pretty incriminating, I'd say."

"Indeed?" He sat down, moving the bowl aside. "It seems I've neglected to inform you of what else draws such a reaction, but I'll give you a hint-it isn't blood."

Oh. I drew in a breath. "Considering last weekend, I don't have anything you haven't seen before, and I doubt you're overcome with desire by seeing me in my bra."

"Kitten, look at me," he said flatly.

I blinked. "I am."

"No, you're not." He slid closer, his eyes all green now. "You stare straight through me as if I'm not even there. You look at me...and you don't see a man. You see a vampire, and therefore accord me less substance. One of the few exceptions was last weekend. I held you and kissed you, watched your eyes light up with desire, and knew for once you were truly seeing me for all I was. Not just a non-beating heart with a sh.e.l.l around it. I dare you to look at me that way again, now, with no excuse of chemicals to fall back on. I want you." A slight smile twisted his lips as he made the blunt statement. "I've wanted you from the moment we met, and if you think sitting next to me in your bra doesn't overwhelm me with desire, you're very wrong. I just don't force myself where I'm not invited."

For a few stunned seconds, I was speechless. So much had happened tonight, my brain was having a hard time sorting through it all. I looked at Bones and it was almost as if scales dropped from my eyes, because suddenly I did see him. Those high cheekbones, dark brows framing eyes turned to emerald, a curving mouth, straight nose, and etched jawline. Crystal skin stretched over those features and tightly wrapped around a lean, rippled frame. His elegant hands and their long, tapered fingers.

My G.o.d, he was beautiful. Absolutely, incredibly beautiful, and now that I'd finally allowed myself to notice, I couldn't stop staring."Kiss me."

The words left me without any thought, and I realized I'd secretly wanted to say them for a while. Bones leaned over and his lips closed over mine softly. Gently. Giving me every opportunity to change my mind and push him away, but I didn't. I slid my arms around his neck and brought him closer.

He ran his tongue along my lips until I opened my mouth. His touched mine for a moment before retreating, teasingly, back into his mouth. Another flickering touch and back again, and again. Coaxing me, persuading me. Finally I traced my tongue into his mouth, feeling the answering rub and then the unbelievable sensuality of him sucking on it.

I moaned, unable to help it. The graze of his incisors should have bothered me, but they didn't. They didn't seem to hinder him, either, because he kissed me with the same pa.s.sion he had last weekend. My senses ignited, and I maneuvered my hand from his neck and brought it to his shirt. One by one, I undid his b.u.t.tons. When it hung open, I ran my palms along his bare skin and, oh G.o.d, it did feel as incredible as it looked. Like silk stretched over steel. Bones reached behind him and flicked the collar off his shoulders. The whole garment fell onto the floor. All the while he kept kissing me until my breath came in gasps.

With a mind of their own my hands traveled from his chest across his back, fingers feeling out the ridges and muscle. His flesh vibrated with power, making me feel like I stroked lightning encased in skin. Bones groaned low in his throat as I touched him, sliding closer until our bodies were pressed together.

His lips trailed down to my neck, finding my pulse unerringly. He drew it into his mouth, manipulating my vulnerable artery with his tongue and lips. It was the most dangerous position to be in with a vampire, but I wasn't afraid. Instead, the feel of him sucking on my neck aroused me unbelievably. The waves of heat sweeping through me had me quivering.

His lips came up to my ear, and he licked the sh.e.l.l before whispering into it.

"I want you so much. Tell me you want me. Say yes."

To deny that I wanted him would be an obvious lie. Just one thing held me back, and it was the memory of Danny.

"Bones...I didn't like it before. I think...something's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you, and if you change your mind or say stop, no matter when, I'll stop. You can trust me, Kitten. Say yes.

Say yes...."

Bones swooped his mouth onto mine and ravaged the inside with such hunger that I sagged against him. His arm supported me, and I tore away long enough to speak one word.

"Yes...."

It barely left my mouth before he kissed me again, lifting me up and carrying me into the bedroom. The mattress gave under our weight as he stretched me out on it. In one motion, he unclipped my bra and pulled it off while his palms cupped my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Then he lowered his mouth to my nipple and sucked strongly.

A clench of pure desire gripped me between my legs. He gently squeezed my other breast and worried the nipple between his fingers. My back arched and I clasped his head. The sensations were too much-the tug of his mouth, slight sc.r.a.pes of teeth, until I thought I'd faint.

Bones unzipped my jeans, tugging them down until they were off and only my panties remained to clothe me. He traced his hand along them, pressing inward. The friction of the cotton and his fingers made my nerve endings jump. A groan escaped him when he pulled my panties off, baring me to his gaze.

"Oh, Kitten, you're so beautiful. Exquisite," he breathed before kissing me with a thoroughness that left my head spinning. He trailed his mouth to my b.r.e.a.s.t.s again, drawing on each nipple while his hand sought my center. Those fingers caressed me knowingly, as if I'd told him secrets, and I bit my lip to stifle the cries. When his thumb circled the ball of my flesh and a long finger rubbed inside me, I trembled in uncontainable need.

A harsh noise of protest escaped me when he stopped. He moved his hand away, his mouth left my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and he dragged his lips down my stomach. It wasn't until he was past my navel that I realized his intention.

"Bones, wait!" I gasped, shocked.

He paused at once, mouth still on my belly. "Stop?" he inquired.

Color flamed my cheeks and I couldn't articulate my objection. "Er, not stop all of it, just...um, I don't think that's appropriate- ".

Something like a snort escaped him. "I do think," he muttered, and lowered his mouth.

At the first touch of his tongue my mind literally went blank. A long, slow lick probed me, leaving seared flesh in its wake. Another wet stroke and another, deeper this time, and my modesty washed away in waves of pure heat. He spread my legs farther, shifting until they straddled his shoulders, all the while plying and delving into the soft pink flesh.

I didn't tell him to wait anymore, because I couldn't speak. Moans I didn't recognize as my own rose from me with increasing volume and wrenching, twisting spasms of pleasure curled inside me. I writhed under him, feeling him explore every nuance of me with shocking intimacy. My hips arched helplessly, and an aching emptiness inside me grew with each stroke of his tongue. I was being pushed to an edge I'd never experienced before, and it approached faster and faster. Bones increased the pressure, ratcheting up the intensity, and when his mouth finally settled on my c.l.i.toris and he sucked, I screamed.

Shards of ecstasy burst from me, traveling from my center to my extremities in a flash. My heart, which I thought would simply erupt, seemed to slow in its beating and my breathing lost its jaggedness. That previous fire was suddenly replaced with something warm and euphoric spilling all through me, causing my eyes to fly open in astonishment.

Bones slid up my stomach, framing my face in his hands. "You have never looked more beautiful," he said, voice vibrating with pa.s.sion.

My body still shook with aftershocks, but this was the part I feared. I tensed as he moved between my legs.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered, and kissed me.

For a split second I was embarra.s.sed, considering what he'd just been doing. Then I found the new, salty flavor to his mouth provocatively stimulating. His tongue twined with mine as his hardness slid along my wet crease. I shuddered, but he only swept the outside before pulling away and doing it again. And again. He matched his tongue to his body as he stroked me, bringing that previous ache back with reinforcements.

"You tell me when," he murmured, long moments later. "Or not at all. We don't have to go further yet. I'll spend the rest of the night tasting you, Kitten, I loved that. Let me show you how much."

Bones dragged his mouth purposefully lower, but I held him to keep him where he was.

"Tell me," he moaned as a twist of his hips forced a cry from me.

My heart pounded with nervousness, but there was only one answer.

"Now."

He gave me a dizzying kiss and then raised himself on his arms. The feel of hard flesh boring into mine made me gasp. Shivers broke out inside me while he thrust slowly forward, and I buried my face in his neck and trembled. He moved deeper, and a sensation of incredible fullness spread through me. When he was fully sheathed he stopped, closing his eyes briefly before looking down at me."All right, luv?"

It was intimate in a way I'd never experienced, staring into each other's eyes while he was inside me. I could only nod, since speech was beyond me.

He moved in me, pulling back just a little and then thrusting forward. The unexpectedness of the pleasure made my breath catch.

He repeated the motion, but deeper this time. Before I regained control of my breathing, he pulled himself nearly all the way out and back in with a single arch of his hips that tore a whimper out of my throat. Sweat broke out in earnest on my body, and piercing, primal desire shot through me.

Bones reached down and flattened his palm against my back, moving lower until it cupped my hips. He pulled me closer, rubbing me against him to coincide with his movements. I quickly picked up the rhythm, and the increased contact made my head spin in excitement. That previous clenching inside me returned, winding tighter with each new stroke until my body burned with a single thought.

"More..."

It was a moan of pure demand the rational piece of my mind couldn't believe I'd spoken. He chuckled deep in his throat, almost growling, and increased his pace.

My hands, which before hadn't strayed lower than his back, moved greedily down to grip his hips. Fingers dug into the hard mounds with no care for propriety. I couldn't seem to touch enough of him or get close enough to him. Every new thrust made it more intense, and I craved the hard slicing of his body into mine like I'd craved nothing before it. Compulsively I kissed him, piercing my lower lip on his fangs and hearing him groan when he sucked the blood off.

"So sharp and sweet," he muttered thickly.

"No more...of that." My words were s.p.a.ced in breathlessness.

He licked his lips, savoring the drops. "It's enough. Now you're inside me also." And he held me even closer, if that were possible.

I gasped uncontrollably as his movements grew more intense. Earlier hesitation forgotten, I thrashed underneath him, fingernails raking temporary welts down his back. My teeth sank into his shoulder, stifling a scream at the ceaseless friction, and I bit him until I tasted blood.

He yanked my head back, his tongue ravishing my mouth. "Harder?"

"G.o.d, yes," I moaned, not caring how that sounded.

Bones released his control with obvious relish. His hips ground into mine with a tempered savageness that was the most incredible pleasure ever inflicted on my body. The screams I'd held back spilled forth in rhythmic shouts that spurred him on. When I couldn't stand it any harder, he moved faster, thrusting in a manner that would have been merciless had I not reveled in it.

Somehow it reminded me of the effect of the drugs. Everything seemed to spin and lose shape except Bones. That far-off roaring was back in my ears, but it was my heart pounding that made the sound. The nerve endings in my loins shredded with antic.i.p.ation.

They lashed and wound together, clenching and unclenching with greater fierceness, waiting for the moment when they would snap.

At once I was disconnected and hypersensitive of my body. This panting, twisting creature on the bed couldn't be me. Yet never before had I been so aware of my skin, my every breath, and the blood rushing through my veins. Before the last stretched nerve inside me broke, Bones grasped my head and stared into my eyes. A cry wrenched out of my mouth when the dam burst and the flood of o.r.g.a.s.m swept over me. It was stronger than the first one, deeper somehow, and left residual tingles pulsating underneath my skin.Above me he groaned, face twisting in ecstasy as he drove into me even more rapidly with his eyes locked onto mine. I couldn't look away, seeing his control evaporate inside the green depths. He clutched me as he gave in to the pa.s.sion, kissing me almost bruisingly and shuddering for several moments.

When I broke away to breathe, he shifted until we lay side by side. His arms coiled around me, keeping our bodies touching.

There didn't seem to be enough oxygen in my lungs and even Bones breathed once or twice-a record, from what I'd seen before. By degrees I controlled my gasping and my heart settled into a nondangerous rhythm. He reached out and pushed the damp hair from my face, smiling before he kissed my forehead.

"And to think you actually believed something was wrong with you."

"Something is wrong with me, I can't move."

It was true. Lying next to him, my arms and legs just wouldn't respond to any of the commands I gave them. My brain had a back in five minutes sign hung on it, apparently.

He grinned and leaned over to lick the nipple closest to him, drawing lightly on it. The areola was oversensitive from his previous attentions, and a thousand tiny needles of pleasure rushed to the tip. When it crested to the very threshold of sensitivity he stopped, repeating the process with the next one.

Something caught my vision when I glanced down.

"Am I bleeding?" I asked in surprise.

It didn't quite seem like blood and my period was a week away. Still, there was a distinct pink wetness on the crease of my inner high.

He barely stopped to look. "No, luv. That's from me."

"What is-? Oh." Stupid question. He'd told me before that vampires cried pink. Guess the other fluids followed suit.

"Let me up, I'll wash off."

"I don't mind." He breathed the words into my skin. "It's mine, after all. I'll clean you up."

"Aren't you going to roll over and go to sleep?" Wasn't that what usually happened? Unless he really, really liked to cuddle afterward, things were taking a markedly serious turn as his hand moved lower, seeking my depths.

He ceased his ministrations to laugh, raising his head from my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Kitten"-he smiled-"I am far from sleepy." The look in his eyes sent a shiver through me. "You have no idea how many times I've fantasized about you like this. During our training, our fights, the nights I've seen you dressed up and pawed at by other men..." Bones stopped speaking to kiss me so deeply, I almost forgot what we were talking about. "And all the while seeing you look at me with fear whenever I touched you. No, I am not sleepy. Not until I've tasted every inch of your skin and made you scream over and over again."

He bent his head to my nipples once more, sucking them and worrying them with his teeth. The way his fangs rubbed the areolas was frighteningly erotic.

"One day I'm going to find that old bloke of yours and kill him," he muttered, so low I could barely hear him.

"What?" Did he just say that?

A strong tug from his mouth distracted me, and then another and another, until my concerns melted away under the sensual a.s.sault on my nipples. After a while he looked at them and smiled in satisfaction."Dark red, both of them. Just like I promised you they'd get. See? I am a man of my word."

Confusion clouded my mind for a second. Then I remembered that afternoon with him trying to burn the embarra.s.sment out of me with hours of dirty talk, and color suddenly flamed in my face.

"You didn't actually mean all of those things, did you?" My mind rebelled at the thought, but there was a rapidly beating pulse in my body that treacherously hoped for the opposite.

He laughed again, low and throaty. His brow arched in sinful promise, his eyes bled back to pure green, and his mouth slid farther down my stomach.

"Oh, Kitten, I meant every word."

I awoke to something tickling my back. It felt like b.u.t.terflies. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was an arm wrapped around me, its pale color nearly identical to my own. Bones was curled lengthwise along my back, hips touching mine. The b.u.t.terflies were him pressing kisses onto my skin.

My first thought was, He picked the wrong profession. Should have stayed a prost.i.tute. He'd make millions. The second one was far less pleasant, and I stiffened. If my mother could see me now, she'd kill me!

"Morning-after regrets?" He ceased kissing me with a noise of disappointment. "I feared you might wake up and flog yourself over this."

While he spoke, I shot out of bed like I'd been fired from a cannon. I had to think about what to do, and I couldn't do that in the same room with him. Not even pausing to find my underwear or bra, I just threw on a shirt and yanked up my jeans. G.o.d, my keys, where had I put my keys?

Bones sat up. "You can't just storm out and pretend this never happened."

"Not now," I said desperately, trying not to look at him. Aha, keys! Grabbing them with clenched fingers, I ran out of the bedroom.

"Kitten..."

I didn't stop.

THIRTEEN.

I DROVE STRAIGHT HOME, MY EMOTIONS IN A tug-of-war the whole way. Making love to Bones had been beyond incredible, and he was right. There was no way I could pretend this didn't happen. But there was more to consider than just my feelings. Left to myself, I would only be moderately wigged about having slept with him. The main reason for my panic, however, was knowing how my mother would react. I couldn't tell her, ever. And that meant I had to stop this before it went any further.

My grandparents were on the porch, drinking iced tea when I pulled up two hours later. They looked like a postcard of Americana with their white hair and plain clothes, faces weathered from time.

"h.e.l.lo," I greeted them distractedly.