“Julian made another effort to breathe. Air. It was all around him, yet he couldn’t seem to drag enough into his lungs. He took her hand in his and carried it to the warmth of his mouth.‘We will need to find a safe subject, cara mia, or I will not make it through these next few minutes.”

“You cannot look at me like that, piccola, or I am sure to go up in flames."Desari allowed her fingers to tangle in his golden mane. "Thank you for thinking of my family when I could not." Her voice was a whisper of seduction, sliding over his hot skin. Just the sound of it made every muscle in his body clench.Julian made another effort to breathe. Air.It was all around him, yet he couldn't seem to drag enough into his lungs. He took her hand in his and carried it to the warmth of his mouth. "We need to find a safe subject, cara mia, or I will not make it through these next few minutes."Desaris soft laughter was like music in the wind. She perched on a large tree trunk that lay across the forest floor. The breeze tugged at her long hair so that it shifted around her like a veil, one moment hiding the temptation of bare, gleaming skin, the next revealing it. "A safe subject," she mused aloud. "What would that be?"The air slammed out of his lungs once again at the sight of her. She looked so much a part of her surroundings. Wild. Sexy. Provocative. "You might try closing your shirt." His voice sounded hoarse and desperate even to his own ears.”

“A sound intruded. It was barely discernable, the rub of fur against a leaf,but it was enough to elicit a frustrated groan from Julian. He leaned his forhead against her crown. "This family unit you have is driving me over the edge.We have no privacy,piccola, none whatsoever."She laughed softly with the same frustration. "I know,Julian. But it is one of the small sacrifices we all pay for caring for one another. We help each other through any crisis.""Who is going to help me through this one? Believe me,cara, I am definitely having a crisis. I need you before I start to go insane.""I know.It is the same for me," she whispered, her lips against the corner of his mouth, teasing, tempting. There was an ache in her voice, an answer to the ache in his. "We will have our time.""It had better be soon," he growled, meaning it.”

“She reached out to him, hesitated, then dropped her hand into her lap. "You catch on fast," she praised him.He felt the flood of acceptance from both of them.It was interesting that he could tell it was from both.Gregori reached over,took Savannah's palm, and pressed a kiss into the exact center. Je regrette, mon amour, but it seems I cannot overcome certain failings.There is no need for you to apologize, lifemate. We both are learning to live in the other's world.I don't find it necessary to touch others to be happy.Gregori brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth a second time,the molten silver of his eyes caressing her intimately.Gary cleared his throat. "Enough of that stuff."A brief smile softened the edges of Gregori's mouth.”

“No, they would not be happy to take my place at your side, cara mia, because I would promptly end their lives in a most unhappy way.’‘You are such a caveman, Julian. You look tall and elegant and princely, yet you have not matured beyond the cave.’…’I have no intention of riding above caveman mentality,’ he growled in her ear, his breath teasing tendrils of hair and sending little flames dancing through her bloodstream. ‘There are so many benefits for the caveman.”

“You are mine for all eternity, Savannah, until we grow weary of this existence and choose to go together to the next." Reluctantly, he freed his body from hers,bent hif head to remove the thin triail of red marring her skin. Gregori settled her into him so that his head rested beside her breast.Her arms crept around his damp hair, cradling him to her, the sleep of their people calling to her. He shifted her slight body so that he could drape one leg over her thighs possessively, so that his hands could shape the length of her body at will,know it was imprinted there in the soil beside his.The chamber door slid noiselessly shut to seal them inside at his thought. The safeguards were many and all of them deadly.Anyone disturbing their rest would be in mortal peril.Gregori stroked her long hair, contended. At peace. "You are so small, ma petite, to bring such pleasure to a man." The warmth of his breath teased her nipple, and his tongue followed in a slow,leisurely caress. "I have made love to you each time I have taken you into my arms. There can be no other for either of us,Savannah."She stirred with drowsy contentment, the slight movement bringing her breast against his mouth. Her hands stroked his hair gently. "I am not the one who worries, lifemate.I know there is no other."His tongue made another lazy, contented curl around her creamy skin. "One who has gone centuries in utter darkness takes a long time to believe he will not lose the light.Go to sleep, Savannah, safe in my arms.Let the soil heal both of us and bring us peace, as Julian knew it would."She was silent for a moment, but his mouth feeding at her breast was causing little aftershocks, rushes of liquid heat. "I will if you behave.”

“Come to me, cara mia,come to me.You are mine.No one else will ever do for you.You want me with you. You need me.Feel the emptiness without me.Julian was implacable in his pursuit. He ruthlessly applied more pressure. Find me.Know that you are mine. You cannot bear another's touch, cara mia.You need me with you to fill the terrible emptiness.You are no longer happy and content without me. You must find me.He sent the imperious command, his entire focus bent on finding her mental channel. He did not stop until he was certain he had connected with her, that his words had penetrated any barriers separating them and found their way to her soul.”