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“Defenseless?” Vladimir chuckled. “All men be damned.” He then ended their playfulness with a concern. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed, resting? You haven’t fully recovered yet.”

His horse trekked alongside Angelfire. He was so close now that his leg rubbed against hers. His heat surged through her body.

Lucienne tilted her head and held Vladimir’s gaze. “And what are you going to do about it?” she purred, noticing its immediate effect on the prince. His dark, golden eyes roamed her face, predatory and seductive. Lucienne’s blood raced through her veins like the rapid stream rushing through the forest.

“I’m going to do this.” Vladimir lifted Lucienne from Angelfire and positioned her on his powerful thigh while steadying himself on the back of his stallion.

Layers of dried leaves crunched under the hooves of the horses. There were sounds of a horse heading in their direction. It must be Jonas. But Lucienne had only Vladimir’s warm, hard breathing on her mind.

“Lucia,” Vladimir’s whisper was husky, thick with desire.

“What?” Lucienne sighed as she inhaled his intoxicating male musk mixed with wild summer.

“As long as you walk the Earth,” Vladimir said, “I’ll never be with another.” His thumb grazed over her burning cheek; his smoldering eyes on her pink mouth.

Lucienne parted her lips, heat twirling in her belly. When his trembling hand slipped into her silky hair, now an ashy auburn in the shadowy light, she leaned toward him.

Their lips pressed together.

The starlight squeezed through the black forest’s foliage, wrapping them in its embrace. This was Lucienne’s perfect night, the kiss of the century. She tasted him like the spice of the finest tea from the high mountains. Vladimir deepened his kiss, and Lucienne threaded her fingers through his hair.

His agonized cry overlapped her moans of pleasure. Cold wind whipped Lucienne’s vulnerable lips. She fluttered open her eyes. Vladimir’s lips had abandoned her. He jerked further away from her—his movement was so violent that a patch of his hair remained in her hand. It was as if she had plucked the fine feathers from of a bird.

Vladimir thrashed on the horseback.

“Vlad, this isn’t funny!” Lucienne scolded him. He was a drama king, but this was absolutely out of line. This was her first kiss! Before shouting at him again, she saw his movements turning more uncontrolled—his back arched at a painful angle, his legs jerking like a marionette. By the time she realized he wasn’t acting, Vladimir had already tumbled from the horse, dragging her with him.

The black stallion snorted and Angelfire whinnied in response, both well-trained horses managing not to trample their riders.

Vladimir gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out. He rolled into a ball on the floor of the damp forest.

“What’s wrong, Vlad?” Lucienne reached for him. Blood gushed from a gap above Vladimir’s left eyebrow. Lucienne spotted a rock sticking out of the thick leaves on the ground. Blood glistened on its sharp tip. She kicked the rock away and tore her sleeve to make a bandage.

Vladimir fended off Lucienne’s hands. “Don’t . . . don’t touch me.” He kicked, propelling himself away from her. “Your kiss burns . . .”

His reaction ripped a hole in Lucienne’s heart.

Was it her Siren blood? Suspicion shot through her. Sitting on her feet, she nudged herself a few more inches away from him. “Tell me what I can do to help you.” She managed to sound calm and nurturing, even though she was fighting back tears. She had pictured her first kiss to be monumental and breathtaking, but never this.

Vladimir was never a whiner. Never a coward. The pain must have exceeded his tolerance. He battered his head on the ground, as if knocking himself out would ease it.

“Damn it, Vlad, just tell me what to do!” Lucienne had never felt so powerless and frightened, not even when she plunged down that cliff in Tibet. But Vladimir, clutching his head now, couldn’t hear her.

“I’ll get you out of here.” Lucienne looked around. Where was the guard when she needed him? She had to leave Vladimir to get help. As much as she wanted to gather him into her arms and soothe away his pain, she knew she couldn’t touch him.

Lucienne mounted Angelfire and urged the horse forward. The stallion bolted toward the edge of the forest like a golden wind. Hearing the hooves of another horse close by, she could finally breathe. “I need help!” she cried, her voice hoarse with frenzy. She didn’t care if it was friend or foe coming her way. Anyone but her could help Vladimir.

“Lucia!” Kian answered urgently. “What’s wrong?”

“Follow me!” Lucienne turned Angelfire and raced back toward Vladimir. Kian cursed and spurred his Tennessee walker. Lucienne realized Jonas must have called Kian, afraid of her running off again.Kian had given her bodyguards hell for letting her escape with Vladimir to Tibet. Now they were reporting her every move to him.

For a moment, the forest became eerily quiet, except for the horses’ snorting and prancing. Lucienne’s throat tightened again—she couldn’t hear Vladimir. She couldn’t feel him. “Faster, Kian!” she called over her shoulder. The mare charged into the clearing with explosive speed. Kian sat tall on his horse like an enraged god.

“Are you hurt?” Kian asked.

“No, Vladimir is.”

Lucienne dismounted before Angelfire stopped. She dashed to Vladimir but hesitated a few yards from him, painfully remembering how her kiss caused his agony.