Lord Belshazzar blurred as soon as the word ‘yes’ exited my mouth. His strong arms tightened around my hips, and he lifted me straight off my feet with dizzying speed. Wind whipped through my hair, blowing the black strands into the lord’s chiseled features, but he didn’t seem to mind. No, not when he flattened me on my back, laying me on top of the fur rug, the flames of the fire only inches from our bodies. His heavy and warm weight pressed down over every inch of me. From the tips of my toes to the crown of my head, the lord’s cinnamon scent and his hard-muscled frame enveloped me.
I shook the dizziness from my head and glanced at the flames so close by. Then I peered up into his burning red eyes. Out of breath from the rush, I panted, “You like to live on the dangerous side, huh?”
His lips curved in pleasure. “Oh, yes.” His gaze ran over my features. “Are you all right now?”
I removed one hand from the death grip I had on his shoulders and rubbed my forehead a bit. Sheepish, I mumbled, “You move a lot faster than I do. Just got a little dizzy. I’m fine now.”
“I move a lot faster than most. But the blood loss didn’t help you either.” He dipped his head, narrowing his eyes on mine. “Are you sure you can handle me? Like I said, you are young still.”
I glowered. “Shut up.”
His lips twitched, though his resentful gaze didn’t waver, confusing me some. “Don’t puke on me.”
I scoffed, “I would never—”
Wind rushed and the room tilted in a mad rush.
Reality twisted and curved as we moved.
I squealed. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!”
Suddenly, we were in the same position again.
Except we were butt ass naked.
My mouth flapped like a darn idiot. I couldn’t stop blinking past the stars in my eyes. And I was certain I had a little drool hanging out of the side of my mouth. I sputtered, “Huh?”
The lord’s chuckle was quiet and devious. One long finger wiped against my cheek—yes, drool—and he stated calmly, “I was slow earlier. That’s how fast I can really move.”
With the back of my right hand, I quickly rubbed my cheek for any remaining drool. I continued to blink until he completely came back into focus. My eyes took a slow gander at all the hard olive-colored flesh I could see over me. It was only his shoulders, but they were damn perfect. I sucked in a sharp breath and leveled my eyes with his, desire spreading out to my fingertips for this vampire. They itched to touch all of his skin.
I growled, “I hope your end game tonight isn’t that quick.”
Those perfect shoulders shook slightly, barely containing his amusement. But…he was still glaring down at me. His manner was a heady mixture of emotions he was throwing at me. The lord whispered slowly, “There’s nothing quick about my end game, Gwen. You’ll enjoy tonight. I have no worries there.”
His fiery red gaze lowered. Almost on me.
The heat from his flesh was better than the sun.
I shivered as his red lips landed on mine.
Decadent and sinful.
His lips were made by the devil. They had to be.
They melded against mine and consumed.
Brush after brush, he hungered. For me.
That was how it felt, at least, and I let myself drown in the heady feeling, a need of two hundred years exploding inside of me. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and dug my fingernails into his flesh, moaning against his plump lips. His tongue met mine with the same fervor I gave—and needed.
One large hand ran down my shoulder, squeezing hard enough to bruise. I relished it, arching up against his naked frame. The lord pressed back down, challenging me in strength and winning. He kept me pinned under him, grinning against my cheek when he moved from my mouth, eliciting a whine from deep within my chest.
“Hush, little one,” he whispered against my flesh. The lord peppered my cheeks, my forehead, and my closed eyes last, with reverent kisses. “I’ll give you everything you need.”
I gripped his hair with my fists, bringing his mouth back to mine. I stared up into his fiery gaze. “It’s been so long. I need—”
“I know how long it’s been for you,” he interrupted. His hair fell down around the sides of his face from my fingers messing it up, fanning my face in a curtain of deep midnight black. The lord’s lips quirked against mine, holding himself just a breath away from my mouth. “You were at Rest. Don’t doubt me. I’ll give you what you need.”
I sighed in relief and then squirmed under him. “Please hurry.”
His chuckle was deep and masculine. “Now you want it ‘quick’?”
“You know what I mean,” I grouched. I lifted my head off the fur rug and attacked his teasing mouth with mine. His resultant groan satisfied me to the marrow. “Fuck me hard, my lord. Fuck me hard.”
He groaned again. Long…and hard.
Lord Belshazzar escaped my gripping hands on his head in a blur, and then he was sucking greedily on my right breast. Hungry. Hungry for me.
I screamed in pleasure and pressed my chest up against his mouth, wanting all he had to give. “Yes, my lord!”
“Bel,” he panted, his lips moving to my other breast. “You may call me Bel.” The lord flicked a glare up at my eyes, even as his tongue made a slow glide around my left nipple. “But only when I give you permission.”
I moaned at the sensations he was inflicting on my person. “Bel, you’re a cocky bastard.”
Tiny little bites, his fangs slicing gently into my heaving breasts. He licked the blood, holding my gaze, watching as I shuddered at the crimson color coating his tongue with each lick.
The lord whispered, “I am the worst, Gwen. The sooner you learn that, the better.”
I already knew that.
I squirmed under him again. “Lower.”
“I’m getting there.” His eyes left mine and lowered to my breasts again. With gentle hands, he cupped each small globe…and squeezed brutally.
My shout echoed inside the room. A shiver wracked my entire frame, holding me paralyzed with the beautiful sensation. He could stay there as long as he wanted, as long as he kept playing my body like a dream. Too long, I had been without physical contact. An overload of senses overtook me as he sucked and nibbled and played with my breasts—as if he were as mesmerized as I was. His words and expression might be harsh, but his actions were saying otherwise. The hunger in his actions, barely banked, was on the cusp of breaking.
Then his control did break.
And I loved it.
His mouth found a new treat to torture and devour. The lord’s tongue dove into my wet channel, shoving hard into my core, as I threw my head back in pleasure, even while he was still spreading my legs wide with rough shoves.
Against my most intimate flesh, he growled in harsh demand, “Goddamn, you’re smaller than I imagined. Hold your legs for me, or I will get my fucking rope to keep them apart.”