The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

"I heard him say he was cursing you," I said slowly, watching him carefully. So far he seemed perfectly normal, except for the profound sadness that seemed to leach from within him. "But I don't quite understand what happened. What exactly are you cursed with?"

To my amazement, Theo's eyes grew brighter until they were almost white. "He took my soul."

"He what?"

"That light you saw—that was my soul being ripped from my body," Theo said, his face flushed with fury. "The bastard took my soul and left me an empty shell."

"Sweet mother," I whispered, wrapping my arms around him, holding him tight against the sorrow and anger and frustration that filled him. The pain eased a little. I poured into him every molecule of comfort I possessed. "I'm so sorry. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am that you got involved in this. I will feel guilty for the rest of my life."

"It's not your fault, sweetling," he murmured, nuzzling my neck. His anger and anguish melted away even more, and something hot and potent filled him instead. "I knew the risk when I offered myself as your champion. Di immortales, you smell good."

A little shiver of excitement skittered down my back as he kissed the hollow behind my ear. "Yes, but if I hadn't been so stupid about believing you, none of this would have happened. I would have been paying attention rather than fighting you every step of the way."

"Mmm. You smell sweet and spicy, like a woman waiting to be satisfied." He pulled back enough to look into my eyes, which were brimming with tears of guilt. "Portia, I forbid you to feel guilt at what happened. There was no avoiding this. Bael cannot punish you without bringing the wrath of the Court down upon your head, and he would not risk such an action."

"Your eyes are almost black again. That doesn't make any sense. How can eye color change? Never mind, it's not important. What is important is the fact that you've lost your soul because of me."

He laughed and nipped my earlobe, his hands roaming over my back and behind. "You never cease to amaze me. I'm surprised that given your skeptical nature and scientific training, you believe in souls."

"I'm agnostic, not a solipsist," I said, a familiar tension building within me at every nibble of his teeth, every touch of his hands. "Logic dictates that if there is a way for your soul to be taken from you, there must be a way to return it. I swear to you now that if it's the last thing I do, I will get you back your soul."

"Smart, sexy, and so delicious," he murmured against my shoulder as my bathrobe parted and slipped down my arms. "I hunger for you, sweetling. Tell me you still want me."

He was hungry. It was growing in him, an unnamed hunger for me, for something that only I could give him. It swelled and spilled out until I shared the hunger, shared the need for physical relief. I ripped his shirt off, heedless of the fact that I was destroying an otherwise nice shirt, rubbing my hands on his chest as he sucked the spot behind my ear that made me see stars.

"Theo, I hate to bring reality into…oh, yes, right there…but I don't have any condoms. I'm all right as far as birth control goes, but do you have any health issues I should be aware of?"

"No. So good," he said against my skin, his breath ragged. As if I wasn't aroused enough, the sound of his harsh breathing pushed me higher. "You taste so damned good, I want to…I don't know what I want. More. I want more."

"You can have all of me," I said in between kisses to his bare shoulder, my hands busy on his belt buckle and zipper even as his hands slid down my behind to the crotch of my teddy. His fingers brushed heat-soaked, sensitive flesh as he undid the snaps. I writhed against him as he peeled the silky teddy off, tormented not just by his burning touch, but by an overwhelming need so foreign, so different, that it shocked me.

I wanted to bite him.

I limited myself to little nipping love bites, nibbling his delectable ear as I pushed his pants and underwear down over his hips.

"Di immortales," he groaned when I wrapped my fingers around his incredibly hot penis, sucking on his earlobe and wishing I could just consume all of him.

He stood still for a moment while I explored the velvety hot hardness, then I was on the bed, Theo crawling up the length of my body, his eyes as black as night. "I hope you're ready for me, Portia, because I don't think I'm going to be able to last much longer."

"Ready, oh-so-willing, and as able as humanly possible," I answered, pulling him down so I could taste his delicious mouth again.

"Salus invenitur," he whispered into my mouth. I sucked his lower lip, sliding my legs around his hips, cushioning his weight and glorying in the sensation of his bare flesh on mine.