Seared by Desire (34 page)

“
Lucian, I didn’t make that sword for you to attack your own
people with. Here I am ready and prepared to improve that sword for
you but I’m not so sure I should now, not if that’s what you want
to do with it.”

His world seemed to stop, narrowing down until there was
nothing but Sara’s voice. He was almost afraid to turn around lest
he find that the sound of her voice was nothing more than something
his fatigued mind had fabricated to get him through yet another
night.

“
Lucian?” she called out. “Aren’t you even going to look at
me? I want to see you Lucian.”

Her voice was moving closer to him now and he risked a brief
glance over his shoulder and there she was. Dressed like temptation
given flesh in her sword crafting uniform, her skin aglow with life
and a welcoming smile on her luscious lips she moved towards him,
clearly unaware of the effect she was having on him. His heart was
pounding, his fangs throbbed and his mind was overwhelmed with
relief. The speed with which Lucian had disarmed his three
opponents earlier seemed slow in comparison to how quickly he moved
to reach Sara. One moment he was standing at the end of the
training grounds and the next he was standing in front of her. His
hands reached for her greedily, pulling her close as his lips
descended upon hers, stealing her breath and inflaming her senses.
There was only Lucian and her close encounter with Seraphina had
only made her appreciate him more. Never again did she want to be
separated from him and her body quickly followed the actions of
his, her arms rising to lock around his neck. She moaned in
pleasure as he nipped relentlessly at her lips, his moist tongue
desperately seeking entrance to the warmth of her mouth. Their
tongues clashed as their grip on each other tightened, each frantic
for the reassurance only touch could provide.

As Sara’s warmth seeped into him, warming the parts of
himself that had frozen since she’d been asleep, he felt his hunger
come to life. His normally iron control over himself was beginning
to falter because of the lack of care he’d taken with his body. His
fangs were lengthening, his kiss becoming shaper and harder with
each passing second. He snarled in frustration as he pulled away,
only slightly shocked by the lack of regard he’d had for the
location of such an intimate encounter.

“
Missed me?” she purred, pulling his body close to
hers.

“
You’ve been asleep for days now, of course I missed
you.”

He nuzzled her cheek gently, peppering kisses against the
bare skin of her neck, consequences be damned. He gradually became
aware of their surroundings once more, taking note of the many eyes
that were now on them. He hissed angrily, his fangs lengthening
further as Sara’s barely there attire became paramount in his
thoughts. Cursing himself for failing to bring the long overcoat he
usually wore, Lucian turned his attentions back to Sara.

“
I thought we agreed that you were never to wear this get up
in public.”

“
I don’t remember agreeing to any such thing Lucian. How am I
meant to craft swords if I don’t wear this? Nothing else will
do.”

Her earlier attempts to temper Lucian's armour had quickly
reminded her the error of wearing anything but her uniform when
working with her flame. While the flames that covered her when she
was on the offensive didn’t damage her clothes, the fire she used
to craft swords utterly annihilated anything it came into contact
with on her person. The look of mortified embarrassment on George’s
face had demonstrated to her that it was far better to wear next to
nothing than to start out wearing many layers and end up in
absolutely nothing. But she wasn’t going to let Lucian in on the
reasoning behind her actions. George had nearly had a heart attack
at the idea of Lucian finding out that he had seen her naked
however brief the glimpse had been and she was reluctant to have
such a nice man killed over something he couldn’t help.

“
Clearly your absence has made me forget just how disobedient
you can be. Don’t worry, I’ll show you the error of going against
your Lord.”

“
Really?” she purred, stroking the nape of his neck. “And just
how do you intend to do that?”

“
It’s really quite simple.” He lifted her into his arms,
protecting her from the curious stares of his people with his body
as he moved back towards the estate. “I’ll let you know when it’s
just the two of us…alone.” As the indoors of the estate fast
approached, Lucian turned back to the men that had gathered. “I
want you to continue training, I’ll test the effort that you’ve put
in later. If I find any more pathetic excuses for swordsmanship or
any other skill I will not be pleased.”

With Lucian's long stride, quickly eating up the distance
between them and their final destination it didn’t take long for
them to be alone within the sanctuary of their room. He kicked the
door shut firmly behind them with the heel of his foot, the
resounding slam echoing through the room. Lucian let Sara slide
down the length of his body, relishing her every curve as she
pressed closely against him. It was in the split second before her
feet touched the floor that he realised tonight was going to be the
night he succumbed to temptation. He was going to bite her, sink
his throbbing fangs into the creamy skin of her neck and drink
deep.

He had come too close to losing her and her absence had
exposed the flaws in the reasons he’d had for not taking her blood
up until then. He’d been misguided in the belief that if he didn’t
drink her and something happened to her his strength would remain
untouched. He hadn’t taken enough of her blood thus far to be so
affected by her absence but he’d been weakened without her, his
will to complete tasks necessary for his existence severely
diminished. Regardless of if he drunk her or not, if Sara were to
die, Lucian knew that he would fade into nothingness. He didn’t
want to continue living into eternity if she wasn’t with him. He’d
been denying himself for far too long and it was going to stop.
Now.

His resolve firm, he held her close nuzzling her cheek gently
in affection. He’d always thought the icy armour around his heart
was shatterproof, his life dedicated solely to a seemingly never
ending war but Sara had easily melted his cold façade, shaking his
world with her fiery presence. “I missed you,” he whispered against
her skin.

She shivered slightly as his breath ghosted over her
sensitive neck, closing her eyes to better relish his proximity. “I
know I was asleep through most of it but I missed you too. I always
miss you when we’re not together.”

His grip tightened almost to the point of bruising. “You lied
to me Sara.”

“
What are you talking about?” she questioned genuinely
perplexed.

“
You told me you’d only be asleep for a little while. Four
nights and three days you’ve slept. That isn’t a little while
Sara.”

“
I couldn’t help it,” she protested in self-defense. “I really
only thought I’d be asleep for a few hours. It isn’t my fault
Seraphina took more out of me than I thought she had.”

“
I know. It’s not your fault; it’s Russell’s. The bastard
lured me into a trap, if I hadn’t trusted him then I would have
been there to protect you from yourself.”

“
You can’t protect me from everything Lucian, the world’s a
dangerous place and you’re only one man.”

“
I don’t want to talk about the world and all the problems it
brings. I just want to talk about you and me. We’re all that
matters.”

“
Really?” she crooned, leaning into his body. “And in this
world where we’re all that matters, what would we talk
about?”

“
This outfit of yours obviously.”

“
What about it?”

“
You don’t seem to know what it does to me. It’s one of my
favourite dreams and my worst nightmare all at the same
time.”

“
How is that possible?”

“
It’s very easy. Whenever I see you wearing it I want to
ravish you on the spot, I want to tear what little there is from
your body and expose all that beautiful skin of yours. It makes me
want to touch you even more than I usually do but when other people
see you in it I want to rip their eyes out. No one else has the
right to look at you like this except me. Only me Sara. Do you
understand?”

His hands began roaming over her body, his long fingers
easily caressing her skin with the lack of protection she was
wearing. Her body trembled in anticipation when he cupped the curve
of her arse pulling her into the hardness of his erection before
thrusting frantically against her.

“
Lucian,” she groaned on a long sigh, her temperature
skyrocketing. He lifted her leg, wrapping it around his waist and
exposing her further to his ministrations. She gasped as the
contact between the most intimate parts of them increased, her
breasts feeling increasingly heavy, her nipples tight. “Lucian, I,
I…” Her words were lost to a loud moan as he lifted her from the
ground, wrapping both legs around his trim waist and increasing the
tempo of his thrusts so that they were wild with
desperation.

“
You brought this upon yourself Sara. I can’t resist you
anymore.”

“
I can take anything you’ve got to give,” she
purred.

Lucian groaned, giving himself over to sensation. His lips
slammed against Sara’s, his tongue slipping past the natural
defense of her lips into the warm cavern of her mouth. She came
alive in his arms, a full participant in the kiss, her arms locking
around his neck to prevent him from pulling away. As their tongues
duelled, passion rising within them, Lucian moved, walking them
over to the solid surface of a wall. The stone was cool against
Sara’s back, the hard material scraping against her skin almost
painfully. Lucian pulled away from her and a soft sound of protest
spilt from her lips until the moment he tore the thin material of
her shirt from her body exposing her to his gaze.

His eyes darkened further as he stared at the rosy tips of
her nipples, watching them harden right in front of him. His thumb
ghosted over one of the hard nubs making Sara bite her lip in
frustrated pleasure. The wall at her back made it impossible for
her to arch into his palm, to force him to touch her, her arms were
wrapped around his neck preventing her from grasping his hand and
placing it on her breast so she used the only option left to
her.

“
Lucian,” she pleaded, her tone desperate. “Please, touch
me.”

“
I am touching you.” His thumb touched her nipple even more
fleetingly than it had before.

“
Lucian, touch me properly. I need you.”

“
How can I say no when you ask me so nicely?” He cupped her
breast fully within his large palm, rubbing her nipple purposefully
between his thumb and forefinger. Willing to cooperate now, his
lips descended on her unattended breast, sucking the bud into his
mouth, his tongue swirling over her nipple and bringing forth
pleasured moans from Sara’s lips. He continued his exquisite
torture, alternating between all out assault and touches so light
and fleeting they were barely there. Sara’s moans of pleasure
quickly filled the air as her body thrummed with heat, the most
intimate part of herself throbbing with need as she became wet
between her thighs.

Desperate for more skin-to-skin contact, Sara reached for the
collar of his shirt, tugging frantically at the material, uncaring
of if it fell to pieces beneath her strong grip. Her actions pulled
him away from his task and he lifted his head from her breast,
staring into her eyes, desire burning in the depths of his dark
gaze. He released her, letting her feet once again touch solid
ground. Without the strength of his arms to hold her up, she swayed
slightly, leaning back against the wall for support. Lucian
stripped quickly and efficiently before her eyes, throwing the
shirt from his body and hurriedly pushing his breeches from his
legs. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him in all his naked
glory, her hands reaching out to touch the solid muscle of his
chest. Her hands were no longer hesitant as she rubbed them over
his chest before stepping out of the shredded demi breeches she
wore for her craft. Now just as naked as he, she stepped close to
him, rubbing her entire body against his.

Her hands caressed his skin, marvelling over the strength of
his body. The fingers that had been fascinated with his chest,
drifted lower, wandering over the trail of hair that led to his
hard shaft to wrap firmly around the length of him. Lucian groaned,
his eyes drifting shut to better relish the sensation of Sara’s
hands on him. Her hands moved firmly up and down the length of him,
making his seed rise and his temperature skyrocket. A memory of a
conversation she’d once had with Abigail about how to please a man
intruded on Sara’s thoughts. She’d never been able to use the
knowledge Abigail had imparted that day but as she watched Lucian's
face contort in pleasure, she wondered if he would enjoy it. The
hands moving on his shaft stilled as Sara lowered herself to her
knees, eyeing his shaft curiously.

Lucian sucked in a ragged breath when he saw the new position
Sara had placed herself in and he was suddenly desperate for her to
take him between her gorgeous lips, for his shaft to experience the
warmth of her mouth. He rocked his hips towards her, groaning,
“Please Sara.”