His hands closed around her waist and he lifted her off the railing to set her on the stone flooring of the porch. “I’ve had centuries to practice.”

“You say that so casually,” Skyler said. “Centuries. I’m still thinking in terms of years. My next birthday.”

He brushed a kiss on top of her head, and then threaded his fingers through hers, tugging her closer to him until she felt heat radiating off his body. “Eventually time passing means nothing at all.”

“I guess. I suppose if I thought in terms of years, you’d be old and decrepit,” she teased.

“Fortunately for me, we don’t age past a certain point,” he said with a small grin. He reached around her and opened the door as if he was human.

Again she realized he did little things to make her comfortable that she hadn’t even considered. The house itself was for someone human. He’d modernized it and included even a kitchen, so anyone coming to visit would think they were just like everyone else. She knew that would be his explanation, but she had actually gone to the refrigerator several times and opened it, looked in and examined the food he changed nightly in it. It was a human habit and one that would take time to overcome.

“What do you miss most?” he asked.

“You mean food? Chocolate.” She laughed softly. “Most women love chocolate, Dimitri, and I have to admit, I’m one of them.”

“What does it taste like?” he asked.

She frowned. She’d never really thought about it. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Don’t explain it, csitri, you’re Carpathian. Bring the memory into your mind and then transfer it to me.”

Skyler nodded, squeezing his hand. It was always the little things she had to remember to do. She knew she’d get used to doing them, but still, there were so many details. She pulled up her best memory of chocolate. She’d been in the college library studying for hours, forgetting she was hungry, and her aunt Jaxon, Lucian’s lifemate, had come to see her.

The visit was unexpected, but welcome. Seeing a familiar face made her happy. Jaxon, like Skyler, had been human and she knew what long hours were. She’d brought dark chocolate, an entire bar, with her. Skyler had sat there talking to her for a long time, enjoying every moment while the chocolate melted in her mouth.

She had savored that bar, eating one small square at a time over the next week. Each time she ate one of the pieces, it conjured up her visit from Jaxon and she’d been happy all over again. She loved college, but she missed her family and somehow that small gift had made her feel very loved.

The taste of the chocolate poured into her mind and into her mouth. She turned to Dimitri, circling his neck with her arms and pressing her body tightly against his. She lifted her face to his in invitation.

Dimitri bent his head to hers, his blue eyes going dark, setting off the butterflies and causing her sheath to clench hotly. She brushed her lips featherlight over his.

“You let it melt in your mouth,” she advised softly.

Her fingers bunched in the hair at the nape of his neck, as she felt his tongue trace along the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth to him, allowing his tongue to sweep inside. Along with the taste of dark chocolate, she held the feeling she got, the joy that bar had brought to her uppermost in her mind, sharing that as well.

His arms went around her, pulling her close, imprinting her soft body onto his. She felt his groin stirring against her stomach, already full and hard. His mouth was hot, his skin radiating heat. He kissed her thoroughly, over and over, robbing her of breath first, and then her ability to think.

Chocolate is very tasty, he agreed.

Mmm, yes, she said. But so are you.

I’m taking you into the bedroom.

You must be reading my mind.

She kept her eyes closed because he didn’t end the kiss. She felt herself floating, but then his kisses tended to make her feel that way as a rule anyway. His teeth nibbled at her lip.

He placed her gently in the middle of the bed on her hands and knees. Skyler opened her eyes slowly. The room was lit only with the soft light of flickering candles. The scent was a spicy cinnamon. Mirrors surrounded them, as if the walls had been constructed of them, as if the ceiling had been.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “I wanted to look at your face when I make love to you in this position.”

There was something very decadent about kneeling on a bed perfectly na**d, her hair falling around her, her br**sts swaying gently, her h*ps moving seductively—and she couldn’t stop them—in invitation. Flames seemed to burn between her legs, and even the cool night air couldn’t put out the fire.

He knelt behind her, his fingers dancing up her inner thighs, to that waiting heat to slide inside, testing her readiness. Now the images weren’t just decadent, they were erotic. Her eyes met his in the mirror.

Already her breath came in ragged gasps as anticipation made her tremble. He pressed his fingers deeper.

“I love how you get so wet for me, sívamet. No matter how many times I reach for you, you are always ready for me.”

“Because you drive me crazy,” she admitted softly. “I love your body. Just looking at you can make me want you. And then there’s the sound of your voice. Hearing you can do it, too. If you touch me, or kiss me or take my blood, I’m completely lost.”

It was the truth and she wasn’t in the least ashamed to admit it.

She felt the hot head of his erection press tightly into her entrance. He always felt too large for her initially. Her body seemed to resist his invasion, even when she was so eager for him to be inside of her. His hands went to her hips, fingers anchoring there. Her heart beat hard as he waited. Heat coiled. She felt her slickness bathe him, her muscles clenching, desperate to draw him in.

He surged forward, filling her, driving through tight muscle, deeper and deeper until he seemed to lodge in her very womb. She screamed as lightning streaked through her, white-hot, fiery, sending flames from her thighs to her belly and up to her br**sts.

Dimitri sank deep, watching her face, watching her eyes glaze as he drove into her again and again, setting a wicked pace. He was aggressive and rough, wanting her to see that she wasn’t afraid of that side of their lovemaking. Anything could trigger her panic. It would never matter. They would accept it and move on.

Her eyes met his in the mirror. She was so beautiful, he wanted to weep with joy. With every thrust, her br**sts swayed and her head thrashed. Her mouth opened as she panted. She pushed back into him, taking him as deep as she could, matching his rhythm and riding him all the way, no matter how strong or hard each thrust was.

He began to lose himself in the beauty and fire of their passion. Control began to slip. There was always that moment of danger, when she realized he abandoned all constraints and just allowed himself to give himself over to the pleasure.

She surrounded him with scorching hot heat. Her muscles were a tight vise, the friction exquisite. She took him to places he hadn’t known existed, her sheath a fist of velvet, squeezing and massaging until he knew he wouldn’t last.

Every muscle in his body seemed to contract. Coil with tension. With anticipation. He watched the color on her body, the flush of red, the telltale little pleas escaping as she pushed back frantically, her own release building and building.

So beautiful, he whispered.

She gasped as her body clamped down hard on his. He felt the first wave like a tsunami ripping through her, taking him with her. She screamed out his name as wave after wave followed, her clenching muscles milking him dry.

Skyler collapsed forward on the bed, gasping for air. Dimitri blanketed her body, falling with her, his arms caging her in. They were still locked together, hearts pounding and lungs burning. When he managed to pull in some air, he let his body disengage from hers, and rolled to his side so that he wouldn’t crush her with his weight.

It took him a few more minutes to wave away the mirrors, stop the roaring fire and get rid of most of the candles.

“Do you think we can just sleep here?” Skyler asked. “I don’t want to move.”

He laughed softly. “We never sleep where we can be found. You know that.”

“What are safeguards for?”

He cupped her breast in his palm and locked one leg over her thigh. “It is never safe to sleep where we can be found,” he repeated. “Even with safeguards.”

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Can the Sange rau stay out during daylight hours?”

He frowned, nuzzling her neck. “So far, no. Sange rau is rogue wolf and vampire. A rogue wolf can walk in daylight of course, but a vampire cannot. Fen says he can be out in the sun longer than he’s ever managed it, but he still burns if he stays too long. I was out in the sun when hanging in the trees. Fortunately, the sun never really penetrated the canopy and fell across my body, but I still blistered. Had I been fully Carpathian that may have killed me. I don’t know. Our Carpathian blood will always be Carpathian blood and the Lycan blood will always be Lycan. It’s our ability to utilize the gifts of both species that seems to increase. With that may come the ability to walk in the afternoon sun, but it’s too soon to predict that.”

“Were you listening to Arno’s voice when he talked about mixed bloods?” Skyler asked, turning over to face him.

His fingers traced her frown. “Yes.”

“Not just his words, but the passion and loathing in his voice? He’s a good man, Dimitri. He thinks of himself as a good man. He tries to do his best, tries to do the right thing, and yet he was so adamant that anyone with mixed blood needed to be exterminated. He believes that, deep down in his heart and soul. He even recognizes the difference between Sange rau and Hän ku pesäk kaikak but he wants them all dead.”

Her distress ate at him. He stroked back the wild mess of hair. He liked her hair messy. She looked as if she’d just thoroughly been made love to. “I know, csitri. Don’t let it get to you. We have no control over others. If we’re lucky, maybe in time just being around us, he’ll feel differently. The council members have voted to stay to attempt to come to some agreement. I believe a couple of the others have opted to come as well, although I don’t know that for certain.”