"Stop that."
His hand reverently brushed over the soft curve of her stomach. "I have never felt such skin. So smooth... so warm. I had forgotten the beauty of Shalotts."
Although she was strong enough to toss him across him room, and perhaps even through the heavy door, Shay remained lying beneath him, her face tight with something that was suspiciously close to pain.
"I'm a mongrel, remember?"
"I have forgotten nothing about you, and I can honestly swear that your human blood makes you no less lovely." He deliberately allowed his gaze to skim the delicious length of her body. "In fact it adds a charming hint of fragility."
"I'm not lovely."
Viper stilled as an unfamiliar tenderness swept through his heart. By the blood of the saints, how could this woman not know she could make angels weep in envy?
"Look at me," he commanded, waiting until her lashes reluctantly lifted to reveal her wary eyes. "Do you think it is the Shalotts's blood alone that intoxicates vampires? It has always been their astonishing beauty that captivated us first."
She gave a shake of her head, clearly not willing to believe his words. "What do you want from me?"
Well, that was easy enough.
He leaned his forehead against her own, drinking in her intoxicating scent.
"Touch me," he whispered, his voice thick with need. "Let me feel your hands upon me."
She shivered in response. "Viper, we should—"
He brushed her lips with his own, his hand tracing up to cup her breast. "Please, Shay, just let me feel your touch. That is allthat I ask."
For a long, tense moment he thought she meant to deny his plea. However much she might desire him, her defenses were formidable. She didn't want to want him. Perhaps she even feared to want him.
Then with a painful slowness her hand lifted and the tips off her fingers skimmed over his bare chest.
Viper groaned as his entire body clenched in reaction. Christ! She had done no more than brush him with her fingers and yet he was already hard and aching.
And aching, and aching, and aching...
His head dipped so he could press his lips to the sensitive skin of her temple.
"Don't stop now" he pleaded softly.
Him. Viper. Ancient vampire. Clan chief. Feared predator. Pleading for the touch of a woman.
Unbelievable.
But what was a desperate man to do?
Nibbling his way down to the curve of her ear, Viper shuddered as her hands pressed more firmly to his skin, smoothing over his chest until she came to his sensitive nipple.
He made a sound deep in his throat at the jolt of excitement. Easily sensing his pleasure, Shay teasingly circled the nipple until it hardened in reaction.
"I didn't know men liked such things," she murmured.
"I don't know about all men, but I like it very much," he rasped.
"Do you like this?"
Shockingly she bent downward to flick her tongue over the clenched peak and Viper gave a muffled shout. The pleasure raced through his entire body, tightening his erection and making him worry for the first time in centuries if he might actually reach climax with nothing more than a touch.
His fingers entangled in her hair, urging her to continue with her delectable caresses.
She did.
Even as his heavy lids slid shut, her delicate fingers trailed a blazing path down his clenched stomach to toy with the edge of his boxers. He jerked in response, a growl coming from his throat.
"Oh, yes."
"Yes, what?" she whispered, clearly taking a perverse enjoyment in driving him to the point of madness.
He spread heated kisses over her face as he shifted to jerk down the offending boxers.
"Are you deliberately attempting to torture me?" he rasped, his hand moving to cover hers so that he could urge it toward his straining erection. "Or do you simply wish me to beg?"
"Torture and begging? I like the sound of both," she retorted.
Viper laughed softly only to have it end in a broken moan as her fingers stroked the throbbing length of him with a tentative touch.
"Holy hell," he gasped, his back arching as she gently explored him from tip to base and back again.
There was nothing experienced in her touch. It was more as if she were discovering for herself how best to bring the low groans to his throat, but he had never battled so hard to keep himself from thrusting in mindless need and spilling his pleasure.
He buried his face in her hair as she clasped him in a firm grip, careful not to allow her to feel his fully extended fangs. He had no desire to remind her that he was one of the dreaded vampires.
Not now.
Nothing was going to spoil the mood.
Nothing but the sudden pounding on the heavy oak door.
"Shay." The piercing, irritating, utterly unwelcome voice of Levet floated through the air. "Do you intend to lie in bed the entire day? I'm starving out here."
Viper froze, but Shay bolted from the bed as if she had been shot from a cannon. Hastily she wrapped the robe about her shivering body.
The mood was most definitely broken. And if her stricken expression was anything to go by, it wasn't going to be coaxed back to life anytime soon.
With a snarl of frustration, Viper tossed himself on his back and smacked the mattress with his fists.
"I... will... kill... him."
Chapter Eleven
Shay was seated at the kitchen table with Levet polishing off the last of the apple pie set before her. It wasn't that she was starving. Thanks to Viper's housekeeper she had discovered the kitchen overflowing with food. Most of which she had put a credible dent in.
But she had a habit of eating whenever there was something troubling her mind. Especially if that something was a silver-haired, dark-eyed vampire who could turn her into a raging hormone with a mere glance.
My God, she had wanted him so badly. Wanted to feel him shudder beneath her touch, to hear him groan in pleasure, to guide him within her so that she could join him in paradise.
And worse, she couldn't even totally convince herself that it would never happen again.
Or that she didn't want it to happen again.
She was pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic.
She scooped another bite of apple pie and stuffed it in her mouth. Thank God Shalotts never had to worry about their weight.
In contrast Viper was not an eater, but a stomper.
Having consumed his bottle of blood in one swig he had begun storming through the house, rallying his troops to ensure that the guards were on duty, and calling in assistance to begin repairing the tunnels. He swirled through the house attired in a pair of black velvet pants that fit tight enough to make Shay choke on her pie and a silver shirt that was left open to reveal his perfect chest. He was delicious enough to tumble to the ground and have her way with him. Except for the unmistakable scowl that marred his handsome features.