Stefan's Salvation(8)

had been easy for him to cloak his presence from her.

"Where did you come from? You weren't there." Her chest rose and fell quickly and

he sensed that her growing fear was making it hard for her to breathe.

"I have many abilities, Laurel Rose." He kept his voice as gentle as possible. "Being

able to speak mind-to-mind is just one of them. I was there, but it was my choice to

remain hidden from you." In spite of her fear, he could sense her fascination with him,

her wonder at his abilities. He would use that fact and any talent he had to lure her

closer to him.

Clenching his hands, he stopped and took several deep breaths. His lust was a

raging beast barely under his control. He longed to flip Laurel Rose onto her stomach,

toss up her nightgown and fuck her from behind. His cock throbbed at the very thought

of being buried in her hot core. He wanted to pound into her until she screamed his

name in pleasure and begged him to fuck her harder.

His balls clenched tight and he gritted his teeth. This slight woman lying sprawled

on the bed in front of him was playing havoc with his self-discipline. He wanted her

more than he'd ever desired anything in his entire existence. He'd inwardly thought his

brothers were fools to allow their women so much power over their lives. Now he

realized that they had no choice in the matter. The emotions she engendered within him

were volatile and unstable at best. His self-control was hanging by a thread.

He could easily imagine her on her hands and knees with her plump, pale ass in the

air. Her legs would be spread wide and her moist, pink cunt would be contracting with

need, begging for his cock. He'd hold her legs apart with his hands and tease her

delicate flesh with the head of his cock, coating himself in her cream until she was

begging and pleading with him to fuck her long and hard. He'd drive himself deep and

fuck them both senseless. Then he'd feast of her blood, drinking in the very essence of

her.

His fangs elongated as he licked his lips in anticipation. He could sense his eyes

changing, knew they were glowing through the darkness. She gasped in surprise as he

approached the bed and, when he reached out a hand to her, she cringed away from

him before he could touch her.

His fingers curled into a fist at her rejection. His primal instincts demanded he

pounce on her and pin her to the bed. He hungered for her submission. Wanted her

acknowledgement that he was her mate. It was his right to touch her. She belonged to

him just as he belonged to her.

Even though he understood her fear, it angered him. With his hands clenched at his

sides, he ground his teeth together and struggled for control of his body and emotions.

Every muscle was rigid as he fought his own instincts.

"Who are you? What are you?" Her voice quavered and she swallowed hard.

Scrambling into a sitting position, she pulled her nightgown back down over her legs,

covering them.

That she would feel the need to hide herself from him was intolerable. She was his.

His body ached to touch hers even as his mind hungered for a deeper connection. But

frightening her further would not aid him. Reaching for a depth of control he hadn't

even known he possessed, he mastered his craving for her body and his hunger for her

acceptance. Taking a deep breath, he centered himself and drew on his centuries of

training. He was both a warrior and a hunter and now was the time for patience and

cunning.

"I have told you who I am." He kept his voice soft and as non-threatening as

possible, but there was no hiding his size or the fact that he was incredibly aroused. His

swollen cock jutted out in front of him and her eyes skittered back and forth between it

and his face.

She licked her lips again and he bit back a groan as he watched her tongue swipe

across her full bottom lip. Stefan wanted to taste her lips with his tongue. She would be

sweet. So incredibly sweet.

"You're Stefan Dalakis?"

Stefan stifled the impatience that welled up within him. It was amazing how this

one special woman made a mockery of his self-control. Right now, she needed time to

get to know him and it was his duty to make sure she got whatever she required. He

gave her a short formal bow, falling back on the training of his childhood. "I am."

She suddenly thrust her hand forward. "Laurel Rose McCaffey."

Reaching out, he carefully wrapped his fingers around her hand, marveling that a

hand this small and fragile could hold his entire future within it. Raising it to his lips, he

kissed each knuckle in turn. As his thumb grazed the underside of her hand, he could

feel the toughened skin on her palms. Her hand might seem fragile, but like the rest of

her, he suspected that it was much stronger than it looked.

"It is my pleasure, Laurel Rose McCaffey." Unable to resist, he stroked his tongue

between her fingers. She stilled and he could sense her growing arousal at the

unfamiliar caress. Carefully, he drew her middle finger into his mouth and sucked on it.

Pure male satisfaction filled him when she moaned and leaned closer to him. He lightly

scraped his teeth over her flesh as he released her finger from his mouth.

"This is real, isn't it?"

"This is very real," he assured her as he climbed onto the bed. Reaching out, he

wrapped his hands around her slender ankles and slowly tugged her toward him.

Laurel Rose fell back onto the mattress as he spread her legs wider and pulled her

closer to him. Her nightgown was pushed up around her thighs. Her arousal wafted

through the air. He leaned closer, breathing deep, filling his lungs with her intoxicating

scent. "This is incredibly real."

Her hands clutched at the covers beside her, but she made no move to push him

away.

Her deep blue eyes were almost entirely swallowed by the black of her pupils as

they dilated in fear, or arousal or both--he wasn't entirely sure. Her black hair was

confined in a braid that reached all the way to her behind. Stefan longed to see her hair

loose and feel it flowing across his skin. He wanted to bury his face in the mass and just

inhale the fresh, clean scent of mountain air, soap and woman.

The plain white nightgown covered her from neck to thighs, but it was thin with

age and wear and he could see the outline of her body beneath it. He could see the dark

thatch of hair at the apex of her thighs. She wasn't wearing any underwear. His cock

began to throb even harder.

Her arms were deceptively strong, the muscles long and firm, not bulky. Her torso

was supple and slender with small, well-formed breasts. Her hips flared out with a

slight curve and her legs were long. Even her feet were sexy. He loved the feminine

arch of her foot and the way her toes curled when he touched her.

"Let me touch you." He loosened his grip on her ankles and stroked his hands up

the back of her legs, softly skimming the sensitive skin behind her knees. "I know

you're not ready for anything else yet. But let me pleasure you."



Laurel Rose almost swallowed her tongue. This tall, dark stranger looming above

her should have had her running and screaming in terror. Instead, she wanted to crawl

into his arms and beg him to never let her go. Just for a second she'd thought his eyes

had glowed red in the darkness and that she'd caught the glimpse of gleaming fangs.

But she'd blinked and seen nothing but the flash of the whites of his teeth as he'd

spoken to her. It was simply a trick of the moonlight. That and a fear of the unknown.

She admitted that she was drawn to the fact that they shared some of the same

abilities. But after what she'd just witnessed, she had no doubt that his powers were far

greater than hers. She still had no idea how he'd managed to hide his presence from

her. She'd searched that very corner and she'd swear on a stack of Bibles that he hadn't

been there. Yet he had been.

Energy and power seemed to surround him, almost causing the air to crackle with

it. It attracted and frightened her all at once. Even as she listed in her head all the

reasons she should send him away, she knew she wouldn't. The attraction and the

temptation were too great to be denied.

Stefan Dalakis was the most sensual man she'd ever met. He wasn't handsome in

the classical sense, but his rugged features suited him well and he oozed a sensuality

that would draw any woman he wanted to him.

Everything about the man was massive, from his height to the sheer expanse of his

shoulders and chest. Muscles rippled under his skin with every movement and since he

was totally naked, she had a completely unrestricted view of him. Laurel Rose clawed

at the sheet under her to keep from reaching out and touching him. She had the almost

overwhelming urge to rub her hands all over his body and pet him much like she had

the wolf earlier that evening. They had much in common. Both were male animals in

their prime, strong and fit and definitely the alpha of any pack.

His thighs bulged with muscle as he knelt on the bed in front of her. And there was

certainly no hiding his aroused state. His cock was jutting out in front of him, long and

thick and ready. Her womb clenched tight, contracting with need. It was the primal

reaction of a female recognizing and acknowledging her need for her man.

She'd never seen a man so aroused in her life. Johnny Mills didn't count, as that was

so many years ago she could barely remember it. Even if she could, she feared that he

would have proved severely lacking when compared with Stefan. She had a feeling that