Feeling the heavy weight of Viper's gaze she at last heaved a sigh.

"I've never had anyone ask me to go shopping before."

"Ah." She felt him shift to reach around her. She stiffened as she thought he meant to draw her into his arms. No way. She didn't want his pity. Not when she was so vulnerable that she might actually break down and cry.

How embarrassing would that be?

He made no effort to touch her, however, and instead he reached to grab the brush that had been left on the nightstand beside the bed. Only when she warily relaxed did he settle himself so he could begin running the brush through the waist-length tangle of her hair.

"You said your mother raised you as a human?"

The warning voice in the back of her head told her to move away. The feel of his soft, soothing touch was far too intimate, far too pleasurable.

Unfortunately, her mind was no longer attached to her body.

"That was long ago," she muttered.

"Did you pass?"

Shay grimaced. There were those demons who could pass, which simply meant being able to move among the human world without detection. Many of them without a drop ofmortal blood.

The saints knew that she had tried hard enough. She would have done anything to please her mother. Anything to belong.

"No."

The long brush strokes never hesitated. "You look human enough."

Shay found her lashes resting on her cheeks. She never spoke of her past. Not to anyone. But with the peaceful silence surrounding them, and the tender stroke of the brush she found the words tumbling past her lips before she could halt them.

"But I don't age as a mortal. My mother was forced to move us from place to place to make sure no one noticed that I was not growing older as I should be." The memory of her mother sent a shaft of loss ripping through her heart

"A difficulty, for certain, but not insurmountable."

"Perhaps not, but my strength and swiftness were. There is nothing human about them."

He lifted another section of hair to pull the brash through. "The other children were afraid of you?"

"Yes."

"They can be very cruel."

Shay clenched her hands in her lap. "Not as cruel as their parents. Over the years we had our houses burned, stones thrown at us, and priests trying to exorcise the devil from me. I was even lynched one night."

"Lynched?"

"A gang of half-wits hauled me from my bed and hung me by my neck from a tree in our backyard. You can't imagine their surprise when I came looking for them the next morning."

There was a long silence, as if Viper were brooding upon her soft words. His touch remained gentle, but Shay could sense a building frustration that smoldered about him.

Strange.

"Why didn't your mother seek out help from the demons?" he at last demanded.

She turned her head, ignoring the tug on her hair as the strands remained firmly held in his hands. "My father had already been murdered by a vampire. She was trying to keep me hidden from demons."

His eyes darkened, as if he didn't want to be reminded she had every reason to hate vampires.

"There are demons that would have given you sanctuary. Not all are vicious animals."

"My mother was human. She didn't know who she could trust" Without warning her eyes filled with tears. "And neither did I."

The brush abruptly dropped from his hands as he cupped her face in his hands.

"Shay."

Chapter Eight

Shay forgot how to breathe as she watched Viper lower his head.

He moved slowly. Slowly enough that she realized he was giving her ample opportunity to say no. For a heartbeat she stiffened and he hovered over her lips, not touching as he waited for her to push him away.

But while her mind was desperately attempting to remind her that this was a vampire touching her with such care, a vampire who owned her as if she were a piece of property, her body remained stubbornly indifferent to common sense.

She needed his touch. No, she craved his touch.

The taste of his lips. The press of his skin to her own. The caress of his hands on her breasts.

She had never understood how a woman could allow herself to be seduced. Either you decided you wanted to have sex with someone, or you didn't.

In this moment, however, she understood the power of simple lust. The stark need to touch and be touched, no matter how many warnings your mind might whisper.

"You must tell me yes, pet," he murmured softly. "I will not be accused of breaking my promise. You must tell me you want this."

His voice should have jerked her back to awareness. Back to some tiny bit of sense. Instead it poured through her like a fine whiskey.

And just as intoxicating.

"Yes."

He caught the word before it ever left her lips, imprisoning her mouth in a kiss that sent a shock of heat flowing through her blood. She was prepared for pleasure, but the sheer power of it caught her off guard.

Oh, yes, this was precisely what she needed. What her body had ached for since she had first caught sight of Viper all those weeks ago.

She arched forward, drinking of the brandy that clung to his lips, and the cool maleness that was uniquely Viper. Still, she was not close enough. Her hands lifted to his chest, smoothing over the silk of his shirt.

He growled deep in his throat as he reached down to grasp his shirt and with one tug had ripped off the buttons to spread the silk wide.

"Touch me, pet," he whispered against her lips. "Let me feel your hands on me."

Shay moved back. Not in rejection, but quite simply because she wanted to see what she was touching. She had imagined what lay hidden beneath those velvet coats and silk shirts a hundred times. Now she wanted to fully appreciate the sight.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted in a silent sigh.

In the dim light his chest was broad and just as finely muscled as she had dreamed. But her dreams hadn't included the exotic dragon that had been tattooed across the ivory perfection of his skin.

In amazement she traced the golden outline of the mythical creature before brushing over the brilliant crimson wings and dark jade body.

"What is this?" she breathed.

He shuddered beneath her gentle touch, his head lowering to sweep his lips over her cheek.

"It is the mark of CuChulainn."

"Oh." Shay found it growing difficult to think as he kissed his way to the curve of her ear. "Did it hurt?"

"The tattoo?"

"Yes."

His hands trailed up her bare arms sending a rash of excitement shivering over her skin.

"No. I didn't even feel it." He gave a small nip at the lobe of her ear. "It simply appeared after my last battle in the arena."

"It marked you as a clan chief?"

"Yes."

Whatever she was about to say was lost in a haze of pleasure as his tongue ran a damp path down the line of her jaw.

"What?" he whispered.

"I don't remember."

He gave a soft chuckle as his hands drifted over her shoulders and then determinedly moved downward, pausing at the edge of her towel.

"I need to see you, pet," he murmured as he pressed his lips to the frantic pulse at the base of her neck. "I need to touch you. Say yes."

Shay shuddered as a building pressure settled in the pit of her stomach. She found it oddly erotic to be so firmly in charge of the seduction. It gave her a sense of power that she had rarely experienced. For once she was the one in control and it was as heady as the rarest aphrodisiac.

"Yes."

His fingers briefly tightened, as if he was caught off guard by her ready capitulation, and then with a slow motion he was pulling open the ends of the towel.

She shivered as the cool air hit her skin, the faintest hint of embarrassment touching her cheeks. A thick silence filled the air and at last she lifted her gaze. Any chill was seared away by the smoldering heat that filled his midnight eyes.

"By the blood of the saints," he rasped, tossing the towel aside so his fingers could boldly cup the small firmness of her breasts. "You are... perfect."

Shay's head tilted back at the sensation of his thumbs stroking over the hard points of her nipples. She wasn't perfect. She was far from perfect. Too skinny. Her skin too bronzed. Her breasts too small.

But in this moment she felt beautiful.

Beneath his predatory gaze she felt desired.

Growling deep in his throat Viper hauled her against the strength of his chest, his lips kissing a hungry path down her throat to her collarbone. He pressed hard enough for Shay to feel the sharpness of his fangs, but she made no effort to pull away.

In this moment she trusted him.

Trusted that he would not demand more of her than she was willing to offer.

Running her hands over his chest in a restless path she reveled in the satin smoothness of his skin. It was a fascinating contrast to the hardness of the muscles beneath. Like velvet draped over steel.

Intrigued with exploring his body, Shay barely noticed when Viper gently tugged her back onto the soft mattress and pressed her onto her back. Not until he bent over her to capture a nipple between his lips.