If you were blindfolded, csitri, you could still see through the eyes of the one you merge with. It is well within your power.
Of course that had been the lesson all along. Dimitri had told her, but she’d been too upset with herself to listen to him. He had found another way and simply waited until she realized what she should have known all along.
She’d been merged with Dimitri. When they made love, he always merged with her. She knew it was not only for their heightened awareness of one another’s needs and pleasure, but to protect her. All she had to do was reach out to him and she could have been in complete control.
I will remember. She made the vow more for herself than for him.
Dimitri was—well—Dimitri. He never seemed ruffled or annoyed or angry at her over anything, least of all lovemaking. He hadn’t expected her to come to him and offer herself and he really took everything they did together as a miracle.
Let me show you what you gave to me, this great gift of love I will treasure always.
She flew just beneath him, heading for their home. She could see the structure in the distance, nestled in the trees. One by one they had gone through the rooms in the old stone house and remade them to their liking. There was a fire already roaring in the fireplace. Of course there would be. Dimitri saw to details.
He was always there for her, her steady rock. No matter what happened, she could count on him. She felt a burst of pure joy. Nightmares didn’t have a chance against a man like Dimitri. He could say all he wanted that she was strong without him—and maybe that was the truth—but she was better with him. Always. Forever.
Show me, my love.
The images slipped into her mind unfiltered. With them came his feelings. The absolute ecstasy of her tight hot mouth surrounding him like a velvet fist, sending fire dancing through his groin, down his thighs and up into his belly. She had done that.
The sight of her, so trusting, that blindfold of petals, her hands on his thighs, her complete gift of herself, it had all combined together to make him lose his control and get lost in the feeling of bliss she created, that paradise he’d slipped into.
Your trust is your absolute gift to me, Skyler. Not the way you make me feel. You put on a blindfold in the middle of a field and gave yourself to me. Look what memories I have. I’ll cherish them for all time.
Show me the moment I panicked. I want to feel what you felt. That was all important. She needed to know if she’d ruined that beautiful memory for him.
Dimitri didn’t hesitate. The intensity of his hunger for her overwhelmed her, that need surging through his veins, centering in his groin, a roaring firestorm building hot and fast. She found herself caught up in the heat, her own body coiling with sexual tension, hunger for him moving through her even deep within the body of the owl.
She felt that first flicker of uncertainty moving through his mind. Skyler. His world. Instantly the focus went from what he was feeling to her. His mind completely and utterly focused on her. There was no thought for him or his building desire, no regret, no anger, nothing but the need to made certain she was all right.
You are my life. Your happiness is placed above my own always. Just as you trust me to do these things for you, I know that you will do them for me.
The little owl came to rest on the wide stone railing around the verandah, spreading her wings and flapping them before she shifted back to her human form. She stood on the broad, stone rail, holding her arms out to the night. She didn’t bother with clothes, their home was far from any others, and she had scanned the area around them just as Dimitri had taught her.
The male owl landed on the stone floor of the porch, shifting fast, so fast she barely caught the change as she turned to face him.
“How do you do that?” she asked, swinging around to face him. “Shifting is way cool, but I really have to think about what I’m doing.”
His hands closed around her waist and he lifted her off the railing to set her on the stone flooring of the porch. “I’ve had centuries to practice.”
“You say that so casually,” Skyler said. “Centuries. I’m still thinking in terms of years. My next birthday.”
He brushed a kiss on top of her head, and then threaded his fingers through hers, tugging her closer to him until she felt heat radiating off his body. “Eventually time passing means nothing at all.”
“I guess. I suppose if I thought in terms of years, you’d be old and decrepit,” she teased.
“Fortunately for me, we don’t age past a certain point,” he said with a small grin. He reached around her and opened the door as if he was human.
Again she realized he did little things to make her comfortable that she hadn’t even considered. The house itself was for someone human. He’d modernized it and included even a kitchen, so anyone coming to visit would think they were just like everyone else. She knew that would be his explanation, but she had actually gone to the refrigerator several times and opened it, looked in and examined the food he changed nightly in it. It was a human habit and one that would take time to overcome.
“What do you miss most?” he asked.
“You mean food? Chocolate.” She laughed softly. “Most women love chocolate, Dimitri, and I have to admit, I’m one of them.”
“What does it taste like?” he asked.
She frowned. She’d never really thought about it. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Don’t explain it, csitri, you’re Carpathian. Bring the memory into your mind and then transfer it to me.”
Skyler nodded, squeezing his hand. It was always the little things she had to remember to do. She knew she’d get used to doing them, but still, there were so many details. She pulled up her best memory of chocolate. She’d been in the college library studying for hours, forgetting she was hungry, and her aunt Jaxon, Lucian’s lifemate, had come to see her.
The visit was unexpected, but welcome. Seeing a familiar face made her happy. Jaxon, like Skyler, had been human and she knew what long hours were. She’d brought dark chocolate, an entire bar, with her. Skyler had sat there talking to her for a long time, enjoying every moment while the chocolate melted in her mouth.
She had savored that bar, eating one small square at a time over the next week. Each time she ate one of the pieces, it conjured up her visit from Jaxon and she’d been happy all over again. She loved college, but she missed her family and somehow that small gift had made her feel very loved.
The taste of the chocolate poured into her mind and into her mouth. She turned to Dimitri, circling his neck with her arms and pressing her body tightly against his. She lifted her face to his in invitation.
Dimitri bent his head to hers, his blue eyes going dark, setting off the butterflies and causing her sheath to clench hotly. She brushed her lips featherlight over his.
“You let it melt in your mouth,” she advised softly.
Her fingers bunched in the hair at the nape of his neck, as she felt his tongue trace along the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth to him, allowing his tongue to sweep inside. Along with the taste of dark chocolate, she held the feeling she got, the joy that bar had brought to her uppermost in her mind, sharing that as well.
His arms went around her, pulling her close, imprinting her soft body onto his. She felt his groin stirring against her stomach, already full and hard. His mouth was hot, his skin radiating heat. He kissed her thoroughly, over and over, robbing her of breath first, and then her ability to think.
Chocolate is very tasty, he agreed.