STORY EXCERPT

Chitra wanted to kiss her. What madness. Don’t do it, he warned himself. Touching human women always ends in disaster. Always. I ought to know better by now. This is dangerous territory. Human females are like fireflies dancing around me, nothing more. But his body refused to listen. Instead of backing off, it leaned forward with a will of its own. Her lips were so close to his he could feel her breath mingling with his own. He wanted to kiss her so bad the pain of it lanced through him, making him semi-hard. Do I love punishment so much? What the hell is wrong with me? I should not be touching a delicate human woman, should not be considering even for a moment the lushness of her lips. He froze, feeling the thump of his heart in his chest.

Damn, Chitra had almost kissed her. She was sure of it. What was stopping him? She wanted him to kiss her so much it was driving her crazy. His dark eyes had gone all smoky and soft for a moment as he’d leaned forward, focused on her mouth. And then he’d just stopped. What was wrong with him? What was he waiting for? It was like the moment was lost. She wanted to kiss him so bad. If only he would look back with those softened, dreamy eyes one more time, she’d take matters into her own hands. Do it, do it!

The night seemed to be standing still, holding its breath. She waited until he looked back at her again. He had that same look in his eye like he was dying to kiss her, but he didn’t dare. Well, maybe she did. Maybe it was the only chance she’d ever get. She grabbed his collar and pulled him down as she rose up on her toes, slanting her lips over his. A shock went through her body to have such intimate contact with him. She moaned softly as their tongues collided, felt him tremble for a moment, and realized with shock that he liked her kissing him! Her hand found his shirttail and crept under it, exploring the sharp angles of his pelvis. His skin was like satin, only much warmer. She spread her fingers, soaking up the wondrous texture of smooth skin over hard muscle.

Chitra had had sexual encounters before on his home world with Xephon women, but he’d never kissed before. It was an Earth thing. And wow! It was amazing! The feel of their mouths playing and their tongues imitating more intimate acts combined with the incredible taste of her reminded him of Xephon fire fruit, the rain in the forest, the crisp lick of glacier ice. How was it this Earth woman reminded him so easily of his own world? It all tasted like distant memories of home and burned through him, pulled at him, shocked him, and enthralled him all at once. He didn’t want to stop. Kissing her made him turn hard like stone, made him want more. He had to stop. If he didn’t, he was going to explode from his rapidly growing desire to have her.

“Oh, Sabine, you’re so beautiful, but I must stop you,” he mumbled in his own language deliberately, needing to wake his sleeping sanity with the words, yet not wanting her to hear them or to understand them.

“No, don’t stop now, don’t stop,” she mumbled back in her endemic language. What? Alarm trickled through him. He pulled back reluctantly, even as their lips seemed to cling and refuse to part.

“Sabine, how is it you speak Xephon?” His dark eyes searched hers, hunting for an answer, as if by looking into their depths he could scan her very brain.

Sabine felt a wash of cold shoot down her spine. She had spoken in Tarourke, but the words were so similar he hadn’t noticed, or perhaps he had never heard Tarourke speech and did not know the difference? She didn’t know what to say. How to get herself out of the mess? She backed into the empty stall next to Matilda’s, her mind working furiously for a way out. He followed, one arm still hooked around her.

“I…”

“What?”

Want to kiss you again. She knew Charlie had gone back to the house for the night. They were totally alone here in the darkened stall. And if she kissed him again, maybe he would forget what he’d just asked her. She stood on her toes, pulling his head down. Their lips clashed softly and hotly, tongues colliding, seeking the sweet heat and the alluring promise of more sensual possibilities hanging between them. She felt him shudder slightly as her hand wound its way even further under his dark T-shirt, exploring his rock-hard abdominal muscles. It wasn’t the only thing that was rock hard! She could feel his expanding erection pushing into the softness of her belly through the thin materials of their clothes. Her small hand drifted south and traced the shape of his large bulge. She heard his sudden intake of breath. Her fingers fumbled at the zipper of his pants inelegantly but with determination.

“Sabine?” He growled her name into her hair, his whole body tense with caution or maybe disbelief. She wasn’t sure which it was, but she no longer cared. It had been years since she’d touched a man, and hunger stirred in her veins. She’d planned to distract him, but the truth was, he was distracting her—with his silken skin and his enormous hard body. Even his Xephon scent, once so abhorrent, now seemed to lure her forward, enticing her to act boldly. She felt his head descend to her neck, where he dropped soft, hot kisses that stirred her blood to a boiling frenzy of desire. His Xephon fangs grazed her flesh, and she trembled wildly at the erotic prick of them on her skin.

“Sabine…I haven’t done this for ages,” he admitted, licking the tiny graze his fangs had left on her throat. “Are you sure?”

She hesitated and looked to his eyes. The aquamarine flecks in them seemed to have enlarged slightly. They floated freely like brilliant stars in the black void of space. She was too enthralled to speak to him, so she merely nodded as she pushed his T-shirt up. He grabbed its hem and swept it over his head.