Night's Mistress (Children of The Night 5)

“No, it could be anybody.” During the War, she had made enemies among the werewolves as well as the Undead. None of them would spare her just because she was pregnant. Of course, she had made a lot of other enemies in centuries past. Who knew how many of them were still carrying a grudge?

“Ramsden called me last night,” Logan said. “He wanted your phone number. Said he needed to reschedule your appointment.”

“I’m not going back there. I’m not sure I trust him.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mara,” he said patiently, “you need to see a doctor. All things considered, we agreed a vampire doctor would be the best.”

“I think I’ll go to a mortal physician from now on,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to put herself through another pelvic examination. And then she frowned. If a routine exam was so embarrassing and uncomfortable, how would she ever endure childbirth?

“What do you think about staying here, with me?” Logan asked. A muscle throbbed in his jaw when she didn’t say anything. “Or don’t you trust me, either?” he asked, his voice tight.

“If I stay here with you, it’s like admitting that I’m afraid.”

“You are afraid! I can smell it on you.”

“Oh, I hate this!” She didn’t understand how it had happened, and happened so quickly. It just wasn’t fair. She ate another truffle. These days, nothing was quite as comforting as rich, dark chocolate.

Logan frowned at her as she licked a bit of chocolate from her lower lip. “You look like you’re having great sex,” he muttered.

Mara grinned. “I heard a woman on a talk show remark that good chocolate was better than sex.”

Logan quirked a brow at her. “Is it?”

Mara licked the last bit of candy from her fingers. “Try it for yourself and see.” She unwrapped another truffle and offered it to him.

Logan eyed it the way Adam must have looked at the apple; then, remembering what had happened the last time he partook of human food, he shook his head. “No, thanks. Once was enough.”

Unable to help herself, Mara burst out laughing.

“Think it’s funny, do you?” he asked with a growl.

Impulsively taking him by the hand, she led him into the bedroom. She might be losing her preternatural abilities, but she had powers of her own that had nothing to do with the supernatural—feminine wiles as old as Eve’s. She pushed Logan toward the bed until the backs of his knees hit the mattress and he sat down, and then she began to move. She had once danced for Pharaoh; now she danced for Logan, her body dipping and swaying slowly and provocatively to music only she could hear.

He whistled softly as she began to undress, each move sensually tantalizing as she removed one piece of clothing after another, each inch of bared flesh more provocative than the last, until she stood naked before him, a goddess clothed in mortality.

“Beautiful,” Logan murmured. He held out his arms in invitation, eager to touch her, to run his hands over her alabaster skin, to nuzzle her breasts, to bury himself in her warmth.

Instead of moving into his embrace, she crossed her arms. “Now you.”

“What?” He shook his head in disbelief. “You don’t expect me to do a striptease, do you?”

“Why not?” She closed the distance between them and ran her fingertips down his cheek. “I did.”

“Mara . . .”

She retreated when he reached for her. “Don’t tell me you’re shy?”

“Maybe.” His voice was a low growl of frustration.

“I don’t believe you.”

“If you want me naked, you’ll have to undress me.”

She canted her head to the side, a seductive smile teasing her lips. “Think I won’t?”

“I’m hoping you will,” he said, his dark eyes filled with mischief.

“Are you going to help me?”

“Nope.” He flopped back on the bed, his arms outstretched. “How much do you want me?”

She climbed on the bed and straddled his hips. “How much do you want me?” It was a foolish question. His desire was readily apparent.

He laughed softly. “Are we making a contest out of this? ’Cause you’re not really dressed for a fight.”

“And you’re over-dressed.” Taking hold of the hem of his sweater, she eased it up, revealing a hard, flat belly. He wasn’t wearing an undershirt and as she lifted his sweater higher, she rained kisses on each inch of newly exposed skin.

After tossing his sweater aside, her hands made quick work of his belt buckle. She tossed his belt on the floor, along with his shoes and socks, and after gaining her feet, she stood at the end of the bed and slowly tugged his trousers off and flung them aside. The black briefs he wore did little to hide his erection.

“You’re quick,” he said with a grin.

“And you’re horny,” she remarked as she relieved him of his briefs. “Now we’re even.”

“You think so?” In a blur of movement, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her. Falling back on the bed once more, he rolled over, carrying her with him, so that she lay beneath him. “What are you gonna do now?”

“Anything I want,” she murmured, and locking her hands behind his neck, she drew his head down and kissed him, a long, lingering kiss that left both of them breathless.

She ran her hands over his face, his shoulders, his chest, his taut buttocks, and each caress reminded her of days gone by, of endless nights of lovemaking along the banks of the Nile. She hadn’t intended for things to go this far. She was in love with Kyle. But what had started out as a little harmless flirting with an old flame had quickly gotten out of hand. She knew she should tell Logan to go, but, somehow, she couldn’t summon the words. It felt good to be in his arms, like returning home after a long vacation.

He murmured to her in his native tongue, making her wonder if he, too, was recalling those halcyon days gone by. She moaned softly as his hands worked their familiar magic, cried his name as the tension built deep within her, built until she thought she would explode with need, until, thrusting deep, he brought her to fulfillment.

Sated, she closed her eyes, but he wasn’t done with her yet. Holding back his own release, he aroused her again, more slowly this time. Her nails raked his back as she writhed beneath him, mindless with wanting. Her skin was slick with perspiration, her body arching upward as he continued to move deep within her, his own climax coming quickly on the heels of her own. Breathless, she lay spent beneath him, trembling with little aftershocks of pleasure as he held her close.