“I’ll manage not to strangle you.”
“That’s my guy.”
He snorted. “This is payback, isn’t it? You want to torture me.”
With a smile, she pulled down his underwear, and his penis sprang free. Her breath caught. He was huge. And gloriously erect. All his male parts were completely engaged, so this was the perfect time to attempt to heal his seed. After a few minutes of therapy, she would bring him to climax and test his control of his fangs.
She cupped his balls and gave them a squeeze. Then she wrapped her other hand around his rigid staff. He hissed in a breath. A bead of moisture seeped from the crown, and she rubbed it with her thumb. He did look like he was ready to explode. She’d have to hurry.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the healing ability deep inside her. It rushed down her arms, settling into her fingers with a familiar tingle.
He shuddered beneath her. No doubt he was feeling a slight vibration. She increased her power, then opened herself to take away any illness inside him.
With a rush, his sensations swept up her arms to her chest. She gasped, her eyes opening wide. This wasn’t illness. Instantly she was shocked with a powerful, electric current of raw desire and desperation. It shot down to her core and ignited a series of spasms that rocked her so hard that she cried out and fell back onto the bed.
With a hoarse shout, Zoltan jolted beside her and climaxed.
Slowly her heart stopped thundering. Her core stopped throbbing. Her eyes focused, and she saw Zoltan sitting beside her. He’d taken her discarded towel and was wiping himself clean.
She sat up. “Are you all right?”
He glanced at her, and with a gasp, she scooted back. His fangs were out.
“I’m not going to bite you.” He tossed the towel on the floor. “I didn’t expect to lose control. I never have before, but that was the biggest damned orgasm I’ve ever had. What did you do?”
“I was trying to heal you.” She winced. “I thought I was taking in your pain, but I . . . I think I shared your climax.”
He snorted. “You more than shared it. You amplified it.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
He laughed, and his fangs slid back into place. “Nothing to be sorry about. Damn. That was intense.” He laughed again. “That’s one hell of a gift you have. God, I’m starving.” He hurried to the box that contained his bottles of blood and guzzled one down.
He set the empty bottle back into the box and opened a second one. “I know I should be cuddling you and reminding you how much I love you, but under the circumstances, I think I’d better make sure I’m not hungry.”
She smiled, knowing he was doing his best to protect her.
He drank half the second bottle, then gave her a wry look. “If I can survive a mega-climax like that without biting you, then I think you can consider yourself safe. Do you trust me now?”
Her gaze drifted over him as he stood there gloriously naked, sipping blood from a bottle. “Yes.”
He smiled, then drank some more.
She pulled the sheet up to her chest, then lounged back against the pillows, enjoying the view and the sleepy hum of satisfaction that still tingled along the length of her body. “Could you teleport me somewhere tomorrow?”
“Sure.” He took another sip. “Where would you like to go? Paris? Venice? My castle in Transylvania?”
She shook her head. “A Buddhist monastery about thirty miles from here.”
“Ah. You want to see your sister’s son.” He screwed the top back on the bottle. “Do you think he inherited a gift?”
“It doesn’t matter if he did or didn’t. He’s still my nephew. And if he’ll accept me, I hope to become his mother.” She bit her lip, wondering how Zoltan would react to that.
His eyes softened. “You’ll be an excellent mother.”
Her heart squeezed. How could she not love this man? A wave of peaceful drowsiness swept over her. Life was good. “If Minerva’s son has a gift, I’ll know with one look at him. I should have known you were gifted with your amber eyes, but it never occurred to me that men could be gifted.”
“What do you mean?” He approached the bed and sat down beside her.
“You have the same-colored eyes as Tashi and Lydia.” Neona yawned and settled deeper into bed. “It’s a sign that you can communicate with animals. Freya’s eyes are green, which means she can make plants grow and flourish.”
“Then your blue eyes mean you’re a healer?”
Neona nodded. “Calliope had blue eyes like me.”
“And your mother has golden eyes.”
“Winifred, too.” Neona yawned again and closed her eyes. “They can communicate with winged creatures.”
“Go ahead and sleep.” He kissed her brow. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, she thought as she drifted off. With Zoltan, she could have an eternity of tomorrows.
It was near dawn when Zoltan’s superior hearing caught the sound of voices outside. He’d spent the last few hours cuddling Neona in bed, listening to her soft breathing while she slept. The rain had stopped, so apparently the women had left the cave. That meant he might have a chance to sneak inside the cave before the sun rose.
He quickly dressed and slipped an empty bottle into his jacket pocket. Then he teleported behind Neona’s house and peered around the corner.
In the dim moonlight, he spotted the queen, Lydia, Tashi, and the pet snow leopard by the central fire pit, which was now a heap of wet ashes. Winifred and Freya emerged from the storeroom, their arms filled with dry firewood and kindling. They dropped their load onto the fire pit.
It seemed obvious they were going to start a new fire. And probably cook breakfast. Zoltan glanced over at the cave entrance. This was his best chance to go inside.
Just as he was about to teleport, a figure ran from the cave. Zoltan stiffened with surprise. It was a boy. In Beyul-La? Weren’t males forbidden here?
The queen greeted the boy with a smile and a hug. What the hell? Why was this boy welcome here, when Minerva’s son had been given away?
The women discussed something in Tibetan. Zoltan couldn’t understand, but it was clear they were giving the boy encouraging words and smiles. He nodded, then closed his eyes as if he was concentrating. He took a few deep breaths, then opened his eyes and mouth. A streak of fire shot from his mouth, striking the firewood and setting it ablaze.
Zoltan gasped. Luckily, the sound wasn’t heard. The women were too busy clapping and congratulating the boy. The queen gave him another hug.
What the bloody hell? Zoltan pressed back against the stone wall, his mind racing. Who was this boy? Did he live in the cave? Didn’t the leopard tell him that males weren’t allowed in the cave?
Human males. Shit! Of course the boy wasn’t human. What human could breathe fire?
The first tug of death-sleep pulled at Zoltan. That meant he had about seven minutes before sunrise. He could figure this mess out later. For now, he’d better take his chance at getting inside the cave.
He teleported to the entrance and peered inside. No one in sight. The giant room was lit with a few torches slid into brackets on the cave walls. Light flickered over the glistening pink- and-cream-colored stalactites that extended from the high ceiling.
He eased inside. Far to the left, he spotted a stash of weapons and armor. The new swords and arrows he’d given them were there. In the center, a large throne chair sat. Toward the back, he noted the dark, glimmering pool. The Living Water trickled from a fissure in the rock wall, then fell into the pool below.
He squatted beside the pool and filled his bottle. As he screwed the top back on, he heard a voice outside. The queen. Was she bringing the mysterious boy back?
He looked around, wondering where the boy lived. There, on the far side of the pool, a narrow corridor led into the heart of the mountain.
With vampire speed, he rushed down the corridor. It grew darker, but with his superior night vision, he could see the sudden turn to his left, then another to the right.
He stopped, his mouth dropping open. The room before him was dimly lit with a few torches. And it was huge. The size of several soccer fields. So many stalactites were growing across the wide expanse of the ceiling that it resembled a giant upside-down forest.
He eased inside. Was this where the boy lived? Zoltan circled to the right, staying close to the wall and hiding behind the stalagmites that lined the perimeter of the huge cavern. Apparently, any other stalagmites had been knocked down, for the vast expanse of the floor was smooth.