Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

Stars and colors burst behind his eyes, floated around him. Fire raged through his veins and settled in his groin. His legs felt weak, no longer his own. It was all he could do to draw air into his lungs and keep from collapsing over her. She went down onto the mattress, his name on her lips, in her mind, a soft, reverent sound that tore at his heart.

Sandu managed to kiss the small of her back. He wasn’t in the least surprised that he was still semihard when he withdrew. Just that act, the sliding of his cock through her tight, slick folds, had the friction sending heat down his spine. He knew when he gave her blood, when he felt her mouth on him, he would want her again—and again. They had this rising before they would meet the Dragonseeker and his lifemate. He wanted to spend as much time with his woman as possible. He had thought . . . talking. Talking seemed overrated.

Adalasia laughed softly, the sound muffled by the mattress. “My Carpathian male is such a man after all.”

He lay beside her, tangling his fingers in her hair. She still lay on her belly, her face turned toward him, and he pushed the silken mass aside so he could see her expression. “I am a man, but what does that mean?”

“You’re going to be obsessed with sex.”

He studied her face. The amusement in her eyes. She was clearly perfectly okay with him being obsessed with sex. He propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed her round buttocks. “I fear you are correct. It may take a few centuries for that to fade—if ever. I have studied so many interesting positions and practices. I wish to try them all with you, now that I know how it feels. There are things I can do to your body to make you feel good. At least, going by the way the women screamed out their pleasure, I would say we should try them. There are things you can do to my body. I am interested in seeing if they are as good as what you did earlier.”

“You liked that?”

He nodded.

She smiled. “I am certain I can get much better at it.”

He wasn’t certain he could survive if she got much better at it.

The rain forest wasn’t silent in the way one would think under the canopy of trees at night. There was the constant drone or hum of insects, rarely stopping, even in the steady fall of rain. It was hot, very humid, and steam rose from the forest floor even as moisture relentlessly poured down on them from above. The steam was almost as thick as a dense fog that might come in off an ocean, rolling in clouds of unnatural grayish mist.

The overhead canopy from the trees did little to shield them from the rain, the larger leaves acting more like big funnels, gathering water and then pouring it over them if the little group should stop beneath one of the taller kapok trees. Drops of water collected in the vines going up the trunks of trees and in the petals of flowers so that if they brushed against them, they’d get soaked.

Trees lined the swollen banks of the river, hanging over the raging waters, the root systems looking too much like distorted cages, with thick vines shooting out like snakes, eager to grab unsuspecting prey to bring them into those waiting cages. At least, that’s what it looked like to Adalasia.

She had to admit the rain forest was beautiful, if she actually looked around at the flowers climbing the tree trunks, but mostly she looked at the insects covering the ground and swarming up the trees. Brightly colored frogs followed them with their eyes. Huge birds of prey seemed to follow their slow progress. Eyes looked at them from everywhere. There seemed an abundance of nocturnal animals and birds with large yellow or red eyes staring at them from the branches of trees. That didn’t include the thousands of lizards, or spiders, not to mention the many amphibians that seemed to be all over the trees. Didn’t Sandu and his brethren see all the potential spies?

This didn’t feel the same as when they had walked in the rain forest to find the hidden cave system just along the river. This was far different. The path took them farther into the interior, although she knew the river wasn’t too far in the distance. There was a muggy feel to the air whenever the trail would take them closer to one of the dark ribbons of water that sometimes ran in the shallow reed-choked, mosquito-infested tributaries.

The five Carpathian males walked with absolute confidence along the narrow trail through the darkened forest. The rain didn’t bother them in the least. They kept the drops from hitting them. The temperatures of their bodies were always regulated. She had insisted that Sandu not help her. Those were small things she should be able to do for herself, and she wanted to practice. She found herself too busy staring at the sights around her to remember to keep herself cool and not have the rain pouring down on her.