Page 28

Just outside the garage, a path ran between the house and a box hedge that shivered in the breeze. Once past the guesthouse, round stepping stones curved across the plush lawn to an alcove shielded by tall, jungle-dense landscaping. There, a burbling Jacuzzi tub with a small waterfall took up most of the space. Beside it sat a double-wide wicker lounge, well-padded and full of pillows.

“We have spent quite a bit of time here,” Cassidy said, removing her jacket and dropping it on another chair.

Brinkley unrolled from a discarded towel among the pillows and produced a huge, toothy yawn. Dominique gave him a quick scratch under the chin. The cat closed his eyes in bliss.

“Have we?” He glanced back at her and paused, forgetting about the cat. Given the cool wind at the beach, the off-the-shoulder top hadn’t put in an appearance over lunch, but Dominique’s gaze was all over it now.

“Oh, yes, we have,” she assured. Her shoes came off next.

“Doing what?” He had a good idea, his tone said.

“Mostly we watch the stars.” She stepped close to him and unzipped his jacket to slide her hands up his solid chest and over his shoulders. “Afterward.”

He let the jacket slip off his arms and drop to the ground. His gaze became hooded. “Oh,oui? After what?”

Her answer was a soft, teasing kiss.

“Is this where you seduce your helpless prisoner into docile compliance,madame?” he murmured.

“No. This is where I tell the not-so-helpless love of my life to kiss me like he means it.”

For two long beats, he stared at her, letting those words sink in. Then he claimed her mouth in a kiss that left no doubt that he meant it. That primal craving she had glimpsed earlier surfaced with a vengeance. Grasping her face in both hands, he kissed her hard and deep. Heat blossomed in her belly, stoking a passion at once familiar and strange. This was no supernatural hunger reverberating between them. This was her own female reaction to him as a man.

When he trailed wet kisses down her neck, she arched back and nearly wept at the sight of that deep-blue sky. Theywouldmake love in the sun, and hewouldremember it, so help her God.

After she freed him from the confines of his jeans and briefs, she grinned up at him. He looked uncertain again. “Do you have something for—?” He gestured at his erection.

“No. No condoms for us,” she said, sobering a little. “We don’t need them. For anything.”

“Non?” Still doubtful.

“No.” She kissed him until he was convinced. More clothes came off.

Dominique allowed her to pull him into the creaking lounge and let his fingers explore her body. When she straddled him, he moaned in lusty French that made her giggle. Oh,oui, she knew exactly howfantastiqueshe felt to him, how much he wanted her—neededher—to feed this fire in his blood.

Cassidy held back nothing.

With sunlight glistening on their straining bodies, they surrendered to each other as they had a hundred times before by the light of the moon. And as he had a hundred times before, Dominique rolled her beneath himself with impeccable timing and an easy strength that was anything but human. His smile was dazzling and full of wonder.

“Salut, mon amour,” she murmured.

His answering kiss was thorough, but merely the opening salvo of him getting down to business. Oh, dear God. He didn’t need to read her mind to play her body like a fine instrument. He was—and always had been—a virtuoso.

When he brought himself home, there was no sign of the spiral, no trace of the beast. It was only the two of them this time, and the sight of his beautiful face, wanton with ecstasy and bathed in sunlight, made her eyes fill with tears of joy.

But she stopped breathing when she saw that same face become sharper, almost skull-like.

His eyes snapped open, full black and bereft of all humanity.

The vampire was awake—staring into the sun.

“Dominique,” she whispered.

He began to shake. His fine skin darkened to a furious red.

“Dominique!”

He looked down at her, uncomprehending. Then his arms buckled, and he collapsed on top of her.