Dark Hunter 00 - Dark Bites (Novellas) Read Online Free PDF Page B

took every ounce of self-control he had to placate himself with just this tiny part of her.
    Pulling back, he stared down at her beautiful face.
    She opened her eyes and for the first time, he saw real emotion in those golden depths. Her eyes flared before she cupped his head in her hands and pulled him back for another sizzling kiss.
    Bathymaas knew she should release him. It would be the smart thing to do, and yet…
    She wanted to possess him in a way she couldn’t comprehend. More than that, she wanted to push him back and straddle him. To run her hands all over his body, and she had no idea why. While she’d occasionally seen animals have sex, she’d never really thought about it. It was what they did to have offspring.
    But right now, she wanted him inside her. It was as if her body starved for him the way her stomach craved food.
    And she had no idea why.
    Did he feel that, too?
    Forcing herself to withdraw, she tried to steady her breathing as she looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “Is this emotion, Aricles?”
    “It is for me, goddess.”
    “What do you feel?”
    “Hunger, my lady. Possessiveness. Tenderness.” Love. But he didn’t dare say that out loud. He’d already made that mistake with a woman. “Most of all, protective and caring.”
    Bathymaas looked down at her arms and the strange bumps that always came to her whenever he was near. “What are these?”
    “Chills.”
    She ran her hand over his biceps. “You have them, too. Do you also want to touch me?”
    “I do, my lady.”
    “And yet you don’t.”
    “I told you I wouldn’t dishonor you. I would sooner die than cause you any harm.”
    Her vision clouded and her throat tightened as he spoke. She blinked several times, but instead of getting clearer, her vision worsened and something wet fell down her cheeks. “What is this? Am I going blind?”
    With a tender expression, he lifted his hand and gently brushed his thumb against her face. “They’re called tears.”
    “Why do I have them?”
    He tenderly dried her cheeks. “Whenever something hurts inside you or something touches your heart they can manifest unexpectedly.”
    Frowning, she looked down and lifted the Egyptian amulet from between her breasts. “But my heart is here. Nothing has touched it.”
    Biting back a smile at her innocence, Aricles placed a single finger between her breasts. “No, my lady, your heart is in here.” But as he spoke the words, he realized she didn’t have a heartbeat. He scowled.
    She held her amulet out to him. “I’m not like you, Ari. When I was a child, I discovered that those who are born to mothers have hearts and heartbeats and that I do not. I asked my father about it and he gave me this amulet and said that it contains his heart that he lost to me the moment I was created. He said it holds his love for me and that even though I’d never understand what love is, that so long as I wore my amulet, I’d have a piece of him with me to keep me safe in his absence. This is my heart.” Her frown deepened at the happy expression that brightened his face. “Why do you smile like that?”
    “Because you now have two hearts, my lady. Your father’s and mine.”
    She still didn’t understand what he meant. Placing her hand to his chest, she felt his heart beating. “Yours is like my father’s. Strong.”
    “Even so, hearts are fragile and easily broken.”
    “How?”
    “It doesn’t take much. When you love someone, a single tear,” he wiped away another of hers, “or frown can shatter a heart. And if something happens to the one you’ve given your heart to, their loss can break it into so many pieces that it never heals again.”
    Her jaw went slack. “Then it’s a good thing you gave yours to me to keep. For I can never die or be harmed.”
    His smile widened. “I am lucky, indeed.”
    “And this physical side of love… is it important?”
    “No. Love can endure without it.”
    “Are you sure?”
    Aricles nodded as he