Dark Storm (Dark #23)(65)
Author: Christine Feehan

Dax’s glittering eyes locked with hers and she knew she was completely, utterly lost, and she didn’t even care.

Chapter 13

Dax held out his hand to her. Riley couldn’t look away from his eyes. The flames burned and leapt, a fiery glow that threatened to consume her. Her very core caught fire, burning in answer, burning for him. The combination of his potent masculine scent surrounding her and his glowing eyes mesmerized her. She took a compulsive step forward, needing him just as much as she needed the air to breathe.

She didn’t remember moving after that first step, but she stood in front of him, close, so close she could feel the incredible heat of his body. He burned with desire-for her. It was there in his eyes, in those leaping flames, the way he looked at her as if she belonged to him-with him.

He seemed to know her, know everything about her, know exactly what she wanted and needed. He seemed to have found a way inside her soul, her heart. Everything about him appealed to her. His smile made her world light up. He gave her courage and made her a better person. She’d fallen for him like the proverbial ton of bricks.

His hand cupped her chin, turning her face up to his. His gaze burned through her, branded her, stamping his possession into her very bones. The air refused to leave her lungs. She found herself staring up at his chiseled, perfect face, a little lost.

She couldn’t hide anything from him. He knew her every innermost thought. She felt vulnerable and exposed, caught in a bright spotlight, but she didn’t want to escape. He knew everything about her, what she wanted, who she was, what she stood for. Her deepest fears-and none of it mattered to him. Why should she try to hide that she wanted him with every single fiber of her being? He would know anyway. She wasn’t ashamed of it. He was a good man, the only one she’d ever considered giving her body to, let alone her heart.

Dax cupped her face in his hands and bent his head to hers. "You are certain this is what you want, Riley? I’m what you want?"

Even his voice, that dark warm molasses, a slow pouring of molten lava into her veins, sent desire spiraling through her body.

Kiss me. She thought it. Whispered it. Merged her mind with his and sent the image. She needed him to kiss her. She’d been waiting all of her life for Dax to kiss her.

Dax’s mouth, that oh-so-perfect mouth, curved into a smile. His white teeth flashed. So straight, but definitely sharp enough to take a bite out of her. Her heart leapt toward his. Her pulse thundered in her ears. As his head came down toward hers, the ground shifted under her feet. Her lungs burned for air. He was so beautiful, this man who was so strong, so fierce, yet protective and gentle with her.

His lips brushed across hers, featherlight, warm, so familiar now, a maelstrom of erotic sensation. She could kiss him forever and it would never be long enough.

Dax stroked a caress down her face, his fingers lingering on her smooth skin. She seemed so young to him. He realized in her world, she was old enough to know what she was doing, but he felt very protective toward her.

"Riley …" His heart protested, but he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t protect her. "You don’t have to do this."

"It’s what I want," she assured.

She looked at him with stars in her eyes. His belly clenched hotly. She was such a mixture of innocence and temptress.

His thumb stroked back and forth across her stubborn chin. "Once I bind us together there is no going back. It isn’t the same as in your world, Riley. You can’t choose to be with me to save me from damnation. You have to want to be with me. You have to know what you’re getting into. I’m Carpathian, not human. My rules are not always going to be the same as yours. My world is dangerous."

When she would have protested, he laid his thumb over her lips, stilling her. "Riley, I won’t be able to take it back once we cross this bridge. You won’t be comfortable being apart from me. You can’t live in two worlds. Eventually, I’ll have to bring you fully into mine with all it entails."

She frowned at him. "Gary told me if you don’t claim your lifemate, you’re in danger of becoming vampire."

He shook his head. "I will not turn. That is not a consideration in your decision. I do not want you to give yourself to me because of physical attraction, or a sense of duty."

Riley reached up to touch his face, tracing the lines there with a feather-light touch he felt all the way to his bones.

"Silly man. How can I not want to be with you? We fit. Can’t you feel it?"

Dax took her hand and pressed a kiss into the center of her palm. "There is no other for me. I know you’re the one. But we’re talking about a different world. You see one side of me, sivamet. You don’t look very carefully at anything else. You don’t want to see."

"That doesn’t mean I don’t know it’s there. I’m choosing to enter your world slowly, but I know it’s right for me. What do I have to hold me? A career I’m no longer enamored with? I have no family. I feel alive when I’m with you. I want this, Dax, for myself. I hear what everyone says when they sit around the campfire. They’re afraid of you, not Gary and Jubal, although even they’re leery, but I’m inside your head. I’m safe with you."

He tried one more time, but already his heart sang, his blood surged and he allowed himself to believe. "It won’t always be easy. I won’t always be easy."

"I’ll take one step at a time and as long as you’re patient with me, we’ll get there," Riley assured.

Dax curled his fingers around the nape of her neck and drew her closer. "You don’t lack for courage, do you?"

"Actually I do," she corrected. "You seem to make me much braver."

"It will take great courage to come fully into my world, Riley," he cautioned.

He bent his head to hers because it was impossible to resist her any longer. Every cell in his body cried out for her. His mouth found hers. He took his time, resisting the urgent need sweeping through him like a tidal wave. He kissed her gently, pouring himself into her, his need of her, his love of her, his knowledge that she was his world and he would always, always stand for her.

Her mouth was sinfully delicious. Hot and velvet soft. He could kiss her for an eternity, over and over and never come up for air. The wind played a song over his body, fanning that relentless fire smoldering in the pit of his belly. Crimson-golden flames rose, leaping to race beneath his skin, spreading like a firestorm through him.

Dax sucked her lower lip into the hot cavern of his mouth, groaning softly with need. His teeth tugged her lush lip, biting gently, showing restraint when he wanted to devour her. She was trembling, her breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. Her eyes, when he pulled back to look at her face, were enormous, watching his every move. He could hear her heart pounding, her blood pumping so fast through her veins it was a wonder her heart hadn’t burst.