Once more he pressed little kisses from her temple to the corner of her mouth, tracing every detail with the tip of his tongue. Tasting her. Savoring her. She didn’t turn away, but instead lifted her head just a little toward him. An offering. The sensation sweeping through his body shook him. The way his heart jerked in his chest at that small gesture she made shocked him. She’d already taken him over, just that fast. She owned him. Tariq. A Carpathian hunter. She owned him.

He wanted to go in to see the child. He liked children. He had always been drawn to their innocence and wonder. Lourdes would be his, just as she was Charlotte’s. Already the four children he’d rescued were “his.” He knew they all had psychic gifts, even young Danny, the teenage boy, so brave that he knowingly challenged vampires in an effort to get his sisters to safety. They were his. He hoped Charlotte would come to think of them as hers as well.

He pressed more kisses along her chin and then nibbled. She murmured and ducked her chin down, her mouth moving against his. His belly did a slow roll and his cock jerked hard.

“Tariq.” She murmured his name softly. “Can’t you sleep?” She didn’t open her eyes, but her lips caressed his.

“I’m savoring every moment with you. Committing it to memory. The start of us. The beginning. I do not want to miss one single second with you.”

Her lips, against his, curved into a smile. Her tongue teased along the seam of his. “Silly man. If it’s the beginning of us, then we have a long time ahead to savor. Go to sleep. Morning is coming and Lourdes will wake up and need me. You’ll be too sleepy and worn-out to get up to meet her.”

She is exhausted as well. She will sleep in. He answered her mind to mind. Intimately. His voice caressed the walls of her mind. Stroking. Conveying more than words. She would feel his hunger for her. Hunger in all forms. He wanted that. Wanted to share with her just how much his need of her was. Just how much his passion for her was. The lust rising in him. The craving for her blood. She had to know when she woke up and the fog was gone, he would never move on or abandon her. He wanted to give her that knowledge. I belong to you. I was born just for you.

He took her mouth, one hand cupping her jaw, holding her still for his invasion. He loved the taste of her and could never get enough. He kissed her over and over. So many times, and yet that wasn’t enough. When he lifted his head, she pressed one hand to his chest, pushing him down to the satin sheets while she rose up above him.

He felt the impact of her vividly colored eyes. Her gaze roamed over his face, and he was more than pleased to see it held a hint of possession and more than a little lust.

“You need someone to watch over you, Tariq.”

That simple statement shook him. He watched over everyone. She’d done this before. With Fridrick in the garage. She’d tried to protect him. He couldn’t remember that ever happening. He’d lost most memories of his family. They hadn’t been with him long enough to leave many. Mostly the Carpathian community had raised him. The raising had consisted mainly of training him. His most treasured memory had been watching his father carve wood into beautiful things for his mother. He used his hands, not his mind, to make things. Although he’d been ridiculed by some of his peers, Tariq had chosen to do the same thing.

Charlotte kissed his jaw and then his throat. He wasn’t certain his heart could take the way she moved her body over his. She straddled him, pressing her hot core into his flesh, branding him with scorching heat as she kissed his chest. Her tongue licked over the spot where he’d drawn the line, opening his veins for her.

Do you want more, sielamet? I belong to you. If you hunger, I provide. He couldn’t stop himself; he slid one hand between her lips and his chest, his fingernail lengthening, sharpening, so that he could give her his very essence.

The little beads welled up. Tempting. Enticing her with his scent. She had to feel his hunger – it was there in his mind when he spoke to her. His need of her. His want. He craved her, and he wanted her to sip from him. To take enough for an exchange.

She licked at the ruby drops, her eyes on his, and his body reacted. She was the epitome of a beautiful, sensuous creature. She licked again and then deliberately latched onto him with her mouth. Sucking. Trying to draw out more. All the while her gaze stayed on his. He knew the true meaning of sexy just watching her. Her hips moved on him, a slide of heat and fire that threatened his control, but when he caught her hips to settle her over the straining weight of his cock, she refused to allow it. She reprimanded him with her eyes, and he immediately forced his hands to stop, to just curl into her hips and wait to see what she wanted. When she’d taken enough from him for a second exchange, he slipped his hand between her mouth and his chest, closing the laceration as he did so.

She licked over the line several times and then kissed him there. Her mouth settled over his nipple, teeth tugging gently. He felt that fire shoot an arrow straight to his cock. He reached down to settle his fist around the thick spike. His need for her was brutal now, but he refused to take the control away from her. He wanted to see what she would do, what she had in mind.

Her kisses followed the path of each muscle in his abdomen as she slid down his body, right past where he wanted her to settle. Instead, she wedged her body between his legs, her mouth finding his belly button and then nipping at the skin just below it.

His breath left his lungs in a rush when her breath was on the head of his cock. Warm. Heated. Such a sensation he couldn’t have ever imagined. She licked as he held himself tight in his fist. Licked at the drops leaking there, licked all around the top of the sensitive crown. Licked under it, hitting a spot that nearly took the top of his head off the pleasure was so great.

“Relax, Tariq. Let me take care of you for a change. You’re so tense.” The admonishment was whispered against his cock, her tongue and lips sliding over and around the large, velvety head.

One finger tugged at his hand and he instantly got the hint. She didn’t want his help. He let go and her fingers curled around his shaft, low, toward the very base. At the same time, her mouth engulfed him. He nearly came off the bed. Hot. Tight. She drew him deep, her tongue lashing and curling around him. Stroking. Caressing. Massaging. Her other hand cupped his sac, rolling gently, and then her tongue was there.

She never took her gaze from his. Watching her added to his pleasure. She loved what she was doing. He knew it was a gift. He felt that in his mind, the way she relished giving him pleasure, taking care of him, taking the tension from him. Her mouth went back to working his cock and he found himself laboring just to breathe.