'Absolutely.'
'Then why's the tag still on that robe?'
'In case I want another, I'll know what it is.'
He turned on his side, away from her. Rolled back over so he stared at the ceiling again. A minute later, he tried his stomach.
'Rhage.' Her voice was lovely in the dim quiet.
'What?'
'You sleep in the nude, right?'
'Ah, usually.'
'Look, you can lose the clothes. It's not going to bother me.'
'I didn't want you to feel… uncomfortable.'
'What's making me uncomfortable is you flopping around on that side of the bed. I feel like a tossed salad over here.'
He would have chuckled at her reasonable tone, but the hot pump between his legs sucked the humor right out of him.
Ah, hell, if he thought the getup he had on was going to keep him in check, he was out of his mind. He wanted her so badly that short of chain mail, what he was or was not wearing wasn't going to make a lick of difference.
Keeping his back to her, he stood up and stripped. With some finessing, he managed to get himself under the covers without flashing her a glimpse of what the front of him was up to. That monstrous arousal was nothing she needed to know about.
He faced away from her, lying on his side.
'Can I touch it?' she asked.
His erection jerked, as if volunteering to be the 'it.' 'Touch what?'
'The tattoo. I'd like to… touch it.'
God, she was so close to him, and that voice of hers—that sweet, beautiful voice—was magic. But the hum in his body made him feel like he had a paint mixer in his belly.
When he stayed quiet, she murmured, 'Never mind. I don't—'
'No. It's just…'
He heard sheets brushing against sheets. Felt the mattress move a little. And then her fingertips brushed his shoulder. He kept his flinch to himself as best he could.
'Where did you get it done?' she whispered, tracing the curse's outline. 'The artwork is extraordinary.'
His whole body tensed as he felt precisely where she was on the beast. She was going across its left foreleg now, and he knew it because he felt the corresponding tingle in his own limb.
Rhage closed his eyes, getting trapped between the pleasure of having her hand on him and the reality that he was flirting with disaster. The vibration, the burning—it was all rising, called out of darkest, most destructive core of him.
He inhaled through his teeth as she stroked the beast's flank.
'Your skin is so smooth,' she said, running her palm down his spine.
Frozen in place, unable to breathe, he prayed for self-control.
'And… well, anyway.' She pulled back. 'I think it's beautiful.'
He was on top of her before he knew he'd moved. And he wasn't a gentleman. He pushed his thigh between her legs, pinned her arms over her head, and found her mouth with his own. As she arched into him, he grabbed hold of her nightgown and yanked up hard. He was going to take her. At this very moment and in his bed, just as he'd wanted to.
And she was going to be
Her thighs yielded to him, opening wide, and she urged him on, his name a hoarse moan leaving her lips. The sound lit off a violent shaking in him, one that dimmed his vision and sent pulses down his arms and legs. The taking of her consumed him, stripped him of whatever civilized lid there was on his instincts. He was raw, wild and…
On the verge of the scorching implosion that was the curse's calling card.
Terror gave him the strength he needed to leap off her and stumble across the room. He slammed into something. The wall.
'Rhage!'
Sinking down onto the floor, he put his trembling hands over his face, knowing his eyes were white. His body shook so badly his words came out in waves. 'I'm out of my mind… This is… Shit, I can't… I need to stay away from you.'
'Why? I don't want you to stop—'
He talked right over her. 'I'm starved for you, Mary. I'm so damn… hungry, but I can't have you. I won't take… you.'
'Rhage,' she snapped, as if trying to get through to him. 'Why not?'
'You don't want me. Trust me, you really don't want me like that.'
'The hell I don't.'
He wasn't about to tell her he was a beast waiting to happen. So he chose to disgust her rather than scare her. 'I've had eight different females this week alone.'
There was a long pause. 'Good… God.'
'I don't want to lie to you. Ever. So let me be very clear. I've had a lot of anonymous sex. I've been with so many females, none of whom I've cared about. And I don't want you to ever think I'd use you like that.'
Now that his pupils felt as though they were black again, he looked over at her.
'Tell me you practice safe sex,' she muttered.
'When the females ask me to, I do.'
Her eyes flared. 'And when they don't?'
'I could no more get the common cold from one of them than I could HIV or hep C or any STD. And I'm not a carrier of those diseases, either. Human viruses don't affect us.'
She pulled the sheets up around her shoulders. 'How do you know you're not getting them pregnant? Or can't humans and vampires…'
'Half-breeds are rare, but it does happen. And it's obvious to me when the females are fertile. I can smell it. If they are, or are close, I don't have sex with them, even using protection. My children, when I have them, will be born in safety in my world. And I will love their mother.'
Mary's eyes skipped away, becoming fixed, haunted. He looked up to see what she was staring at. It was the Madonna and Child painting over the dresser.
'I'm glad you told me,' she finally said. 'But why does it have to be with strangers? Why can you be with someone you… Actually, don't answer that. It's none of my business.'
'I'd rather be with you, Mary. Not being inside of you is… torture. I want you so badly I can't stand it.' He blew out his breath. 'But can you honestly tell me that you want me now? Although… hell, even if you did, there's still something else. The way you go to my head, it's like I told you before. I'm scared of losing control. You affect me differently than other females do.'
There was another long silence. She broke it.
'Tell me again that you're miserable we're not sleeping together,' she said dryly.
'I am utterly miserable. Achy. Hard all the time. Distracted and pissed off.'
'Good.' She laughed a little. 'Boy, I'm a bitch, aren't I?'
'Not at all.'
The room grew quiet. Eventually he lay down and curled onto his side, resting his head on his arm.
She sighed. 'I don't expect you to sleep on the floor now.'
'It's better this way.'
'For chrissakes, Rhage, get up here.'
His voice dropped to a low growl. 'If I come back to that bed, there's no way I'm not going for that sweet spot between your legs. And it wouldn't be just my hands and my tongue this time. It would be right back to where
