Slide your hand down your body. Slow. Feel the way your fingers touch your skin. Let me feel it.

There was no resisting the temptation of his voice. That wicked hunger. The dark promise of pa.s.sion and beauty. At once she opened her mind further to him, letting him inside her where he could feel everything she felt, every emotion, every spectacular sensation his mouth was giving to her. With one hand she clung to his hair to keep herself anch.o.r.ed; with the other, she found her breast, cupping the soft weight, thumb sliding across her nipple. A streak of fire burst through her, raced straight to her pulsing c.l.i.t. She threw her head back.

Harder, Blaze. You like it rough.

She did. She so did. Her fingers rolled and tugged her nipple, sending a series of white-hot arrows rushing through her body to find her deepest core. His mouth worked her, licking, sucking, even his teeth sc.r.a.ping. The world seemed to explode around her, fiery sparks raining down behind her eyes.

That is exactly what I want, he said. So beautiful. Bring your hand down to me, draga mea, slide it down your body. Feel how beautiful you are. Your skin so soft. The way your body is firm but soft. Exquisite. Perfect.

His mouth never stopped, not even through the wildfire storming through her. Blaze looked down at him, that sensual, predatory face, carved so deep with l.u.s.t. His eyes were twin glaciers, but beneath all that ice, she could see that flames burned blue and white, consuming her just as his mouth was.

She had no idea arousal could be this brutal, or her body so on fire. The pads of her fingers glided over her satiny skin, and the flames streaked over her nerve endings with every touch. Her fingers dipped inside her belly b.u.t.ton, moved lower still until she felt the brush of his hair. His hand reached up and caught hers, drawing it down farther, curling her fingers in, so that she stroked her own inflamed c.l.i.t, while his tongue lashed deep. It was s.e.xy. It was crazy sensual. It fueled her l.u.s.t, drove up her pa.s.sion and with his hand over hers, pushing her finger deep and then drawing it back so that she stroked that tight little bud repeatedly, she felt the wash of another strong o.r.g.a.s.m devouring her.

His mouth kept moving, his hand continued to force her finger deep and then stroking. The sensations rolled through her. Danced down her thighs. Up into her belly, spreading like wildfire through her. It was unbelievable, so good. So perfect. She tipped her hips to give him better access, her breath catching on a little sob as he licked and sucked at her strongly, carrying her away on a tide of pure pa.s.sion.

Her third o.r.g.a.s.m hit strong and he pulled his mouth away, waving his hand to strip his body of all clothes as he stood. He wrapped his arm around her, starting to lift her and she shook her head, biting at his shoulder, licking down his chest.

"It's my turn. You taste so good, Maksim. Let me."

He closed his eyes, and she loved that look of sheer carnal pleasure on his face. The lines carved deep. The hunger in him. All for her. When he opened his eyes and looked down at her, the flames behind the ice burned brighter than ever.

"Get your mouth on me, draga mea." His hand went to her shoulder. "But my famous control is slipping."

She couldn't stand anyway, so it was a relief to sink to her knees in front of him. The cushion under her hadn't been there and she knew, even in the heat of the moment, he was seeing to her comfort. Her mouth watered, remembering the taste of him. She slid her hands up his thighs, watching the muscles bunch. Cupping his heavy sac, she leaned close to stroke the velvet b.a.l.l.s with her tongue. She knew he wouldn't give her much time; already he was thick and long and very hard. Very hot.

Blaze stroked her tongue from the base, up his shaft to the crown. She wasted no time, drawing him into her mouth, suckling strongly, pulling at that spicy, rich taste of him. She loved that he was rough and wild and it was there in his addicting taste. There in the way his fingers dug into the nape of her neck, biting into her flesh so that more damp honey spilled down her thighs.

She took as much as she could as fast as she could, driving him to the very brink of his control, loving that she could. Loving that she knew she did. She lavished attention on him, watching him, keeping her gaze glued to his, seeing the intensity of his pleasure-pleasure she gave him. She lashed him with her tongue, curled it around the underside of his shaft, suckled, teased, took him deep and then shallow.

He caught her under her arms. Enough. I need to be inside you.

She needed that as well. She let go of him, although she hated losing the feel and taste of him, but he lifted her high, her body rubbing along his so that her nipples felt the sc.r.a.pe of their joined bodies. She wrapped him up, arms and legs, nearly crying as she felt him right there, at her burning entrance.

There was no hesitation. He surged up as he slammed her down over him. All the way until she was seated fully on him and he had pushed through those tight, inflamed folds. She bit his shoulder to keep from crying out with the sheer pleasure of it. It was too much. Too good.

"Maksim."

His name came out a husky whisper with far more emotion in it than she wanted, but she couldn't control her body let alone her voice. Already she was breaking apart inside, fragmenting around his hammering shaft. The burn was different this time, even more intense, and she feared she knew why. She had dreamt too often of this kind of man, and now she was putting all of her hopes, all of her emotions that she'd held back for so long into him. On him.

I love when you say my name. When you know I belong to you. That you are mine. The things you do to my body, Blaze. Sheer paradise.

The things he did to her body were pure sin. She couldn't stop moving through the powerful quake because his hands refused to allow it. He kept her gliding up and down his shaft while he powered into her. She had no idea if her o.r.g.a.s.m continued or she just rolled right into another, but she felt him swell, the hard strokes driving deep, and then his face was in her neck and he was rocketing with her into that place they could only find together.

He held her for a long time while their hearts raced and their lungs burned. It was Maksim who lifted his head first, brushing kisses over her cheek and the side of her nose.

"Good evening, my beautiful soul."

She didn't lift her head from his shoulder but smiled at him. Physically, he was the most good-looking man she'd ever seen-not in the model kind of way. He was too rough for that-too masculine. "Good evening back. That was amazing. Hot and amazing."

"I am very pleased you thought so."

She felt the wind in her face and it cleared some of the fog, some of the daze of the aftermath of having wild, rooftop s.e.x with him. She lifted her head, shocked at herself. At once he set her feet on the ground. She looked helplessly around for her clothes. She had no idea what she'd done with them.

He waved his hands and just like that both of them were fully clothed. Her breath hitched in her throat. She was clean as well. Absolutely clean and completely dressed-as if nothing at all had happened.

"How do you do that?"

"I will teach you one day soon. In the meantime, to relieve your anxiety, we should get moving."

Blaze stared up at him, still shocked at his display of power. There was no explanation, not one she could think of, so she shut down her need for answers and pulled out of his arms abruptly. "I can't believe I'm standing up here on the roof with you, doing whatever it is we're doing and Emeline is in the club without backup."

"She has backup." His voice was a soft growl. "I told you, Tomas is in the club. He will not allow anything to happen to her."

"Still, I don't know him. I barely know you." And that was just a teensy bit humiliating when she'd just had wild s.e.x on the rooftop with him.

"You know me. We will walk in together, you on my arm. Will your girl recognize you in your wig?"

"You can't walk in with me. Jimmy Hallahan is in there. He'd recognize you in a heartbeat."

"He will not recognize me. I can certainly disguise my features." There was a hint of humor in his voice. He bent down to brush his mouth over hers. "I will be your much older lecherous sugar daddy. Why else would a good girl like you go into such a club? Your sugar daddy has a lot of money to throw around and he likes women."

She stared up at his face. "You're going to draw attention to yourself."

"Of course. It will give you a chance to slip off and talk to your girl."

She could still feel him inside her. Deep down in her most private, feminine core. He was there. In her mind. Filling her. He was there. She could taste him in her mouth. He was there as well. In her. On her. Surrounding her. She wanted to move into him, into his heat and strength, but she stepped back.

Emeline was counting on her. So was her father. She had a mission to accomplish and as much as Maksim drew her to him, she knew she was getting lost in him. She pressed trembling fingers to her mouth.

"Why doesn't your blood make me sick? Repulse me?"

He reached for her hand. There was unexpected gentleness in his touch, disarming her completely.

"You are the other half of my soul, Blaze," he said simply. Complicating an already difficult situation. "I have tied us together using the ritual binding words, and we've had two blood exchanges. You are entering my world."

"What does that mean?" She didn't pull her hand away, but went with him when he tugged her toward the thick railing running the length of the roof.

"I will show you." He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles before wrapping her arm around his neck. "Give me your other hand."

She did so hesitantly, uncertain what she was getting herself into. They were right on the edge, so looking down, the ground was a long distance away.

"Lock your fingers behind my neck and hold on tight."

She had barely managed to thread her fingers together when his arms came around her rib cage and he stepped off the edge. She cried out, but the sound was m.u.f.fled by his shirt because she'd buried her face against his shoulder. When she didn't have the sensation of falling, she opened her eyes and forced her head to turn just enough to see around her.

They were in midair. Floating. Not falling. Floating. In a controlled float. She looked up at Maksim's face to catch him looking down at hers. His eyes were as black as night, as cold as ever, but very slowly, she saw the grin start. Mischievous. Playful. Full of fun. Something deep inside her responded. She found an answering grin starting. Once it did, she couldn't hold it back, because truthfully, she could either faint-and that didn't feel forthcoming-or she could embrace the moment. She was all about embracing.

EIGHT.

THE MOMENT HER feet touched the ground, Blaze lifted her face and went up on her toes to capture Maksim's mouth. He was incredible. A miracle. In the midst of terrible sorrow, he had made her smile. Made her forget for one tiny moment that inside she had broken apart and that she'd been left with nothing but her friendship and love for Emeline. Or that Emeline had once again been left alone just as she had been.

Maksim was extraordinary and even if something happened and nothing was really between them, she would be forever grateful that he had made her forget. That he had made her smile. He might be bossy and some weird species she'd never heard of, but that didn't make him something to be frightened of. That made him all the more intriguing and as far as she was concerned, totally kick-a.s.s.

He was offering her the things he could do. She knew he wasn't making it up, because she was already evolving. Already her hearing was more acute, as was her vision. She felt the strength in her body and the fluid way she moved. She trained every single day. She studied anatomy. She kickboxed and boxed. She practiced falls and rolling. She drilled with weapons and ran daily. She had never felt quite as strong and as empowered as she did in that moment.

Her body melted into his as she kissed him. His arms locked around her tightly, holding her close to him, his mouth moving on hers, meeting fire with fire. Sweetness with more sweetness. He tasted hot and masculine and pa.s.sionate, but there was something else now, something underlying she couldn't quite put her finger on. The more they were in each other's head, the more she felt she knew him. The closer she felt to him.

Still, she'd been careful not to look too deep. He wasn't human. She knew that. She even accepted it, but that didn't mean she wanted to know too much too fast. By going slow, she could accept the things she learned about him and not be afraid.

"Please be real," she murmured against his mouth. His beautiful, fabulous mouth that could kiss like a dream. "I need you to be real."

"I am real," he a.s.sured, nuzzling the top of her head with his chin.

She continued to cling to him. "If you aren't, I need to thank you." She felt the instant tension coiling in his body, the rejection of what she needed to say. Her fingers bunched his hair in a tight fist. "No. I have to say this to you. You have to hear me, Maksim."

She couldn't look at him when she confessed. She was too ashamed. Her father would have been angry with her. Emeline knew her well enough to know what had been in her head or she wouldn't have accepted Blaze having wild s.e.x with a stranger so readily.

"I wanted to die last night. I intended to die." She made the confession in a little rush. "I was supposed to work that shift and Dad took it for me. The police wouldn't help me find him, and I looked everywhere I could think that they might take him, but I couldn't find him. I was outside the bar in the early-morning hours, and they threw him out of a moving car at my feet. He was already dead. It was . . . unimaginable." Pain broke through her voice. "I know I told you this, but you have to understand where my head was, what I would have done had you not saved me from myself."

"Sufletul meu," he whispered softly. Gently. His arms tightened around her, but the way he held her felt like comfort. Like shelter. "I am sorry I was not there to help you when you needed me."

The hint of tenderness was nearly her undoing. She had to choke back a sob. "You saved my life." He had to know. Whatever was between them, he had to know that if he hadn't come along, if he hadn't been so intense and pa.s.sionate, making her feel alive again when she'd felt dead inside . . . "You were there when I needed you most."

"You saved not only my life, Blaze," he said, feathering kisses down the side of her cheek to her chin. "You saved my honor, and to a Carpathian, honor is everything. I would say we were more than even." His fingers smoothed over her cheek.

Again there was a hint of tenderness in his touch that sent her stomach into a series of somersaults. She smiled up at him. "I just wanted you to know. In case. You know."

He frowned. "In case, I know what? Clearly I don't know."

"Um." Uh-oh. She didn't like that look on his face. He could go from sweet to arrogant in the blink of an eye. Not just arrogant, but scary dangerous, don't-mess-with-me gorgeous. "Just in case," she persisted. But her voice stumbled. "Things don't work out."

His eyebrow shot up. "Things do not work out? What things? We will get those responsible for your father's death. I already have men working on it. They are hunters. They have been hunting for centuries. c.o.o.nan will not escape and neither will his human killers."

She really needed to leave it there. Honesty was only good when a man wasn't looking down at you with predatory, glittering eyes, warning you to stop while you were ahead. So she stopped. But his arms didn't loosen.

"I am not going anywhere. You are my lifemate. I realize we have not had the time to get to know one another or even to talk about what this really means, but know this . . . I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere."

She was getting that. Her stomach fluttered right before the somersaults started. He could do that to her without even trying. She cleared her throat. "I need to get inside. The club is filling up and Emeline is inside. If Jimmy Hallahan spots her before she dances, he'll make a move on her. She's that striking. Dancing, she'll probably start a riot." She wasn't kidding about that, either. Emeline wasn't merely beautiful. There was no way for Blaze to describe her adequately to Maksim. He had to see for himself.

"I am going to allow you to get away with that," he said, his voice low as always. Still, she knew he was annoyed with her. There was the bite of a lash underlying his tone, making her shiver. "Remember I am your sugar daddy. Play your part."

She felt the subtle difference in him immediately and she looked up, gasping at the change in his features. He looked much older, a good twenty or more years older than she was. His hair was short and definitely salt and pepper. His face had changed to that of a man who was definitely a powerhouse, but not so much in a physical way. He was corporate. His suit was worth upwards of a thousand dollars or more. His shoes were Italian.

She glanced down at her own clothes. Her jeans were gone. She wore a halter minidress. The front was two strips of material that barely covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, plunging below her waist with a bow and ruffle draping gracefully over the tiny skirt. There was virtually no back. The material clung to her body, showing off her figure. Her shoes were four-inch stiletto heels with dozens of straps going up her ankle. The dress was shorter than any she had ever worn before and far more expensive.

"You ever wear something like this without me right next to you, and we are going to have problems," he said, taking her hand and leading her across the street to the club.

"Just pointing out, I don't own anything like this," she said, smoothing her hand down the silky material. It draped beautifully, but she could feel the breeze on her body as she took each step. "I think the thong is a little much," she added. "The skirt barely covers my b.u.t.t."

"You have a great b.u.t.t," he pointed out. "We own a dance club and this attire is fairly tame in comparison to what quite a lot of the women wear. Besides, your sugar daddy is a total letch. Otherwise why would he bring his woman to a place like this? He will be touching you every chance he gets. The thong is something he probably wouldn't want you wearing. I gave you that as a concession so I wouldn't have to kill anyone tonight. You will not be leaving my side."

A little shiver of antic.i.p.ation went through her. The dress was beautiful and it fit like a glove. She wasn't wearing a bra because it was impossible with the back and front, both nonexistent, totally bordering on indecency. She felt the material draping low, just above the curve of her b.u.t.t, and with every step she took, it brushed over her skin like fingers.

Maksim's hand was a brand on her back, low, right above the material, but sliding down every now and then to stroke the curve of her bottom. In her high heels, her body swayed with a subtle invitation so that the silk dragged across her nipples, sending little darts of fire straight to her core. The feeling was just plain s.e.xy.

They turned heads as they walked in together. Maksim immediately leaned into the bouncer and spoke authoritatively in his ear. The bouncer nodded, signaled for a waitress and pushed the hundred-dollar bill into his pocket. It was done smoothly and Maksim's hand never stopped stroking her bare skin and dipping lower to caress her b.u.t.tocks.

They were led to a small, intimate booth raised so they could easily see the dancers onstage, but the lighting was low. "Perfect," Maksim said, sliding another hundred toward the waitress. "Just what I asked for. See, honey, the table is draped. You need to slide under there and take care of me; no one can see a thing." He said it loud enough for the waitress to hear. As he spoke, Maksim's hand slid up her thigh, straight under the short hem of her dress to go up her hip.

Blaze stayed perfectly still, trying to control the heat in her body and the blush rising. The lights were low, and Maksim's body was between her and everyone else, but still, it was a highly embarra.s.sing moment. She was an object, there to serve him, and he was making that clear. The waitress flashed him a flirty smile, pushing the money down into her ample cleavage. She didn't even look at Blaze, because clearly Maksim's toy didn't count, instead batting her lashes at Maksim and smiling huge for him.

He winked at the waitress and slid into the booth, pulling Blaze in after him. He ordered bourbon for himself and a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b for Blaze. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes.

You don't need to be so obvious.

Sure I do. The waitress will report the high roller obsessed with s.e.x to her boss. I want his attention on me. They like high rollers here. They have a back room where the girls take customers for special shows.

They do? What had Emeline gotten herself into?

His hand dropped below the table to slide up her thigh, taking her skirt with it. All the while he smiled at the waitress. "Keep them coming, sweetheart. I heard the shows were great here and I think my girl is going to need to do a lot of work tonight, right, baby?"

Blaze leaned into him and licked up the side of his neck. "I'll keep you happy, handsome. You know I always do."

"Sometimes with a little help from your friends," he said, and laughed coa.r.s.ely.

The hand on her thigh traced patterns in her skin. His fingers were hot, branding those patterns into her skin. She didn't want to be aware of him in such a sleazy place, but it was impossible. She knew he was playing a part and helping her to do the same, but she was already so aware of him, just the slightest touch sent little sparks of electricity surging through her bloodstream.

The waitress leaned close, giving him more of a view of her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s and just a hint of darker nipples barely hidden beneath her bustier. "We are very friendly here," she a.s.sured in a purring voice.

Do you see Emeline anywhere? he asked.

There was a little note of worry in his voice, and that both pleased and worried her. She liked that he was anxious for Emeline's safety but concerned that he felt the need to be anxious. She'd scanned the room the moment she'd walked in, but there were so many people. The room was dark so that she couldn't see much but the raised stage where the dancers performed and the elevated cages where several dancers swayed, b.u.mped and ground to the music.

She had thought of the club as a strip joint, but she could see it had been made into so much more than that. On the surface, the atmosphere would appeal to many young people as well as the men who came to see the strippers. Knowing there was a back room where other services could be bought explained the extreme popularity.

Emeline wasn't near the stage, and even from their raised dais, Blaze couldn't spot her anywhere. She searched the room for Jimmy Hallahan. He was near the bar, leaning down talking to their waitress. Twice he glanced toward their booth, and Blaze made certain her face was tipped up to stare at Maksim adoringly.

There was a shadow across her face, and she knew Maksim kept it there. No matter which direction she moved, her features were impossible to really see in the darkened room.

Hallahan is over by the bar with our waitress. He keeps looking this way. I don't think he's seen Em yet or he'd be all over her. She must be in the back with the other dancers getting ready for the show.