Phantom Desires Read online

  “It is my last tie to the sun. It is one of the only things we can ingest besides blood. It is a delicacy. Like you, my love.” He traced down her neck with the fingers of his free hand. “Like the wine, you heal me, Carly. You make me whole.”

  “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

  “You have a beautiful soul, Carly. I’ve gotten a glimpse within, and I can say that with certainty. I only hope…” he sat next to her, “…that when the time comes and you see as deeply within my heart, you can forgive me my past. It hasn’t been very pretty.”

  She felt the very real trepidation in him at the idea of her seeing his past through his memories. In an odd sort of way, that made her feel better about the whole idea. She hadn’t thought of it from his point of view. She’d been more focused on herself—how he’d be seeing all her memories—both good and bad. But it went both ways. She would see his long past, and she was sure he probably had several lifetimes worth of experiences waiting for her to view. The idea was tantalizing. The things he’d probably seen in his past and experienced firsthand would be like seeing history unfold.

  But it was selfish to think only of what she would gain in knowledge, she realized almost immediately. The things she would see were things he had lived and done, people he had known, now lost to him and lifestyles long gone by the wayside. It would be bittersweet to relive those memories with him and wrong of her to look forward to putting him through it.

  “I’m sorry, Dmitri.” She covered his hand with hers. “I’ve been selfish. I’ve only been thinking about myself.”

  “No, my love. Don’t think that. We both have reservations about taking such a huge step, I’m sure.”

  “You’re being kind, but I can feel how badly you want to share my mind. It hurts you.”

  “It’s a delicious sort of hurt, I can assure you. You have no idea how wonderful it is to know that you’re in the world and we will be One. I’m enjoying savoring the moment.”

  She climbed onto his lap. “But wouldn’t you rather get right to it?”

  Chapter Seven

  Dmitri knew the moment her intentions changed from serious conversation about their predicament to something much more…sinful.

  “I like the way your mind works. It’ll be my pleasure to learn it—and you—slowly…steadily…satisfyingly.” He licked his way from her jaw to her neck, nuzzling under her long hair. Her skin tasted divine and smelled like heaven. His own, private paradise.

  “Mmm. I think we’re on the same page now.” She tried to stretch back on the couch, but he stopped her with a gentle tug on her shoulders. Without words, he coaxed her to stand, making short work of her clothing and his own.

  “Offer yourself to me, Carly. Push your breasts together and lift them up in your hands like an offering.”

  A thrum began in her blood with his stark words as she followed his instructions. She’d never been so bold with a lover before. She’d never had a man who was so commanding, so dominant, so delicious. She’d do just about anything for him…or to him…at his direction.

  And he knew it. The knowledge was there in his eyes every time he looked at her in passion. It turned her on and made her wet with anticipation. Never failed.

  She lifted her bare breasts up for him and was rewarded when his head dropped—as did his fangs. She felt them scraping along the tender skin, not hurting, but enticing, exciting. She loved the way he treated her body. Strong when the moment called for it, he was also gentle when it counted most. He knew just how to touch her to make her scream with pleasure and writhe in delight.

  He licked over her breasts, his fangs teasing the delicate skin before his tongue closed around first one nipple, then the other, swirling and circling and making them even tighter. He feasted on her tender skin for long moments while her excitement level rose. Her knees were close to buckling when he finally drew back.

  Almost negligently, he threw a decorative pillow from the couch to his feet. She followed its progress, her mouth going dry in anticipation. She wasn’t to be disappointed.

  “Kneel,” came the simple, powerful order. She did as she was told.

  The cock he presented her was hard, long and ready for action. She wanted it inside her, but first, she wanted a taste. She wanted to make him writhe as he’d done to her. She wanted to show him how much she appreciated his demands and all that he gave when he made love to her. It was a subtle give and take that brought them both to the ultimate pleasure and it was her turn to give. More than that, it was her pleasure, though she’d never really enjoyed giving head in the past.

  With Dmitri, everything was new and exciting. He made things that she hadn’t experienced, or hadn’t really liked before, better than they’d ever been. He made her want to do anything and everything—for him.

  “Suck it down, Carly.”

  He fisted her hair in one hand, watching her progress as she leaned forward, her eyes straining upward to watch him as she took him into her mouth. She loved the look of nearly painful satisfaction on his face as he watched. She loved that she could bring this pleasure to him. She just plain loved him.

  “Take it deep, darling. Suck hard now.” He coached her with grunting words as he pushed into her mouth, never giving her more than she could handle, but pushing her limits with each new thrust. She felt his excitement, and it drove her wild too.

  “Enough!” He was trembling when he suddenly pulled free.

  With impressive strength, he lifted her to her feet and positioned her in front of the couch. He bent her forward, facing the couch, but not on it, much to her surprise. She could see her reflection in the dark window, her gaze rising to capture the rough look of possession on Dmitri’s beloved face as he looked down at her bare bottom.

  He kicked her legs apart with gentle shoves of his bare feet against hers, but she got the idea. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of the couch, standing in front of it, bent at the waist, her ass up in the air. They hadn’t done it this way yet and the added mirror of the window in front of her was an enticing touch.

  She watched the expression on his face as he moved up behind her. He dragged a footstool over by one leg, kneeling on it. The level was just right. His hands went to her ass, spreading and lifting, delving between, seeking the slick wetness of her.

  Two fingers thrust up inside her, and she yelped in surprise but soon got the rhythm. She smiled when he raised his eyes to their reflection in the nighttime glass.

  “Okay, baby?” he asked.

  She nodded, smiling while his fingers created a lovely friction inside her.

  “It’s going to be hard and fast, Carly.”

  “Do it, Dmitri. Do me hard.” She didn’t know where the words came from but she was glad of her bold reply when she saw the fire leap in his eyes reflected in the window.

  His fingers left her core, replaced by that devilishly hard cock. He was thick and long, filling her completely. She moaned when he’d gained full entrance and sank back against him as he started to rock.

  One of his hands rested on her ass, squeezing as he powered into her. The other came up and smacked her ass cheek with a crack that sounded through the room, though it didn’t really hurt that much. It shocked her, but by the time his hand rose to do it again, she quivered in anticipation of the small pain that she now knew would bring so much pleasure.

  “You like that, my vixen.” He sounded pleased and she suddenly got an image in her mind. Like the Lord of the Manor fucking the scullery maid in the sitting room where anyone could walk in at any moment. The element of danger in the fantasy appealed to her more wicked senses.

  She knew the fantasy image had to have come from the place where they joined in their minds. She also knew, though she had no way of understanding exactly how she knew it, that the image was not memory, but pure fantasy. So he wanted to play games, did he?

  The thought of it was appealing. She’d never done such a thing with any of her other lovers, but they
’d been men utterly lacking in imagination. Dmitri, it seemed, had imagination to spare and she didn’t mind it one bit. She’d play along.

  “My lord, someone might hear if you keep spanking me.”

  “Let them hear.” He smacked her again, and she could see the wide grin on his face in their reflection. “If I want to fuck you with half the staff in here, you’ll let them hear and let them watch. They might learn something. Now be quiet and move with me, girl.”

  “Yes, my lord.” She did as he said, both of them rising to the occasion, spurred on by the naughty fantasy he communicated into her mind. “You’d like them to watch, my lord?”

  “Aye.” He sounded so authentic when his accent slipped into old patterns of speech, and she realized with a start it was because he was the real deal. He’d lived in those times. He’d spoken that way.

  And now he was hers.

  His fantasy shifted as his thought patterns merged with hers. They were no longer lord and scullery maid. They were Dmitri and Carly, two modern day people with very different lives who were joined now for eternity. They both had much to learn about each other and she got the sense from his thoughts that he would enjoy it as much as she would.

  “Do you like to be watched, Carly?” He dropped down over her back to whisper in her ear, his gaze holding hers in the reflective surface of the window.

  “I—I don’t know. I’ve never done that before.”

  “The weres do it all the time. They fuck like bunnies out where anyone can see them. Usually with most of the pack looking on, critiquing the young ones, the older ones showing off for their audience. Maybe we should join them one night, out in the woods. Would you like that?”

  “I don’t know, Dmitri.” But the idea of it made her hot. He pounded more fiercely within her, driving them both higher as their crisis neared.

  “We’ll save that for another time then.”

  He drew back, standing behind her, his big hands roaming over her backside. One delved down between her legs in front to toy with her clit while the other zeroed in on the crevice between her spread cheeks. His fingers were still slippery from when he’d had them up her pussy, and one slid easily within the tight rosette that had never been invaded by a man.

  She gasped in shock…and rising excitement.

  “Never done that before either?” He must have picked the thought from her mind. Lord knew she was beyond speech at this point. She was so close! A second finger joined that first one, thrusting shallowly into her ass, making her squirm and want to scream. “We’ll have to explore that, Carly. Soon. I can make it so good…” He trailed off as his breathing hitched into high gear. He thrust into her in short, hard digs, his fingers driving her wild.

  And then she exploded. She felt him following her in both mind and body. His climax reflected her own, added to it and multiplied it, reflecting back to him and doing the same until they were in a spiral of bliss, an upward climbing pyramid of pleasure. She wanted it never to end, but as all good things, eventually they reached the pinnacle and began the languorous slide back to themselves, far below. But they were together. As it should be. Now and forevermore.

  She understood in that moment, they were truly One.

  Chapter Eight

  They were drowsing in bed after a protracted bout of lovemaking when Carly’s phone rang. They’d finally made it to her bedroom after a stop in the shower, where he took her up against the wall. By the time he was done with her, she was nearly asleep on her feet, purring with satisfaction. Dmitri smiled at the memory.

  He sat up, leaning back against the headboard to look at the bedside clock. It was about eleven at night—too late for a casual call, but still within the realms of possibility for good friends. Dmitri saw the caller ID and was jolted to full wakefulness. He listened unabashedly to the conversation as Carly spoke with a woman who could be no one other than an old friend. When she hung up a few minutes later, Dmitri thought of delving into her mind to take the information he sought, but he’d promised her he wouldn’t do that.

  “Do you care to tell me why you are receiving calls from another Master’s mate?”

  “Master? You mean Marc is…” He could see her quick mind puzzling through his words. “Holy shit! Marc is a vampire?”

  “As is his mate, I believe, though newly made. It was the talk of the Masters when he took a mortal as wife. I even sent them a gift.” Dmitri chuckled at her look of utter shock. She truly hadn’t known.

  “Kelly is a friend. We went to college together. A group of us formed a study group and we’ve been friends ever since.” Realization dawned on her expressive face. “So that’s why she never joins us for dinner anymore. She only shows up for drinks and only drinks wine. She used to love those fruity drinks with umbrellas, but we figured it was her new husband’s tastes rubbing off on her.”

  “In a manner of speaking.” Dmitri laughed as he drew her into his arms.

  “But then, why does Lissa do the same? Oh my God!” She turned wide eyes to him. “Don’t tell me Atticus Maxwell is a vampire too?”

  Dmitri nearly laughed out loud at her surprise, but he was taken aback at the same time. Why would two women—three now, counting Carly—be vampire mates and close friends? It seemed to defy the odds.

  “Atticus is one of Marc’s oldest friends. And I mean that in the truest sense. Marc is Master of his region, but Atticus is his right hand man. I’ve known them both for many years and have called them friends for almost as long. I’ve even met your friends, Lissa and Kelly, when I was staying at Atticus’s winery a few weeks back. They are lovely women.”

  “You’ve met them? And they’re both…”

  “Both have been turned by their mates, and they are true mates. They share minds as we can.”

  He felt how overwhelmed she was by the news that two of her best friends had become immortal. He soothed her as best he could, all the while planning to contact Marc and Atticus to compare notes. His old friends would no doubt have much to say about a third mate being found among such a tightly knit group of women.

  “So if they’re vampires, does that mean you’ll want me…” she trailed off and he felt her discomfort.

  “I would like it if someday you decided to share immortality with me, Carly, but I wouldn’t ask you to give up the sun lightly. We have time before decisions of that magnitude have to be made. Years, even. So don’t worry about it now. We can go on as we are for quite some time.”

  He knew his words didn’t make her feel that much better, but they did take the edge off her panic. The turmoil of her thoughts, however, wouldn’t be conquered so easily.

  They rolled along at status quo for a while, Dmitri sleeping the day away below ground while Carly inhabited the house above. She enjoyed a few hours of sunlight each day while she continued to put her house to rights. Dmitri would join her each evening after the sun went down and they’d do various things.

  Sometimes he’d help her with the restoration work. Sometimes they’d just sit and talk. They always made love. Usually several times a night and always at those times, the passageway between their minds opened wide for those heart-stopping moments of rapture.

  A few nights after the werewolf had shown up at her door, the moon went full. She heard howls in the distance even before the sun went down as she stood on the porch, rubbing her arms against a chilly wind, looking toward the far pasture. She couldn’t see anyone or anything out there, but she heard them. And it sounded like more were arriving as the sun set in the western sky.

  Dmitri’s arms came around her, instantly warming her. She hadn’t jumped this time. She was getting used to him sneaking up on her as soon as the sun left the horizon. She melted back into him with a sigh.

  “What else is there besides wolves?”

  “Oh, there are shifters of many kinds. Wolves, big cats, even bears. Most of the larger predators have their shifter equivalents. Even some birds of prey. Hawks, eagles and the larger owls.”

  “It must
be amazing to fly.”

  “It is.”

  She turned in his arms, startled by the knowing in his voice. “Can you shift shape?”

  A sexy smile played about his lips as he nodded. “I can. It is something we learn with time, but it is not the same magic the shifters use. From what I’ve heard, they can only take on the form of the animal spirit that shares their soul. We use an altogether different sort of magic. It is hard to master, so only the oldest of us have the skill.”

  “What do you turn into?” She was fascinated by the idea.

  “Just about anything I want. I can replicate the same animal forms as the weres—wolf, panther, the larger birds—but because my change is entirely magical, I can also become creatures of legend.”

  “Like a dragon?”

  “That’s one of my favorites.” His eyes sparkled. “I can also do partial shifts. My hands into claws, for example.”

  He held out one hand in front of her and let it change. Gleaming, dark claws slid out from the tips of his fingers making her jump. Then the claw turned back into his hand, and she breathed easier once more.

  “That’s…startling.”

  “Isn’t it?” he murmured, rocking her back against him. The cool night air washed around them, cocooning them in its inky darkness.

  “What do you use that sort of skill for?” She almost dreaded his answer.

  “Combat,” came the terse reply. “Every once in a while, a man is called upon to fight. Masters are challenged and the only answer to such a challenge is a show of strength. Such fights are to the death, and there are no rules as to how the battle is conducted once engaged.”

  “That’s barbaric.”

  “It’s the way things have been done among my kind for thousands of years. It has never changed, and I doubt it ever will. We are ancient creatures that live by an ancient standard. It probably does seem barbaric by modern standards, but it is simpler by far than your bureaucracy of laws. Not to say there are no laws. That’s why we have Masters in each region. My word is law and my lieutenants and I uphold the ancient laws of our kind. We police ourselves—which is another instance when partial shifts can come in handy. There are no jails that can hold us. Many infractions call for a death sentence and a quick death by combat is seen as more humane than staking someone out in the sun to die slowly. That is reserved for only the basest monsters. Usually we catch up with rogues before they earn that kind of punishment.”