“I am going to make love to you, Caira.” She trembled as his rich voice rolled over her. “As your true love I can bring your mind and body to a higher level of passion that will leave us both sated and drained.”

She nodded, unable to find her voice. She closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to listen to the sound of his hypnotic voice. It seeped into her skin, flooding her with desire.

“Are you prepared for me?” His voice was dark, seductive.

“Always.” He swallowed her response as his mouth closed over hers. She moaned and drew his tongue inside to mate with hers. She could feel herself burning up in his strong arms.

Pressure.

So much pressure.

Deep in her body.

Fighting for release before she melted all over him.

His hand slid over her breasts, kneading them, caressing her nipples with deft manipulation. His other hand began a slow descent, over her flat stomach, until he dipped a finger below the band on her pants. She pushed her pelvis against him, wanting to rub her entire body over his. She ripped at his shirt. Buttons popped and fell to the floor. His chest was magnificent. She stroked him, unable to keep her hands from his naked bronzed flesh. With much greed, she shoved at his shirt until it rolled off his shoulders.

“You are so very responsive, Caira.” He brushed his tongue over her bottom lip and drew it into his mouth, tasting her. With seemingly practiced, controlled patience, he worked the buttons on her shirt. He eased it open until the curves of her breasts were exposed.

“Beautiful.”

His words, his voice, and his touch made her insides shudder. Her entire body responded as though this dream was real. As though his hands were actually stroking her flesh with dark urgency, his mouth possessing hers with hunger. God, she never wanted to wake up. Ever. Nothing in real life could ever feel so good.

“Your lips are even softer than I remember.” The low growl of longing was deep in his throat. Barely audible. Had she not been so in tune with his every breath, his every emotion, she would have missed it.

He shifted his position, dipped his head, and drew her breast into his mouth for a taste. His warm, wet tongue glided over her trembling flesh, raising her passion to new heights just like he promised. Her body shook and her heart pounded as his mouth moved over her skin. His touch was erotic, intimate. God, she felt so safe, so cherished in his tender arms. She now knew why no other man appealed to her. She was made for Zarek.

He growled and sucked harder. “Yesssss,” she hissed. Throwing her head back, she drove her fingers through his long hair. “Oh God, that feels incredible.”

“And it tastes incredible, Bella, just as I remembered,” he added, curling his tongue around her engorged nipple.

Bella!

Deep in her arousal-fogged mind she fought to make sense out of it. Why would he call her Bella? Had the old woman’s stories seeped into her subconscious, rattling her more than she realized? Caira knew at that moment, as she floated on some level between sleep and awake, her brain was too foggy to rationalize anything. She pushed it far from her mind.

All thoughts were forgotten as his tongue continued its gentle assault. Biting, nipping, and ravishing her with hunger. Her whole world was pulsing, throbbing. She’d never been so desperate, so needy.

She could feel an orgasm pulling at her as he lapped at her breasts with demanding strokes. He dipped a finger between her moist folds and stroked from front to back, his finger bathing in her syrupy arousal.

“Zarek,” she cried out breathlessly as pleasure forked through her. The room began spinning as a rainbow of colors danced before her eyes.

“You are nice and wet for me.” He swirled his finger through her slick heat. “I must taste your sweet juices, Caira.”

“Please…” she begged, needing him to answer the urgent demands of her body. There was no time for him to taste her. She needed him to bring her over the edge now. Before she burned up inside. “I need to come.” She could hear the impatience, the greed in her voice.

When she reached out and cupped her hand over the bulge in his pants, he groaned and burrowed a finger deep inside her. Her pussy muscles gripped him and held him high in her tight, moist fissure. His tongue climbed up her neck until his lips were a hairbreadth away from her. His long hair tickling her ultrasensitive flesh.

“Ahhh my sweet Caira, you are much closer than I thought. Your body is quivering.”

He pressed a kiss over her mouth and eased another finger inside her while his thumb circled her clitoris. “Let me take the edge off for you, sweetness. Then I’ll make passionate love to you all night long. Let me make up for all the years we missed.”

She could barely make out his words. She could only hear the raw ache of lust in his voice. His need drove her into a heated frenzy. She was desperate, frantic for an orgasm. She pressed her face against his chest. His masculine scent curled around her.

“Are you ready to come for me, Caira?”

“Yes, please…”

She shifted her hips and snaked her arms around his neck when his thumb applied the perfect amount of pressure to her clitoris. At the first sweet touch, her body pulsed and throbbed and responded with a hot flow of release.

He held onto her and absorbed her tremor as she rode out the gripping waves of her orgasm. Minutes later when her breathing finally regulated, she gave a small satisfied purr and loosened her grip around his neck. She touched his cheek and looked deep into his haunted, dark eyes.

Zarek pulled his hands from her damp bottom and drew his glistening fingers to his mouth. He inhaled her feminine scent and suckled his finger with sheer delight.

“Mmmm, you are as sweet as ever. Taste with me, Caira.” He cupped her chin and drew her face to his.

She closed her lips over his mouth as his finger played between their tongues. His cock throbbed against her stomach. She ached to taste his juices, to feel his thickness in her mouth.

It was her dream after all. She could do as she pleased.

His mouth dropped to her neck and did magical things to her nerve endings as her hands slid down his body, touching him, absorbing his heat and energy. She eased away from his kiss, her mouth following the path of her hands until she sank to her knees before him.

God, he was so beautiful. He looked down at her. His long thick hair fell forward, shadowing his handsome face, hiding his scar. He smiled. A perfect smile that made her insides turn to liquid.

“Zarek, let me love you as I’ve longed to do.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

He threw his head back and moaned softly. “Yes Caira, as I have longed for this too.”

She leaned into him, mesmerized by his sensual voice. Lowering her head, she worked the button on his pants. His low groan of pleasure stirred the fire inside her. Easing his pants past his hips, she let his thick cock spring free. The scent of his arousal stirred her blood. Her hunger for him grew to new heights. She sheathed his cock in her small hand, stoking his smooth, silky skin as blood pumped through his swollen veins. He was so magnificently huge. Fire licked over her loins and her mouth salivated, eager to sample his male juices.

When she flicked her tongue out to taste him, something stirred in the back of her mind.

Sometime from long ago.

Something distant.

Something forgotten.

She tried to grasp onto it but it slipped away much too quickly, leaving her with no time to examine it further.

Three

As her sweet silken tongue glided over his length he clenched his jaw and fought to hang on, wanting to prolong the exquisite pleasure longer, wanting to bask in the heat of her erotic mouth. Her hands cradled his tight balls, gently massaging them with the pad of her thumb.

Although he’d spent centuries watching over her, aching to hold her in his arms, he knew they were playing a dangerous game. By reciting the incantation she had awakened a great darkness and soon that darkness would try to consume her. Zarek could feel danger all around them, lurking nearby, waiting, just waiting to destroy their love once and for all. He needed to tell her, to warn her, but first he needed to love her the way she so desperately needed to be loved.

As her sweet mouth drew him in deeper, his orgasm mounted. Threading his fingers through her long golden hair, his hands followed the motion of her head as it swayed back and forth.

His need for her consumed him. A growl of longing lodged in his throat. Knowing his time with her would soon be over filled him with a hollow ache. He wanted to hold her, protect her, have her stay with him for an eternity. He gripped her shoulders, possessively, as her tongue swirled around his cock.

He pushed his hips forward, burying his cock in her throat, needing to get deeper. Not wanting to ever let her out of his grasp, he squeezed his hands, tightening his grip, bruising her delicate shoulder. She winced and he forced himself to release his hold.

His blood raced as she smiled up at him, gauging his emotions. He returned the smile, letting her know that passion, not anger, stirred his soul. He mopped at the beads of sweat trickling down his face as the pressure of an orgasm made him quake.

He closed his eyes in sweet agony, tension building, coming to a peak. “Caira, I’m going to come.” His voice sounded strangled, barely recognizable. He began trembling from head to toe as his groin throbbed. Sparks multiplied and shot through his body as he gave in to his orgasm.

She parted her lips and poised his cock at the opening. Her hands continued stroking, coaxing his release. He bucked, driving his cock between her lips. Her teeth scraped his sensitive skin as her mouth closed over him like a vacuum, milking every last drop from his body.

She looked up at him. He reached out and held her face between his palms. The blue glow emanating from his body made her moist skin glisten. The love he felt for her rushed over him, slamming the air from his lungs.

He sucked in a tight breath. “Come here, Caira.”

As he drew her mouth to his, a flash of anger coiled through him. So much time had been lost. The ache inside him gathered around his heart. They’d lost so many loving, caring moments like this together. To think her own father, Lord Montright, had purposely destroyed her happiness, and her future, by placing a curse on him and forcing her to marry a man whom she didn’t love. Rage welled up inside him and he fought to control it. His time with her was coming to an end. He didn’t want his anger ruining their last minutes. He wanted to make this night perfect for her, in case it was the last. He’d been in her mind for centuries and knew all her secret fantasies and desires, and was about to fulfill every one of them.

He tried to control the tremor in his voice. “Take me to your bedroom where I can lay you out and taste your body in its entirety.”

Nodding anxiously in agreement, Caira swallowed. There was nothing in the world she’d rather do. She forced her rubbery knees to carry her down the hall. Keeping pace, Zarek walked beside her. The blue glow emanating from his body guiding the way. He walked silently, with easy, fluid movements that were both sensual and confident.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside. Before she could walk toward her bed, Zarek grabbed her and spun her around to face him. There was an ache of longing in his dark eyes. Powerful emotions tore across his face as his gaze glided over her. “So beautiful,” he whispered. “I want you to remove your clothes, my sweetness. Let me see you. All of you. Naked.”

She nodded, her voice lodged somewhere deep in her throat.

Taking two steps back, she slid her pants down her thighs, letting the silk pool at her feet. She eased her shirt from her shoulders, her pert nipples alerting him to the heightened state of her arousal. The material kissed her skin as it feathered to the floor. Awareness flared through her as she stood before him naked, needy-for his touch, and his love. Her chest heaved as his ravenous gaze dropped to her damp, silky curls.

She watched him come toward her. His cock was so thick. It excited and frightened her at once. She’d been with men before, of course. But those encounters were always fast, awkward, and uncomfortable and had left her feeling used and unsatisfied.

This man, however, was different from the rest. He was skilled. Patient. Concerned about her pleasures. Eager for her pleasures.

He cupped her bare sex in his hand. Her muscles clenched as fire shot through her body. She couldn’t believe that with one simple touch, he made her burn up inside. Now she understood why she had never been able to find pleasure in another man’s arms. Because none of those men were Zarek.