Dark Passion Rising by Shannan Albright Page B

and contracting, dark hair trailing down his
hard, flat stomach to those low slung jeans that hugged the best ass she had
ever seen on a man.  
    Tambra saw the bulge in his jeans.  Her clit throbbed in answer
to his need.  Her body ached to press against his.  Her hands, tongue, and lips
longed to travel over his body until she knew it better than her own.
     She moved toward Marcus slowly, stopping only when she brushed
against him and felt the heat of his body pour over her, making her skin
tingle.  His body quaked with tension, his breath coming faster.  She reached,
with shaking fingers, to stroke the hollows of his cheekbones, then his soft,
full lips, her touch feather light against his skin.
     Marcus jerked his head back, away from her questing fingers.
    “Don’t!” he barked, brackets of strain lining his full, sensuous
mouth.
     “Why?” she challenged.
    Marcus grabbed her arms and leaned down so they were nose to nose. 
His hot breath fanned across her cheek, his jaw clenched, his dark eyes were
wild.
    “Don’t push me, Tambra.  I am at the end of my control.”
     She lifted her chin defiantly.  “Good.  I don’t want you in
control.  Whatever this thing is between us I want… I need to find out, or I
will go insane from wanting you.”
     “You don’t know what you’re saying.  It’s the Rising beginning.  You
really don’t want me at your throat.”  Marcus pushed her away, moving to the
door.
    “Yes, I do, Marcus.  I want all of you.  No holding back,” she
whispered brokenly at his back.  She watched him, the corded muscles of his
back tight with suppressed energy as he fought a losing battle to keep
control.  Her body ached for the press of his body on hers, her need becoming
pain as she held still and waited.
     He turned to face her.  She could hear his breath sawing harshly
through clenched teeth.  She knew he saw the raw need within her, that he could
smell her arousal in the air around them as his nostrils flared.  A choked
growl rumbled low in his chest as he closed the distance between them, pulling
her to his chest.  His scent filled her and she buried his nose in his chest, taking
it into her lungs.  His hands, so large on her small back, rose to cup the back
of her head, his fingers spearing into the soft strands of golden hair.
     “Understand me well.  I have little control where you are
concerned.”
     She looked into his dark eyes, saw the hunger for her there, and
shuddered with a hunger that matched his.
    “Me neither,” she admitted, feeling the truth of her words.  Whatever
connection there was between them she knew it would never fade, only deepen.  And
for some reason that thought didn’t make her want to run screaming from the
room.
     “Last chance, little one.  Say no to this, and I will go,” he told
her, his voice raspy with need.  “Let me, and I will sink my fangs into your
lovely neck even as I plunge my cock into you.  I will take you until my name
screams from your lips.  Then I will mark you as mine, my Consort, and your
life will forever be bound to mine.”
      In answer, Tambra rose to her toes and brushed her lips against
his, her tongue playing over the seam between his lips, seeking entrance.  With
a low growl that rumbled through her, he deepened the kiss, hungrily pillaging
her hot, moist mouth with the desperate intensity of a man starved.  One hand
slid down her back, cupping her ass, lifting her firmly against his erection.  Need
like she had never felt before made her a creature of sensation, her focus only
on the dark passion rising within her.
     Marcus’s muscles bunched under her hands.  She slid them down
over his wide shoulders, along his back, to his incredible ass.  He broke his
kiss only long enough to rid her of her tee shirt and bra.
    He cupped her breasts in his hands, his thumbs rubbing the hard
peaks of her nipples as they tightened under his touch.  His head bent, mouth
laving one nipple