Chapter 5
Tabitha was completely unprepared for his reaction to her kiss. In one swift, tender motion, he pulled her to him, lifted her off her feet, spun about, and then laid her down on the polished stairs. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but it was strangely erotic.
Still, it was no match for his hot, demanding kiss that left her weak and breathless. His long, masculine body lay between her legs as he kept all of his weight on one knee. She could feel his erection pressing against the center of her body as her own body burned to feel him like this naked.
The rich, delicious scent of him tore through her, exciting her even more.
There was nothing civilized or proper about the way he kissed her. Nothing civilized about the way he held her. It was raw and earthy. Promising.
Tabitha wrapped her legs around his lean waist as she returned his kiss full force.
Valerius couldn't think as he tasted her. Felt her. She cocooned him with her warmth and passion.
And it was all he could do not to take her on the stairs like some barbarian warlord.
"You have to stop kissing me, Tabitha," he breathed raggedly.
"Why?"
He hissed as she gently nipped his chin. "Because if you don't, I'm going to make love to you and that is the last thing either one of us needs."
Tabitha traced the outline of his lips with her tongue as he spoke. All she wanted was to strip off his clothes and explore every inch of his lush, male body with her mouth. To lick and tease him until he begged her for mercy.
But he was right. It was the last thing either of them needed. He was a Dark-Hunter forbidden to have a girlfriend and even worse, he wasn't the kind of guy she could ever introduce to her family.
They would all turn on her for befriending her brother-in-law's most hated enemy. Kyrian had been more than accepted into her large family. Everyone loved him.
Even Tabitha did. How could she hurt him this way?
No, it wasn't fair to any of them.
"All right," she said quietly. "But you'll have to get off me first."
That was the hardest thing Valerius had ever done. All his heart wanted was to stay right where he was. But he couldn't and he knew it.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to get up and help her to her feet.
His body was still hard, his breathing a struggle. He couldn't stand to be close to her without touching her. But then, he was used to restraint.
He had been bred to it.
What he had never expected was the almost animal-like need he had to take her. It was primitive and demanding. Fierce. And the only thing it craved was a taste of Tabitha.
"I suppose this is where we part company," he said, his voice catching.
Tabitha nodded. He passed so close to her that she could smell his raw, innately masculine scent. It made her heart pound and fueled her desire even more.
It was all she could do not to reach out for him. Aching, she watched him open the front door to his house.
"Thank you, Tabitha," he said quietly.
She felt his sadness and it made her hurt all the more. "Stay out of trouble, Val. Try not to get stabbed again."
He nodded and kept himself rigid and formal. But he refused to look at her.
Sighing wistfully over something that couldn't be helped, Tabitha forced herself to leave.
It was over.
Impulsively, she looked back as the door closed. There was no sign of Valerius. None.
Except for a sixth sense that told her he was still watching her.
Valerius couldn't take his eyes off Tabitha as she got into her car. He had no comprehension of why he felt the compulsion to run out of the door and stop her.
She wasn't like Agrippina. Tabitha wasn't soothing or comforting, and yet...
His heart ached as she whipped her car out of his driveway and herself out of his life.
He was alone again.
But then, he'd always been alone. Even when Agrippina had lived within his household, he had kept to himself. He'd watched her from afar. Lusted for her every night and yet he'd never touched her.
It wasn't his place. He'd been a nobleman and she nothing more than a low-born slave who served in his household. Had he been one of his brothers, he would have taken her without question. But it hadn't been in him to take advantage of her. To force her to his bed.
She wouldn't have dared deny him. Slaves had no control whatsoever over their lives, especially not when it involved their masters.
Every time he had seen her, it had been on the tip of his tongue to ask her to sleep with him.
And every time he had opened his mouth, he had quickly clamped it shut and refused to ask her something she had no say about. So, he had brought her into his household to save her from what the other members of his family would have done to her.
Valerius winced as he remembered the night his brothers had come for him. The night they had found her statue and realized who it was.
Cursing, he turned away from the window and forced all those thoughts out of his mind.
It had never been his destiny to help anyone.
He had been born to be alone. To know no friends or confidants. To never laugh or play.
There was no fighting destiny. No hope for anything more. He was born to this life just as he had been born to his previous one.
Tabitha was gone.
And it was for the best.
His chest tight, he made his way up the mahogany stairs toward his room. He would shower, re-dress, and then do the job he had sworn himself to.
Tabitha drove her car back to Tia's, where she saw Amanda's Toyota on the street. She pulled in and was getting out as Amanda and Tia came out the back door.
"Hey, Mandy," Tabitha said, closing the distance so she could hug her twin.
"So who was the gorgeous man you were with? Tia said you didn't tell her his name."
Tabitha forced herself not to send any unconscious thought or emotion out to her twin sister. "He's just a friend."
Amanda shook her head. "Tabby," she chided. "You need to stop hanging out with your gay friends and find a boyfriend."
"He didn't seem gay to me," Tia said. "But he was well dressed."
"So where's baby M?" Tabitha asked, trying to get both of them off the topic.
"At the house. You know how Ash is. He refuses to let her leave the premises once the sun goes down."
Tabitha nodded. "Yeah, I agree with him. She's a very special little girl in need of protection."
"I agree too, but I hate leaving my baby behind. I feel like I'm missing a vital organ." Amanda held up her silver talisman. "Tia made me promise to hang it in Marissa's room."
"Good advice."
Amanda frowned at her. "Are you sure you're okay? There's something very odd about you tonight."
"There's always something odd about me."
Amanda and Tia laughed. "True," Amanda agreed. "All right, I'll quit worrying then."
"Please. One mother is quite enough."
Amanda kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you guys later."
Neither Tabitha nor Tia spoke until after Amanda had gotten into her car and left. Tabitha put her hands in her pockets and turned to face her sister's scowl.
"What?"
"Who was he, really?"
"What is it with you guys? He was nobody for you to worry about."
"Was he a Dark-Hunter?"