“What are you doing?” She could barely get the question out, she was shaking so much.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her belly button. “I’m going to devour you. Eat you until you remember who your lifemate is and you promise me you will never shut me out again.”
“But, Siv...” She wanted to protest, but she knew it wasn’t going to do any good. His eyes were pure gold. Turbulent. Relentless.
He spread his legs wider, his thighs twin columns of pure muscle as he loomed over her. Looping her legs over his arms, he spread her wider, leaving her exposed and vulnerable.
“Look at you, so wet for me. I think you liked everything I did to you.”
She didn’t have time to assure him one way or the other. He lifted her body to his waiting mouth almost casually. She watched in the mirror, watched the harshly sensual expression on his face, the way the lines deepened, the way the gold smoldered and nearly burst into flames in his eyes.
Then he licked up the side of her thigh and over her throbbing clit. His tongue began that slow circle he’d done to her nipples, the one that drove her out of her mind. She tried to ride his mouth, but he heldher firmly, easily, with his superior strength. His breath was hot, a steady stream that inflamed her even more. Then he licked her with a flat tongue and she nearly convulsed.
He licked her again, slow and easy, a cat savoring a bowl of cream. He made a sound, half groan, half snarl, and his lazy facade began to disappear. He went from laid-back cat to raging jungle cat devouring its meal after a long starvation. He made sounds of hot, desperate hunger, feasting on her, his mouth pulling the liquid from her as if it were his own personal aphrodisiac. All the while, his arms and hands held her perfectly still, allowing him to control all movement.
She was desperate to thrust against his mouth. At least to get him to rub her clit harder. To do something. To do more. She was losing her mind. A little sob burst from her as she looked into the mirrors again, watching as his blond head was buried between her thighs. It was so sensual. Unbelievably so. His tongue stabbed deep over and over, drawing out more and more nectar.
He lowered her bottom to the cool marble as he stepped even closer, growling something indistinguishable when she cried out. His finger penetrated her entrance even as he flicked her clit. The tension that had coiled deep suddenly ignited like the hottest storm imaginable. Flames rushed through her veins. A wildfire flashed through her, burning out of control. The rolling fury consumed her, taking her over completely until she couldn’t see anything but the white-hot flashes behind her eyes or feel anything but the intense pleasure rolling through her.
She heard herself sobbing his name. Then he was kissing her and she could taste herself on his tongue. On his skin. She should have been embarrassed, but she was too overcome with the shocking realization that her body had responded with total arousal to everything Afanasiv had done to it.
“Shall I start again, or do you understand that my lifemate does not close her mind to me?” Afanasiv asked. He hadn’t released her. He still held her pinned on the marble counter.
She blinked up at him, trying to decide if she could live through another lesson. In any case, it wasn’t fair. She hadn’t relieved the tension in his body.
“I understand that I shouldn’t close my mind to you.” She did her best to sound meek, but she was feeling elated just knowing that her body actually worked like it was supposed to.
“As long as you are sharing your mind with me, there is no way for anyone else to get inside where they don’t belong.” He gently released her legs and reached for a washcloth.
Vasilisa struggled to get her breathing under control. She skimmed her fingers down the front of his trousers. “I might not be the most experienced, but I do want to take care of your every need, Afanasiv.”
“And you will,” he said. “You doubted yourself as a woman, my lady. As my partner. That was hurtful to you when you thought it was possible that I had another lover at some time. I never want you to feel a lack of confidence in any area. If you do, you must come to me.”
He was very gentle as he washed between her legs. Once he had cleaned her carefully, he swept his hand over her body and her hair was back exactly as it had been. She was once again wearing her underclothes and robe. He was clean and refreshed.
He leaned down and framed her face with his large hands, his peculiar eyes looking down into hers. Now the color was blue like the sea, but with green swirling through it. So like a Dragonseeker. His thumbs moved gently over her jaw, tracing the bones. He bent down and took her mouth. Gentle. Rough. Hot. Claiming her all over again with just his mouth and tongue. When he lifted his head, the pads of his fingers slid along the bottom curve of her lips.
“You’re so amazing, Vasilisa. I never want you to feel as you did. You can never be less than any other woman. Never that. You didn’t respond to other men because you are my lifemate. I don’t respond to other women because you are my lifemate. My body responds only to you. I find only you attractive. It will always be that way.”
Could that be the truth? She definitely found himveryattractive.“Why don’t you want me to...?” She gestured toward the front of his trousers again.
“You do not yet know me or trust me completely, and you need that to feel wholly comfortable with me before you can be intimate.”
Color rose under her skin. “I think what just took place might be considered very intimate, Siv.”
His smile was slow in coming, but when it did, it was so sexy it took her breath. “That was just a very small sample of the pleasures I intend to show you. You deserve to be courted,sívamet. I think this was a very good start, and we will continue to build from here.”
She certainly didn’t want to slip backward. She was all for going forward.
“This trigger you believe I have that brings on the headaches. Have you a suspicion what it is? A drum seems too obvious, and how often am I around a drum?”
Vasilisa was still having trouble thinking clearly. How could he go from being so sensual to taking care of business in what seemed like minutes? Maybe it wasn’t minutes. Maybe time had gone by and then he’d kissed her. He had kissed her. She’d lost her mind again when he’d kissed her.
She laughed. “It isn’t a drum. It’s tapping. The birds tapping their beaks on the tree trunks or on a windowsill. It’s easy enough to send a bird out to repeat the tapping, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER
14