Bitten by Desire Read Online Free Page B

you? Why do I feel so—so possessed by you?”
    Her words plucked at a chord buried deep in his being. The restlessness and the loneliness of his wandering, he could see it reflected in those beautiful eyes of hers. The aching of wanting. The pain of yearning. No wonder the taste of her had been so sweet. No wonder he had been unable to stop her from haunting what passed for his dreams. “As if you were seeking something you did not even know you were missing,” he said with a twisted smile. “Something you know you should not want, but cannot help desiring. Is that how you feel?”
    â€œThat is it precisely. I can’t help myself. The very idea of you being real should be mortifying. Part of me is terrified, but another part of me is—is elated.”
    Vaelen closed his eyes. Her words rang so piercingly true, her presence was so sweetly tempting. “Elation.” He took her hand, pulling her hard against him. “You should be wary of elation,” he whispered, almost to himself, “for it is very close to death.”
    His long fingers were cool on hers. The contact reverberated, tingling up her arm, licking shards of heat inside her, making her acutely aware of her skin inside her dress, her flesh inside her skin. His eyes were fixed hungrily on her mouth. Trepidation and desire. Elation. A frisson of it twisted low in her belly.
    She knew he would kiss her and he did. She was possessed by his kiss, possessed by the desire which flamed instantly inside her, possessed by an urgent need to be possessed. It was different from before, this kiss; darker in hue, more singular in tone. He kissed as a conqueror, as one who would plunder, and she kissed him back in complete surrender. His mouth was hard on hers. She could not remember how to breathe. Vaelen’s breathing was ragged.
    His fingers clenched in the heavy fall of her hair to tug her head back gently so that more and deeper kisses could be pressed upon her. Hands roaming down her neck, her throat, brushing her breasts, making her nipples ache, back to her neck. Stroking. Kisses on the pulse at her throat. Sucking kisses. Suckling kisses. Excruciating pleasure, as if all her blood was rushing to the one spot where he touched, as if her pulse beat only for his lips.
    Vaelen pushed her away so suddenly that she stumbled. “No.” No, no, no. He wiped his hand over his mouth, relieved to taste no trace of her essence. Other women served that purpose. Women of whom he could drink his fill without guilt, using them in the same way as they used him, to satisfy a hunger. Thin-blooded women, but sufficient. Imogen would never be sufficient. After one taste of her, he knew that. Why else had he resisted going back for more? Another taste and he would become addicted. “ No! ”
    Imogen was slumped in the chair into which he had pushed her. “What is going on between us? Have I done something wrong? What is happening to me?”
    Tears glinted in the depths of her eyes. He took a step towards her, forced himself to look at the tiny mark on her neck, to think what would have happened, and stopped. He could not. He would not! No matter how much his body urged him, no matter how strong was this beguiling notion clamouring to be heard that this time it would be different. It was his blood lust, a dangerous beast only just under control, offering false hope in order to be sated. Imogen could not save him, no-one could. It was a myth, as he had discovered to his cost. To poor dead Lucilla’s cost.
    â€œI must go. You must forget me.” The words should be easy, but it felt as if they were torn from him. He could leave, disappear from this society as he had from so many others, but not until she released the cord binding them, untied the knot he had unwittingly tightened when he tasted her. “Do not think of me, Imogen. Put me from your mind, or it will be the end of you.”
    The autocratic look was gone. For