His Dark Embrace

He slid down onto the sofa beside her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. She leaned into him and then, cupping his face in her hands, she pressed her lips to his, ever so gently. Her lips were warm, her tongue sweet with the taste of the wine. The scent of musk rose from her heated skin. Her hair carried the lingering fragrance of sunshine and strawberry shampoo.

With a low growl, he swept her into his arms and carried her swiftly up the winding staircase and down the carpeted hallway to the master bedroom. A thought lit a fire in the hearth. Cradling her to his chest with one arm, he used his free hand to pull down the covers on the bed, then lowered her onto the mattress.

His gaze met hers, one brow arched as he gave her one last chance to change her mind. When she didn’t say anything, he stripped down to his briefs, then waited to see if her wine-induced courage would desert her.

Sky’s gaze moved over him. Mercy, but he was gorgeous. She had seen him without his shirt before, seen him in nothing but a pair of trunks, but this was different. Never before had she realized how broad his shoulders were, or how muscular he was. He gave new meaning to the words six-pack abs. The black briefs he wore did nothing to disguise his burgeoning desire.

Thorne watched as Sky rose to her knees and began to undress, her cheeks growing pinker by the minute. He thought it odd that she was embarrassed. After all, she had been married once, however briefly. He wondered if her husband had been her first lover and felt an unmistakable rush of jealousy at the thought of another man holding her, touching her.

She was beautiful, more beautiful than any woman he had ever known. His yearning grew stronger, hotter, with each newly revealed expanse of satiny skin.

When she finished undressing, she quickly slid under the covers. “Are you going to stand there all night? It’s lonely in this big old bed.”

She didn’t have to ask him twice. Removing his briefs, he joined her under the covers and drew her into his arms.

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” she murmured, snuggling against him.

“Not as long as I have.”

She smiled up at him. “I never thought this would happen.” Her hands slid over his skin, measuring the width of his shoulders before sliding down his arms. She smiled when he flexed his biceps.

Thorne drew her closer, molding her body to his. She was soft, supple, her skin smooth, warm against the coolness of his own. He stroked her lightly from shoulder to thigh, caressing each curve, lingering on the swell of her breasts, the smooth contours of her hips. Every stroke, every caress, aroused his desire and his hunger. He told himself to go slow. He wasn’t yet in full control of his vampire nature; if he wasn’t careful, he was liable to go too far, take too much, but with each kiss, his self-control grew weaker, his insatiable hunger stronger.

With a low growl, he rose over her, his only thought to satisfy his desire, to quench his raging thirst.

Caught up in the sheer ecstasy of Kaiden’s caresses, Sky writhed beneath him, wanting to be closer, closer. She basked in the touch of his hands, reveled in his kisses, which were sometimes sweet and tender and sometimes more ardent.

She had been a virgin when she’d married Nick. With no one to compare him to, she had assumed that all men made love the way her husband did. He had rarely satisfied her, but, being inexperienced, she had blamed herself for the lack of fire in their relationship. And so had Nick. There had been no one in her bed since her divorce.

She closed her eyes, moaning softly as Kaiden rained butterfly kisses along the side of her neck. She had never known lovemaking could be so wonderful, never dreamed she was capable of such passion. With Nick, she had been shy, inhibited, and unfulfilled.

With Kaiden, she felt free, alive. Desirable. There was no need to be afraid or embarrassed to tell him that she needed him, that she wanted him more than her next breath. Love, she thought, this was what love felt like. Warm and safe with nothing held back. She ran her hands over his arms, his back, his chest, reveling in the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips, the way his muscles flexed at her touch, his low groan of pleasure as she caressed him.

She whispered his name, and then, wanting to see his face as his body melded with hers, she opened her eyes.

For a moment, she could only stare at him, too stunned to move, too dumbfounded to believe what she was seeing.

“Your eyes,” she gasped. “They’re ... they’re red!” She blinked, certain she must be seeing things. “Red,” she repeated. “And glowing!”

“Skylynn ...”

She might have dismissed the strange glow in his eyes as a trick of the light from the flames, but his fangs ... yes, real fangs ... couldn’t be explained away. With sudden clarity, she realized that the fangs she had seen on that long-ago Halloween night hadn’t been plastic.

“Skylynn, listen. I can explain ...”

She shook her head in disbelief. There was no need for an explanation, not with the truth staring her in the face. Sam had been right all the time!

With a shriek, she brought her knee up, hard and fast, catching Kaiden square in the groin.

He let out a harsh groan and rolled onto his side.

Scrambling out of the bed, Sky ran out of the bedroom as if all the hounds of hell were snapping at her heels. She descended the stairs two at a time and hit the first floor running. She paused in the entry only long enough to grab Kaiden’s long black coat and wrap it around her nakedness before she bolted out the door and ran across the street.

Safely inside her own house, Sky shut the door and turned the lock, then stood there, her heart pounding, her breath coming in painful gasps, while the word vampire screamed in her mind, over and over again.

Grimacing, Thorne sat up. Well, the cat was out of the bag now, he thought bleakly. And all because he couldn’t control his lust or his hellish thirst. He groaned as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Damn! She sure knew where and how to cool a man’s ardor. If he had been a normal man, he would probably never get an erection again.

Grunting softly, he eased off the mattress and limped into the bathroom. In the shower, he turned on the taps and let the hot water sluice over his back and shoulders while he considered his options. He could pack up and leave town and never see her again. He could get dressed and go across the street and try to explain. Or he could simply wipe everything that had happened between them from her mind.

Leaving town held no appeal.

Explaining the last eight years might take a lot of ... explaining.

As for erasing everything that had happened between them since he’d returned to town, he decided to keep that option open until he had tried door number two.