She knew that Johan's hands on his flesh, bringing him to yet another climax, would brand the memory of the pleasure he had experienced at Johan's hands into his mind. She was no part of this rite of bonding between the master vampire and his new supplicant. Johan sought to sear Nate with his touch, to mark him as his possession.

They murmured words to each other as she watched. She saw Nate hesitantly reach up to touch Johan's chest, swirling a curious finger over his erect nipples. Johan leaned down and claimed his lips and she saw Nate respond to the kiss with fervor, finally clasping the larger man to him, accepting his claim.

Her own body betrayed her arousal at witnessing this bonding. For some reason, watching them, she felt no lingering jealousy at the closeness they exhibited. She felt only relief that Nate had accepted Johan's touch and his claim so readily.

Finally, Johan commanded Nate back to bed and to sleep. As he pa.s.sed her to leave the bathroom, she stopped him and reached up to cup his face, turning him to meet her gaze "Electra" he began.

She pressed two fingers to his lips, not wanting him to utter the words of apology she knew hovered there. "It's all right, Nate. I understand. He is irresistible." She leaned up to press her cool lips to his before allowing him to trudge out of the bathroom, a glazed, yet tired look evident in his expression. Then her gaze turned back to Johan and met his dark intention.

"Come here."

She lifted her head to stare back rebelliously. "Why?"

"I have said so. The human needs rest, but you...you are vampire. What you need is a good f.u.c.kingone long overdue. Come here."

She took one step forward, her eyes flashing to his, her p.u.s.s.y gushing with the need to be filled by him. "Why do you think it is you I need? I can wait for my...our...human to awaken. Maybe I can wait until tomorrow night. Maybe forever if need be. Who says it is you I need or want?"

The urge to wipe that self-satisfied smile off his face was strong. d.a.m.n him. d.a.m.n him for leaving her alone for so long. d.a.m.n him for returning just when she thought she had her life under control.

She was unprepared for him when he reached out like a striking cobra and yanked her into the shower stall up against his hard, unyielding body. "You definitely need me. Your arousal permeates the air. I know your mind. You and I are as closely linked as any could be. The intervening years cannot change that."

"You should be satisfied with what you have gained this night."

She heard the growl deep in his throat. "I will f.u.c.k you hard, the way I know you need it. The way you like it. Too bad I have none of our special toys with me that you so enjoy. We shall remedy that soon enough." He forced her against the wall, rubbing his body against hers and she felt his hard erection pressed against her mound. "It was good, Electra. You must remember how it was between us."

"You left," she struggled to get away from him, but he held her fast, skin to skin.

"For your own good, but now is not the time to discuss it." He leaned down and sc.r.a.ped his teeth across her shoulder. "You are mine, vampyress. Never forget it."

She felt his teeth graze along her neck, knew he would sup from her blood and require her to take from him as a re-establishment of their connection, driving home his claim to her soul as well as her body.

The pressure at her throat increased and then she felt a sharp, searing p.r.i.c.k and the rush of his possession as he drank from her slid through her. In hazy recognition, she felt his shaft at the entrance to her p.u.s.s.y and she shuddered as he powerfully invaded the slick entrance of her channel, filling her completely with his hard s.e.x.

Pulling his fangs free of penetration, he lifted her against his body and she wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing him more deeply inside her. She looked up at him through slitted eyes, saw drops of her blood still clinging to his sculpted lips. She leaned forward and licked at his lips, tasting her own flavor mingled with his taste and the melded essences drew deep inside her.

He pushed into her, and she felt herself expand, conforming to his girth, his need. Pinning her to the shower wall, for a moment he glanced up at the showerhead and the cascade of water ceased. His gaze then returned to her.

"Human ritual has its purposes."

He drove hard, tunneling inside her, making her his, branding her with his power. "Take me," he growled, the vibrations emanating from him pushing her toward the edge as she met his demands thrust for thrust, her p.u.s.s.y lubricating his pa.s.sage, more and more with each penetration.

One of his hands gripped her hair, forcing her head back. "Take me," he commanded, punctuating with a demanding thrust. "Now."

A low growl emanated from deep inside her just before she pulled from his grip and bared her fangs. She pierced his skin, consuming his blood, swallowing deeply, feeling it mingle with her own, reviving his domination within her. His blood took possession, she felt it heat inside her, and the coldness of the years fell away. Finally, she lifted her head and licked her lips, shuddering with the impact.

His strokes grew harder, more p.r.o.nounced, his eyes glittering with l.u.s.t. "I have never been far away," he gritted out, as he pounded into her.

"Why?" she gasped meeting his powerful demands with her own, his elemental energy swirling inside her, giving her strength. "Why did you leave me?"

He undulated his hips, pressing against her engorged c.l.i.t and she moaned with the connection.

"You needed to find your own strength. You had become too dependent on me. It would have eventually culminated in a death sentence for you. You had to learn to survive on your own, to come into your own power."

She felt her climax rising, blooming inside her. It was magnified by the rage still simmering from his abandonment of her. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," she rasped out, driving her hips against him. "How dare you leave me. For my own good. d.a.m.n you."

Her nails back to their former length, she raked them down his spine, heard his hiss of pain and reveled in it. He dragged her hands away and imprisoned them above her head against the wall.

"Vixen," he bit out. One last plunge deep inside her and she felt him spasm with his release. "Come," he demanded.

And she did, with a depth of feeling she had not known for a century. She screamed with the pa.s.sion of her release, clenching her hands into fists at the powerful o.r.g.a.s.m that consumed her, her p.u.s.s.y contracted and released around his c.o.c.k, gripping him tightly, pulse after intense mind-blowing pulse.

On and on it went releasing an eternity of need, until finally she calmed, collapsing bonelessly against him, the echoes of her climax still shivering through her body. She lifted her head to look at him.

"Why have you come back?" she asked quietly, as he held her close to his body within the strength of his arms.

He returned her steady gaze. "You have found your own strength and determination for survival. You are mine and have learned to cope with your immortality. You have become strong in your own right, not as only an extension of me."

"Why did you feel the need to make Nate yours? He was mine. I made him what he is. I didn't want to be alone any longer. He belonged to me, has been my only solace."

His grip on her tightened. "And you belong to me, as I have said. I am your sire, your mate, your master. I claimed you long ago and I do not give up what is mine. After so many years, you needed to be reminded. And I found your taste in possessions quite attractive."

"I have had others. Why didn't you come to me then?"

"You have never brought any of them home with you. This one was different. You have changed, Electra, and you have become the vampyress I knew you to be."

He slid from her body and she moved to stand on her own strength. "What if I don't want you back?"

A smile rose to his lips that did not reach his eyes. It was a look of purse determination, arrogant possession. "There was never a choice. From the moment we met, you have been mine. Your choice in human servants pleases me. We will do well together." He encircled her waist and drew her flush with his body as he guided her toward the doorway. "It's time to wake our young man. I am refreshed and I want to play some more."

She looked down at his body and saw, as ever he was hard and ready. She stopped and looked up at him. "For how long, Johan?"

He turned and cupped her cheek, lowering his mouth towards her lips. "For eternity, my darling vampyress. For eternity."

THE END.

About The Author.

Adrianna Dane Adrianna Dane (who also writes as Tess Maynard) has been writing since the age of ten. She currently resides in the state of Washington and has been a member of Romance Writers of America and EPIC for the last several years.

The first defining love story Adrianna read back in junior high school was "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, and that set her on the road to her long standing love affair with the romance genre. Her inspiration in writing often can be found by listening to song lyrics and reading poetry by such poets as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ranier Maria Rilke. But finding inspiration for her stories truly has no boundaries for Adrianna.

She freely admits she is a romantic by nature and adding sensual heat to romance with a dusting of suspense is her motto. "Esmerelda's Secret," released in 2004, was Adrianna's first published book, and with that story and her subsequent books has firmly established herself as a voice within the sensual/erotic romance genre.

Adrianna always looks forward to hearing from her readers and she may be contacted at Find out more about her current releases as well as planned future releases and book signings by checking for updates at her website (www.adriannadane.com) periodically.

Our authors love to hear from their readers!

You can write to Adrianna. here:

Adrianna Dane c/o Chippewa Publishing LLC P.O. Box 662 Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin 54729

PHANTOM DESIRES.

By Bianca D'Arc

PHANTOM DESIRES.

She woke, bleary-eyed, in that state where the mind is half-conscious but the body still believes it is asleep. She blinked several times, but sleep was winning. In the darkness, she thought she saw a man sitting in the chair at the side of her bed, watching her. He was utterly relaxed, something about his stillness confident and supremely masculine. Those impressions lasted even as her body won the fight with her semi-conscious brain and she dropped back to sleep.

The next morning, the image of the man's shape stayed with her. And it frightened her almost beyond reason. It had felt so real. Not like a dream image at all.

She was a capable, steady career woman, not given to fits of imagination. Yet, she could have sworn she saw a man sitting in her bedroom, watching her sleep in the dark of the night. Was he a phantom? Some sort of spirit left by the former owners of the small Wyoming farmhouse into which she had just moved? Or some stray figment of her imagination?

Carly shook her head and tried to ignore the shivers coursing down her spine at the memory of the slightly sinister apparition. The house needed a lot of work, and there was only her to do it. She pushed back the strange memory in the cool light of day and went to work, unpacking, moving furniture into place, and cleaning house.

On Friday night, after sleeping undisturbed for a week, a vivid dream once again a.s.sailed her. She was in a bedroom filled with lit candles, the spicy aromas of the scented wax wafting sensually throughout the room. A strange man leaned over her naked body, caressing her with his eyes and his strong hands. The stranger was handsome. Perhaps the most handsome man she had ever seen, but she knew this more from impressions than any real vision of his face. It was night in the dream, and shadows from the flickering flames played about his angular features.

He had a foreign air about him, and dark hair and eyes that watched her with fiery hunger. He was one with the darkness. Strangely, he seemed to know her, though she'd never seen him before in her life.

The unknown man called her by name as he licked her nipple. He praised her beauty as his hands delved between her legs, touching, torturing. His lips moved down her body with leisurely deliberation, his teeth dragging at her skin, making her shiver with excitement. Slowly he spread her legs, settling like a master between them, gazing his fill at her swollen folds as his hands drew nearer to her core, spreading her open for his touch. Leaning forward, he licked at her c.l.i.t. She convulsed in the dream and in reality with a gasping cry.

Shocked to wakefulness by a burst of pleasure so intense she'd never experienced anything like it in real life, she remembered the moment his tongue touched her. The shock of his heat had coursed through her. It was familiar, yet as foreign as he was.

The feel of that unprecedented dream haunted her all day as she went about her ch.o.r.es, shopping and cleaning and putting the old farmhouse to rights. It puzzled her, excited her, and heated her blood.

Carly had been fondled by men before. She hadn't reached the ripe old age of thirty-five without dating a few men, but she had never once felt the instant flame of response her dream man had elicited. It made her feel empty and that bothered her. Those few moments of dreamtime made her ache with longing for something she doubted she would ever find in the real world.

The most exciting her love life had been lately were some vivid dreams. She was a thirty-five year old spinster, with little social life and a healthy bank balance due to hard work. She could write the custom code for her computer software anywhere, so why not the wilds of Wyoming? She had a big contract with one of the colleges near Laramie and an SUV to get her there when it snowed. She bought the old farmhouse on a whim, but it suited her.

She had her work, and lots of quiet and open s.p.a.ces in which to do it. She had her friends too. Just a month ago, she'd traveled to Lissa's wedding in California. Her old college friend had found a hunk of a man who owned a vineyard and together they seemed happier than anyone had a right to be. The reunion of the old study group had renewed those old bonds and she spoke on the phone with Kelly and Lissa often, now that Kelly had gone to work for Lissa and her new husband at the vineyard.

Work kept her busy too, even on this isolated job. Once a week or so, she would have to meet with the staff at the college. She also had to go down to the campus just about every day for a few weeks, to test, observe and fix any glitches that came up. It was a challenging job, and one she enjoyed.

Up until a few months ago, she would have been overseeing several of these installations at once. Now she was delegating the other installations and overseeing just this one, which was the most complex her little company had on the table right now.

Professor Dmitri Belakov watched the small woman race from her car just after sunset. He had checked the installation schedule and knew tonight the young computer programmer would be running a key installation that would take her most of the night. It was his perfect opportunity.

First, he would teach his evening course in history, then casually drop by the administration building where his office was located. It was also where the s.e.xy woman would be working, probably until dawn. He would meet her then.

She would never know he had been watching her in her new home for weeks now, biding his time for the opportunity to meet her legitimately and put her under his spell. If such a thing were possible. This woman seemed to be immune from his more subtle abilities to an almost alarming degree. She had even caught him as he watched her sleep that first night. It was all he could do to overpower her strong mind and lull her back into a dreamless sleep.

She also had the disturbing ability to see him in her dreams. Several times now, he had found his consciousness seduced into her dream. Each time, he was able to extricate himself only after some difficulty, leaving her none the wiser.

Except that one time.

In that one hot dream they had shared, he'd pushed her too far. He had wanted so badly to taste her, he brought her to a screaming o.r.g.a.s.m with surprisingly little effort. The wave of pleasure had jolted her out of the dream before he could pull back and mask his presence. She had seen him that night, without a doubt.

But she was so sweet! He wanted to taste her in truth and perhaps he would, but first he had to work on seducing her mind.

Her strong mind and their close proximity made it imperative that he meet her in person and bring her under his power, but it had to be done subtly. She had to be convinced that he was nothing special, no cause for alarm, so that they could both live peacefully side by side in the wilderness.

He needed the solitude and peace of the open land as much as he surmised she did. He'd done some investigation into her background and learned of the high-powered lifestyle that had finally driven her out of the city and into the open places. He could commiserate with that feeling, but he needed the privacy of the open land for his very survival. Without the secrecy of his existence, all would be lost, and he could not let this one mortal woman endanger him.

She would come under his power tonight or she would die.

The coffee was strong and black, just the way she liked it. She gulped down another mouthful as she set the high-powered computer in front of her to its task. The program would take almost an hour to load and install. She would have to sit and watch, just to be sure it all took place as it was supposed to. Not a very exciting part of her job, but essential nonetheless.

She was just settling back to watch the screen when she felt a presence at her side. Looking up, she jumped a bit. The most handsome man she had ever seen was standing above her, his eyes inscrutable as they pa.s.sed over her form like a caress. He looked vaguely familiar, his handsome face teasing her memory for a moment until she dismissed the odd thought as foolishness.

"Uh, Professor Belakov?" The department chair had warned her that his colleague might stop by to check on her progress. In answer, he rolled a chair out from the neighboring workstation and sat altogether too close for comfort.

"Call me Dmitri."

His accent rolled over her, bathing her senses in warmth. She clenched her thighs together under the desk, feeling the wetness gathering there. All from just three words! What would happen, she wondered with an inward chuckle, if he uttered a longer sentence?

"Dmitri." She tested how the exotic name rolled off her tongue and found she liked the taste of it. "I'm Carly. As you can probably see, the installation is proceeding according to plan. So far, so good."

"Excellent." He turned his gaze from the slowly scrolling screen to rest fully on her. "I was told you were the best in your field when I researched this project."

She liked the sound of that. Even more, she liked the sound of his voice, his accent, his warmth. She could listen to him for hours. And yes, he could probably make her come with just his voice alone.

"That's a lovely thing to say." She fumbled, realizing he was waiting for some response from her.

"It's no more than the truth."