She floated in a sensual haze as his heated gaze swept her body from head to toe, leaving
no part of her untouched. Framing her face with his hands, his thumbs brushed her cheeks
as he lowered his head, tracing her lips with his tongue.
Yearning for a deeper contact, she opened her mouth and stroked his tongue with hers.
He laughed at her playfulness, before his tongue plunged between her lips. There was no
part of her mouth and tongue left unexplored. Johanna was lightheaded, hardly able to
breathe, as he continued to kiss her with abandon. Clutching at his shoulders for support,
she was afraid she was going to faint. Her nails dug into his skin, leaving small crescent
shapes on his back, as she struggled against his overpowering embrace.
Pulling away from her mouth, he left a trail of hot kisses along her jaw before his tongue
swirled around the outside of her ear. He muttered words that she didn't understand, but
the tone was universal--seduction.
She gasped for breath, her chest heaving with exertion as he continued to arouse her. His
tongue plunged into her ear and flicked along the inside whorls before he nipped
playfully at her earlobe. Sharp teeth tugged at the small gold stud in her ear and she
moaned as a restless heat filled her body.
He laved her neck with his tongue, lingering over the small bite mark he'd placed there,
before continuing downward to her aching breasts. Her dusky rose nipples were hard
nubs of desire, and her back arched towards him in a wordless offering. Taking it as his
due, he cupped both breasts in his hands and rolled her nipples between his thumb and
forefinger. His head was bent in concentration, and the ends of his hair trailed across her
sensitive skin, making her shiver with desire.
Johanna was on fire. She could feel the wetness and a throbbing emptiness between her
legs. Her legs moved restlessly against the sheets as he lowered his head and lapped at
her breasts. The rough texture of his tongue made her cry out with pleasure. Plumping her
breasts together, he tugged a nipple into his mouth and sucked hard for a moment before
gliding to the other side and pleasuring the other in the same manner. The fever inside her
grew with each stroke of his tongue.
Reaching out her hands, she touched him wherever she could reach him. His neck and
back were thick with muscle, and she could feel them tighten as her fingers stroked his
flesh. She desperately wanted to run her hands over his wide chest with its small male
nipples and a dusting of dark hair that started in the middle of his chest and ran all the
way to his groin where it was thicker.
Leaving her breasts wet and aching, he kissed a path down her stomach, nibbling at her
waist and hipbones as he went. Using his wide shoulders, he wedged her legs wide-open
and draped one of her legs over his shoulder so that she was totally exposed to him. She
couldn't close her legs even if she wanted to, which she didn't. Instead, she opened
herself even wider to him, holding nothing back.
Bending forward, he breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of her arousal. Her hips rose
towards him as she finally found her voice. "Please," she whispered. She wanted for him
to taste her, to take her. Her blood was pumping thickly through her body as a great need,
unlike anything she'd ever experienced, rose within her.
Taking his time, he traced the moist folds of her sex with his fingers before bringing
them back to his mouth and tasting her essence. "This is mine. From this moment
forward, you shall have no other." His eyes pierced the darkness and she could feel the
barely contained anger swirling around him.
"Only you," she promised, hoping to calm the violence she sensed swirling within him.
"It is my nature to take." He moved closer to her waiting heat. "What is mine, I hold."
His warm breath feathered over her clitoris, making her burn with desire.
Promise or threat, she didn't know and didn't care, for at that moment, he licked at the
sensitive folds of flesh even as he inserted one long finger inside her waiting body. His
teeth closed gently over her clitoris and held it captive as he flicked his tongue back and
forth over it. Throwing her head back on the pillow, waves of pleasure washed over her
body.
Instead of satisfying her, it only served to make her hotter. An unfamiliar wildness grew
within her as he continued to pleasure her. Power and desire surged through her blood.
Passion consumed her.
Pulling her foot back over his shoulder, she placed it on his chest and pushed until he
released her. As she scrambled away from him, he growled at her, like some beast
deprived of its intended mate. In reply, she hissed and launched herself at him.
She thrust her tongue into his mouth and began moving it in a parody of sexual
intercourse. To help relieve the ache in her breasts she rubbed them up and down the hard
planes of his chest, moaning when the dark, crisp hair rasped her nipples. Her hands
reached between his legs and she wrapped them around his throbbing cock and began to
pump her hands up and down.
In a frenzy of heat and desire, he answered her.
Holding her head captive in one large hand, he began to plunder her mouth. Almost
savagely, he pushed her legs apart and shoved several fingers deep within her vagina and
began to work them up and down. Johanna pumped her hips in time to his fingers even as
her hands continued to do the same to his cock.
With barely restrained violence, he pushed her hands away from his body and tore the
remains of her nightgown off her. "On your hands and knees, so I can take you from
behind." His dark command filled her with fear and longing, but not for a moment did
she consider disobeying him.
The need to have him inside her was too great to deny as she rolled to her hands and
knees and thrust her bottom towards him.
"Spread your legs wider."
She immediately obeyed him, pushing her legs open until they could go no further. He
knelt behind her with his knees spread inside her open thighs, making sure she couldn't
close her legs. His chest covered her back as his hands came to rest on the mattress beside
hers. His body caged hers completely.
Flexing his hips, his cock forged its way deep inside her. Johanna bit her lip as a
combination of pleasure and pain shot through her. His cock was large and hungry and
her pussy was small and untried. He paused for a moment when he reached the fragile
barrier of her virginity, and whispered what sounded like a prayer, before piercing
through the veil. Johanna cried out at the sharp pain, but it almost immediately began to
dissipate, replaced by a deep feeling of satisfaction.
It was unlike anything she could ever have imagined. Her breasts hung heavy in front of
her, nipples hard nubs that ached for his touch. She could feel the hot juices of her
arousal, mixed with her virgin's blood, coating his cock. The air was heavy with desire
and anticipation.
When he was seated to the hilt, he bit the back of her neck, holding her totally immobile.
She felt totally dominated by him, and she reveled in it. The flames inside her burned
even higher as she felt his teeth pierce the delicate skin on the back of her neck. He
sucked lo
ng and hard, and she could actually feel the blood inside her body rushing to
him. Her body reacted violently and she came hard and fast. Her inner muscles clasped
his cock in a hard vise, but he did not move. She shuddered as wave after wave of
pleasure washed over her. Johanna wanted to slump forward onto the bed, but he did not
relinquish his grip on her neck and she was suspended there as he continued to drink from
her.
Her vision blurred, and just when she was afraid she might faint, he retracted his teeth.
His tongue bathed her neck, easing the sting. "Better than the finest wine," he whispered
in her ear. At least she thought he whispered. All she knew was that she had heard his
voice in her head.
Pulling back slightly, he wrapped one arm around her waist, anchoring her as he began
to thrust heavily inside her. Unbelievably, she was immediately aroused again, and she
began to push her bottom back to meet his pounding thrusts. His other arm moved down
between her spread legs and began to tease her clitoris with light feathery touches
followed by firmer strokes.
Her whole body was vibrating around his and she heard a purring noise coming out of
her mouth. She was totally out of control as he plunged his cock in and out of her body.
Her heart was hammering in her chest as the flames of their passion threatened to
consume her like a living beast. Her breasts swayed as she was pushed forward by the
force of his thrusts. They felt heavy, and the motion was incredibly stimulating to her
senses.
She could feel herself coming again and surrendered to it. As the flood of sensation filled
her, she heard his low moan and then she could feel him come inside her. His cock pulsed
deep inside her as his hot semen filled her. This time, she fell forward and collapsed in a
heap on the bed.
He swore under his breath, but she was in no shape to respond. Then she felt herself
being turned gently in the bed. His strong arms came around her and she was wrapped
tight in his comforting embrace. Johanna would have gladly stayed there for eternity.
"I may hold you to that." His voice echoed through her mind. She smiled at that
whimsical thought.
The way he held her made her feel special and treasured. His lips were soft on hers as he
kissed her, lingering for a moment before sighing and gathering her tighter in his
embrace. "I apologize. In my eagerness, I took too much. There is no excuse."
She lounged comfortably in his arms as his words washed over her. "I will give you
some of my blood, but only a little. Enough so that I may always find you, but not
enough to change you."
He raised his wrist to his mouth and punctured the skin with his sharp white teeth. When
the blood was flowing, he held it to her mouth. "Drink," he commanded.
Her will deserted her, as she felt compelled to do as he asked. When his blood hit her
tongue, it sent a wave of longing through her. It was hot, delicious, him. Long before she
was ready, he was easing her away from his wrist. His eyes never left hers as he ran his
tongue over the puncture wounds, healing them instantly.
"You will have the time you need to live your life. I cannot guarantee how much time I
can grant you." Easing his arms from around her, he tucked her gently under the covers.
"Sometime soon, you will have to choose your fate." In the blink of an eye, he was fully
clothed and was once again the dark stranger standing at her bedside. "From this moment
onward, every night the moon is full, you will be mine. I will have something of you for
myself."
Johanna nodded as she began to drift off to sleep, already counting off the days until the
next full moon. Satisfied masculine laughter filled her brain, and she sighed with pleasure
as she fell asleep.
The next morning, she felt slightly hung over. She awoke tucked in her bed, and her first
thought was that she had partied too hard the night before. When the coolness of the sheet
touched her skin, she realized she was naked. Sitting up quickly, she clasped the covers to
her chin and glanced around the room. Nobody.
The door was locked, but the window was still open a crack. The curtains billowed in the
breeze, and she shivered as a cold gust of wind skittered across her shoulders. Her
nightgown was lying on the foot of her bed, ripped to shreds.
It was then she noticed the soreness between her legs and the aching of her leg muscles.
Slowly she peeled back the covers and saw a slight smear of blood on the inside of her
thighs. The faint smell of sex drifted on the air.
"That was one heck of a dream." Her voice shook as she spoke aloud in the empty room.
Her hand shook as she wrapped the sheet around her naked body. Gingerly, she slid off
the bed and made her way to the window. She peered outside the window, looking for
signs that the man in her dreams had really been here with her. A cold gust made her
shiver and she quickly pulled the window shut and set the latch tight. An echo of male
laughter rang in her head.
Something had happened. Johanna just wasn't quite sure exactly what. All the physical
evidence screamed that last night's erotic adventure had been more than a dream. It had
been all too real.
Goose bumps covered her skin as she peered out the window at the rising sun,
desperately trying to mentally organize her scattered thoughts. She grasped the edges of
the sheet tighter to her breast, trying to warm her chilled flesh.
Logic escaped her, but real-man or dream-man, he was part of her life now. Johanna
somehow knew that to be an irrefutable fact, just as she knew the moon would rise this
evening. She predicted that she hadn't seen the last of him.
Chapter Three
Her prediction had proven correct, and over the years, he appeared to her faithfully on
the night of the full moon. Johanna no longer questioned if her dreams were real. She
accepted him as part of her life, wanting, no, needing to share her life with him.
As she'd grown older and moved away from home, their trysts had gotten longer and had
varied. The sex ran the entire gamut from playful to passionate, slow and easy to hard and
fast, and everything in between. Afterwards, he would gather her in his arms and they
would talk about their lives.
Johanna shared all her hopes and dreams with her phantom lover. When she'd shyly
asked his name during one dream, he had given her a wicked smile and replied, "Call me
Cris." Over the past twelve years, there was no subject they hadn't covered.
He knew about her estrangement from her family, who thought her weird and slightly
crazy. She sometimes talked to herself and knew things she shouldn't know, and this
frightened her mother and father. Like the time she knew her father had been in a minor
car accident before he'd called home to tell them. There was also the fact that she could
always find misplaced items just by thinking about where they were.
She'd never told anybody about her dreams or how, at times of stress or great conflict in
her life, she would hear Cris' calm, soothing voice urging her to a certain path. After the
voice had been right several times, she'd always trusted it. In fact, one night it had saved
her very life...
Johanna broke off her meander
ing thoughts as she stopped and surveyed her
surroundings. The castle was getting closer and not a moment too soon. The afternoon
sun was lowering in the sky and she didn't want to be on the road by herself after dark.
She glanced around, slightly nervous all of a sudden. The woods were dark with
shadows, and the locals had warned her that wolves still roamed freely deep within them.
She could only hope that either Mr. Dalakis would be kind enough to drive her home or
that he could arrange transportation back to her hotel. At this point, she'd take horse and
wagon. Anything that didn't include having to walk.
Picking up her pace, she continued to limp along, her thoughts drifting back to the night
she had almost died...
It was during her college days. She'd left the library late one night and had been hurrying
back to her small apartment. She'd been lost in thought, thinking about her research
project when the voice had shouted at her. "Run." She hadn't hesitated, but run as if her
life depended on it.
The pounding of footsteps behind her pushed her even harder. She didn't look back, but
followed the directions in her head as he told her which way to turn and where to go. The
glare of lights and the screech of brakes slamming didn't slow her down. A loud thump
filled the night air, and she knew a passing car had hit whoever had been chasing her.
She kept running until she reached her apartment. Three times she dropped her keys on
the floor before she was steady enough to jam it into the keyhole and turn it. Once inside,
she slammed the door shut, locked it, and collapsed on the floor as tears poured down her