Page 39 of The Doctor and the Devil
His eyes had melted into solid pools of black, and his pupils flashed red. He was keeping an iron grip on his control, even more so than when we’d been young and every intimacy had been full of hesitation and care. Despite his devilish reputation, he’d treated me then like something precious and breakable. Now, however, it stirred a thread of ire in me.
“That was the point of all this,” I huffed, trying to untie my dressing gown in haste. His cool hands stilled on top of mine.
“You wanted me to stop before,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but notforever.” I yanked at the knot, tightening it in my frustrated attempt to loosen it. “I was angry with you, Rafael. I amstillangry with you. Frankly, I am angry with me too.”
“If you are so angry, why do you want this? Why do you want this if you are not mine? If I am not yours?”
“Because, you fool, I will always want you. I will want you when I hate you, I will want you when I am angry with you, I will want you even if I married another man tomorrow and gave him six children,” I snapped. I abandoned the knotted tie of my dressing gown, close to tears, and dangerously close to destroying my ardor.
Rafael seized my robe and pulled me tightly to him, challenge flashing in his black and red eyes.
“Do not speak of other men to me, Mina,” he snarled. “Even hypothetical ones.”
I snapped my mouth shut, feeling guilty for goading him, but the wicked part of me deep down thrilled at the primal side of him. Excitement skittered across my skin, tightening my nipples and igniting the inferno in my blood. He traced his hand down the swell of my hip and slipped his finger beneath the belt of my robe.
“Allow me,” he rumbled, slicing the knot with one sharp nail. The robe fell open, and he dropped to his knees. Catching my eye with a heated glance, he arched a brow.
“I kneel to no one but you,” he said.
He lifted my chemise with one hand and slid the other up my leg with a feather-light touch, from the back of my ankle up my calf, then around my thigh to the dark hair between my legs. He leaned forward, his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin of my groin and paused for a moment.
“Tell me again that you want this,” he said, the rough edge to his voice the only sign that his cool temperament was wavering.
“Please, Rafael,” I whispered, abandoning every logical thought in my head. “Tonight, I am yours.”
14
MINA
April 26, 1768
Château de Ruisseau Magdelaine
He lingered a moment,exhaled softly, then leaned forward to drop light kisses up the insides of my thighs. I squirmed in anticipation, twining my fingers in his lush, dark waves, gently urging him higher. I might as well have tried to move a mountain for all the good it did me.
Sensing my frustration, Rafael chuckled, then dragged one finger across the seam of my sex, pressing gently at the apex of my pleasure. My knees almost gave out from the shock of the sensation. He let go of the hem of my chemise, and I tugged it up over my head, not wanting anything else between us. Just as he was about to set his mouth to my sex, he sat back on his heels and stared up at me.
“My god, Mina,” he whispered, running his hands through his hair. “Even with eternity, I could never get used to the sight of you. My goddess of spring, Persephone—you are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
A blush rose from my chest at his worship, but I didn’t have time to reply because he rushed forward with vampire speed, wrapping his hands around my ass and pulling my sex to his lips. He devoured me with lips and teeth and tongue, leaving no part of me untasted or unloved. His fangs grazed the peak of my pleasure, sending a jolt of fire through my entire body. Faster and faster he licked, working me into a panting puddle of sexual need. When I was nearing the crest of that distantpetite mort,Rafael slipped his finger inside me, being careful to retract his claws. I ached with desperation for release, but just as I was about to come apart, he withdrew and sat back on his heels.
I growled a string of curses that I’d never used before, and his brows arched with mischief.
“I will not leave you wanting, Mina. This helps your pleasure to build. I’ve waited twenty years for this—I’m going to make up for every night we spent apart.” His voice vibrated over my skin and sparked lust along every nerve.
He stood and hoisted me up, then carried me over to the bed. Even with the coolness of his skin, I could feel the fire pulsing through him and sense the wildness that he fought to keep contained. God, how I wanted him to let it loose.
He laid me on the bed gently, running his hands along my skin and lingering on my breasts. His fangs lengthened, and in the dim light of the fire, his black and red eyes flashed like a wolf’s in the moonlight. I could tell he hungered, but tonight it wasn’t for blood.
He crawled his way up my body, swirling his tongue and lightly dragging his fangs against my overheated skin. Goosebumps rose all over me, and desire pooled between my legs, hot and aching.
“Rafael,” I gasped, feeling his claw circle the bud of my pleasure once more. The sensation was a lit match in a keg of black powder, bringing me closer to the edge than I’d been before. I squeezed my eyes shut, arching my hips and grinding against his fingers.
“Open your eyes,” he demanded, his voice scraping out around his fangs. It sounded rough—almost violent. His control seemed to fray as he palmed one of my breasts in one hand and kept his maddening slow circles with his fingers on my sex. When I didn’t immediately acquiesce, he growled, rolling my nipple between the fingers of one hand and slipping two fingers inside me with his other hand.
“Look at me, Mina,” he rumbled. “I want to see you come with your eyes open. I want to know every flicker of fire and passion in your gaze and swallow every sigh when you fall to pieces at my touch.” His voice was deep and captivating, making it impossible to disobey. When I beheld him playing my body like some beautiful instrument, the sight nearly brought me to tears. Heat built like an inferno, and again I chased it, begging him with moans and sighs to end my agony.
