Kata kept her eyes tightly closed, basking in the sensation of the warm sunlight that spilled over their entwined bodies and the soft moss beneath her back. Illusion or not, she'd been trapped in that dark, spartan cell for centuries. The sense of being free and returned to her beloved homeland was nearly as heady as the feel of Uriel's gentle touch.

She sucked in a sharp breath as his lips traced the line of her collarbone and then over the curve of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, swiftly revising her thoughts.

The sun and illusion of freedom were delightful, but Uriel's touch . . .

It was magic.

The cool, clever fingers that skimmed down her body with a heart-melting skill. The seeking lips that closed over the tip of her aching breast. The press of his erection against the precise point of her pleasure.

She threaded her fingers through thick curls, her back arching in silent encouragement.

Uriel growled in appreciation, his tongue flicking over the sensitive tip of her breast as his hand explored the generous curve of her hip. Slowly his hand skimmed downward until he could tug her legs further apart, his fingers running a lazy path up and down her inner thigh. Kata forgot to breathe as she restlessly stirred beneath him, her body trembling with need.

"Please," she moaned.

He nibbled a path to her other breast. "Say it," he husked.

"Say what?"

"That you want me."

She didn't even hesitate. What would be the point? Even if he weren't a vampire he would know that she was desperate to ease her burning l.u.s.t.

"I want you."

A smug smile curved his lips. "Mine."

Kata stilled. She wasn't disturbed by his claim of possession. It sounded unnervingly right, even if she wasn't ready to admit it. But, she'd be d.a.m.ned if he thought he could make her go up in flames without feeling a few sparks himself.

Lifting her heavy lids her stomach clenched in antic.i.p.ation at the need blazing in his dark eyes. Deliberately she shifted her hands to trace the smooth planes of his back. Beneath her fingers she could feel his muscles flex at her touch, his fangs flashing in the sunlight as his lips parted in pleasure.

"Kata."

"Do you like?" she teased.

He growled low in his throat. "I like."

She chuckled, her fingers skimming over the curve of his ribs and then discovered the hard ridges of his stomach. She savored the feel of his muscles clenching beneath her exploration before lowering her hand to the thick jut of his erection. Just for a moment she hesitated, a strange voice in the back of her mind warning that making love with Uriel was one of those life changing decisions.

"Please . . ." Uriel muttered, his voice a harsh rasp.

Shrugging off the premonition, Kata allowed her fingers to curl around the straining c.o.c.k, amazed by the cool perfection of his skin that sheathed the rigid length. Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach as she stroked downward, reaching the soft sack before exploring back to the blunt tip.

Uriel's groans filled the air as she pushed downward again, his lips capturing her mouth in a kiss of raw desperation. Pleasure jolted through her. So much for his smug conceit.

Now he trembled with a need that matched hers.

Lost in her heady sense of power, Kata continued her daring caresses, only halting when Uriel abruptly grasped her wrist, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

"Enough."

"And I thought vampires were famous for their stamina," she teased.

"Don't worry your pretty head about my stamina."

"Are you certain?"

"I'll be happy to demonstrate it as long and as often as you want. But first . . . you had your fun, now it's my turn," he warned, smiling down at her with a predatory expression. "And payback is a b.i.t.c.h."

Kata shivered, her eyes sliding shut as he lowered his head and nibbled his way down the curve of her neck. Her body bowed in pleasure as he paused to tease the aching tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his tongue sending a blaze of pa.s.sion through her veins. Gently he captured one nipple between his teeth, chuckling softly as she cried out in delight.

"d.a.m.n, that feels good," she whispered, lifting her hands to grasp his shoulders.

"We can do better than good." With slow, savoring kisses, Uriel journeyed down the shallow curve of her stomach, smiling against her flesh as she wriggled beneath his teasing caresses. "I want you to scream for me, Kata."

Kata's hips lifted off the soft ground as he stroked his mouth over her hip bone and down the tender skin of her inner thigh.

"Scream? You're not that . . . oh. Oh." Her chest was so tight she could not breathe. "Do something, Uriel, I can't take much more."

"Tyrant." Uriel relentlessly tugged her legs apart, slipping down the bank to kneel between her thighs. "I need to taste you."

"But . . ." Her protest died in her throat as he shifted and stroked his tongue through her damp curls.

She cried out at the pure bliss that trembled through her body. Oh, this was decadent. Decadent and wicked. And if anything or anyone tried to interrupt, she'd rip out their hearts with her bare hands.

Quivering, she allowed herself to drown in the exquisite sensations. Over and over his tongue dipped into her gathering dampness, stroking with a steady rhythm that was custom designed for maximum pleasure.

Oh, he was fantastic.

A top of the line, first-cla.s.s lover that made all the years of waiting worthwhile.

Then, gently he sucked the hidden nub into his mouth and Kata screamed as the entire world shattered in a burst of shimmering stars.

Caught off guard by the sheer force of her release, Kata was barely aware of Uriel sliding up her body and entering her in one smooth thrust. But as he captured her lips in a demanding kiss, she instinctively wrapped her arms about his shoulders and arched her back to meet the plundering strokes of his erection.

"Perfect," he husked against her lips, his entire body trembling as he jerkily surged in and out of her body. "You're perfect."

Kata barely registered his soft words, lost in the mind-numbing pleasure that was once again building in her lower body. With every thrust he pressed deeper into her body, his fullness creating a delectable friction.

"Yes, Uriel . . . yes . . ." She urged him to a faster pace, raking her nails down his back as he drove into her with a single minded purpose.

"Mine," he rasped as he sc.r.a.ped his fangs down the line of her throat. "My sweet Kata."

With one last surge he tumbled them both over the edge of reason, remaining buried deep inside her as her scream of fulfillment echoed through the glade.

Chapter 7.

Uriel smiled as Kata's cries became soft moans of completion, his body still trembling from the pleasure of her wild pa.s.sion.

b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l.

He expected the explosion of bliss. He'd never experienced a woman with such a savage desire. And with Kata's eager response to his touch, the resulting earth-rocking, mind-blowing, the-best-o.r.g.a.s.m-ever had been inevitable.

But what he hadn't expected was the primitive surge of possession that had settled in the center of his heart.

Mine.

The word had whispered over and over in his mind, settling deep in his soul.

Feeling Kata stir beneath him, he reluctantly rolled to the side, tightly tucking her against him. He growled at the satin slide of her naked skin and the beat of her heart that echoed in his own.

He hadn't shared her blood, but already she was an intimate part of him.

A smile curved his lips as Kata tilted back her head, a sh.e.l.l-shocked expression on her beautiful face.

"That was . . ."

"Only the beginning," he promised, his hand cupping her full breast.

The dark eyes flashed with ready fire. "Hey, don't be making plans that include me, vampire."

He chuckled, his finger circling the dusky nipple into a hard peak.

"Then don't be making promises you don't intend to keep."

She moaned, her back arching and her hands running up the bare planes of his chest. But even as he shivered with a raw jolt of antic.i.p.ation, she gave a startled gasp pulling back to study his chest with a frown.

"Oh, Uriel," she breathed.

"What?"

Her fingers tenderly stroked the scar that marred his skin.

"You've been injured."

With a hiss Uriel was on his feet, his hand instinctively covering the wound.

Christ, he'd forgotten.

Lost in the stunning power of his awareness of Kata, his mind had refused to remember that this was an impossible dream.

No.

It was worse than impossible, he fiercely reminded himself.

It was dangerous.

She studied his tight expression with a frown, slowly sitting upright.

"Uriel?"

"It was a long time ago," he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed. "Then why are you still angry?"

Angry?

He wanted to fall to his knees and howl at the bleak desolation that filled his heart.

It was one thing to know he was denied the promise of a mate when she was a mythical creature that might or might not make an appearance in his life. It was another to be given a glimpse of paradise only to have it s.n.a.t.c.hed away.

"Because it's a reminder that my future is no longer my own," he said in stark tones.

Cautiously she rose to her feet, her hand reaching toward his chest.

"You sound like Yannah."

"Don't," he growled, jerking away.

"Tell me what happened."

He hesitated, before giving a faint shrug. He admired her courage too much to lie.

"I had a rather nasty encounter with a Jinn beneath the docks of London," he grimly confessed.

She paled, her hand trembling as she pushed back the heavy tumble of her dark curls.

"A Jinn?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Two centuries ago, give or take."

Her expression was impossible to read, although she was too intelligent not to realize the significance of the date.

"You battled?"

He made a sound of disgust. Even after two centuries it still rankled he'd made such a pansy-a.s.s showing against the Jinn.

h.e.l.l, a dew fairy could have done more damage.