Eternal Breath of Darkness (36 page)

“Playing stupid
doesn’t suit you. Don’t you dare think for a minute you can lie to me!” Mia
lifted her chin boldly, and her turquoise eyes blazed with fury as she stared
into his eyes. She was so damn hot. Her long, dark blonde curls were
disheveled. Her skin was just slightly flushed. “I know damn well what the hell
you’re capable of doing with your mind!”

He’d never
wanted or needed a woman as much, and there was little doubt she’d give herself
to him if he put even an ounce of effort into seducing her. Putting on his most
innocent face, figuring it would calm her, he stared at her. “You’re right,
Mia. I could cause you to feel this.” He paused. As confused as she was, he
would never forgive himself if he took advantage of her being in heat. “But I
would never do this to you, to us.”

It had happened
without warning. Joseph couldn’t help but wonder what had brought it on. He
shrugged it off. At least she wasn’t suffering rage induced by morphine.
Suddenly, however, it dawned on him Eli Thomas’ presence in town could be to
blame for her symptoms. How could he shrug that off? Stupid question. He
couldn’t. The idea that Mia being in heat was proof of her belonging to the
alpha wolf truly pissed Joseph off. He wouldn’t give her up to any other man.
She belonged to him. Some dark, ugly emotion swirled in his gut. Jealousy? Oh,
yeah. He was jealous as hell.

“Us? Do you mean
as in together?” She laughed out loud. “It. Is. Never. Happening. And do not
lie to me, Joseph. Tell me what you were doing with Larissa.” Her entire body,
covered with a glistening sheen, was trembling with pent-up sexual frustration
and anger.

Ha! He struggled
to keep a straight face. He wasn’t the only one overcome with jealousy. “We
were working. I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate with her.”

She shook her
head. “This is not natural. I know this isn’t me.” He felt her reach out to him
and merge her mind with his to share what she was feeling. Her flesh was
inflamed. Her muscles ached. She felt restless. Her skin was ultra sensitive.
She was further aroused every time she moved and her clothing rubbed against
it. Her body was desperately aching for release, and she was at a complete loss
for a rational reason for what she was experiencing. “I know this isn’t me,
Joseph.”

“I know you’re
feeling uncomfortable and you’re confused. But you’re going to be okay.” He
dropped his voice, attempting to use a compulsion. “Come here to me, Mia.” He
held out his hand. “And I will help you.”

“Damn it,
Joseph!” Mia covered her ears with her hands. “Damn you! Don’t do that …
that thing with your voice! It won’t work! And stay the hell out of my head!”
Shaking her head slightly, she squinted. He knew that in fighting his attempt
to use a compulsion she was hurting herself. “I bet you think you can help me
real good, don’t you?” She slowly, clenching and unclenching her fists at her
sides, moved toward him.

Joseph’s dragon
lifted its head and roared for the right to claim, to possess his mate. It
caught him off guard. It shouldn’t be happening; she wasn’t his mate. “I need
your help. I need you to calm down, Mia.” He struggled to hold the dragon back,
but he was slowly losing control.

“Go to hell!”
She was a predator stalking its prey—and he was the prey. “It’s all about sex
to you. That’s why you’re doing this to me. You want me to screw you, right?”

That brought his
eyebrows up even as the dragon, demanding his mate, tore at his soul. She
certainly had a way with words when she was pissed off. If it had been all
about sex he would’ve taken her. “No … I mean, yes. I want to be with you
in every way possible.” He saw no reason to deny the obvious. “But I would
never use my power to force you to want me. Come here. Come closer to me, Mia.
Let me help you find relief.”

Her eyes went
wide with what appeared to be outrage. “You’ve gone too far this time, Joseph.
I trusted you. Does that mean anything to you?” He didn’t bother to respond,
for he knew she wasn’t looking for an answer. She was venting. Plus, he needed
to focus. His entire body was shaking with the effort it took to keep his
nature in check. “I even started to like you … a little bit. A very little
bit. You don’t have any right to do this to me.”

Her focus
shifted, and she was silent for several moments. He was shocked by the dark,
gruesome visions of her tearing Larissa to shreds that filled her mind as her
eyes focused on back door again. “You tried to hide her from me.” She turned
her gaze to his. “What were you doing with her?”

Whether or not
she was looking for an answer, he was giving it this time. “I’ve absolutely no
desire for Larissa at all. She is my company’s VP. That is it. She means
nothing to me. If I’ve failed to show you that you’re the only woman I want and
need in my life, forgive me.” He’d been tempted, but he wasn’t dumb enough to
even attempt to deny Larissa had been in the room. “I will hand it all over to
her. I will walk away from this place.” He meant it; he saw no reason for Mia
to be jealous or to feel threatened by Larissa in any way. As far as he was
concerned no other woman was more beautiful, more desirable than Mia. He would
never allow anything to cause Mia to doubt his devotion for her.

Looking lost and
confused, she blinked up at him as she pushed her hand through her long, dark
blonde curls. “No.” Frowning, she drew her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed
on it. “You can’t walk away from your life for me.”

Her deep
emotional pain and confusion slammed into him as if he’d been physically
punched in the gut. “I can and I will.” He rolled his shoulders in slow, casual
shrug. “You are my life. This place means nothing to me. You’re all that
matters to me, Mia.”

“No. Don’t do
it. It’s not right.” Breathing heavily, she paused for several seconds. “I’m
not right.” He knew she felt betrayed by him, but it had nothing to do with
Larissa. It had everything to do with the persistent, uncomfortable ache in her
body and the confusion in her mind. “Please, Joseph, you have to reverse
whatever it was you’ve done to make me feel like this. I can’t stand it.” Her
voice was such a soft whisper that even with his supernatural hearing he had to
focus to hear her words.

“I love you with
every ounce of my being. I would never do anything to cause you to feel so
troubled. It’s not me.” Holding out his hand for her to take, he took a slow,
cautious step toward her. “Come here to me, Mia.” He made sure his voice was as
calm and as soothing as possible, but it was still a command. “Trust me. Let me
help you.”

“I’m sure you
would love the chance.” Shaking her head slightly, she gave him a look of
disgust. “But it is not happening. Not today. Not ever.” Lifting her lip, she
snarled at him. “Don’t lie to me. I know it’s you.” Posturing for a fight, she
took a step back and to the side.

Sexual
frustration was serious matter for a female werewolf in heat. She was planning
to kick his ass because she was insane with hunger. He felt her gathering herself,
gathering her strength in preparation to attack him. This was no game; if he
didn’t convince her that he wasn’t causing her symptoms she was going to rip
him to pieces.

Tilting his head
to the side, narrowing his gaze, he stared at her mouth. She wanted to sink her
teeth into him. Her razor-sharp canines were slightly elongated. It was a
shocking sight, but not as shocking as the realization that her canines were
quite a turn on. He’d seen the wolf in her eyes on occasion when she was mad or
felt threatened, but he’d never seen any sign of her turning. The fever in her
radiated heat from her flesh. If she touched him, if he touched her, they would
go up in flames of volcanic lust. Her wolf clawed at her insides needing …
no. Not needing. It was demanding to be let loose.

“Come here to
me, Mia.” Every hot, luscious, feminine inch of her body was calling out to
him, needing him to ease her suffering. Every muscle in his body, every fiber
of his being, reacted to her need, though he fought to contain his physical
longing for her. “Let me help you.” He purposely kept his voice low in hopes of
using it to compel her to relax and place her trust in him.

“You?” She
rolled her eyes. “Help me?” Glaring up at him, her cheeks bright red with
mounting anger and frustration, she shook her head. “I’m not an idiot, Joseph.
I know damn well you’re the cause of it.”

A small moment
of silence followed. He wondered if he should lie and admit to causing it, but
he quickly decided against it. She would never trust him if she believed he
would use his power to do something vile to get down her pants.

“Just make it
stop, Joseph.”

“I will make it
stop, but I will never admit to causing it.” It was quite possible she would
take the form of her wolf the moment she attacked him. If that happened now
while she was angry and confused, she would be difficult to handle. It wouldn’t
be impossible. He’d fought many werewolves in past, but it had always been
while engaged in life-and-death battles. He’d never worried about injuring one;
he’d always determined to kill them as quickly as possible. He could easily
hurt her without even trying to—and that was something he wasn’t willing to
risk.

Searching for
the right words, the right actions to defuse her temper, he didn’t take his
gaze from hers. He ached to wrap his arms around her and just hold her, to
comfort her. However, he knew such intimate physical contact would likely cause
to her be further aroused, and as a result she would become enraged. “I didn’t
do anything to you, Mia.” And yet, he craved to do so much more to her, with
her. He needed to at least take her hand, but he actually feared the thought of
touching her at all—and not because his body was so damn aroused; he was more
concerned with his dragon being equally aroused.

Her beautiful,
hungry eyes slowly drifted from his face down to his crotch and lingered there
for a few endless seconds. Damn. She most certainly had a remarkable talent for
throwing him off balance. It felt as if her gaze had reached out and physically
touched him, caressed him, as if her fingers played over his ultra-sensitive
flesh. When her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, his breath caught in
this throat and his cock swelled and hardened even more. He knew he was in
serious trouble, and she was in serious trouble if he didn’t find the strength
to force some of the blood rushing south to reverse direction and head north to
his brain.

When she finally
looked up to meet his gaze, he expected a full-fledged, ‘get your ass kicked in
a bad way’ attack. The last thing he’d been prepared for was the first thing he
should’ve predicted. As always, Mia did the unforeseen. She rushed him and,
with a burst of lycan strength, took him down onto the floor.

Taken aback, he
forgot to shift with her to another location. He stared up at her, his breath
rushed in and out of his lungs. Matching the rhythm of her heart, his heart
thundered in his chest. She was lost in a storm of lust. And so was he. Her
emotions were spinning out of control as if caught up in the unstoppable winds
of tornado. All rational thought was being hurled around in the swirling mass
of carnal needs. In her mind he found raw, insatiable hunger that refused to be
denied. And that hunger was contagious. He didn’t have the ability to push it
aside. Her need for him simply increased his need for her. He knew he should do
or say something to stop her, but knowing wasn’t enough to convince him do
anything that would cause her to remove the weight of her body from his or
remove her legs from straddling his waist.

For a few
seconds, she sat motionless, her gaze not once wavering from his. He’d never
even imagined a more exquisite woman. From the moment he’d first taken her hand
at the cemetery six months ago, she’d become as essential to him as the air he
breathed. For many years he thought he would never find a love as strong and as
pure as her love. Now, he couldn’t fathom a life without her. He never wanted
to try.

Too afraid to
move, to touch her, to do anything that might stop her, he kept his fists clenched
as his sides. He watched. He waited. He hoped for more. The sight of her on top
of him, looking down at him with so much love and lust in her eyes, stole his
breath away. It was his perfect fantasy made reality. He’d never experienced
anything nearly as glorious until she reached down to touch him.

Her fingers
never stopped touching his body, moving over him, exploring him with such
obvious fascination and hunger that he was trembling with pleasure, with
anticipation for more. “I really want to hate you right now, Joseph. I can’t
believe I’m burning up for you like this. I’m going crazy. I’m not even sure of
what to do with you.” Moving slowly, she leaned down, stretching her body over
his. “I’ve never needed anything more than I need you right now. I have to
touch you.”

Her breath was
deliciously hot against his skin as her lips moved from the base of his throat
to his jaw. “Oh, damn, Mia.” Closing his eyes, he savored the sensation of her
mouth and tongue playing over his skin. He knew he needed to stop her. “Mia.”
Her name came out sounding like a strangled groan. Her teeth gently teased his
chin, jaw, neck, and ear. “Wait.” Nothing inside him wanted to detour her from
touching him. How the hell was he going to regain control of his body’s demand
for her?

“I feel alive
when I’m with you.” Her fingers worked on unknotting his tie until she’d pulled
it off. She framed his face with her hands. “Look at me, Joseph.” He opened his
eyes. “Stop holding back. I need you to touch my body, every part of my body.
Lose control with me. I need to feel every inch of your skin against mine. Need
me, burn for me like I’m burning up for you.” Her mouth felt heavenly in the
most sinful of ways feeding on him as her fingers worked to undo his shirt
buttons. “Touch me, Joseph.”