Kiss of the Night by Sylvia Day Page B

from her view. Her hands grabbed his pecs and squeezed, as she ground her aching pussy against the hard flesh of his thigh.
    The next thing she knew, she was facedown on the ground, trussed up like a Tolan fowl.
    “Hey!” she yelled, struggling against the bonds that held her. “Let me go!”
    “No.” His voice was nearly unrecognizable, deep and low and seductive as hell. He moved away and she heard him pacing like a caged beast, the fallen leaves rustling beneath his boots.
    “Alexei, please,” she begged, her entire body aching and burning for him. “Fuck me.”
    He came over her, hovering…needing…wanting…just as she was. She could feel the depth of his hunger. I want to eat you up, lick your cream, drink from you.
    “Please!” she cried again, thrashing restlessly. “I need you.”
    A low rumbling growl filled the air and then he bounded away.
    She couldn’t believe it. He’d actually left her. Like this!
    Her ears strained for a sound from him, but the forest was still and silent except for the soft nocturnal calls of the various insects and animals that made the woods their home.
    Gradually the tightness of her flesh and muscles began to ease, the misty sweat on her skin drying in the cool night air. Only after her breathing returned to normal and her heart rate slowed to a more reasonable pace did Alexei return. She heard the steady, rhythmic crunching of his steps on dried leaves as he approached.
    Crouching next to her, Alex brushed away the strands of hair that had fallen free from the tight coil at her nape. “Are you okay, sweetness?” he asked in a soothing whisper.
    “I’m tied up on the ground. I wouldn’t say I’m okay,” she snapped. She glared up at him, noting that he looked like himself again. Just a man. An achingly beautiful man with a seductive smile and tightly leashed power beneath a flamboyant façade.
    Alex laughed and made quick work of the ties that bound her. “Good. You sound like you’re ready to kill me, which, sadly, is more appropriate at this moment than you raping me. However, please feel free to have your way with me at any another time.”
    Bree pulled her hands free and pushed up to a seated position. “What the hell was that?”
    “My calling.” He offered a sheepish smile that made her heart skip a beat. “I’m sorry. I can’t contain it when I’m hunting. It’s instinctive to subdue prey.”
    “Talk like that is why a lot of humans hate your kind.” She wrinkled her nose. “Being called ‘prey’ isn’t very endearing.”
    He chuckled and held out a hand to help her up. The moment they touched, a hot shiver ran through her. Calling or not, Alex had that effect on her.
    “Hell,” she grumbled as she was pulled to her feet. “I wanted to fuck you right here, right now, in the middle of waiting for an important comm.” She shook her head and snorted in disgust. “I was acting like one of the Too Stupid to Live romance heroines in my e-books. You know, the ones that want to fuck right in the middle of the danger and the reader is sitting there going, ‘What the hell is she doing?’.”
    “Um, no,” Alex said dryly. “I don’t know.”
    He began brushing the dead leaves off her with gentle hands, his fingers lingering in all the right places. “Sweetness, you really need to stop reading that stuff. If you want some entertainment, just see me. I’ll keep you busy.”
    As if that were possible. She couldn’t keep him bound to her and available for her pleasure like James was, although the thought was wickedly tempting. Alex had chosen his path a long time ago, just as she had. Their paths had converged briefly for this voyage, but in the long run there could never be anything lasting between them. She was mortal and he wasn’t. He had friends and a life she could never fit into. Which reminded her…
    “Alex. Who have you been talking to about me?”
    Arching a brow, he asked, “What do you mean?”
    “Don’t play innocent.” She