“And?” she pressed.
“They are determined to capture me.”
Not what she had been hoping for.
“Fortunately, concealing my presence from them truly has become second nature,” he continued. “They received not so much as a hint of my whereabouts while I was unconscious and have no idea where to look for me.”
At least there was that.
“They don’t know I’ve sought refuge with you. They don’t know who you are or that you’ve helped me.” Something new entered his gaze. “Nor do they know what you mean to me.”#p#分页标题#e#
That got her pulse jumping again.
She started to ask what the Others would do to him if they caught him, but—considering the night she had had—decided to save that unpleasant reality for another time. Instead, she turned her attention to her shirt and began unfastening the buttons along its front. Her heart fluttered with a sudden hint of nerves as his gaze shifted to the pale flesh exposed as the fabric parted down the middle.
Ethan was the only man who had seen her naked in the past century. Lisette wanted to be bold like the women of this time, but . . . as sheltered as her upbringing had been over two centuries ago, she was surprised she had even had the temerity to flirt with Zach upstairs and lure him down here.
She shrugged the shirt off, wishing vampire blood didn’t coat so much of her skin or stain her lacy white bra red.
Zach’s dark brown eyes turned a dazzling gold as she lowered her fingers to the button on her pants. She heard his heartbeat quicken, saw his hands curl into fists as if he fought the need to reach out and touch her.
Down her zipper went. Then she pushed the soft material down to her ankles and stepped out of it, facing him in only her bra and panties.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
“So are you.” Stepping closer, she rose onto her toes and kissed his cheek. “Remember, no pressure.”
Turning, she strode into the adjoining bathroom.
Zach stood as still as a statue, frozen by the sight of Lisette, barely clothed, strolling away from him. His hands burned with the need to touch her. His skin tingled where her lips had brushed him.
He didn’t breathe again until she entered the bright tiled room and left his view.
A door opened. A faucet turned. Water struck tile in a hot waterfall. Tendrils of steam slithered past the doorway, then ducked into the bedroom, seeming to beckon him with a curling finger.
Zach slowly approached the doorway and entered.
Lisette’s delicate bra and panties lay discarded on the floor.
Through frosted glass, he saw her slender form. Head back, elbows aimed at the ceiling, she combed the cleansing water through hair that now tumbled down to her hips in a curtain of black silk.
Zach’s pants, boots, and socks swiftly landed beside her bra and panties. Grasping the handle of the shower door, he pulled.
Lisette’s chin dipped. Her arms lowered. Moisture-spiked eyelashes framed eyes that flared bright amber as they met his.
Stepping into the cocoon of steam, he closed the door behind him.
Blood no longer stained her. Water had already rinsed it away, leaving flawless alabaster skin dotted with clear, shining droplets that raced each other down her curves.
Neither spoke.
Zach closed the distance between them until he could feel her warmth. He settled his hands on her waist, heard her heart begin to pound. As he slid his hands up her sides, over the faint ridges of her rib cage, he still found it hard to believe that he was here with her, touching her, skin to skin, nothing between them.
Her perfect breasts beckoned. Zach cupped one in the palm of his hand, heard her breath catch as he smoothed a thumb across its taut peak.
Touching his chest, she slid a small hand up to curl around the nape of his neck and drew his head down.
He eased even closer, his erection brushing her stomach and sending a shock of pure pleasure through him the same instant her lips met his.
Everything he had endured up to this point . . .
The millennia spent locked in a stark and lonely existence.
The confusion that had gripped him when he had lost faith in the path he had chosen.
The torture to which he had been subjected when he’d turned his back on the Others.
It had all been worth it for this moment.
Thousands of years of control began to slip away as Zach curled an arm around Lisette and drew her against him. So warm and soft and enticing.
She rose onto her toes, wrapped her other arm around his neck, met his lips with increasing hunger. It felt so good. Everywhere her long, lithe body pressed against his, he burned with delicious heat. And the more she touched him, the more he wanted to explore.
He hated to abandon her breast, but needed to get closer to her. And closer. He couldn’t get too close and crushed her against him, his thoughts full of nothing but needs and wants and must haves. He slid a hand down over the beautiful ass she hid too often beneath her long coat and squeezed.