Dark Demon (Dark 16)

The peat bogs were unexpectedly as beautiful as they were eerie. Natalya paced carefully around the nearest edges just along the pine forest, where the water drained from above and seeped up from below to form the enormous marsh. Sphagnum moss grew in abundance, the feathery stems and leaves stretched out invitingly over the surface beckoning her to come closer. Orchids and a dozen other plants flowered in or around the dark water. The ground, even close to the edges was spongy and each step she took shook the nearby trees. "Some of these plants are huge."

"They are carnivorous. They eat insects," Vikirnoff said.

"Still..." Natalya glanced up at the mountain rising sharply above them. Parts of it were totally obscured by the thick mist. Pine trees grew in abundance and some low branches partially dipped into the wide bog, so that needles floated on the surface along with the thick vegetation. She pressed her palm over the birthmark that warned her when vampires were near. "I don't think we're being watched. Do you feel any danger?"

"Not from vampires, but lately I haven't been able to feel them close by. I think it has something to do with the parasites in their blood. I have no idea how they mask their presence, but it seems to be effective." He was still uneasy. The forest pressed too close and the smell of the peat bog was overwhelming. "Can you unravel the safeguards from here, Natalya?" There was more fighting room. He preferred the solid ground to the spongy, waterlogged terrain.

"No. I'll have to be in the exact spot my father was. He'll have set it up that way as part of the protection. If they come, you'll have to keep them off of me while I retrieve the book. Once they know we're looking here, they'll drain the bog before giving up." The marsh was huge with sinkholes everywhere. In the moonlight, the stagnant water appeared deep and treacherous, despite the many plants blooming on the surface.

"You be very careful, Natalya." It was an unnecessary thing to say, but her hesitation, coupled with the heavy oppressive weight settling between his shoulder blades, increased his feelings of unease.

Natalya tossed him a quick, saucy grin. "Careful is my middle name."

Vikirnoff scowled at her. "This is a serious situation, Natalya."

Her eyebrow shot up. "Really? I would never have guessed. I thought maybe it would be cool, campy fun like in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. It didn't actually occur to me that it could be serious."

"There is such a thing as overconfidence." There was a small pause. "What is The Creature from the Black Lagoon?"

Natalya shook her head in disgust. "Just what have you been doing all these years? Don't you ever watch television? The Creature front the Black Lagoon is a classic. A must-see movie right up there with King Kong and Godzilla. You had to have watched them." When he looked blank, she sighed. "A scientist becomes this mutant creature and lives in the lagoon..." She trailed off. "Never mind, but we have to work on educating you about movies. You're missing some great stuff. It's education. How do you think I learned about vampires?"

Vikirnoff shook his head. "I do not even want to know."

"Movies, of course. I've decided I'm going into the film business. I can make great vampire films." She took her first step onto the thin layer of earth that stretched over the waters of the bog. "These mountains make a perfect setting, with the way the wind can't reach certain areas and blasts others, and how the fog lies in so thick, not to mention all the bogs and ice caves."

"I think it's been done," he answered. His voice was husky and she glanced at him sharply.

Vikirnoff's heart beat in his throat as he watched her following in her father's precise footsteps, a pattern they had both memorized. It didn't matter that she was so careful and light on her feet, almost gliding as she placed her feet on the tufts of grass, he was afraid for her. Fear took on an entirely new meaning when it was for a loved one.

Love. He tasted the word-tried it out tentatively. How did one equate the terrible, overwhelming emotion that had somehow crept up on him with that small word? Did he feel this way because she was his lifemate? Or because of who she was? What she was? He couldn't image wanting a woman without her penchant for late night movies. And as exasperating as it could be, when she didn't have a sassy, smart comment to make, it worried him. Was it love to wake up thinking of her before anything else? For centuries hunger had been his every waking thought and yet now, even that had taken a back seat.

Natalya paused staring down at the two small blocks of grass, side by side, both looking as if they were solid. "Look at this, Vik, does this look the same? I don't remember two patches so close to one another."

He swore under his breath as he took to the air and hovered just above her. There had not been two patches so close together. Over time, the bog had changed, plants growing, multiplying, and dying off naturally. Natalya was risking stepping into a sinkhole by following the pattern her father had provided. "We could try finding the last step and I could carry you to that spot."

Natalya shook her head, glancing at him sharply. "The pattern is part of the safeguard."

Vikirnoff was ashamed of himself. He had known the steps were important, just as she did, but as she got deeper into the bog, his uneasiness grew stronger. He was well aware of the weather patterns in the Carpathian Mountains, of the places where there was a lack of wind and the fog hung for weeks on end. He knew there was fire and ice beneath the mountains and that many oddities were really natural and not made by either Carpathian or vampire, yet the stillness in the valley was oppressive to him and the stagnant water, so naturally the color of old blood had become sinister.

"I do not feel easy about this, Natalya."

Her eyebrow shot up. "You aren't helping. I'm trying to remember if he stepped forward with his left foot or with his right."

"His left." The answer came out of his memory, minute details recorded automatically without thought. "He switched leads."

She flashed a grin at him as she wiped beads of sweat from her face. "You might be useful after all." She pointed toward the edge of the bog. "Wait over there. I don't want you hovering over me, making me nervous." She waited until he complied before leading with her left foot.

Vikirnoff folded his arms across his chest, assuming his expressionless mask. "It is good to know you are finally coming to the conclusion that I am useful." His fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white and his muscles began to ache from the terrible tension that continued to rise in his gut.

In the forest behind them the trees started to sway gently, almost imperceptible at first, but Vikirnoff's acute hearing picked up the rustle of the pine needles and he swung around alertly. There was a little moonlight shining through the woods and the branches were illuminated in a ghostly silver. The needles appeared more like skinny fingers with sharp nails reaching out toward the bog. The ripple of unease grew stronger. Vikirnoff turned so he could watch both the forest and Natalya as she proceeded through the swamp.

She stepped forward a second time with her left foot, swayed precariously so that his heart jumped into his throat. Natalya regained her balance and took several more steps, each with more confidence, so he was surprised when she halted again abruptly.

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Her hand slid to her sword, touching the sheath for the comfort of knowing it was close. "Did you hear something?"

"The wind?" But it wasn't the wind. There was barely a wind. Voices sounded in the distance, wailing and crying, the rise and fall faint, but discernable.

"You wish it was the wind. It's going to be something nasty," Natalya predicted. "The sound has increased with every step I've taken. And look at the surface of the water."

Vikirnoff stepped closer to the edge of the bog. The ground shook and several plants vibrated with the motion. He halted instantly, his gaze riveted to the surface rather than the plants. The water was stagnant and should have been still, but it moved in peculiar patterns, not fast or abruptly, but rather so slowly that it was almost imperceptible, yet when he peered closer, faces seemed to stare back at him.

"Are there bodies in the bog?"

"Ugg!" Natalya drew back, staring down at the surface, her fingers grasping her sword hilt. "That's gross. I didn't even think of that. I don't think there are bodies in the swamp, but now I'm worried something dead is going to reach up and grab my ankle and yank me in." The moment she uttered the words there was a small silence. She reached down to rub at the finger marks on her ankle. "Do you think he's here?"

Vikirnoff knew she meant Razvan. "Let's get out of here, Natalya. You do not have to do this." He took another step toward her and sank to his ankles.

"Don't!" she said it sharply, shaking her head adamantly. "I have to do this. We both agreed. If I don't now, I'll never come back. I need you to give me confidence."

He swore under his breath, resisting the urge to take to the air and snatch her back from the center of the bog. "You do not ask very much of me, do you?"

"You know, when you started in about the entire lifemate thing, I didn't protest too much, because you were kind of cute." Natalya pulled her gaze away from a shimmering face with its mouth open in a scream. She took several more careful steps, sure of the pattern, and stopped only feet away from where her father had hidden the book. "At the time, I didn't realize how incredibly bossy you are or how grumpy you can be."

"Kind of cute? You didn't protest too much?" Vikirnoff echoed. "In all your late night movies did you ever come across a character named Pinocchio?"

Natalya burst out laughing. "Of all the movies, you had to have seen that one. That's so you."

He grinned at her. "Actually, I did not see it. I read the book, but I knew it was made into a movie and the character was someone you could relate to."

"It's a good thing you're over there and I'm over here. I'd push you into one of the sinkholes and just leave you to contemplate your sins." Natalya gave a little sniff. "I may have stretched the truth slightly, at least the kind of cute part, but I didn't lie."

She took the last few steps through the bog, until she was standing in the exact spot her father had stood in years earlier. "This is it. I feel my father here. Now it gets complicated."

All around the small island of grass where she stood, the faces forming in the surface of the water gathered, mouths gaping open, sightless eyes wide. Some of the faces were larger than others, rising up like small waves and trembling as if made of gelatin. "See, this is the kind of thing to put in movies," Natalya said. "Only no one would believe it. It's plain freaky."

"What do they want?"

"They are the guardians of the book. I imagine, if I make a wrong move, they're going to let me know very fast." She took a breath and let it out, slowing her pounding heart and stilling the strange roaring in her ears. "If they grab me, I have high expectations that you'll dive into the water and do something to get me back."

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "It has taken me a while to train you in the ways of submissive lifemates. I would not want that time to be wasted."

She flicked a quick glance at him. Just his presence, calm and confident, his wide shoulders and strong, beloved masculine face calmed her churning stomach. "So let's get it done and when it's over, you are going to strike the word 'submissive' from your vocabulary right along with your 'little slip of a girl.'"

"At this rate I will not be allowed to speak."

"And your point would be?"

"I am not making any promises."

She smiled. It was barely there, a brief curve of her mouth and then gone again, but his heart contracted. "Somehow I knew you'd say that." The warmth faded from her eyes to be replaced by fear. "Seriously, Vikirnoff, if anything happens to me, remember that whatever is in this book, is worth dying for. Xavier killed to seal the book and he's killed again and again to get it back. You have to find a way to destroy it. Don't let anyone try to use it."

"I will be damned angry if anything happens to you and you have never seen me truly angry before. Get it done and let us leave this place."

She rolled her eyes. "I love it when you get all bossy on me. It's silly and never works, but it's kind of cute."

Natalya turned away from him, grateful she'd had the last word. She was already feeling

the pull of the book. It called to her, a treasure lost, a book filled with centuries of work, recipes for good, for healing, for working miracles. Xavier, a brilliant man lost to the corruption of power and greed, had distorted the work of so many. When had Xavier been derailed? Had it been a gradual decline? It must have been. The Carpathians had once been friends with him, trusted him. Rhiannon had studied under him. Had that been the start of the tragedy? Had he craved her immortality? Her beauty? Had he grown old while she stayed young?

Natalya shook her head to rid herself of all thoughts. She needed to concentrate, to think only of the complicated pattern her father had woven into the air when he set the safeguards. She had to reverse his spell, using his words, but backwards, paying particular attention to every syllable he had enunciated. She felt Vikirnoff with her, merging firmly, his mind and memory open to her and that added to her confidence. She was a natural talent and she had worked hard to hone her skills. Although she feared Xavier, she was very aware that she had outmaneuvered him several times and that her talent as a mage was nearly on par with his in spite of her comparative youth.

Do not think you can go up against him. Vikirnoff snapped the order, uncaring that she might get angry. If I thought for one moment that you would do something so stupid, I would not only forbid such a thing, but I would prevent you from such a folly. Rhiannon believed she could match him with her talent and you know what happened to her.

I am not nearly as egotistical as you seem to think I am. I'm busy here, Vik, don't be bothering me. It occurred to her even as she turned away from him that Vikirnoff was as reluctant for her to put her hands on the book as she was to touch it. She brushed his mind with warmth, with reassurance.

Vikirnoff held his breath as she began to weave a graceful pattern in the air. She turned slightly to mimic the exact angle her father had taken. Her voice, soft and melodious, but commanding, called on the elements to aid her. The air around the bog grew heavy, pressing on them, nearly suffocating them, as she murmured the reverse of the safeguards, choosing each word carefully and using her father's peculiar rhythm.

The moaning of the wind increased. The branches in the pine forest clacked together and needles flew like sharpened darts through the air. Vikirnoff shifted slightly as the water began to rise and seep around his feet. Tuffs of grass disappeared. Anxiously, he looked at the spot where Natalya stood. Water lapped at the toes of her boots. The faces on the surface surrounded her tiny square of grass, empty eye sockets watching her every move. Waiting for one mistake. One misstep.

Admiration grew for Natalya as he watched the way her hands swayed in the air, never faltering, never trembling. Merged as deeply as he was with her, he knew her fears, yet she stood in the center of the bog encircled by danger without flinching, looking magnificent. He was the one with the beads of sweat trickling down his body. He was the one with his heart in his throat. He was on the balls of his feet, ready for action, ready to take to the air and reach her should something go wrong. All the while he watched her, his heart swelled

with pride. It was nearly impossible to believe she was really his lifemate. She seemed an extraordinary miracle of which he would never be worthy.

The air shimmered as her hands dropped to her sides. The faces in the water moaned softly, emitting cries of protest as the book ascended from the murky depths. Red water poured off the oilskins, looking like trails of blood as the thick tome emerged. Small waves crested around the small square of grass, covering Natalya's feet.

Vikirnoff leapt into the air and was on her in seconds, grasping her around the waist and jerking her out of the bog as the book floated into her outstretched hands. A loud hum was his only warning and he wrapped his arms around her firmly, protecting her with his body as he threw shields up around them. Insects crashed into the barrier, the sound breaking the stillness of the night.

Natalya hooked one arm around his neck and wedged the book between them. "It's heavy."

It also smelled foul and dripped water down the front of them. Vikirnoff immediately cleaned and dried the package even as he streaked away from the bog back toward the mountains and the caverns he loved.

You were incredible.

I know. Shocking talent, aren't I? Natalya did her best to see in every direction as they streaked across the sky. I'm getting used to traveling this way. I kind of like it.

It is very convenient.

Natalya felt him nuzzle her hair. Unexpected desire shot through her. It was such a casual gesture, but at the same time, it felt intimate. My birthmark is beginning to burn just a bit. A vampire is coming close to us.

I do not want to take any chances as long as we have the book. We should go back to the caverns and decide what to do from there. Do you think Xavier is tied to the book in some way? Will he know it is out of the hiding place?

Natalya shook her head. I doubt it. If he could have traced the book, he would have known it was in the bog and he would have sent someone to search the place until they found it. He wouldn't have dared to go himself. The bog is located too deep in Carpathian territory, and he feared Carpathians more than anything else. It was strange to remember small details denied to her for so long. Vikirnoff's safeguards obviously prevented Razvan from being able to suppress her memories. The longer her brother was out of her mind, the stronger her memories became.

I doubt he would have trusted anyone else.

Razvan. He would have sent my brother. Razvan has little natural skill as a mage. He

wouldn't have noticed the safeguards for what they were. He would have done a cursory inspection of the area and gone back to Xavier and told him the book wasn't there.

Vikirnoff took them through the small opening in the chimney and dropped through the mountain until it widened out into the larger chamber. He waved his hand and flames leapt to life on the candles as he placed her feet carefully on the floor.

"Where are we going to put the book?"

Vikirnoff took it from her and slipped it into her backpack. He didn't even glance at the book for which they'd risked so much. "This will do for now. We'll discuss a safer place to hide it later."

"Sounds good to me."

"I realized, there in that foul smelling bog, that revelations occur in the most unlikely places."

Natalya's eyebrow shot up. "Really? What world-shattering revelation was imparted to you there in that foul-smelling bog?"

"Just that I never wanted Donna Reed or June Cleaver. It has always been Xena, warrior woman who had my heart." His tone was casual, matter-of-fact, not at all as if he were handing over his heart to her.

"The revelation just came to you right there in the middle of the bog, did it?" Natalya slipped out of her double harness and removed several clips. "Somewhere between the water making nasty faces at me and the rather pathetic audio effects?"

He nodded. "Yes. It became very clear to me."

"You're just a tiny bit slow on the uptake, there, Gomer." She set her sword up against the cavern wall and laid several knives in a semicircle around it. "You should have figured it out in the forest when I saved your butt the first time we met."

"Gomer?"

"Pyle. I'll explain later. Right now, I want to hear more about your revelation." She placed her backpack in the center of the semicircle directly in front of the sword.

"The last time I tried to bring up Xena, you terminated the discussion," he pointed out, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, now you've had a revelation, haven't you? That changes things."

"Would you like me to set the safeguards for that?" He indicated the backpack with his chin.

"You may as well. If I do it, my brother will be able to track us immediately." She tilted her head, studying him as he glided over to the cavern wall. She loved watching him move. "You could take your shirt off while you're working. I wouldn't want you to get hot or anything."

His eyes went dark with heat as he shrugged out of the shirt and tossed it aside. She watched the play of muscles across his back as he raised his arms to weave the safeguards.

"You're breathtaking, you know that? I guess I can forgive you for being an absolute dope sometimes."

Vikirnoff laughed, the sound startling both of them. He rarely laughed and when he did it warmed his eyes and took the hard-edged expression from his face. Natalya found an answering grin on her own face.

"Your adoring compliments take my breath away."

"Well, don't let them go to your head. I'm only feeling this way temporarily. You said something nice for a change." Natalya held her breath as he sauntered toward her. He could look so powerful just walking. Just breathing. The effect he had on her was absolutely idiotic.

"I am reading your thoughts."

"Really? Are you getting the part about what an incredible lover you are and how I might be able to put up with your bossy nonsense if you keep me happy in other ways?" She shrugged. "Just asking, in case, you know, you wanted to start keeping me happy."

Vikirnoff was suddenly crowding her so that she took several steps backward. "Where do you think you are going?" His hand snaked out to wrap around the nape of her neck, abruptly stopping her.

"Nowhere. You just move so fast sometimes."

"Are you saying I intimidate you?" There was a wealth of amusement in his voice.

"As if." She moved into the shelter of his body, loving the way his skin heated her as if he absorbed her, or she just melted into him. "I am not easily intimidated." She ran her fingertips over his chest, trying to press closer, inhaling him to take him into her lungs. Vikirnoff was like a rock, solid and steady. "Especially by you."

"That is a good thing." He bent his head to hers.

Natalya loved how slowly his mouth descended to capture hers. His breath was warm. His eyes changed right before his lips claimed hers, going dark with desire. There was the feel of his hand tightening on her neck, the pad of his thumb sliding over her skin. So many sensations, all before his mouth took possession of hers. He created intimacy between them

with so many small details, each one making her feel like she belonged to him. Like he belonged to her.

She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the wonder of his mouth. She allowed the heat to claim her, to sweep through her body so that she caught fire from him. She wanted to kiss him forever, to drown in the taste and scent of him. His arms closed around her, strong, reassuring, possessive even, dragging her closer, setting off a multitude of butterflies winging their way around her stomach.

Vikirnoff wanted to kiss her forever. He called her ainaak enyem, forever mine, and he had all along. His mind had known and his body had known, even his soul had known, but it had taken spending time with her before his heart had caught up. She was so much more than ainaak enyem, she was ainaak sivamet jutta, his 'forever to my heart connected', and she would be for all time. The crazy thing was, he didn't even know how it happened.

"I love what you're thinking." Natalya framed his face with both hands. "I really do." She punctuated it with small kisses and teasing nibbles on his lips. "But I want all of your attention on making love to me. The actual making love to me, not thinking about how much you love me." She gave him a small sexy smile. "You can do the thinking about loving me so much afterward."

Amusement crept into his eyes, stealing her breath. "You want the actual thing?"

She nodded.

"My entire attention?"

"Absolutely."

"You are a demanding little thing."

"High-maintenance. I told you." She went up on her toes to kiss him. She loved kissing him, loved the silken heat of his mouth. She could stay there for eternity.

Vikirnoff drifted on a rising tide of lust and love. He let the feel of her skin, the brush of her hair and the fire of her mouth take him over. Electricity arced from Natalya to him. Flames raced over his body and poured like molten lava into his veins. His every nerve ending leapt to life, craving her. His fingers tangled in her hair, his mouth devouring hers, wanting more. Needing more.

"Vikirnoff." She murmured his name, breathed it into the heat of his mouth. Her voice was soft and sensual, her lips swollen with his kisses and her vivid eyes dark with desire.

His body was as hard as a rock, painfully full. She could do that to him so easily. All of his centuries-old control seemed to vaporize when his mouth was on hers. He dispensed with her clothing in caveman style, jerking the material off her in strips, exposing the rise and fall of her breasts, the tight beckoning nipples, the globes of her buttocks and the

invitation glistening at the junction of her legs.

He blazed a path from her lips to her breast, his mouth clamping greedily, teeth scraping and teasing while his tongue laved and soothed. She cried out, stunned pleasure on her face. His hand caressed her belly, touched her small golden hoop, and moved lower. The moment his fingers brushed her wet mound, her entire body shuddered, a low moan escaping.

"You are so hot, Natalya." His fingers plunged deep, felt the contraction of her tight muscles, hot and moist and so velvet soft. His erection, heavy and thick, pulsed with the need to be buried deep inside her, surrounded by her feminine sheath.

She bucked against him, a helpless thrusting of her hips, riding his hand with a small sob of pleasure. Vikirnoff couldn't stand it anymore and lowered her to the floor, hanging onto enough of his intellect to remember at the last moment to cushion her with something soft between her body and the cave floor. His mouth found hers again, feeding on her taste, the sweetness he could never quite get enough of.

She groaned into his mouth, and fire raced over him, hot and pure, his body hardening past the point of pain. He kissed her throat, her breasts, spent time on her small golden ring, teeth tugging and teasing and returning to her hard nipples. She gasped when his hands parted her thighs, his fingers stroking so close to her heated center that her body shuddered and her muscles clenched with a need so agonizing tears shimmered in her eyes.

"Please, Vikirnoff. I need this. I need you."

That soft little plea was more than he could stand. He bent his head and lapped at the welcoming liquid. Her body jerked beneath his hands and his tongue speared deep. She screamed, her hips bucking but he pinned her with hard fingers, holding her to him to drive his tongue hard and deep.

Stars seemed to explode around her, lights dazzled her. Natalya couldn't catch her breath, couldn't think. Her body fragmented, shattered her so that she thought she might die from sheer pleasure. He didn't stop, teasing her with lightning-quick flicks of his tongue, stroking the hot knots of nerve endings into another hard release that left her lungs burning and her head spinning.

He heard her cries, felt her fists tugging at his hair, her body thrashed beneath him but he couldn't stop, craving the honey from her body, her screams of pleasure that only fed the building inferno in his body. He suckled her, tongue thrusting and probing, forcing her body into another tier of sensation where she could only mindlessly plead with him and her body was slick and hot with the shocks of multiple orgasms.

Vikirnoff rose over her, his eyes black with hunger, a snarl of possession on his lips. His hands kept her thighs apart as he pressed against her pulsing entrance. Natalya could feel the thick head entering her with excruciating slowness. He seemed far too big for her, even as slick as she was and with her nerve endings so sensitized she could only wail at the

intensity of the pleasure engulfing her.

"Hurry. Please. Hurry, hurry." It was a mindless chant, her head thrashing back and forth, her body in a frenzied grip of need. The loss of control was so shocking, frightening even. She could only hang onto him for an anchor in reality as he took her over the edge of reason.

He gave one powerful thrust, surging forward, burying himself deep, stretching her tight muscles impossibly, driving into her hot core. She screamed again, her body convulsing instantly around his, inner muscles squeezing so powerfully, he nearly lost control. Her nails bit deep into his shoulders and her hips jerked beneath him.

Vikirnoff clamped his fingers around her wrists and slammed them to the cavern floor, holding her helpless beneath his assault, his body relentless, using a hard, merciless tempo, pounding into her over and over.

His face was edged with lust, his eyes dark with hunger and need as his mouth found her throat. Natalya couldn't think past the pleasure/pain of his body taking hers with such wild abandon. She felt the sharp sting of his teeth at her throat and it only increased her pleasure until she thought she might die with it. His teeth scraped back and forth at the swell of her breast, just above her heart, and then sank deep.

Her body imploded, splintered and shook with the force of her orgasm. His fingers tightened in hers, holding her beneath him, his body building and building with the force of his need. She felt him in her mind, sharing the taste of her, the pleasure rocking him, and then his tongue swept across her breast.

"Taste me, Natalya." His voice was harsh, sexy with his lust. "Come to me now. Come into my world." It wasn't a plea, it was a command. His hands tightened around her wrists. He didn't help her, his chest above her mouth, his body so tight it stretched hers to the limit. "Damn it, woman. Do it now."

She was desperate for relief. If he kept pounding into her she wasn't going to live through the night. Could a woman die of pleasure? In any case, her incisors had already lengthened and her body gushed with anticipation, making her sheath so hot and slick it only allowed him deeper until she thought he would climb into her womb. She licked across the heavy muscles of his chest and sank her teeth deep. At once his ancient blood poured into her like flowing nectar. His body thickened, hardened, pistoned into hers without mercy. His erotic images and his overwhelming pleasure burst through her mind even as her own muscles tightened around him, gripping him desperately.

She drank, choked, swept her tongue across him to close the pinpricks. Nothing could stop the forceful driving of his body into hers. Her orgasm ripped through her, somewhere between pain and pleasure, rocking her body, the shudders refusing to stop, gripping her with the same intensity as her muscles milked him. She felt him exploding, jetting into her with his seed, hot spasms that had a guttural sound tearing from his throat.

Vikirnoff buried his face in Natalya's throat, desperately trying to regain a steady heartbeat, to pull air into his lungs. She had been so tight and hot, her vaginal grip on his sensitive erection torturing him with pleasure as she clasped him to her, draining him completely. She was going to kill him if their lovemaking got any better, but it was a great way to go. He lifted his head enough to nuzzle her breast. Her nipples were tight hard beads, tempting him. His tongue flicked and teased.

Her body jerked around his, tightened on his flesh so that he groaned as fire raced through him, spreading through every nerve ending. "I love you, Natalya."

"I don't think I can ever do that again. It scared the hell out of me. Worse than any vampire." Her fingers tangled in his hair. "I couldn't stop. It just went on and on and I didn't have any control at all."

He smiled against her breast. "It will only get better."

"We're both going to die, you know that don't you?"

"It occurred to me," he admitted. He kissed her again, gently this time. "You know you will be going through the conversion soon. I have heard it can be painful." He lifted his head to look into her eyes. "I will do my best to spare you and the moment it is safe, I will put us both in ground."

Fear etched tiny white lines around her mouth. Her eyes were enormous but she nodded at him. "Don't forget the book and the safeguards."

He rolled off of her and drew her into his arms, holding her close. "I will not forget anything. Thank you for giving yourself to me."

Natalya laughed. "Is that what I did? I thought you took me for yourself and there was no going back."

"There is no going back now." He murmured as the first ripple of pain took her, driving the air from her lungs.