“The vamps are impervious to mind control. Unfortunately, it’s too close to dawn for them to travel. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow night to meet up with them.” He patted the mattress. “For now we rest.”
She licked her lips, abruptly appearing more disturbed by joining him on the bed than his confession that Briggs could control minds.
“Fine. You rest and I’ll keep watch,” she croaked.
“I already did a sweep. No one knows that we’re here.”
“You can’t be sure…” She sucked in a startled breath as Salvatore slid off the bed, and with fluid speed, had moved to snatch her off her feet. “Dammit, put me down.”
“With pleasure.”
With two long strides he was tossing her onto the bed and swiftly covering her with his body. A violent pleasure surged through him at the feel of her slender curves that fit perfectly against him.
Dio.
He didn’t know if it was the mating bond that made him react with such raw, biting hunger to this particular female, or if it was simply a normal reaction between a man and woman, and in truth, he didn’t care.
He wanted her.
Now.
Salvatore watched the hazel eyes darken as Harley reacted to the prickling heat that filled the air, able to hear the sudden leap of her heart.
“Get off me,” she gritted, clearly not as pleased as Salvatore by their explosive response to one another.
“We’re staying in this bed, Harley,” he warned. “It’s up to you whether we sleep, or enjoy a more pleasurable pastime.”
Chapter Eight
Harley wrenched her gaze from the molten gold of his eyes, feeling as if she were slowly melting beneath the potent heat of his desire.
What the hell was wrong with her?
She was in a cheap motel, on the run because she’d been stupid enough to allow her curiosity to overcome her common sense, and in bed with a king she had been taught to fear and loathe for the past thirty years.
She should be kicking some serious Were butt, not battling the urge to sink her hands in that thick raven hair so she could tug his head down and kiss him senseless.
Of course, in her defense, the man was obscenely beautiful.
Not only his lean, savagely handsome face, but his body that more than lived up to its promise once the ragged clothing had been removed.
His bronzed skin was smooth and stretched tautly over the lean, sculpted muscles that rippled with a fascinating ease. His chest was broad and tapered to a slender waist, his arms were toned without unnecessary bulk, and his hands were perfectly formed, with slender fingers that were currently stroking her shoulders with a tender touch that sent streaks of heat to all her most intimate places.
Yummy goodness from the top to bottom, and every place in between.
Damn him.
“You deliberately picked a room with only one bed, didn’t you?” she accused, her voice embarrassingly husky.
“I chose the room farthest from the office and out of sight of the road.” A slow, wicked smile curved his lips. “The fact that it only has one bed is a bonus.”
“Bonus for you, maybe.”
He lowered his head to nuzzle a spot just behind her ear, making Harley’s heart stutter in shock. When had that particular spot become so sensitive?
“I could make sure it’s a bonus for you as well.”
“You’re so full of yourself…” Her taunting words were completely ruined as his seeking lips found another point of weakness at the base of her throat. “Oh.”
“Oh, indeed,” he growled, nipping her collarbone. “Do you taste so sweet all over?”
His exotic, musky scent invaded her senses, seeping into her skin like the finest aphrodisiac. The distracting smell clouded her mind, which was the only explanation for why her hands lifted to stroke down the magnificent length of his back.
“What are you doing to me?” she muttered.
His soft laugh brushed over her cheek as he reached down to grasp the hem of her nightgown, and with one smooth motion had it tugged over her head and tossed across the room.
“Do you want a detailed explanation or will a brief overview do?” he demanded, arching back to run a searing gaze over her body, now covered in nothing more than a pair of white panties.
Harley shivered, the golden gaze a near tangible force as it lingered on her oddly heavy br**sts.
“You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t have a clue.”
“You’re using some sort of power to…”
He shifted, settling between her legs that had instinctively widened. Lowering his head, the raven hair brushed against the puckered tips of her ni**les.
“To what?”
“To seduce me.”
His tongue flicked over her nipple, the rough stroke wrenching a moan from her throat.
“Power?”
She dug her nails into the smooth skin of his lower back. “Don’t laugh at me.”
He continued to tease her nipple, his hardening erection pressing with flawless precision against her feminine core. Oh…God. It felt good. Insanely good.
“Laughing is not what I want to be doing with you,” he said, kissing a path between her br**sts.
“Giuliani.”
With a low groan, Salvatore surged upward to claim her lips in an openmouthed kiss that was hard with unrestrained hunger. Need blazed through her like wildfire, searing away any hope of resistance.
“I don’t know what power you’re talking about, cara, unless it’s the potent appeal of my manly charm,” he husked against her lips. “Which I’ve been told is irresistible.”
Her hips arched upward in blatant invitation. “I don’t believe you.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t want you. I don’t even know you.”
He chuckled, scorching a path of kisses down her throat. “We have all of eternity to become better acquainted.”
She retained enough sense to shy from his possessive tone. The only thing in her life she was certain of was the fact she was tired of being manipulated by others.
From now on, she intended to be in charge of her own life.
“Not likely,” she warned, scraping her nails up his back. She reveled in his violent shudder of pleasure. “And if you think this means I’m ever becoming your stupid queen, then you can just think again.”
“Cristo, Harley,” he breathed. “Can’t I even kiss you without you arguing?”
“I just don’t want you thinking…”