NocC 004 - The Ancients 03 - Bonnie Vanak - Hunted by the Jaguar - Harlequin 2011-12 Read Online Free PDF Page B

swirled. Ariana wrapped her arms around him as his tongue rasped over her swollen nipple.
    He released her nipple with a small sucking sound. Carnal delight faded as he straightened, rubbing a thumb over her jaw.
    “I look at an angel, but what I see is a woman capable of deep passion,” he murmured in his deep velvet voice. “If I dare to bring such an angel to ruin, then damn me for it.”
    Daimon kissed her again, his hands sliding over her trembling body. With wild abandon, she kissed him back. Something dark and sinfully delicious rose within her.
    Give in, it chanted. Nothing wrong with this, with passion, surrender …
    Her eyes flew open. She shoved at his chest, sending him flying backward.
    Not passion, but purpose carved into the hard planes and edges of his handsome face.
    “You nearly seduced me.” Trembling with fury, she clenched her fingers, resisting the temptation to shove him again.
    “You were a willing participant, Ariana.”
    He didn’t care about her needs, her wants. “All you want is sex. And you only want sex with me to take my darkness and use it! I’m half-demon, and I can’t even control my powers. What makes you think you can?”
    Daimon watched her with a guarded look. “I’m an Ancient. I have the means to balance my powers and subdue darkness.”
    “You’re a bastard.” She went to strike him, but he caught her wrist.
    “I do what I must for my people.” Daimon pulled her to him. “I didn’t do it simply out of need, Ariana. I want you in my bed. I want you.”
    Thoughts raced through her mind. She must end this now, because he possessed the ability to daze common sense and make her body sing with pleasure….
    Sing.
    Deliberately, she relaxed her body. Ariana ran her nails over his hard chest. “How much do you want me?”
    The sultry purr made his pupils widen. “Very much so.” He gave a heavy-lidded assessment of her half-dressed state, the nipples still rigid with pleasure. “Your body fuels my passion.”
    As he bent his head, his sculpted mouth hovering over hers, she parted her lips. As if to invite him inside.
    Instead, she began to sing. The soft tune coming from her mouth was barely a whisper of music. But enough.
    Daimon blinked. Drew away. He slapped his face, as if trying to stay awake. Anger replaced his sexy smile. “Dammit, Ariana…”
    She shoved him again, this time onto the sofa. “Singing fuels my passion. Honey.”
    “Would…never…hurt you. Force…you.”
    Daimon’s eyes fluttered closed. He gave a catlike yawn, stretched out. Soon, he was fast asleep.
    Just as he’d been last time they’d made love. Ariana stopped singing.
    Ariana fastened the bra and the flannel shirt, looking over her shoulder at her sleeping lover. One hand tossed over his head, he looked sexy and lethal.
    Ignoring the pang at his deception, she grabbed a sheepskin jacket from the hall closet. The sleeves dripped over her hands, but she rolled them up. Silent as his jaguar, she crept out the front door.
    Clouds scudded over a leaden sky as she ran, breath heaving in and out of her lungs. Forcing her legs to piston, Ariana raced for the gate. The wood posts looked innocuous, free of the deadly charge.
    Biting her lip against the shock of electricity, she touched the gate.
    Nothing. Her singing had neutralized it.
    If the demon inside her prohibited her from leaving, the white light surely must allow her to pass through the gate. Ariana closed her eyes and summoned all the white light inside her. She thought of her mother’s love, wrapping it around her in a cloak of serenity.
    Forcing away any droplet of darkness, pushing it into a shadowy recess.
    White light hummed inside her, singing with power. Ariana opened her eyes, unfastened the gate. She swung it open. Her jaw dropped.
    Gray light pulsed in a small vertical opening, as if accessing the world beyond. She could do this.
    With a determined push, she wedged her body through the slit. Pressure squeezed her body