Gabriel liked the way the dancing flames played over her body. Her high, firm breasts were full and inviting, her rib cage narrow, her waist small. He bent his head to follow the clean line of her form, followed the dancing shadows with his mouth even while he created his own flames licking along her skin. His lips explored the small mound of her belly, the intriguing ridges of her hipbones.
Francesca smiled, her eyes still closed while her heart raced and her blood heated and her world contracted to include only sensuous, erotic feeling. His thick hair brushed over her body while his teeth nipped and his tongue stroked and her blood heated to molten lava in her veins. She felt him worship her with the gentle touch of his exploring hands, which lingered in every sensitive spot on her body. She lay quiet, simply enjoying the sensations he was creating with each stroke of his tongue, each time his silky hair moved over her bare skin.
How had she ever faced a rising without him? How had she ever wanted to open her eyes without the promise of seeing his beloved face? She knew every line, the strength in his jaw, the arch of his brow, the perfect shape of his mouth. She sighed softly in contentment and moved to give him better access to her breast. Her slender arms curved around his head, cradling him to her while he leisurely enjoyed her.
His scent enveloped her and her temperature soared. With it rose her hunger. She stirred beneath his strong hands, her body alive with needs, with a thousand secrets. She was a temptation, an invitation, an enticement. She buried her face in his neck, felt his body burn hotter against hers. Francesca’s smile was frankly sexy with a woman’s knowledge of her own power. Her teeth scraped his neck, her tongue swirling around in a small, lapping caress. She opened her mind more fully to him so that he could see her desire, share her feelings, the pleasure he was bringing to her body.
At once he responded to the erotic images in her head, his hand moving lower to find her hot pulsating entrance. She was creamy with need and excitement, wanting to share her body and heart with him. Gabriel couldn’t help the shudder of pleasure moving through him when her hands shaped his body, her fingers tightening like a sheath, her mouth on his neck. She whispered something softly in his mind, a plea, a need, a hunger she couldn’t ignore.
Gabriel caught her small hips in his hands to slide her beneath him more fully, to lift her body to his. His breath caught in his throat as he held her still for one heartbeat, one moment while he looked into her beautiful eyes. He saw her stark hunger, so sexual, so erotic, all for him. He wanted to capture the moment, keep it, prolong it, but then she slowly lowered her head to his chest and deliberately caressed his pulse with her tongue. It was slow and sexy and beyond anything his imagination could have conjured up.
He saw the beauty of her mouth as it slid over his chest, felt the heat of her call, wild and untamed, and then white-hot lightning sizzled and danced through his body, through his mind and heart, and he surged forward with one deep hard stroke, taking possession of her body while her teeth sank deeply into his skin. He heard his own husky cry, drawn from somewhere deep within his soul, and he felt tears burning in his throat and behind his eyes at the sheer beauty of it all.
She was fire and velvet, lightning and thunder, molten lava taking him to a place he hadn’t known existed. His fingers dug into her hips, clamping her to him while he performed the most erotic tango of his life. She knew every way to move to please him, her body adjusting to his rhythm almost before he knew. Her mind was filled only with thoughts of him, of his body, of giving him pleasure, of the pure enjoyment he gave her. She lapped at the tiny pinpricks on his chest when she was finished feeding.
Francesca caught his thick hair in her hand and brought his head down to hers, finding his mouth and kissing him, sharing his exotic taste while she moved her hips ever faster, rising to meet each thrust with one of her own. Her muscles clenched tightly around him, a fiery friction, holding him, milking and teasing and luring him on so that he was as wild as she was.
He stretched her arms over her head while he took her again and again, while the earth shook and her body and mind went up in flames. Still he gave her no rest, lapping at the small beads of sweat, tasting their pleasure from the pores of her skin, wanting all of her in case this memory would have to carry over into the next world. This union with her, this was true mating. He wanted to give her as much pleasure as a man could possibly give the one woman he loves. He wanted the memory of himself in her skin, in her body, in her deepest soul.
When she was tired and lay passive in his arms he found her breasts, so full and seductive, filling his mouth with creamy softness until her nipples were hard and begging for more. He cupped her bottom, pressing her close to him, his hands everywhere, arousing, memorizing, simply worshiping. He would never get enough of her, no matter how long he lived, and if he had only a short while, he wanted to bring her every pleasure he could, give her every good thing she deserved.
Francesca lay quietly, knowing what he was doing, knowing he needed to be with her this rising before he went off to face the worst of his enemies. She wanted him to make love to her, to never stop. She wanted her body to hold him to her. She wanted him safe in their chamber, in their own world of pleasure and beauty and love, not out there in the night where something malevolent crouched and waited.
Once she found herself laughing on the floor, and neither of them had any idea how they’d got there. But as she went to climb into the bed, he trapped her against the mattress, leaning over her, his body possessive, his hands strong as he took her again, riding her until they both went up in flames. It was paradise, yet at the same time it was a kind of hell. Between them always lay the fact that he was going out; he must hunt the undead. Long after the candles burned low and the lights were barely tiny flickers on the walls, they curled up in each other’s arms, holding each other close.
Francesca wanted them to be wearing the same skin, she wanted to be that close. She wished somehow she could prevent the future from happening. She wouldn’t ask him not to go, he had to go. She knew it in heart and mind and soul. It was who Gabriel was. For the first time she truly understood why he had chosen to fight, to hunt. Gabriel was the only one capable of defeating Lucian. The entire world, human and Carpathian alike, depended upon him.
His hands were tangled in her thick hair, his mouth against her breast. “Listen to me, my love. Hear me. If I do not succeed this night, it will be all right. You will take Skyler and our child and go home to the Carpathian Mountains. Mikhail will guard you for me.
You
and only you will raise our child. I want our child to know you and to know me through your eyes. I know it will be difficult for you, but you are strong and I will dwell in your heart. Wherever I am, I will wait patiently for you, knowing you are carrying out the task that is so important to me. To both of us.”
Francesca closed her eyes against the hot tears threatening to fall. She felt his breath so warm against her skin, his arms tight around her, locking her body to his. Their legs were tangled together and yet it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. She couldn’t go with him, and if he was defeated, she couldn’t follow him until their child no longer needed her.
Gabriel raised himself above her, looking down onto her beautiful face. “Francesca, you can do this thing for both of us. Give me your word.”
“Do you have any idea what you are asking of me?” The words were a strangled whisper and with the stirring of her breath the last of the flames spluttered and went out. The chamber was once more inky black.