Corbin brought my arm to his mouth andlapped gently at the ragged bite mark Taylor had left. “I wish youcould relax and trust me,” he murmured as a rush of tinglesenveloped me. “I would never harm you.”
“You’re harming me now,” I pointed out as hesucked and licked the inner bend of my elbow, making my nipplesharden painfully and sending a rush of heat to the tender V betweenmy thighs. “You’re embarrassing me and touching me against mywill.”
“Do you really dislike it so much?” Hekissed my inner arm gently, sending warm sparks of pleasure throughmy entire body. “Do you find my touch repulsive, Addison?”
“You know I don’t,” I said reluctantly. “Youcan tell that much at least, I’m sure. But just because you make mefeel a certain way doesn’t mean I want to feel thatway.”
“And what way are you speaking of exactly?”The black of his pupils had eaten the silver-blue of his irises,making his eyes look very dark and deep. “Do I arouse you when Itouch you, Addison? When I kiss you, do you find yourself becomingwet and ready for me?”
I felt my breath catch in my throat. “I…itisn’t right. I shouldn’t be able to feel this way for a vamp.”
“Because I’m evil? The enemy?”
“Yes, I guess so.” The soft, hot kisses hewas dropping onto my rapidly healing arm as he talked wereextremely distracting and I was finding it hard to think.
“But we are allies now, you and I. Enemiesno longer,” Corbin pointed out. “Can’t we agree to be friends?”
“Friends don’t sit naked in each other'slaps and drive each other crazy like this,” I pointed outbreathlessly.
Corbin smiled. “That depends on who yourfriend is and how much you care for him.”
“But I don’t care for you,” Iinsisted.
“No, of course not,” he agreed soothingly.“Your body reacting to mine is simply a coincidence—not a responseto any real attraction.”
I opened my mouth to agree with him andrealized he was being sarcastic. “You…” I wanted to hit him butthat would have meant wiggling around naked in his lap and I wasafraid that if I started wiggling I might not stop. I could feelsomething hard pressing against my ass and I was pretty sure Corbinwas as aroused as I was.
He kissed the crook of my elbow one moretime. “You’re healed now.”
“I…thank you.” I looked down at my arm,which was completely unblemished, and back up to his face. “Can Iget off your lap now? Please?”
He nodded. “Briefly. Just long enough towalk over to the bed—unless you’d rather I carried you?”
“The bed?” My heart began to pound evenfaster, this time from fear. “You promised you would barely touchme tonight. Why do we have to go to the bed?”
“To get more comfortable. And don’t worry,Addison—you are the one who will be doing the touching.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that—did hewant me to give him a hand job? But he was already scooping me upand carrying me over to the big brass bed. He laid me gently on thegreen and gold coverlet and then stripped off his own shirt, baringa chest that would have been mouthwatering if my mouth wasn’t drywith fear. He was stripping and that meant sex—what else could itmean?
“Do not fear, my darling,” he said, throwingthe shirt to one side and toeing off his shoes. “I won’t remove mypants. But I want to feel your skin against mine.”
He went and got the old fashionedfull-length mirror that I had seen in the corner of the room andplaced it right at the end of the bed. Then he settled on the bedbeside me, leaned back against the headboard, and patted the spacebetween his legs. “Come here.”
“Do I have to?” I asked, already knowing theanswer.
Corbin gave me a stern look. “Your secondpunishment is beginning now. Do you really wish to incur athird?”
“No,” I mumbled and scooted to the spacebetween his thighs. God, would this ever end?
“Very good,” Corbin said approvingly when Iwas leaning back stiffly against his chest. “To begin with I wantyou to take down your hair and look into the mirror.”
“Why?” I asked even as I did what he said.It was mortifying to see myself naked and framed from behind by thebig, blond vampire. Mortifying but strangely erotic too. With myhair down around my shoulders in a red-gold cloud, I looked veryyoung and very vulnerable. Corbin’s skin was as pale as mine but hewas so big he dwarfed me, making me feel like a doll or a littlegirl in his lap.
“Because I want you to see yourself the wayI see you. Addison, do you have any idea how beautiful youare?”
“What?” I met his eyes in the mirror. “Whatare you talking about?”
“I said you’re beautiful.” He arched aneyebrow at me. “Is that really so surprising?”
I frowned. “Frankly, yes. I mean, I don’thate my body but no one is going to be asking me to modelany new fall fashions anytime soon.”
He arched an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
I ticked reasons off on my fingers. “I’m tooshort for one thing. Not to mention my breasts are too small.”
“They are perfect for your size.” His largehands cupped the undercurves of my breasts and I felt myselfblushing again as my body reacted to his touch. “Your nipples arequite beautiful,” he murmured, brushing them gently with his thumbsand sending sparks of pleasure all through me. “Such a pale,innocent pink. I wondered what color they would be.”
“My thighs are too big,” I said, tryingdesperately to get my mind off of my now-erect nipples. Corbincontinued to tease them in that slow, lazy way as though he hadforever to touch me. “And I’m not toned enough—I’m too soft.”
He shook his head. “My darling, I have
