Page 36 of Dance With the Devil (Dark-Hunter 3)
Astrid trembled at the sensation of Zarek's prickly cheek against hers. Of his breath falling gently against her skin.
His unexpected tenderness tore through her.
She'd seen enough of his life to know gentleness was not something he had experience with and yet he held her so carefully.
"You're so warm," he breathed in her ear. His hot breath tickled her neck, and sent chills all over her.
He pulled back and stared at her as if she were unspeakably precious to him. He brushed the back of his knuckles against her jaw. His eyes were so dark and tormented while he stared at her, as if unable to believe she was with him.
His gaze uncertain, he touched her lips with the tip of his forefinger. "I've never kissed anyone before."
His confession stunned her. How could a man so handsome have never kissed?
Fire sparked in his eyes. "I want to taste you, Astrid. I want to feel you hot and wet under me. To look into your eyes while I fuck you."
She shivered at his crudeness. It was what she expected from the conscious Zarek, but she refused to take that from this one.
She knew him better than that.
What he suggested now was forbidden. She wasn't allowed to ever cross the physical line with her charges.
The only one who had ever tempted her to break that rule had been Miles. But she had met that temptation and wisely kept herself away from him.
With Zarek it wasn't so easy. Something about this man touched her in a way that nothing had before.
Looking up into his tormented black eyes, she saw his wounded heart...
He'd never known kindness.
Never known the warmth of a loving touch.
She couldn't explain it, but she wanted to be his first and she wanted him to be hers. She wanted to hold him and show him what it was like to be welcomed by someone.
If you do this you could lose your job as a judge.
It was all she'd ever wanted to be.
If she didn't do this, Zarek could lose his life. If she reached out to him now, maybe she could teach him that it was okay to trust someone.
Maybe she could touch the poet inside him and show him a world where he would be free to allow other people to see his gentler side. Show him that it was okay to befriend others.
She finally understood what Acheron had meant.
But how could she save Zarek? He had turned on the people whom he'd been sent to protect and had killed them.
She needed proof that he would never do that again.
Could she find it?
She had to. There was no choice. The last thing she wanted was to see him hurt anymore.
She would defend this man no matter what.
"I won't fuck you, Zarek," she whispered. "Ever. But I will make love with you."
He looked puzzled and unsure. "I've never made love to anyone."
She lifted his cold hand up to her lips and kissed his fingers. "If you want to learn, come with me."
Zarek couldn't breathe as she withdrew from him. His head spun with strange, alien feelings and emotions. He was afraid of what she offered him.
If she touched him, would it change him?
He didn't expect kindness from her or anyone. A pitiful and horrifyingly scarred slave, he'd died a virgin and as a Dark-Hunter had only screwed women on rare occasions. Not once in two thousand years had he ever stared into a lover's eyes while he took her. Never had he allowed one to hold or even touch him.
Should he follow Astrid, all that would change.
In his dream, she had her eyesight and could see him...
He would be tamed. For the first time in his life, he would have a tie to someone. Physical. Emotional.
Even though this was a dream, it would change him toward her forever because this was what he wanted deep down inside, buried in a place where he dared not look. Buried in a heart that had been crushed by cruelty.
"Zarek?"
He looked up to see her standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Her long blond hair fanned out around her shoulders and she wore nothing except a thin cotton button-down shirt. Her long legs were bare, inviting.
The light behind her showed through the thin fabric, outlining every precious curve of her body...
Zarek swallowed. If he did this, Astrid alone would be unique to him in all the world. She would be his.
He would be hers.
He would be tamed.
It's only a dream...
But even in his dreams no one had ever tamed him.
Until now.
His heart hammering, he went to her and scooped her up in his arms. No, he wouldn't be tamed. Not by this and not by her. But she would be his in this dream.
All his.
Astrid trembled at the fierce, determined look on Zarek's face as he carried her to the bed. Hunger blazed in his obsidian eyes. She had a strange feeling that Zarek might be right after all.
A man this wild would never make love to a woman.
The saner part of her told her to pull away from him. To stop this before it was too late.
But another part of her refused. This would tell her the true mettle of the man.
He laid her down on the bed and brushed her lips with his fingertips as if he were memorizing them. Savoring them. Then he gently parted her lips and covered them with his.
Astrid was completely unprepared for the passion of his kiss. The ferocity of it. It was both rough and tender. Demanding. Hot. Sweet. He growled fiercely as his tongue brushed against hers, tasting her before he explored every inch of her mouth.
For a man who had never kissed before, he was incredible. She shivered as he tasted her palate, as his tongue swept through her with spears of pleasure.
