Seduced by the Beast Read Free Page B

healing could only
be used between normals and beasts for reasons unknown.  And humans never mixed
with their kind unless to kill them.  Certainly never sexually.
                Still, it was the
one chance the woman, Swan, had.  If it worked, she would likely kill him when
she recovered, but he thought it a small price to pay for life.
                Bending, he
gathered her effortlessly into his arms.  She trembled but remained
unconscious.  He nodded at Arion as he stood.  “Let us make haste.  We must
reach Barakus before the silver moon sets.”

 
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
                Touching an
unconscious woman held no appeal for Raphael.  But the actions of a few rogue
hunters forced him to make amends.
                The woman had
been bathed, and her wounds cleansed and tended to the best of their ability. 
It had done little to ease the fever racking her body.  Doubtless her flight
through the woods had only worsened her injury.
                She’d been placed
on his bed, soft furs draped around her body.  In the room, lit dimly by basins
of flame and the watery light of the red moon, she appeared unnaturally bleached
and sickly.  Her dark skin was dry when it should not have been--should have been
soaked through with perspiration at her heat.  He wondered that the wound
affected her so harshly, but suspected dark magic had more to do with her
illness than any natural cause.
                Raphael climbed
into the bed and knelt beside her.  He smoothed a gold strung lock of
brown/black hair from her face.  He’d never seen the like of it before and the
highlights threading through her coarse dark hair fascinated him.
                Her eyes moved
rapidly beneath her heavily lashed lids, her body twitching slightly, her mouth
parted on a sigh.  She was dreaming, likely of the chase or some other horror
he could only imagine.
                Anger seeped into
him.  He clenched his hands into fists, then realized what he was doing. 
Deliberately, he drew and released a slow breath, forcing himself to remain
calm.  Reckless anger would do neither of them good.
                From Blasien, he
knew the kharez was inherently sexual.  Blasien’s woman had healed him
with her body and unintentionally formed a connection between them.  Sensual
touch sparked the reaction.  And it was time to begin, before she worsened ...
or roused enough to refuse him.
                Raphael traced a
finger lightly over her lush parted lips and down her right arm.  Her skin was
soft as down, smooth and perfect.  Taking her hand in a gentle grip, he lifted
it to his face and pressed his lips to her fingertips, feeling the rapid pulse beat
of her heart.  He moved over each slowly, lingering, sucking each small pad
into his mouth to rake lightly with his teeth and soothe with his tongue.
                She moaned softly
and shifted, drawing closer.  The furs slipped down at her movement, revealing
the soft, generous globes of her breasts, tipped with delightfully dark nipples
in the light.
                His hands itched
to curve around them, test their weighted softness in his palms.  Heated blood
rushed to his groin, his length swelling, hardening beneath his short kurt. 
Long had he been without a woman to touch ... to taste ... to bury his hard
shaft deep inside.  This woman--the human--tempted him.
                Smoothing his
palms over her alluringly defined collarbone, he moved lower, watching her face
for reaction as he skimmed her breasts with the softest touch.  Her lips parted
on a breathy sigh as her nipples pebbled, begging, needing more.
                He swallowed
hard, his mouth suddenly dry.   He pinched the tight buds, rolling each between
his thumb and forefinger until she moaned and arched her back, thrusting her
breasts closer to him.