Eternal Breath of Darkness (37 page)

He felt tears of
joy burning behind his eyes. His hands stayed clenched as his sides. He was
afraid to touch her, afraid of the price of allowing her to proceed. He knew if
he didn’t stop her she would live with regret or die. No woman had ever made him
care about consequences. He’d never experienced anything like it before,
emotionally or even physically. His heated skin was hypersensitive. His body
was inconceivably hard. The hunger in her voice and the look of desperation in
her eyes did marvelously wicked things to his body.

Her rising
frustration, her need, pounded into him. His mind deeply merged with hers
allowed the lust raging in her to increase his to intolerable heights. She
would never get enough of him. He would never get enough of her. She would
never get close enough to him. He would never get close enough to her. They
would always need more, much more of each other. Their hearts and souls were
bound so closely together he knew he would never be alone again.

She kissed him
passionately, possessively while her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his
shirt and her body moved restlessly against his. Giving up on the buttons, she
ripped his shirt apart. He was very aware of her touch, to the point of being
mesmerized by it. Her fingers electrified his skin, tracing his muscles. Her
kiss was rough and insistent. It was more than he could bear. He had to stop
her, but he knew he would never be able to do it. He would never get enough of
her sensuous kisses, of her touch, of her body. He could almost imagine his
cock, locked deep within her slick, hot sheath.

Finally, he
moved. His hands found her thighs, caressed her soft, silky flesh. He realized
his hands were trembling when he pushed her skirt up. Her soft moans of
pleasure, of approval, vibrated against his lips as her tongue delved deeper to
dance with his. Flames, uncontrollable flames of sweet torment swept through
him when, mimicking the act of making love, she started to move her body
against his. Damn. He needed … damn. He was … oh, damn it. He needed
to be inside her. He was going to burst in his pants. Gripping her bottom, he
began to move with her, grinding his swollen cock against her hot core.

He slid his
hands up her shirt and up her tiny ribcage as her lips moved down his throat to
his chest. “Joseph,” she whispered, the warmth of her breath on his belly
causing currents of electricity to race through his body, “right now, more than
anything, I want to hate you.” Her lips moved further down his belly as her
hands worked on unbuckling his belt. “I’ve never felt threatened by what you
are, by what you’re capable of doing. I never believed you would use your power
against me.” The tremor in her voice instantly brought him to his senses. “I
can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”

“No.” He caught
her shoulders and pulled her up the length of his body. His sexual drive was
powerful, but not nearly as powerful as his natural drive to protect her. “I
want you with every fiber of my being, but I would never use my power or
manipulation to take advantage of you.”

“Whatever.” She
was falling, tumbling out of control, sinking to the bottom of a well of lust.
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter right now.”

“Too bad. I
care.” He felt like an ass for allowing her to continue believing he’d caused
the fever that was rushing through her veins. “It matters to me. You matter to
me.”

Her body was
aroused, but her mind was confused. She believed what was happening was
unnatural. She believed he’d put a spell on her. She needed to get away from
him, but she didn’t have the strength walk away. She ached for him to touch
her, to fill her.

He was also
aching, but he wouldn’t take her body at the risk of losing her heart. He held
her face, forcing her to look into his eyes. He reached into her mind, her
soul. It was slow, deep penetration. He built a barrier between her body and
the symptoms of her wolf being in heat. He knew it had worked when she closed
her eyes and collapsed on top of him, resting her head on his chest. He felt
her heart slow down to an even, steady pace as his heart slowed.

She was
absolutely silent and still for a few seconds. Then, wrenching her body out of
his arms, she threw herself up off him. “I can’t believe you would do something
so … oh, damn it.” She turned to walk away. “You’re such an imbecile,
Joseph.”

He jumped to his
feet and caught her wrist. She tugged on her arm, but he kept it and forced her
to turn around. He stood motionless as he stared down at her. It was a single
moment that seemed to last for forever. “I didn’t do anything to cause it.”
When she attempted to yank her wrist out of his grip, he pulled her closer and
wrapped his arms around her. “I did not do it.” He rested his chin on top of
her head.

“Yes, you did. I
know it was you. It wasn’t me. That doesn’t happen to me. I don’t have urges
like that. I don’t even want to have sex with you.”

That brought a
smile to his face. “You’re lying. You want me. You’re just not ready.” He
lifted her chin to force her to look into his eyes. “I don’t mind waiting. What
we have between us is much more than sexual chemistry.”

“I am well aware
of that. You want it all. You need it all, Joseph.” The sadness in her voice
caused his heart to ache. All he wanted, all he needed at that moment, was to
comfort her. “You deserve to have it all.” She closed her eyes. “But if you
choose me you will never be able to have it all. It will end before it truly
begins.”

“Look at me.” He
framed her face with his hand and traced her lips with his thumb. “It’s not a
matter of if I choose you. I chose you the day we met. And with you, I have it
all.” He moved his hand to cradle the nape of her neck, his fingers massaging
gently as he pressed her head against his chest. “Without you I have nothing at
all.”

He felt her
resolve to put some distance between them, but as she shoved at his shoulders
and chest, he also felt her need to get closer to him, to feel the heat of his
flesh against her. “You’re being irrational, Joseph.” He felt her confusion,
her frustration, but above all else he felt her love for him, her aching,
burning need for him.

“Me? You’re the
one freaking out over a kiss. Why are you upset now? It’s not like it was the
first time I’ve ever kissed you.”

“That wasn’t you
kissing me, Joseph. That was me practically raping you.”

“First, in this
case, practically doesn’t count.” Winking, he pointed down at his still
swollen, hard-as-a-rock, aching-like-hell cock. “And second, you can’t rape the
eager and willing, angel.” Just as he knew she would do, she stared down at his
crotch.

Looking up at
him, she blushed. “You’re going to get your ass kicked if you keep smiling at
me like that.” There were tears in her voice. “Nothing about what just happened
is even a tiny bit funny. And it’s never happening again.” She turned away from
him to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“The boutique. I
have a busy day”

“You might want
to button your shirt first.”

“I really, truly
hate you with all of my heart.” She pulled her shirt together and buttoned it
up, and then she glanced over her shoulder. “And soul. Definitely my soul.”

Using
supernatural speed he got in front of the door before she reached it. Lifting
her chin, she glared up at him. “Move out of my way.”

“Do you still
plan to paint the boutique tonight?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be there
around eight to help you.” He bent his head and nuzzled her ear as he reached
behind her and pulled her skirt down over her hips. “You’ve a beautiful, sexy
ass, but I’m betting you would rather not show it off from here to your
boutique.” She opened her mouth as if to respond, but he silenced her with a
gentle and yet passionate kiss. “It’s okay—there’s no need to thank me. I also
would rather you not show it off.”

“Very funny.”
She smiled, but the pain in her eyes caused his heart to ache.

He rested his
forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I allowed it to get out of control.”

“It’s not your
fault.” She stepped beyond him, unlocked the door, opened it, and then stepped
out into the hallway, but then she stopped and turned to face him again. “And,
Joseph, I’m sorry I came in here accusing you. Do you know what caused me to
get all freaky on you? Is it the morphine?”

“I do. And, no,
it had nothing to do with morphine.”

“Tell me what
caused it.”

“I will explain
it all to you when I come over to help you tonight.”

“I want to know
now. Why wait?”

It wasn’t something
he could explain quickly. Plus, he really didn’t know what to say or how to say
it. He wanted a little time to think about it. And he had no idea how she was
going to take it. “I have an urgent appointment I need to keep.” It was a lie.
Since he’d chased Larissa out he didn’t have much to do at all, but he figured
it was a necessary, harmless lie.

“You will tell
me everything later, right?”

“I promise,” he
lied again. He had no intention of telling her about Eli. Again, it was a
necessary lie. Okay. So it wasn’t necessary, but he was demon; he could lie
with impunity. There was no way in hell he was going to tell the only woman he
would ever love that she belonged to another man.

“I’m sorry for
blaming you.” She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “And I really am
sorry for rushing in here like a sex-crazed lunatic and attacking you.”

To prevent her
from seeing how close he was to laughing, he pulled her closer to cradle her
head against his chest. He bent his head and kissed the top of her head.
“That’s too bad. I’m not sorry at all.”

Since his shirt
was still open he felt her smile against his chest. “You’re such a man. And
you’d better not post anything about this.”

“I’m glad you
noticed. And no worries, I would never want the world to know you rushed into
my office and threw me to the floor and jumped on top of me and tried to have
your way with me like some sex-crazed lunatic.” Yep. It was another lie.

She leaned back
and looked up at him. “I swear I’ll kick your ass if you do it.” She stood on
the very tips of her toes and kissed his cheek. “And I’ll make sure you don’t
enjoy it.” He figured she was just as talented at lying as he was. They were a
great match.

It was at that
moment Joseph was reminded some demons, most likely due the ‘damned souls for
all of eternity’ thing, had the worst luck. He just happened to be one of those
with the worst of the worst.

About Candice Stauffer

I live in Zeeland, Michigan, where half the year is winter and the
other, much shorter half, is summer. It’s a wonderful place to live as long as
you own a four-wheel drive vehicle and happen to get a kick out of measuring
the snowfall in feet rather than inches.

I write paranormal romance
because I love to explore and manipulate the limitless possibilities of the
genre. To be completely honest, I’m also very fond of taking a totally hot,
powerful, immortal hero and using a strong, confident, beautiful heroine to
turn his world upside down and make him fight like hell for a victory that
seems impossible to achieve. Some might call it torture. I call it
entertainment and character building. Regardless, it’s great fun!

I have a strong aversion for
helpless heroines. Though she’s afraid, a heroine must always be willing to
fight like hell—and, yes, even if the fighting is against the hero. I’m not
sure why, but I tend to really enjoy it when the heroine fights against the
hero. Putting a hero through the wringer builds personality, right?

I’m often accused of being a
little bit naughtier than nice and slightly rough around the edges. Okay, I
lied—very rough around the edges. Life has been a challenge. But I’m grateful
for every challenge I’ve faced. Through them, I’ve learned to focus on the goal
rather than the walls surrounding it. Basically, I figure that as long as I
enjoy life and do all I can to encourage and help the people around me enjoy
life, it’s all good.

To find out more about me,
please visit my website
http://www.candicestaufferparanormalromanceauthor.com
,
and for the latest news, check out my Facebook page,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CandiceStauffer-Paranormal-Romance-Author/135025903252623
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