Dark Legacy (Dark 27)

"I don't think I can."

"You need to breathe and I'm heavy. I'm going to sit up and put you on my lap." Even as he said it, he didn't give her a chance to protest. She worried about their combined cream spilling out of her body, ruining the couch, but it was gone as he lifted her and put her on his lap. She was naked in his arms, and she felt more exposed and vulnerable in her mind and heart than with her body unclothed.

"Now, Emeline, look at me."

This time his gentle voice included that note of command. Sometimes, when she heard it, like now, she wanted to disobey just to see what he would do.

Dragomir laughed softly. "I see I am going to have an eternity of my woman challenging me. Do not worry, sivamet, I welcome the skirmishes."

The notes of joy and happiness in his voice allowed her to look at him. She couldn't help smiling. It didn't matter that she had taken his blood and enjoyed it or that she had been the sexual aggressor in the beginning, he was happy. She wanted him that way. The lines in his face had softened and he had laughed. Laughed. He barely smiled, almost as if his mouth didn't know how to form that upward curve, but he was laughing. She felt the way he was happy. Deep inside, she felt that and knew she'd given that to him. Everything else melted away for her and she hugged that tightly to herself.

"I can't believe I have you here with me," she whispered and turned her face into his throat, nuzzling him. Inhaling. Tasting his skin with her tongue. "My life was pain and terror. You took away his voice. You gave me hope that my daughter would survive and others wouldn't shun her. I was terrified and alone, and you changed all that. You brought beauty and hope back into my life. Thank you for that, Dragomir. I swear I will spend every minute making you happy."

He bunched her hair at the nape of her neck in his fist and gently tugged until her head went back and she found herself looking into his golden eyes. "You gave me back my soul, Emeline. You gave me life. The scales are more than even. Much more. Still, having you make me happy sounds good, especially since I am very aware I am not an easy man."

A frisson of alarm slid down her spine. Small. A cautioning. An awareness. She frowned. He'd warned her before. He looked scary. Outside, around others, he acted scary, but he'd never been anything but gentle with her. "You've said that before. What do you mean?"

Slowly, she sat up on his lap, pulling herself reluctantly out of his arms. If they were going to talk, she was going to have the armor of clothes. She looked around for her gown. It was a beautiful gown. Dragomir had given it to her.

"I made it for you."

Her eyebrow shot up. The gown was beautiful, in material and design. "How? Are you telling me you can manufacture clothing along with everything else you can do?"

He nodded. "I wish I didn't have to tell you the truth because I like the way you look at me, as if I can do anything, but actually, Emeline, you can manufacture clothing for yourself or anyone else. When you rise with the sinking sun, you think about being clean and what clothes you want to wear for the night."

She felt a small smile welling up. "What? No shower? I was looking forward to showering with you. That can be . . . sexy."

"Show me."

The growling demand sent another shiver down her spine, but this one was delicious. Fun. Sensual. She did her best, picturing the fantasy she'd had more than once. Maybe a few too many times. Him lifting her, her legs wrapped around his hips. The water running down over both of them. Her mouth on his cock. His mouth between her legs. It was embarrassing, yet she wanted him to see the things she'd thought about long before he claimed her.

While the scenes played out in her head and he saw them in detail, more, he felt them, his cock grew hard and thick. She felt the hot pulsing against her bare buttocks. If they kept this up, neither was going to be able to resist the other. They wouldn't dare go out in public. She moved deliberately, sliding her body over him in a slow, sensual massage.

"I see the benefits of a shower," he said.

"Good." She slid off his lap, down to the floor. "I'm glad you're wise enough to see some of the things humans do can be very beneficial." She caught his knees and tugged.

Dragomir obeyed her silent urging, allowing her to widen his thighs so her body could fit between them. "I have seen, over the centuries, many men sitting while their women knelt on the floor at their feet. I always thought it was strange, but I can see there is advantage in that as well."

She smirked at him. "It's good you're willing to learn, Dragomir."

"Very willing."

He circled the base of his cock with his fist and did a slow, sexy slide. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He leaned back just slightly, and the tension he always carried in his shoulders and face was gone. Those scars on his face were softer and his jaw wasn't so strong. He was beautiful to her, just like that. All male, his cock in his fist, so sexy her heart pounded and her sex clenched hard.

She couldn't help herself--the temptation was irresistible. She leaned forward, her hands on his knees, and licked at the flared head. A shudder went through his body and pleasure flooded her mind. She loved that she could feel what she was doing to him. She saw herself in his eyes. He found her the sexiest creature on the face of the earth. He loved watching her body, the sway of her breasts, the hardness of her nipples telling him she loved what she was doing.

He watched intently as his cock disappeared, engulfed by her mouth. He loved the way her lips stretched over his girth. He liked watching her tongue lick up his shaft and dance under the crown of the head. Every movement of her mouth brought scorching heat rushing through his body, centering in his groin.

She felt everything he felt, and her body reacted. She was giving him paradise. She liked that she could take everything from his mind and replace it with--her. With heat and flames. With passion and fire. With sheer pleasure. It was an indulgence, something he'd never experienced. She loved that she could give that to him. She loved the moment he couldn't think clearly, yet he was still gentle, even while his hips moved just that bit out of control.

She knew she was giving him a kind of ecstasy he never expected from her. Complete giving. All for him. Everything for him. She loved the way her image was in his mind, branded there, her kneeling on the floor, hands on his knees, her lips around his cock, eyes on his while her breasts swayed and brushed his body with every movement. She was burned into his mind. That picture. That feeling.

The picture of him above her, the look on his face and the feeling in his mind were burned in her memories for all time. She knew she was just as addicted to this moment as she was to taking his blood or having him in her. She would always crave giving him this, the feeling, the image. She felt him swell, grow hotter. Then she was tasting that wild Dragomir flavor that was unique to him. All for her.

His groan was deep, and one hand went to the back of her head, holding her there, her mouth gentle on him now, her tongue lapping up every drop that had leaked. His breathing had gone ragged and his entire body shuddered with pleasure. She'd given him that. Satisfaction was a beautiful thing.

She stayed there on the floor, looking up at him. Her man. When had that happened? How? She might never feel she deserved him, but she did know, just by the way he saw her in his mind, that he would always be happy with her.

"We were talking about something but I can't remember what it was," she said. "I got distracted. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." He watched her tongue lick at her lips as she sank back onto her heels. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Throughout the centuries, I've seen quite a few women, but none of them compared with you."

The wonderful thing was, being in his mind, she knew the compliment was sincere. He honestly felt she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He was nuts, but that was all right with her. She smiled up at him, because he made her happy. She couldn't believe how he had changed her life in such a short time.

"I had dreams of you, Dragomir. First, daytime fantasies like the shower,

and then I was horrified when I began to dream that you died trying to save me. I dreamt of Vadim coming and you were lying on the floor of my living room, wounds everywhere, so much blood gone, and I thought you were dead."

Her heart hurt just thinking about it. There was a huge knot in her throat, one she couldn't swallow. The idea of his death because of her had weighed on her.

"I didn't want to ever meet you, and I went into my house the moment night came so there was no chance that you would try to save me--and yet you still did."

"You ended the dream with me lying on your floor." He reached out and caught her hair in his hand, tugging gently.

She nodded. "I couldn't go past that moment, with you lying without a heartbeat, no air in your lungs and your blood soaking into my floor. Because of me."

"Had you forced yourself to keep going--"