Judith laughed again and pointed to another wall. “That’s my lampworking station where I twist and sculpt colored rods before they go into a cell.”
Protective goggles lay beside the oxygen/propane torch and the tanks feeding it. Tall, clear vases held the bright, vivid colored glass rods she referred to.
“I use the small kiln to put cut pieces of glass I shape that I want in the mirror systems.”
Another table contained boxes with packing material tucked under it for shipping. He could see that in the midst of what looked like chaos, she was really very organized. On one wall a row of long, narrow tables housed clear acrylic boxes containing an abundance of objects. Beneath the narrow tables were plastic drawers filled with cells, various parts, discs, lenses and eyepieces, all sorts of intriguing things she had collected as well as tubes and bases for various types of scopes.
Stefan was drawn to the splashes of bright color spilling out of the boxes on top of the table and sauntered over to look into the treasure trove of items. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
“Those are all the various bits and pieces I use in making kaleidoscopes,” she explained.
She was happy in this room. He could feel a wealth of joy permeating the very walls, and the room itself as well as in the objects in the boxes. Although there were tens of thousands of items, each box contained only one color creating a rainbow effect, much like her gardens.
“Where do you find these things?”
“Everywhere. Aren’t they glorious? All that color and texture and shapes? I look at something and immediately see the opportunities. Scopes can calm people, entertain them, make them laugh or cry. I make themed scopes and personal scopes.” For the first time, Judith sounded just a little shy. “I’m making that one there as a special gift for Hannah Drake, well Harrington. She’s due to have their first baby any time and I’ve promised Jonas I’ll finish it soon.”
She motioned with her hand and he followed her into the very center of the room where a chair on rollers reigned supreme in the middle of U-shaped tables forming her workspace. In truth, he would have followed her anywhere, but he found her both exciting and sexy here in this room.
9
STEFAN
caught Judith’s long hair in his fist, wrapping it around his thick wrist in one quick looping motion, stopping her abruptly. He was surrounded by her, by the essence of who she was, and there wasn’t a single part of him that didn’t respond to that feminine allure. Surrounded by the vivid, brilliant colors that seemed to physically express the light and joy in her only amplified the growing need in him. This woman was home.
She turned to him, stepped into the shelter of his body and lifted her mouth to his without hesitation. There was nothing at all gentle in his kiss. He devoured her, feeling their combined hunger rising like a tidal wave. His hands found bare skin beneath her thin tee, soft and warm and so inviting. She fit like a glove, but more importantly, there were no shadows around Judith for him to retreat into. She was like a glaring sun, a spotlight, bright and hot and so damned alluring there was no resisting her.
Her slender arms circled his neck, her soft breasts pressed tightly to his chest until he felt every breath she took, every beat of her heart. He kissed her until neither could breathe, until it wasn’t enough and never would be. Her skin beckoned, smooth and heated and so soft he nearly groaned aloud at the simple pleasure of touching her.
Judith was everything he wanted, more, everything he needed to come back to life. It was impossible, totally impossible to resist her, here in this room where she lived and breathed and surrounded herself with such beauty. He knew the bright, vivid colors reflected who she really was and he needed bright. He needed beautiful. His dull world, filled with violence and death, craved what only Judith could bring to him. He craved her beyond anything he could have imagined, a drug in his system, an urgent need he could no longer ignore, even though he knew it would make his pursuit of her more difficult.
The heavy erection was a constant, painful demand impossible to disregard. His mouth turned from commanding to demanding. He kissed his way down her throat to the edge of her scooped tank. “I don’t want you wearing anything but that gold chain,” he whispered, kissing his way back up to her ear. His teeth nipped her earlobe. “Get rid of your clothes.”
He wasn’t the kind of man to ask. He couldn’t change himself. This was Stefan Prakenskii with his woman, his other half, not a mark of Thomas Vincent’s. Thomas would be polite, Stefan didn’t know how to be, not when lust mixed so harshly with an unfamiliar welling emotion that was all-encompassing.
He stroked his palm up her silken skin, tracing her narrow rib cage, enticing her even as he made his demand. Once more he took possession of her mouth, sinking into the velvet depths, tasting wild honey and survival, kissing her again and again, feeding on her magic.
Stefan had learned at an early age to survive by controlling every aspect of his life, from his thoughts, especially his emotions and by handling any kind of pain. Kissing Judith was another form of survival. He had all but lost every vestige of humanity and here, in this room of absolute joy, he was surrounded by it. Her spirit merged with his until he couldn’t tell where she began and he ended. Here, more than anywhere else in the house, her spirit was alive and strong, surrounding his, merging, and amplifying every one of his own emotions.
The walls of her kaleidoscope studio, the room itself, the very air, held the essence of Judith and there was no way to resist, not even with his gifts. Judith was a naturally sensual woman, her passion for life, for joy, for color was everywhere around him. She was wholly feminine and here, more than anywhere else, her sexual nature was just as easy to see as her compassionate side. She made him burn with need.
“Your clothes,” he reiterated between his teeth, shaking with a desire that was more real than anything he’d ever known. “Take them off.”
No amount of beating, no amount of caressing or stroking or any other form of inducement had caused him to lose control and yet now, with the one woman who counted, he could barely breathe with wanting her.
Judith tilted her head back so that her dark eyes could meet his. He could see the matching heat there, the need every bit as strong as his. Maybe she was a little less sure of what she was getting herself into than he was, but he read the hunger every bit as deep as his own. Very slowly she let her arms fall, hands catching the hem of her tee. His heart rose to his throat, threatening to choke him. She pulled the offending material over her head and tossed it onto the nearby table, shaking her hair out so that it fell around her like a living cape of black, shiny silk.
His breath refused to leave his lungs. The lacy cups of her bra slid from her body, leaving her full, high breasts as an offering. Her nipples were already hard, a dark entreaty, her breasts already flushed in anticipation, rising and falling with her labored breathing. God, she was beautiful, more beautiful than he’d imagined her to be.
He dragged her to him simply by curling his hand around the nape of her neck, his mouth once more descending on hers. There was no way to resist her. Judith, surrounded by the evidence of her brightness, was pure seduction to a man as lost as Stefan. He kissed her over and over, long drugging kisses, while his hands moved over her skin, cupped her breasts, thumbs teasing her nipples, feeling each stroke ricochet through both of them like a whip of a lightning.
Stefan kissed his way to her breast, drawing the soft flesh into the heat of his mouth while his hands dropped to the button of her jeans. His knuckles brushed her firm body as he tugged the front open. Hooking his fingers on the band riding low on her hips, as well as the silky thong, he pulled the material down, his mouth following the path to her belly button while she stepped out of them.
His hands gripped her hips while his body throbbed and demanded. “How experienced are you, Judith?” His voice had gone hoarse.
“What difference does that make?” Her voice was edgy, ready to retreat.
His eyes met hers steadily. “I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t think I’m going to be gentle, not the first time.”
Heat blazed into her eyes. She moistened her lips. “I haven’t been with anyone in over five years, and then only twice.”
He groaned. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear and yet he couldn’t help but be pleased. Judith was his alone. Twice didn’t count. She may as well have been a virgin. He rested his forehead against her soft belly and took a deep breath to regain a semblance of control. He’d never been without control—not until Judith. He’d never allowed his body a will and mind of its own—until Judith.
“I want you with every breath in my body
, moi padshii angel
, but this might not be a good idea right now.” He knelt, arms around her waist looking up at her. “I don’t know how much control I actually have and that’s another damn first for me.”
Stefan Prakenskii was baring his soul to his woman and Thomas Vincent could stay damned. If this was going to happen then it was going to be all Stefan and all truth here in this room of joy and beauty, here with this woman who he knew with certainty belonged to him.
“If we do this, you have to promise me you won’t end it there. I want to know that you’ll look me in the eye and know you wanted this as much as I do and we won’t end our chances. Say it, Judith, while I still have the strength to stop.” He had to know that she wouldn’t try to walk away.
Her hand dropped into his hair, fingers curling through the thick strands. Her dark eyes met his, so mysterious, filled with desire for him—for Stefan. He’d given himself to her, that small piece of him that was left, that his instructors hadn’t beat out of him. It seemed a little thing, but he’d never allowed another human being to even know Stefan Prakenskii existed. Prakenskii lived in the shadows, no more than a phantom some whispered about, but never really knew for certain of his existence. Even the dead could not positively identify him.
He held that small piece of humanity as close as possible, deep and hidden where no enemy could ever strip it from him. It was the one thing that made him vulnerable, the only thing he had left of his mother’s love. His loyalty to his brothers was part of that, and it was very, very fragile.
Judith saw him. She might not know his name, but she saw him. They stared at each other, Judith stripped naked, bare and open to him, Stefan fully clothed but more naked and vulnerable than she could possibly imagine.
Judith moistened her lips. “I want you, Thomas, any way I can have you.”
His body reacted almost before his mind comprehended that soft, whispered acceptance. His heavy erection grew thicker and much harder than it had ever been, a painful need mixing with the dark lust building so fast he could barely hang on to his control. He couldn’t save her, not now, it was too damned late, not when she was looking at him with those eyes. Not with her body flushed and her breasts rising and falling with her ragged breathing. Not when she was every bit as needy as he was.
Her feminine scent enticed and tempted beyond his ability to resist. His hands, of their own accord, dropped to her thighs, jerking them apart to give him what he so desperately needed. He didn’t—couldn’t—wait. Without preamble, his mouth devoured her. He was brilliant at two things, killing and giving pleasure. With this woman his lovemaking was all real. His tongue made a single swipe through velvet folds and when he felt her answering shudder, he tasted the wild honey he’d been craving from her.
He knew it was far too late to turn back. She’d changed his life for all time. The way her hands fisted in his hair. The trembling of her body, her soft musical moans fed his addiction, and the exotic taste of her would forever set up a craving. Nothing mattered but having her. He had waited his entire life for a reason—something, just
one
thing to make sense of it all. She turned out to be a woman named Judith.
She cried out as he licked, a cat lapping at sweet, hot cream, her breathless cries only adding to the urgent need building like a tsunami inside of him. He couldn’t stop the growling sounds of pleasure coming from his throat, the desperate hunger forever building into an insatiable lust. Her hot channel spasmed, providing more honey and he attacked like the starving man he was.
More angel, give me everything. I need you to give yourself to me.
He was asking for complete trust in him. The more she relaxed, the more she put herself into his hands, the better he could make it for her. His hand tightened on her hip, holding her still when her knees threatened to buckle, while he slid his finger deep into that hot, velvet tunnel. He groaned at how small and tight she was. He was a big man and she needed to be ready to take his size. Her inner muscles gripped his finger tightly and he lapped and sucked at the welcoming liquid spilling over. Nectar from the gods, sweet and flowing into his hungry mouth. He was the devil tempting the angel and nothing else mattered but that she succumbed to his deliberate seduction.
Judith cried out again, the sound strangled as she placed both hands on Stefan’s shoulders to steady herself when her legs turned to gel and her body trembled violently with the gathering tension. She spread her legs wider, threw her head back, gasping, putting herself into his care, giving him the trust he’d demanded from her. Pleasure grew past anything she’d known and still he didn’t stop, his wicked, sinful mouth driving her up until she thought she might come apart, just fragment into a million pieces, or lose herself in the sheer rapture of his mouth.
And then he used his fingers again while his mouth remained on her most sensitive button, suckling and flicking so that her breath came in gasping sobs. His exploring fingers stretched her, teased and stretched a little more. There was a tiny bite of pain, a burning that just floated into the exquisite pleasure and then dissipated as rapture built, coiling tighter and tighter inside of her.