange. So close. Only one more and she walked fully in his world. She would not be able to be comfortable without him close, but he was in her mind and she had determination. Absolute determination. His lady wouldn’t hesitate to place herself in an uncomfortable situation, or sacrifice herself for someone she loved. She loved her family and she didn’t consider Fane a part of that—yet.

Enough, he said softly, and inserted his hand between her mouth and the laceration he had made over his pulse.

To distract her as his body healed, and because there was nothing else he wanted more, he tipped her face up to his and took her mouth. Her tongue tangled with his and hot spikes of desire pierced deep. Her hand slid under his shirt to find warm skin. The feel of her palms moving over him, her body pressing close, was every bit as amazing and wonderful as the first time he touched her. Kissed her. Felt her skin and the silk of her hair. He would always have this sense of wonder that she could be real. That she would catch fire from his kiss and burn hotter than he had ever imagined a woman would do.

Behind her, he waved a hand. She had said she wouldn’t have sex with him again without a decent bed. He provided her with one, all the while kissing her. Her mouth was sheer magic. He could kiss her for hours and never get enough.

Fane walked her backward until the back of her knees hit the mattress. “Your bed, hän sívamak, just as you requested. You have only to ask and it is yours.”

Trixie blinked at him, confused. Dazed. Coming out from under the dark veil he’d woven around her. His mouth found hers again before she could make it all the way to the surface. He loved the bemused look on her face. In her eyes. The innocence there. He’d given his woman her first orgasm. He intended to try for many. He wanted that for her.

She deserved more than she ever allowed herself and it was up to him to give her everything she’d ever dreamt about. The trouble was, Trixie didn’t dream for herself. She had had big dreams for her daughter and she’d worked day and night sweeping floors and cleaning offices and eventually toilets in bars in order to get off the street before her baby was born. She worked until she had the money for a small room in a boardinghouse and then worked harder to get them out of that and into an apartment.

The more Fane looked into her mind and her memories, the more he admired and respected her. This woman had a will of steel. She had likely passed that legacy on to her daughter and granddaughters. She made her own way in the world and didn’t ask anything of anyone. And she was his. This amazing woman who loved her family and made her way in the world without her own dreams. Saving them for her girls.

Fane kissed her again. Long. Hard. Over and over. Wanting her to get what was building so strong in him. That respect. That admiration. The fact that he was going to uncover every secret dream, the ones she didn’t even know she had, and give them to her because his lady deserved them.

“A bed?” she murmured into his mouth, her dark eyes looking around her.

As Fane took her down he removed their clothes, needing to be skin to skin. She didn’t protest; in fact, her hands swept over him, stroking caresses.