Page 65 of Dance With the Devil (Dark-Hunter 3)
Astrid gasped at Zarek's hardness inside her. She'd pushed his shirt up so that his hard, muscled stomach was bare, but he was still fully clothed. His leather pants brushed against her thighs with every move he made.
His hands left her.
A few seconds later, she felt his soft fur parka against her bare skin as he draped it around her.
"I don't want you to get cold," he explained quietly.
She smiled at him, touched by his thoughtfulness. "How could I ever be cold with you inside me?"
He rose up then and wrapped his arms around her. His lips possessed hers with a fiery passion that left her breathless and weak.
Astrid cried out as she came in his arms.
Zarek waited until he'd wrung the last tremor of her orgasm from her before he sat up, still inside her and leaned her back against the floor.
Kissing her again, he quickened his thrusts, seeking his own peace.
And when he found it, he didn't close his eyes. He stared down at the woman who had given it to him.
She lay beneath him, breathing raggedly, her eyes unseeing, her touch enchanting.
He knew then there was nothing he wouldn't do for her. If she asked, he would walk through the fires of hell just to make her smile.
He cursed at the knowledge.
"Zarek?"
He ground his teeth as he pulled away from her. "What?"
She took his chin in her hand and turned his face toward hers, then she kissed him fiercely. "Don't you dare turn away from me."
He couldn't breathe as he felt her with every fiber of his being. Her bare bottom was wet against his groin, her skin cool against his.
But it was the warmth of her lips and breath that heated him.
The fire of her undaunted will. It burned through him, tearing away centuries of loneliness and pain.
" 'You know-my flower,'" he breathed. " 'I am responsible for her.' " He kissed her gently. " 'She doesn't even have four thorns to protect herself from harm.'"
Astrid listened as he quoted from The Little Prince. "Why do you love that book so?" she asked.
"Because I want to hear the bells when I look up at the sky. I want to laugh, but I don't know how."
Her lips quivered in sadness. That was the lesson of the book. It was to remind people that it was okay to care and that once you let someone into your heart, you were never really alone. Even the most simple thing such as looking up at the sky could bring comfort to you, even when the one you loved was far away. "And if I taught you to laugh?"
"I would be tamed."
"Would you? Or would you be the sheep who has a muzzle with no strap and who eats the rose when he's not supposed to? I somehow think that even tamed, you would be beyond control."
Astrid felt the most remarkable thing then. Zarek's lips curled up beneath her hand.
"Are you smiling?"
"I'm smiling, princess. But not broadly. No teeth."
"Or fangs?"
"Or fangs."
She leaned forward and kissed him again. "I'll bet you're gorgeous when you smile."
He grunted at that, then helped her dress.
Astrid snuggled up to him once more so that she could hear the rhythm of his heart. She loved the sound of it, the feel of his strength beneath her.
Even though their lives were in danger, she felt oddly safe here.
With him.
Or so she thought.
In the stillness, she heard a strange scratching sound above them.
Zarek jerked up.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Someone's upstairs in my cabin."
Horror consumed her. "You think it's Thanatos?"
"Yes."
He moved her gently off him and stood her against the wall. Terrified, she remained perfectly still as she listened to his movements and to those above.
Zarek grabbed a grenade, then reconsidered. The last thing he wanted was to trap them underground. He pulled on his spare set of silver claws that covered every finger of his left hand, and moved down the hallway back toward the trapdoor that was underneath his stove.
He heard light footsteps above him.
Then a curse.
Suddenly, there was silence again.
Zarek strained, desperate to hear who was up there and what they were doing.
A strange shiver went down his spine as the air behind him stirred.
He turned expecting to see Astrid.
It wasn't her.
