“Did you kill the vampire?”
Slowly, he nodded. “I killed the vampire and his minions, set free those victims who were salvageable, put the others out of their misery, then razed the castle and went home, where I was ultimately forced to face the truth of my brother’s perfidy.”
Sarah didn’t know how he had survived it.
Well, she knew how he had survived it physically. The more advanced DNA he couldn’t explain. But how had he survived it mentally? Emotionally? He must have been clinging by a thread.
And then to find out his brother had engineered it all …
Curling her hand around his strong biceps, Sarah rose onto her toes and kissed his freshly shaven cheek.
Chapter 9
Roland’s pulse increased as warmth unfurled in his chest like a cat awakening from a nap. Sarah returned her heels to the floor and gazed up at him with tenderness softening her hazel eyes.
“Why did you do that?” he asked, reaching up to touch the tingling skin her lips had brushed.
She smiled. “I wanted to. And you looked like you might need it.”
Had he? The old anger had risen up to choke him as it always did when he thought of Edward. Yet it had dissolved the instant she kissed him, her delectable scent sweeping over him, intoxicating him.
He had needed it. Needed that and so much more. He needed her. He needed …
Slowly lowering his head, Roland claimed her lips in an excruciatingly gentle exploration.
Her breath caught. Eyelids drifting closed, she parted her lips and invited him within.
Roland eagerly complied, his tongue gliding in to stroke and tease hers. His body tightened as lust hit him hard. Touching her sides just beneath her arms, he drew her nearer. She was so small. So delicate. He could feel the faint ridges of her ribs beneath his fingers as his thumbs brushed the sides of her full breasts.
Sarah thought her heart might burst from her chest as Roland’s lips seduced hers, first gently, then hungrily, speeding her pulse. Fire danced through her as his thumbs stroked the sides of her breasts, straying ever closer to the sensitive peaks. Again she rose onto her toes so he wouldn’t have to bend down so far. Smoothing her hands up his chest and around his neck, she leaned into him and buried her fingers in his hair, clutching a silky fistful.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her to him, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Sarah winced when one of his hands slid up her back and put fleeting pressure on the large bruise a tree had spawned. At least, she assumed there was a bruise. She had forgotten to look earlier, but it hurt badly enough.
His other hand followed the same path, triggering the same sharp pain.
A niggling thought pricked her.
Dragging her lips from his, she turned her head aside and tried to clear her muddled thoughts.
Roland merely kissed a path along her jaw and down her neck, making her knees go weak.
“Wait,” she protested feebly.
His body hard and throbbing with need, Roland drew his tongue across the pulse that beat rapidly just beneath the soft skin at the base of Sarah’s neck. “You smell so good,” he whispered hoarsely.
“That isn’t me. It’s your expensive bath products.”
He shook his head. “It’s you.” He drew in a long, deep breath and held it a moment. It was stronger now and mingled with the even more enticing scent of her budding arousal. “You could set me down blindfolded in the middle of a packed football stadium and I could find you by your scent alone. No perfume on the planet can compare.”
She tasted good, too, he discovered, brushing his lips over her soft skin. And there was so much more of her he wanted to taste. To feel. To stroke. Explore.
Resenting the T-shirt that kept him from touching bare flesh, he caressed her back and sought her succulent lips once more.
“Wait,” she said again, pressing against his chest. “Where are your hands?”
A groan of frustrated desire welled up inside him, but he didn’t let it escape. Swearing silently, Roland forced himself to take a step back, held his hands out to his sides where she could see them, and wished fervently that she had waited a little longer to come to her senses. They were both breathing hard as she stared up at him with lips red and swollen from his kisses. Her lovely breasts rose and fell rapidly beneath the cotton of her T-shirt, making him clench his hands into fists to avoid reaching for her.
He supposed he should apologize. He had taken an innocent gesture of affection and turned it into something else entirely. Not what she had expected, he was sure.
“Were you healing me again?” she demanded breathlessly.
He blinked at the odd question. “What?”
“Your hands were on my back. Were you trying to heal me on the sly again?”
He frowned. “What’s wrong with your back?”
Her fingertips still touched his chest, holding him at bay. She waved the other hand dismissively. “Just answer the question. The last time you kissed me, you only did it to distract me while you healed me.”
She didn’t really believe that, did she?
The suspicion and hurt reflected in her eyes suggested she did.
Well, hell.
“Distracting you while I healed you was only an excuse. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I woke up with your beautiful body stretched atop mine and your enchanting scent making my head swim.” He paused. “No. No, that’s not true. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since you held me in your kitchen after helping me remove the spikes. That was a bit earlier.”
Her hands falling limply to her sides, she swallowed visibly. “Really?”
He nodded slowly, then took a step closer as a spark of heat returned to her eyes.
When she backed into the counter, he braced his hands on either side of her, trapping her in between. “You don’t know how much I regret passing out this morning. Missing the feel of your hands bathing my naked flesh.” Leaning down until his lips nearly touched the sensitive skin beneath her ear, he drew in a slow, deep breath. “I love your scent.” He let his lips follow a path down her neck to the hollow where it met her shoulder, still close but not touching, breath warming her skin. “Your every touch inflames me, leaves me hard and aching, unable to hide my reaction to you.” Raising his head, he stared down at her. “Can you truly not know how much I want you?”
Reaching up, she rested her palm against his cheek. Roland covered her small hand with his and held it there, savoring her touch.
“Your eyes are glowing again,” she whispered.
“They’ll always glow when I want you.” He hesitated. “Does it … frighten you?” Disgust you?
Smiling, she shook her head. “I think it’s beautiful.” Her hand moved beneath his and he released it, expecting her to withdraw. Instead she curled her fingers around his neck and drew him toward her. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against the base of his throat, tasting him with her tongue.
Roland did groan then, pulse leaping, and rested his hands on her hips, gripping the material of her jeans tightly.
She placed her other hand on his chest and slid it down, burning a path across his stomach, making the muscles there quiver until she was cupping the heavy erection that strained against the front of his slacks.
Igniting at her bold caress, he stared down at her and saw the glow from his own eyes reflected in hers.
“I want you, too,” she murmured.
Roland swooped down and captured her lips, devouring her even as the hunger devoured him from the inside out. Finding her breast with one large hand, he stroked a hardened nipple through the thin T-shirt and lace that covered it.