He looked so worried, his brow heavily furrowed. “I just don’t want you to have expectations of me. We’re being pushed toward this profound degree of connection, but I’m not sure how much of a heart I have to give.”
She sensed how troubled he was because of all he’d been through. The guilt he carried with him was a constant companion.
She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek. “How about we take everything one step at time, no matter how messy or strange it gets.”
He nodded, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “Okay.”
“But I do have one suggestion.”
“Sure. Anything.”
“Why don’t we lose the clothes.”
His eyes went wide and he grinned. His expression was so male right now that she laughed. Not a bad thing to lighten the mood. “I’m in no way opposed to the idea, but why?”
She shrugged but felt her cheeks growing warm. “For the closeness, I think, and maybe even the vulnerability. If I can be open physically right now, I think it will help the rest of the process. Besides, I’ve heard the whole thing becomes pretty exciting.”
He leaned over and kissed her, drew back, then waved a hand the length of his body. Clothes gone.
She let her gaze drift over him. He was so beautiful, his arms heavily muscled, his pecs thick, his abs sculpted.
She returned the favor, also waving her hand to encompass her clothes. When they disappeared, he let out a solid groan. He reached over and put his hand on her stomach, touching the sapphire-studded ring at her navel. But she caught his hand then rolled onto her back. She chuckled. “Try to focus, if you can.”
“What? I didn’t quite hear what you said.”
She met his gaze. His beautiful blue eyes were suddenly alive with laughter. She once more put her hand on his cheek. “Okay, beast-man, come bust open my obsidian power, then I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”
His body did a full shudder. “Okay, so what do we do now?” he asked.
“Try diving into my mind again, and this time I want you to go soul hunting and not tunnel searching. I think I’m built a little differently than either Marguerite or Fiona.”
She closed her eyes and lowered every mental shield she could find.
Leto turned into her to lie on his side. He took hold of her upper arm in a gentle clasp. Mentally, he pushed at the edges of her mind and slid within, because again her shields were down.
He loved being naked beside her and he loved being inside her mind. His body reacted, firming up. Because he was so close, the tip of his cock touched her. She smiled, but didn’t open her eyes. Instead, her hand searched for him and found him, closing around his stalk and thumbing just the tip. Then she sighed and the frown disappeared.
He laid his head down on the bed. I love being inside your mind.
I love you being here. Her fingers played with him and his hips flexed, moving a little closer.
I’m not sure this is going to help, he said. He pumped a couple of times, so that his cock moved against her palm.
Does it make me a strange woman that holding you like this eases me?
I think it makes you the perfect woman. This time he released a sigh. He could get used to this. He really could, the intimacy, the touch of Grace’s hand on him, the pleasure of being in her mind.
Leto, this time, I’m going to do something different. Just be ready.
Okay. I’ll be as careful as I can.
Sink, she sent.
Sink?
Yes. Just sink. Let yourself fall deep into my mind, and I’ll hold my mind open. I can’t explain more than that. Just try.
Leto took deep breaths. Being within another person’s mind was always a strange experience. Memories tended to fly past the intruder, thoughts as well, streaking by like wind.
Within her mind, he looked down, but what his mind’s eye could see was something vague, grayish, almost mist-like. Without trying too hard to make sense of her instructions, he drew in another deep breath and let himself fall, although she was right, sink was the better word.
It was like easing into a dark fog. He looked up and saw the memories streaking by one after another. Soon, all that color and activity disappeared. Yet his awareness of Grace increased, of who she was as a person and as a woman, even as an ascended vampire.
The only trouble was, the more he sank, the more physically aroused he became.
Grace?
But she didn’t respond. He had the feeling that she couldn’t, that holding this gateway open was requiring tremendous effort on her part.
Suddenly he felt how afraid she was of being known, of experiencing this much intimacy. She trembled beside him. All that fear, decades and centuries of fear. And damn him for how aroused he was. But being connected to her like this was a turn-on like nothing he’d experienced before. He wanted to be inside her in the same way that he was penetrating the outer regions of her soul.