something sinful with his fangs. As she came apart again, he watched her orgasm, his brilliant teal blue eyes staring up from between her legs, casting shadows, they were so bright. After it was over, she said his name as a hoarse question.
In a fluid motion he got to his feet and backed away from her. When he turned around, her breath came out in a hiss.
A magnificent, multicolored tattoo covered his entire back. The design was that of a dragon, a fearsome creature with five-clawed limbs and a twisting, powerful body. From its resting place, the beast stared out, as if it were actually seeing through its white eyes. And while Rhage paced around, the thing moved with the undulations of muscles and skin, shifting, seething.
Like it wanted out, she thought.
Feeling a draft, Mary pulled the blanket around her body. When she looked up, Rhage was way across the room.
And still, that tattoo stared at her.
CHAPTER 23
Rhage stalked around the living room, trying to work off the burn. It had been hard enough to keep his body in check before he'd put his mouth on her. Now that his tongue knew her taste, his spine was on fire, the burn spreading out to every muscle he had. His skin tingled all over, itching so badly he wanted to take sandpaper to it.
As he rubbed his arms, his hands shook uncontrollably.
God, he had to get away from the scent of her sex. The sight of her. The knowledge that he could take her right now because she'd let him.
'Mary, I have to be alone for a little while.' He glanced at the bathroom door. 'I'm going to go in there. If anyone comes to the house or you hear anything unusual, I want you to get me immediately. But I won't be long.'
He didn't look at her as he closed the door.
In the mirror over the sink, his pupils glowed white in the darkness.
Oh, Jesus, he couldn't let himself change. If the beast got loose…
Terror for Mary's safety sent his heart on a sprint that only made the situation worse.
He put the toilet lid down and sat on it, resting his hands on his knees. He forced his muscles to relax then focused on his lungs. Drawing in breath through his nose and exhaling out his mouth, he concentrated on keeping his respiration good and slow.
In and out with the breath. In and out with the breath.
The world receded until all sounds and sights and smells were shut out and there was only his breath.
Only his breath.
Only his breath.
Only his…
When he'd calmed down, he opened his eyes and lifted his hands. The trembling was gone. And a quick check in the mirror showed that his pupils were black again. He propped his arms on the sink and sagged into them.
Ever since he'd been cursed, sex had been a predicable tool that helped him deal with the beast. When he took a female, he'd become stimulated enough to make it to the release he needed, but the arousal never rose to the level where the beast was triggered. Not by a long shot.
With Mary, though, all bets were off. He didn't think he could control himself enough to enter her, much less make it to orgasm. That damn vibration she called out of him shot his sex drive straight into danger land.
He took a deep breath. The only saving grace appeared to be that he could get himself back under wraps quickly. If he got away from her, if he marshaled his nervous system, he was able to beat the feeling down to a manageable intensity.
Rhage used the toilet, then washed his face in the sink and dried off with a hand towel. When he opened the door, he braced himself. He had a feeling that when he saw Mary again, the feeling would return a little.
It did.
She was sitting on the couch dressed in khakis and a fleece. The candlelight amplified the anxiety in her face.
'Hey,' he said.
'Are you okay?'
'Yeah.' He rubbed his jaw. 'Sorry about that. Sometimes I need a minute.'
Her eyes widened.
'What?' he asked.
'It's almost six. You've been in there for nearly eight hours.'
Rhage cursed. So much for a quick fix. 'I didn't know I was gone for that long.'
'I, ah, I checked in on you once or twice. I was worried… Anyway, someone called for you. Roth?'
'Wrath?'
'That's the name. Your phone kept ringing and ringing. Eventually I answered it.' She looked down at her hands. 'Are you sure you're okay?'
'I am now.'
She took a deep breath and let it out. The exhale did nothing to ease the set of her shoulders.
'Mary, I…' Damn it, what exactly could he tell her that wasn't going to make things harder for her?
'It's okay. Whatever happened, it's okay.'
He came over to the couch and sat down next to her.
'Listen, Mary, I want you to come with me tonight. I want to take you somewhere that I know you'll be safe. The
'Where would we go?'
'I want you to stay with me.' Assuming Wrath let them in the door. 'It's too dangerous for you here, and if the slayers are going to come for you, it's going to be soon. We're talking tonight. Come with me for a few days until we figure out what to do.'
Longer-term solutions evaded him at the moment, but he would find them. She'd become his responsibility when he got her mixed up in his world, and he wasn't going to leave her undefended.
'Trust me on this. Just a couple days.'
Mary packed a bag, thinking she was crazy. Heading to God knew where. With a vampire.
But the thing about Rhage was, she had faith in him. He was too honest to lie and too smart to underestimate the threat. Besides, her appointments with the specialists didn't start up until Wednesday afternoon. And she'd taken the week off from work as well as been discharged from the hotline. There was nothing she would miss.
When she came back down to the living room, he turned toward her, swinging the duffel over one shoulder. She eyed his black suit jacket, seeing bulges in it she hadn't thought were significant before.
'Are you armed? she asked.
He nodded.
'With what?' When he just looked at her, Mary shook her head. 'You're right. Probably better that I don't know. Let's go—'
They drove in silence down Route 22 into the dead zone between Caldwell's rural edges and the beginnings of the next large town. This was hilly, woodland country with nothing but long stretches of forest between the occasional rotting double-wide at the side of the road. There were no streetlights, few cars, and a lot of deer.
