Her heart gave a sudden powerful jump, and she had to take a moment to breathe. She knew then what the real problem was for her: She liked Connor in an essential way, the kind of man he was and how he treated her.
“Me, too,” she responded quietly.
She then pulled herself together, and began focusing her witch energy on the process of thrall. She settled herself within a few inches of his entire body until she felt his aura connecting with hers. She held her palm close to his face. “I’ll have to touch you, otherwise I won’t be able to do this. You’re too powerful. Is that okay? Just to be clear, right now you have control and you might not have any once I begin the process.”
He smiled. “Go for it.”
“Okay.” As she shifted her hand to place three of her fingers alongside his cheek, though well away from his vulnerable temple, she tapped into her ability to enthrall. She focused on her desire to bring Connor under her power.
A warm stream of energy began to flow from her heart, through her veins, to finally warm her right arm then her hand where she connected with his cheek.
The thrall began to release into Connor’s body, though not without difficulty. She’d been right. He was very powerful and she couldn’t have completed the process without the physical connection. This was a different kind of enthrallment from the spell she’d cast at Gary’s sex club, but almost as intense even though she was dealing with only one person.
Connor never shifted eye-contact, another indication just how much power he had as a vampire. A lesser man would have lost a certain level of consciousness by now. Instead, Connor retained full use of his mind. Yet at the same time, she knew her thrall had engaged him.
~ ~ ~
Connor had never felt like this in his entire altered existence. The sensation of Iris’s thrall was seductive in a surprising way. He’d felt her energy begin to flow into his mind so he knew her power was having an effect. But instead of drifting into a strange drugged out state, as enthrallment had been described to him a hundred times, he felt more aware and more relaxed than he’d ever been before.
In addition, he could see Iris with great clarity and not just her beautiful, dark brown eyes or the peaches-and-cream complexion of her skin. Instead, his vision traveled deep inside her, to the parts that hurt and cried out for relief as well as the grief she lived with because of her alter.
Violet’s death was uppermost in her mind and another loss that seemed equally as painful, though he didn’t know the source. He also sensed her deep disappointment in the Tribunal and a terrible ongoing pain at the general suffering within all five territories of their world.
He saw the beauty of her soul laid out for him like a feast, as though he could devour her right now if he wanted. In an ironic twist, he knew he could hurt her badly as well, crush the essence of her and that he hadn’t expected. But all he wanted to do was gather up her pain and hold it close until it melted away. If only he could do that for her?
He also saw how much she desired him, that her craving for him matched his own need and lust for her.
“Iris,” he whispered.
“This wasn’t what I expected.”
“I know.” He took her in his arms and crushed her lips with his own. He expected resistance. Instead, she embraced him with an arm around his neck and parted her lips for him, all the while keeping her fingers against his cheek.
He pierced her with his tongue and began a steady drive in and out of her mouth, letting her know what he would do to her the moment she gave permission.
He stepped into her just enough to let her feel what had grown hard and ready for her. He even arched his hips in a rhythm to match the thrusts of his tongue.
She groaned, and he pulled her tighter against him so that his whole body moved against hers. He felt her work to remain the contact of her fingers against his face to sustain the thrall.
Her breasts tightened and released in response to his embrace so that except for the presence of their clothes, he was making love to her.
It would take so little to move her to the couch and to finish what he’d started.
But just like that, she drew back, took her fingers from his face, and her thrall left his mind.
He felt odd, as though a warm blanket had been whipped away from him, leaving him cold.
He didn’t release her fully, however, but held her gaze, wanting to understand everything he’d just experienced. Another part of him was also ready to take her back to bed if she said the word.
Her eyes were wide. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You saw me. You saw all of me and it wasn’t right.”
He shook his head
. “Are you blaming me? This was your thrall, not mine. I can’t help it if the process allowed me to see you.” He grew very still because tears had once more bloomed in her eyes. “Iris, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”