with Murdoch.' He contemplated the whiskey in his glass. 'And the end was in sight. Service in the Kapsliga is from the age of thirteen to thirty seven. I only had a few more years left.'
'I'll bet you were counting down the days.'
'When there were lulls in the war, I did.' His brows drew together. 'But then I died.'
'There was never a girl that struck your fancy? You never fell in love?'
'There wasn't any time even to contemplate emotions like that. I fought in battles all day and then warred with vampires each night. Survival was foremost on everyone's minds.' He took a drink, his gaze turning distant for long moments. Was he reliving those horrors even now? Just when she was about to prompt him back to the conversation, he blinked and asked, 'What about you? Did you love the oil man?'
'Not at all.' And he hadn't loved her. That night when Louis had wielded his blade, Néomi had understood him better than she ever had. Louis had been frenzied not because he'd needed to be with her but because he'd wanted to punish her. No matter what sentiments he'd spouted over her body, he'd murdered her out of spite.
'The men you were with—did you love any of them?'
'I had great affection for them. But no abiding love for them.'
'Why couldn't they win you?' He leaned forward, as if her answer was very significant to him.
'Oh, they didn't do anything wrong. I just never found my match.'
'Did they... satisfy you?'
If they hadn't in the beginning, they had eventually. 'I made sure of it. I wasn't shy about what I expected or needed from a man.' He raised his brows. She could tell he was eager to question her about her words, but she wanted to refocus on him. 'Conrad, how did you handle the physical need?' When his face flushed, she said, 'Oh, I see.'
'A lot,' he admitted in a husky voice.
'Were you terribly curious about what it would feel like?'
He hesitated, then met her gaze. 'Still am.'
She exhaled a slow breath, for once thinking she might be in over her head with a man.
Néomi had thought she could easily handle Conrad, because men had never given her fits before. And she was experienced while he wasn't.
But Conrad Wroth wasn't an average man. He wasn't even a man, really. He was an immortal male who'd never had a female—when he'd clearly wanted to. She sensed a volatile passion inside him, just waiting for release.
How she wished she could be the woman who tapped into it! She'd never lamented the lack of a body as much as she did right now.
'Did you never touch a woman intimately? Never even... kissed a single time?'
His shoulders tensed. 'That's enough questions. I've told you I don't want to discuss this subject with you.'
He hadn't. 'Why not talk about this?' Mon Dieu, no woman has ever even given him her lips. 'Does the subject embarrass you?'
'Should it not?' He glanced away and grated, 'Would any man want a beautiful woman to know this about himself?'
'If I didn't know better, I'd say comments like that are your way of flirting with me.'
He scowled. 'My way. As opposed to the regular way a man with more experience would go about it? I think you seek to keep me on edge about this. You like that I'm never able to settle in with you.'
'Conrad, that's ridiculous.'
'Is it?'
'Mais oui. I'll say this plain. If you were able and I were able, I would be seducing you, right at this very moment.'
His fists clenched, and his lips parted, exposing white teeth and those sexy fangs. 'You love to tease me, don't you?' He rose and strode to the window, glancing out into the tumultuous night. 'You shouldn't say things you don't mean.'
'I never do.' This male was a sexually untutored, six-and-a-half-foot-tall, gorgeous immortal. And she was desperate to have him. There was nothing but truth to that.
'Then you're attracted to me because I'm all that's here.'
'That's not so.' She rose, crossing to him.
'Isn't it? Then am I similar to the men you used to bed?'
'Not in the least.'
'Then why would you want to seduce me?'
She hadn't expected that question. 'It's because I've never been with a man like you that I desire you.'
His scowl deepened. 'A red-eyed vampire?'
'A strong, virile male with large muscles I long to sink my fingers into.'
He turned to set his glass on the windowsill, but she saw him swallow. Then he faced her, advancing, looming over her. As she'd done in the shower, she retreated until she reached the wall.
Raising his bound hands over her head, he again surrounded her with his body. 'What if I wanted to do the seducing?'
He would. He was so deliciously domineering. 'Why are you always caging me in?'
'Maybe I wouldn't, if you weren't always disappearing. You're as tangible as air, and it's so damned frustrating, koeri.'
'What does that mean?'
'It means lure.'
She blinked up at him. 'Your endearment for me is a synonym for bait?'
'You're luring me from madness.' Lowering his voice, he said, 'The only thing that could possibly tempt me from it.'
She nibbled her bottom lip. 'Would you follow me anywhere?'
'Into the sun.' Conrad was all intensity. These weren't practiced sentiments—these were words he couldn't contain. 'You said you'd teach me how to seduce my Bride. I want my first lesson.'
She couldn't think. 'Lesson?' He was too attractive for his own good. 'Oh, yes. Well, if you had your female in a position like this, you could compliment her.'
Staring down at her, he said, 'So I could tell her that her eyes are striking? That I think about their color all the time?'
'She'd really, really like that. And then you could cup her face, and maybe brush her bottom lip with your thumb.'
The muscles in his arms bulged, and she knew he was clenching his fists above her head, wanting to touch her. 'And how would I know if she was interested in me?'
'She'd probably wrap her arms around your neck to hold you close,' Néomi said, but she kept her arms to her sides, her own hands in fists. She yearned to twine her fingers in the too-long hair at his nape, ached to touch him in any way. But she couldn't and never would be able to.
I can never feel those muscles flex as he works my body over the edge. Can never see that exact moment when any control he has deserts him and he's helpless to his own lust.
Néomi would never be able to enjoy him—she selfishly didn't want any other woman enjoying him either.
'And then what should I do?' His voice seemed whiskey-roughened and smoothed at the same time.
She felt as intoxicated as if she'd drunk it with him. 'You'd meet her gaze, then lean in to brush your lips against hers.'
'Brush my lips?' He was getting as caught up as she was, his natural reserve faltering. And she loved it. 'What if I wanted to do something harder?'
Harder? Yes! She stopped herself. 'But most females would want a measured seduction. You'd have to wait, to prolong it. But when your lady gasped, then you could take her mouth more forcefully.'
'How?'
'Slowly slip your tongue inside, and tease it against mine—hers, rather.' She shook her head. 'Against
