“Vampyres don’t have friends.” William retreated a step.
He was about to deny her; she saw the resolve in his gaze.
Abruptly, his face changed.
“If that’s what you desire,” he said primly, gesturing to the couch.
She sat down, and this time he positioned himself a few feet away. He placed the popcorn bowl between them and handed her the drink.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t answer, his posture stiff, his face glowering.
She pressed play on the remote control.
William was so engrossed in the film he didn’t notice Raven set the popcorn bowl aside. Nor did he notice when she moved toward him.
During the scene when Michael comes to his first wife on their wedding night, she rested her head on William’s upper arm. Without thinking, he shifted so that his arm went around her shoulders.
She burrowed against him.
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
“Is what dangerous?” He looked down at her profile.
“Having sex with a vampyre.”
His gaze returned to the screen. “It can be.”
“For my body or my heart?”
He leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“I thought your heart was part of your body.”
She met his eyes and the smile faded from his lips.
“I can’t answer that, Cassita,” he whispered.
Raven tried to focus on the film, pretending his words didn’t trouble her.
In the middle of the night, Raven awoke in William’s arms. They were in his bed.
William was on his back, shirtless, stroking the skin of her shoulders, while she curled into his side.
The room was dark. The curtains had been drawn across the balcony doors. A small shaft of light shone from under the door that led to the hall.
She blinked up at him, trying to make out his features.
He smiled. “Hello, pretty girl.”
The shadows made her bolder, as she forgot that he could see in the dark. She lifted her hand to his face and pressed against him. Her green eyes darkened with an unexpressed emotion.
Somehow, her feelings transferred themselves to her lips. She kissed him purposefully, nibbling his lower lip before taking it into her mouth.
William touched her neck, angling so he could deepen the kiss. As soon as their tongues touched, sparks flew.
Raven moved her leg over and between his, shifting so she was half on his chest. She rested her hands on his shoulders, enjoying the feel of the muscles under her fingers.
His tongue entered her mouth and retreated, enticing her to follow, while his palms brushed the length of her back to rest on the curves of her bottom. By all accounts, he liked what he felt, squeezing and kneading the flesh with his hands.
She licked at the seam of his lips before dipping inside. Back and forth and in and out.
William’s pace was focused but unhurried, as if he were determined to enjoy every point of contact, every sensation.
He traced the hills and valleys of her spine before grabbing her oldfashioned nightgown and lifting it to her thighs.
“William,” she murmured, pressing their lower bodies together.
He rolled her to her back and whispered fine kisses along her jaw and down to her neck.
She drew in a sharp breath.
“Please don’t feed from me. Not our first time.”
He lifted his head, conflict visible in his eyes.
He blinked slowly, like a cat.
“If that’s what you desire.”
He nuzzled her cleavage before slipping her nightgown from her shoulders, baring her expansive breasts.
“These are exquisite.” He brought her breasts to his lips, eagerly licking and sucking.
His mouth, like his tongue, was cool. Raven enjoyed when he laved her nipples, before pressing them against the roof his mouth.
She wound her fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp.
“I could spend days right here. You truly are a work of art.” He rested his chin below her breasts and gave her a wide, enchanting smile.
Once again, Raven forgot he could see clearly and believed only that he was referring to how she felt under his hands.
She tugged his head toward her and kissed him, allowing herself to explore the muscles of his back and lower down, where his hips met his backside.
William was lean and strong and, it seemed to her, controlled. But she could feel the power coiled beneath her fingers.
“You aren’t attached to this nightgown, are you?” he whispered, fingering the fabric that pooled around her waist.
She shook her head. “It’s yours.”
“Mine?”
“It’s what I woke up in the night after you took me home. You must have dressed me.”
In a flash, the nightgown was torn down the middle and carelessly tossed to the floor.
“It must have belonged to one of Lucia’s predecessors. I never should have put you in it.” He rested his hand on her lower abdomen, gazing down at her appreciatively. “You’re far more desirable naked.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her black lace underwear, coaxing her to spread her legs.
She bit her lip in anticipation, squinting against the darkness at the beautiful man who knelt before her.
“Very lovely,” he murmured as his fingers traced a pattern over the lace.
Then, with a quick rip, her underwear was gone.
Raven held her breath, eyes wide.
“Cassita,” he said gently.
He placed his hand over her heart. “Your heart rate is too fast. Breathe.”
She struggled to breathe deeply, excitement and anxiety still overtaking her.
William’s thumb stroked the skin beneath her right breast.
“You aren’t a virgin. Why are you so anxious?”
“It’s been a long time,” she managed to say, feeling shy.
“Humans are fools,” he muttered. “Your figure is perfect—lush and attractive.”
He kissed down the center of her body, stopping just above her pubic bone.
He closed his eyes and inhaled.
“You smell incredible.”
He reached up to whisper in her ear. “I’m going to lick you until you climax, then I’m going to enter you and you’ll climax again. Don’t forget to breathe.”
He moved back and placed his hands on her upper thighs. “Open.”
She did as she was bidden. Then his mouth was between her legs.
Raven?
??s head sank back on the pillow and she closed her eyes, focusing entirely on the incredible sensation of his cool tongue on her most private places.
There was something exceptionally erotic about having a powerful being between her legs, eagerly giving her pleasure.
She clawed at the sheets, a series of moans escaping her throat.
William lifted his head, remarking her reaction with a wicked grin. Clearly he was enjoying himself. He teased and licked, nipped and sucked, before closing his mouth over her.
Raven’s body tightened as she came, then she floated on a wave of pleasure before crashing down.
She tried to pull away, but he held her to his mouth, coaxing every last tremor out of her body until she finally collapsed against the bed.
Then he arced over her, hand against her hip, and pushed inside.
She was still sensitive and felt herself stretched beyond what she thought she could take.
William cursed and withdrew before filling her once again, very slowly.
He brought their noses to within inches of one another and brushed the hair from her eyes.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
She glanced up at him, at eyes that burned into hers.
“Don’t think. Give yourself over to pleasure.” He moved inside her, withdrawing and plunging forward, again and again.
The strokes were deep, intense, but the pace was slow.
Raven placed her hands on his lower back and slid them to his backside, urging him to increase his speed. She felt his muscles flex and contract under her grasp.
He bent down to take her breast in his mouth and she closed her eyes, groaning in delight.
A few more strokes, a few more kisses and nips to her breast, and she was orgasming again.
William nuzzled her neck and licked at the flesh, biting her gently.
She ignored him, focused as she was on the feeling that spread from her insides throughout her entire body.
His pace increased slightly but he gave no sign of coming.
“Are you—?” she managed to say, still in the throes of an incredible climax.
“No.” He grinned at her knowingly before kissing her neck once again. “I can go for hours.”
Raven felt the last of her orgasm recede. She rested her hands on his lower back, stilling him.
“Did you say hours?” She panted, out of breath.