Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

"Sleep with me, black-eyed Susan."

How could a girl resist a line like that?

Oh wait, very easily. He was still out of it. Yeah, and what would it hurt?

No, she couldn't take advantage of him. She wasn't the kind of woman to take advantage of people while they were down. Not to mention the small fact that he'd never seemed that interested in her while at full capacity. If, when he awoke, he was still interested, there might be some grounds for negotiation. But at the moment, those talks were moot.

She pulled the cloth away from his brow with her left hand while she tried to get the right one away from that deliciously erotic tongue of his. "That's okay, Leopardman. I'll just keep bathing your brow."

"That's not what I want you to stroke." He pulled her head down toward his.

Tired of fighting him, she let him kiss her only to learn that that was a serious mistake. Her entire world spun at the decadent taste of him. He had a way with his tongue that should be illegal and it probably was in some states. She'd been kissed a lot of times in her life, but never like this. It was strong and powerful and left her completely breathless.

He led her hand back to the swollen bulge in his jeans. He held her hand there as he rubbed himself against her open palm.

Grinding her teeth, she could just imagine him doing that inside her. Feel him hard and deep, stroking her until she finally had ultimate satisfaction...

But she'd gone a year without a guy. She could certainly go a little longer.

Reluctantly, she broke away from his kiss. "Easy, Puss in Boots."

He actually whimpered as she pulled her hand away. Pouting, he reached for her again, only instead of kissing her, he nuzzled her neck. Susan hissed at the warmth of his mouth on her flesh until something strange happened...

Her eyes started watering and her nose immediately became stuffy. The more he nuzzled, the worse it got until she sneezed.

"Oh my God," she said, pulling back to wipe at her eyes. "I think Pm allergic to you."

He rose up and stalked her across the mattress. "I'm addicted to you."

"Ravyn!" she snapped, holding him back. "I'm serious." But now she was getting better. Maybe she was wrong.

"You're not allergic to me," he said, playfully grabbing her. He rolled her over onto the mattress and pinned her under him.

Susan was fine until he dipped his head back toward hers to kiss her again and his hair fell down over her face. She immediately became stuffy again.

Clearing her throat, she rolled him over until he was pinned under her. He gave her a grin so wicked that it alone could have made her horny. He lifted his hips, rubbing himself against her again.

"Stop that and listen to me. I am allergic to you," she said sternly.

At least to his hair, which made complete sense she supposed, since it was cat fur that set her off. But the worst part was that deep down inside her, a part of her was extremely disappointed. Which made no sense to her whatsoever.

It wasn't like she could ever have a relationship with a man who was an undead cat, Dark-Hunter thing.

"C'mon, Susan," he said in that deeply provocative voice as he lifted his hips to rub with a part of her that was way too interested in that swollen part of his body. "I need you."

Stifling the wicked imp that wanted her to strip him bare and sate both of their baser instincts, she shook her head. "What you need is a cold shower."

"Take one with me and I'll wash your back."

He was relentless!

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door.

Grateful for the interruption, Susan immediately scooted off Ravyn, got to her feet, and straightened her rumpled clothes. "Come in."

The door opened to show Erika, who looked past her to see Ravyn stretched out on the mattress.

Ravyn snorted as he rolled to his side and curled into a very catlike pose. "Hey, kitten. Got any change?"

Erika wrinkled her nose as she stepped past Susan, into the room. "What is he? High?"

"Yes. Very," she answered, duplicating Erika's clipped tone.

That appeared to amuse her a great deal. "Man, any idea what it is?"

Susan folded her arms over her chest as she watched Erika slowly approach Ravyn, who was now singing something that sounded like it might be a lullaby in a foreign language, while lying on his side. "I'm not one hundred percent sure. Why?"

" 'Cause whatever it is, let's up the dosage. He hasn't called me kitten since I was ten." Erika gave her a wide, delighted smile, which might have amused Susan had they met on better terms. But given Erika's blase attitude toward both her and Ravyn, Susan wasn't feeling overly charitable toward the younger woman.

"Is there a point to your visit?"

"I just wanted to make sure he was all right." There was an underlying tremor in her voice that made Susan feel like a heel for being so short with her. After all, Erika had known him all her life and with her father off in Hawaii, Ravyn was the only family she had here.

"He's fine," Susan said, softening her tone. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, but there was something in her eyes that was sad and hurt. "I just don't like people dying on me, you know?"

"Yeah, being alone sucks."

Erika tucked a piece of hair behind one ear. With that one, hesitant action, she went from being a snotty teenager to a little girl who needed someone to tell her everything would be okay. "You've no idea."

"Actually," Susan said, stepping closer to her, "I do. By the time I was your age, I was an orphan, and I've been alone ever since."

"Was it hard alone?"

Susan swallowed as old memories haunted her. "Yeah, most of the time. You stand there alone on graduation while all of your friends are surrounded by their families. You're alone the first day of college with no laughing mom and dad to tease you while you find your dorm room. Unless someone feels sorry for you, there's no place to go when the dorm's closed. But the worst are the holidays, especially Christmas. You sit in your house, looking at the one gift under the tree that you bought for yourself, and you wonder what it would be like to have a mom or dad, or just anyone to call."

Now she didn't even have Angie and Jimmy anymore. Angie had always been the one who'd invited her home. She'd always taken care to call her on Mother's Day and Easter to make sure she was okay. And she'd always lied and said she was fine, even though inside it still hurt to have absolutely no one.