His smile was wicked, warm, and it devoured her. "I am thinking my tongue could be put to much better use. What say you?"
He ran said member up the column of her throat until he could nibble her ear. His warm breath scorched her neck, causing her to shiver.
"Oh yeah," she breathed. "I'm thinking that is a much better use of your tongue."
He laughed while he unlaced the back of her gown. Slowly, seductively, he pulled it from her shoulders and let it fall straight to the floor. The fabric slid sensuously against her flesh as it left her body and cold air caressed her.
Naked before him, she couldn't suppress a deep tremble. It was so odd to be exposed while he stood before her wearing his armor. The firelight played in his dark eyes.
Wulf stared at the unadorned beauty of the woman before him. She was even more luscious than she had been the last time he'd dreamed of her. He ran his hand tenderly over her breast, letting the nipple tease his palm.
She reminded him of Saga, the Norse goddess of poetry. Elegant, refined. Gentle. Things he had spurned as a mortal man.
Now he was captivated by her.
He still didn't know why he had confided in her. It wasn't like him to speak so freely, and yet she had lured him.
But he didn't want to make love to her here. Not in the past where his memories and guilt over those he had failed slashed at him.
She deserved better than this.
Closing his eyes, he conjured them into a facsimile of his modern bedroom. Only he made a few modifications...
Cassandra gasped as she pulled back slightly and looked around. The walls surrounding them were reflective black with white trim, except the wall to her right, which was made up of floor-to-ceiling windows. The open windows were framed by gauzy white curtains that fluttered in the wind, reaching out toward them and making the candlelight from dozens of candles in the room dance.
But the candles didn't go out. They twinkled all around them like stars.
There was a large bed in the center of the room, up high on a raised platform. It had black silk sheets and a thick black silk duvet over a down comforter. The bed was made of ornate ironwork that formed an intricate square canopy between the four posts. More of the white gauzy material was wrapped around it and was left to twist in the wind.
Wulf was naked now. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the huge, welcoming bed.
Cassandra sighed as she felt the soft mattress under her while Wulf's weight pressed down on her from above. It was like being pressed into a cloud.
Looking up, she laughed as she realized there was a mirror on the ceiling, and she saw that Wulf was holding a long-stemmed rose behind his back.
The walls flashed, then they too became mirrors.
"Whose fantasy is this?" she asked as Wulf brought the rose forward and brushed its soft petals over the swollen nipple of her right breast.
"Ours, blomster" Wulf said as he parted her thighs and laid his large body between her legs.
She moaned at the rich sensation of having all his lush power lying over her. The masculine hairs of his body teased hers into an overload of sensual ecstasy.
He moved over her sinuously, like some dark, forbidden beast who was out to consume her.
Cassandra watched him move in the mirror above her. How odd that she had created him in her dreams. She'd always been so cautious in her life. So careful of whom she let touch her. So she had conjured a glorious lover in her subconscious whereas she dared not allow one in real life.
Because of her death sentence, she didn't want anyone to fall in love with her or care for her. She didn't want to bear a child who would mourn her. A child who would be left alone, frightened.
Hunted.
The last thing she wanted was to leave someone like Wulf behind to grieve her death. Someone who would have to watch his child die in the full bloom of youth because of a curse that had nothing to do with any of his actions.
But in her dreams, she was free to love him with her body. There was no fear here. No promises. No hearts to be broken.
Just them and this one perfect moment.
Wulf groaned deep in his throat as he nibbled her hip. She hissed and cupped his head. He let the softness of her hands in his hair soothe him.
For so long he had wandered through the past in his dreams. Always searching for the one who had tricked him into trading places. He was never destined to be a Dark-Hunter. He had never sworn his soul to Artemis or received an Act of Vengeance in exchange for his service.
Wulf had been seeking someone to soothe the pain he felt at his brother's death. A tender body he could sink himself into and forget for just a moment that he had led Erik into battle far away from their homeland.
Morginne had seemed the perfect answer. She'd been as eager for him as he had been for her.
But the morning after his one night with the Dark-Huntress, everything had changed. Somehow either during their sexual encounter or right after it, she had traded souls with him. Mortal no longer, he had found himself born into a new life.
And viciously cursed by Morginne so that no mortal could remember him. Meanwhile she had escaped Artemis's service so that she could spend eternity with the Norse god Loki.
Her parting curse had been the crudest blow of all and it was one he didn't understand to this day.
Not even his nephew Bironulf had known him afterward.
Wulf would be completely lost now had Acheron Parthenopaeus not taken pity on his situation. Acheron, the leader of the Dark-Hunters, had told him that no one could undo Morginne's trickery, but that Acheron could modify it. Taking a drop of Bironulf's blood, Acheron had made it so that all who carried his blood would remember Wulf. Furthermore, the Atlantean had given Wulf psychic powers and explained to Wulf how he had become immortal and what his limitations were, such as his sensitivity to sunlight.
So long as Artemis held Wulf's "new" soul, he had no choice except to serve her.
Artemis had no intention of ever letting him go. Not that he really minded. Immortality had its benefits.
The woman under him was definitely one of them. He ran his hand down her thigh and listened to her breathing. She tasted of salt and woman. Smelled of powder and roses.
Her scent and taste stirred him to a level he'd never known before. For the first time in centuries, he felt possessive toward a woman.
He wanted to keep this one. The Viking in him roared to life. In his human time, he would have carried her off and slain any who dared try to keep him from her.
Even after all these centuries, he was no closer to being civilized. He took what he wanted. Always.
Cassandra yelped the moment Wulf took her into his mouth. Her body sizzled with desire for him. She arched her back and watched him in the mirror above the bed.
She'd never seen anything more erotic than the sight of Wulf teasing her while the muscles of his back flexed. She could see every inch of his tawny, naked body while he pleased her. And he had an incredible body.
One she wanted to touch.
Moving her legs under his body, she used her feet to gently caress the hard length of his cock.
He growled in response. "You have very talented feet, villkatt."
"All the better to stroke you with," she said, her voice light as she thought about the fact that she felt like Little Red Riding Hood being eaten by the Big Bad Wulf.
His laughter joined hers. She buried her hands in the soft waves of his hair and let him have his way with her. His tongue was the most incredible thing she'd ever known as he swirled it around her. Licking, teasing, tasting.
Just when she didn't think she could feel any better, he slid two fingers deep inside her.
Cassandra came immediately.
Still he continued caressing her until she was on fire and weak from the bliss.
"Mmm," he breathed, pulling away from her. "I think my kitten is hungry."
"Famished," she said, pulling him up her body so that she could feast on his skin the way he had feasted on hers.
She buried her lips against his neck and nibbled with every part of her that was desperately hungry for him. What was it about this man that drove her wild with desire? He was magnificent. Hot. Sexy. She'd never wanted anyone like this.
Wulf couldn't stand the way she grabbed at him. It made him insane for her. It heightened his need until he was practically dizzy.
Unable to tolerate any more, he rolled her onto her side and entered her.
Cassandra cried out at the unexpected pleasure that filled her. Lying completely on her side, she'd never had a man inside her in this position. Wulf was so deep that she swore she could feel him all the way to her womb.
She watched him in the mirrored wall as he thrust into her over and over, deeper and deeper, until she wanted to scream with pleasure.
The power and strength of him was unlike anything she'd ever known. Every forceful stroke made her weak, breathless.
She came again an instant before he did.
Wulf pulled back from her and lay down beside her.
His heart was pounding from the fury of their passion. But still he wasn't sated. Reaching for her, he pulled her across his chest so that he could feel her with every inch of his body.
"You are spectacular, villkat."
She nuzzled his chest with her face. "You're not too bad either, villwulf."
He laughed at her made-up endearment. He really liked this woman and her wit.
Cassandra lay in the peace of Wulf's arms. For the first time in her life, she felt completely safe. As if nothing or no one could touch her. She'd never felt this way. Not even as a child. She'd grown up always afraid whenever someone unknown had knocked on the door.
Every stranger was under suspicion. At night, it could easily be a Daimon or Apollite out to see her dead. During the day, it could be a Doulos after her.
But something told her that Wulf wouldn't let them threaten her at all.
"Cassandra?"
She frowned at the sound of a woman's voice intruding into her dream.
"Cassandra?"
Against her will, she was pulled out of her dream only to find herself asleep in her own bed.
The knocking continued.
"Cass? Are you all right?"
She recognized Michelle's voice. It was a struggle to awaken enough so that she could sit up in bed.
She was naked once more.
Frowning, Cassandra saw her clothes in a crumpled heap. What the hell was this? Had she been sleepwalking or something?
"I'm here, Chel," she said as she got up and pulled on her red bathrobe. She opened the door to find her friend and Kat on the other side.
"Are you okay?" Michelle asked.
Yawning, Cassandra rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine. Just taking a nap."
But she didn't really feel fine. She felt much more like some sort of narcoleptic.
"What time is it?"
"It's eight-thirty, hon," Kat supplied.
Michelle looked back and forth between them. "You said you guys would go back to the Inferno with me, but if you don't feel like it..."
Cassandra caught the disappointment in Michelle's voice. "No, no, it's okay. Let me get dressed and we'll go."
Michelle beamed.
Kat looked at her suspiciously. "Are you sure you feel up to it?"
"I'm fine, really. I didn't sleep well last night and I just needed a nap."
Kat made a rude noise. "It's all that Beowulf you and Chris were reading. It sucked all the energy right out of you. Beowulf... incubus... same thing."
Now that was just a little too close to home for Cassandra's comfort.
She laughed nervously. "Yeah. I'll be out in a few minutes."
Cassandra shut the door and turned back toward her crumpled clothes.
What was going on here?
Was Beowulf really an incubus?
Maybe...
Brushing the ridiculous thought aside, she picked up her clothes and added them to the laundry hamper, then dressed herself in a pair of jeans and a dark blue sweater.
As she prepared to leave, a strange tingle ran through her. Something was going to happen tonight. She knew it. She didn't have her mother's psychic powers, but she did get strong feelings whenever something good or bad was going to happen.
Unfortunately, she just couldn't tell which one it would be until it was too late.
But something was definitely up tonight.