“No. You’re . . . lovely.” A tear tumbled down her cheek, and he caught it with his thumb.

“Pam.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She sighed sweetly against him, a sign of surrender, so he gathered her in his arms and kissed her thoroughly. By the time he was done, she was clinging to him and breathless.

“Mikhail,” she whispered, leaning against his chest.

He rubbed a hand down her back. No undergarments that he could feel. Was she naked beneath her nightclothes? His groin twitched. “Pam, I want you.”

With a gasp, she stepped back. “Really? You-you mean, tonight?”

“Yes. We have less than thirty minutes, but—”

“Oh, that’s fine.” She waved a hand. “Ten minutes is usually quite enough for me.”

“Ten?” Ten hours could hardly suffice. Not when he’d wanted her for almost two hundred years.

“Yes.” She pressed a hand to her chest and blushed. “I daresay this is rather exciting.”

His vision turned pink. “We haven’t actually started yet, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

Her eyes widened at the sight of his eyes, now red and glowing. “Good heavens.” She glanced around the room. “Do you mind if I make myself comfortable on your bed?”

His groin tightened. “Be my guest.”

“Thank you. And if you could retire to another room— perhaps upstairs?”

“Excuse me?”

“I prefer to be alone.”

His vision popped back to normal. “What?”

She winced. “I suppose I’ll have to explain. You see, I . . .” She blushed. “This is rather embarrassing, but I don’t like anyone to see me when I reach that . . . certain moment. I have an unfortunate tendency to thrash about.”

He stifled a grin. “You . . . thrash?”

“In a most unseemly manner.” She ducked her head, her blush deepening.

“I want to see that.”

She gasped. “No! Absolutely not! Just because we’re having sex, it doesn’t mean you can invade my privacy!”

“What?” She wanted to have sex in two different rooms? Oh, hell no. He gave her an incredulous look. “Are you talking about vampire sex?”

She huffed. “Of course. We’re vampires, aren’t we?”

“We’re a man and a woman.”

“Obviously.” She waved a dismissive hand. “But surely you agree that vampire sex is the only dignified way—”

“To hell with dignity. I want you naked. With me.”

With a gasp, she stepped back. “But—but mortal sex is so . . . so . . .”

“Barbaric?”

“Invasive.” She retreated another step. “You-you would expect to touch me.”

“That’s only the beginning.” He stepped toward her. “I plan to caress you and kiss you and taste you all over. I want to hear you moan and scream. I want to see your face when you climax.” His mouth curled up. “And I damn well want to see you thrash about.”

“Good heavens,” she whispered.

He gathered her into his arms and kissed her brow. “Let me make love to you.”

“This is so much more than I expected.” She splayed her hands on his chest. “I would be so . . . vulnerable.”

“No more than I.”

She gazed at him in wonder. “You’re so fierce. How could I possibly make you vulnerable?”

“Pam, you have my heart.”

She touched his cheek. “Oh, Mikhail.”

“Is that a yes?”

When she nodded, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his bed.

Chapter Six

“I HAVEN’T DONE it like this in ages,” Pamela whispered, as he untied the sash on her silk wrapper.

“It’s been a while for me, too.” Mikhail peeled back the wrapper to reveal the sheer nightgown she’d worn underneath. “I can see through this.” He brushed his fingers over a nipple.

She gasped, and her skin pebbled beneath the sheer fabric.

His mouth curled up. “Naughty woman, I think you came here to seduce me.”

She had, but with vampire sex in mind. She was getting more than she had bargained for. Her breath caught when he unbuttoned her nightgown with vampire speed.

“I wish we could spend hours on this, but we’re short on time.” He lifted her into a sitting position.

“I understand.” Even so, she felt extremely self-conscious when he slipped her wrapper and nightgown off her shoulders. He was very careful with her wounded arm, but it hardly registered. She could only think that her bare breasts were now exposed to his red and glowing eyes. No one had seen her naked since her late husband two hundred years ago.

And no one had confessed to loving her, either, in all that time. “I-I saw how you felt when our minds were connected.” Would he say the words out loud? She would feel much more at ease if he did.

He said nothing, only pushed her back onto the bed and tugged her clothes down her hips and legs.

She covered her eyes, imagining his glowing eyes examining every inch of her body. What would he do next? Would he invade her without warning, like Max had done? And then after a few uncomfortable thrusts, it would all be over.

For the first time, she wondered if her late husband had been a selfish lover. She’d been completely innocent up to the wedding, so she’d had no one to compare him to. She only knew that in recent years, she’d enjoyed vampire sex more than anything he had done.

“Pam?”

She peeked between her fingers and found Mikhail stretched out beside her, studying her face.

His cheek dimpled. “Why are you hiding? Don’t you know how beautiful you are?”

She lowered her hands. “I feel so exposed.”

“You are.” He brushed her hair back from her brow. “And I love you more than ever.”

Her heart swelled. “Oh, Mikhail.” She touched his face, and blond whiskers tickled her fingertips. “I never knew you felt that way. Why did you keep it a secret?”

“You’re so beautiful, I assumed you were selfish and vain like my late wife.” He grimaced. “You should slap me for being a fool. I lost so much time when I could have been loving you.”

She traced the outline of his strong jaw, then brushed a finger over his beautifully sculpted lips. “We can still have centuries together.”

The red in his eyes darkened. “Good. For once I have claimed you, I will not give you up.”

Her heart felt like it would burst with longing. “Mikhail.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed her tenderly and thoroughly till she grew comfortably relaxed with him, warm and pliant. Then his hands began to roam. And his mouth. The comfortable feeling quickly flamed into a fiery passion that sizzled through her veins, making her hot and frantic.

He was true to his word, kissing and tasting her all over. She moaned as he suckled on her breasts, gasped when his fingers discovered the wet heat between her legs.

He did things with his fingers she had never imagined. Soon she was thrashing about and not even caring. And when he burrowed his head between her legs, she cried out in shock. How barbaric! How . . . wonderfully wild. She writhed beneath him till she shattered with the strongest climax she’d ever experienced.

She was still pulsating with aftershocks when she felt the first tug of death-sleep. The sun was rising, and they were running out of time.

“Mikhail,” she panted, reaching for him. He’d spent all their time pleasuring her. How could she not love such a dear man?

“Damn sun.” He ripped off his pants and settled between her legs.

She gasped. He was huge. But even as fierce and powerful as he was, he couldn’t keep the sun from rising. Another tug of death-sleep pulled at her.

He collapsed beside her and pulled her into his arms, his erection pressed against her stomach. “Tomorrow, you will be mine.”

A sharp pain squeezed her chest as death-sleep claimed her. Tomorrow, she thought, as she fell into darkness.

THEY BOTH JOLTED awake at the same time.

Pam stared into his face, only inches away, and the enormity of her actions stole her breath away. She’d given herself to a man she hardly knew. True, the sex had been beyond her wildest imaginings, but she’d done more than have sex. She’d given him her heart.

His mouth curled up as his eyes turned red. “Shall we pick up where we left off?”

With a gasp, she felt his manhood swelling against her belly. “I-I should eat first. I’m quite peckish when I awaken.”

“Then bite me.” He pulled his hair over one shoulder to expose his neck.

She gulped. She’d never bitten a vampire before. Not even her late husband. And Mikhail was six hundred years old. No doubt his blood would be extremely rich and powerful. It was shocking that he’d even offer it to her.

What a sweet and generous man he was. No wonder she’d fallen for him so quickly. Still, it was frightening to think how vulnerable she was now. “Don’t—don’t you have some bottles in your fridge?”

“Yes.” He tickled her breasts with the tail end of his hair. “But I want to keep you in bed all night.”

“Don’t we have a mission to go on?”

“We’ll take the night off.” He kissed her mouth, then trailed kisses down her neck to her breasts.

She shivered when he drew a nipple into his mouth. How could she resist such a man? But if he claimed her, he would never let her go. He’d said so himself.

A frisson of panic skittered through her. Was she ready for this? Mikhail might have waited two hundred years for this, but for her, it had only been a few nights. “I-I should go home to . . . freshen up.”

“It’s still daylight there.” He shifted to the other breast.

Oh, bother. He was right. It would be a few hours before she could teleport to London. “I should have brought my costume with me.”

“It’s missing a sleeve.” He nibbled a path to her belly button.

She shivered. “I have a spare.”

He lifted his head. “A what?”

“A spare costume. And another box of ninja stars.” She gasped as a hunger pain cramped her stomach.

“Here.” He offered his wrist.

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to weaken you before our mission.”

“There is no mission.”

“You mean you finished destroying the human-trafficking ring last night?”

“No, I mean you won’t be doing any more missions.”

“What?” Another hunger pain seized her, doubling her over.

“Wait.” He jumped out of bed, and returned a few seconds later with a bottle of Blardonnay and two glasses. He filled a glass and handed it to her.

She guzzled it down fast.

“Better?” He refilled her glass.

She nodded and drank some more. As the pain subsided, she let her gaze wander over him. She’d been too overwhelmed with passion the night before to get a good look at him. He was beautiful, golden and muscular. He drank from his glass, his head tilted back, his long hair loose down his back.

She stroked a hand down his hair, and a wave of desire swept over her. It would be so easy, so tempting to fall back against the pillows and let him make love to her.

But he’d said she wouldn’t be going on any more missions.

He set his empty glass on the bedside table, then reached for her. “Where were we?”

“I’m afraid we were about to quarrel.”

His mouth twitched. “I thought we were going to make love.” He leaned toward her to kiss her.

She stopped him with a palm against his chest. “You said I couldn’t go on any more missions.”

“Pam.” He brushed her hair over her shoulders. “You’re not trained well enough for battle.”

“I disagree. I studied at the premier fencing academy in London. And I took classes three nights every week at a martial-arts—”

“You’re not ready. You were wounded last night.” His hand skimmed over her bandage. “There’s no need for you to risk yourself.”

She scooted back. “There is a need. I explained it to you before. I thought you understood.”

“I do understand. You wanted to prove that you wouldn’t abandon your friends. You did that. You showed us how brave you are.”

“Once isn’t enough! I don’t intend to scurry back to my parlor and embroider handkerchiefs for another hundred years. This is the new me—VampWoman!”

His jaw shifted. “The new you will end up getting killed.”

“I will not. The other women fight evil, so I can, too. Jack lets Lara help out. Olivia assists Robby. And Emma does things, too.”

“Lara was a police officer; Olivia was with the FBI; and Emma was with the CIA. They have years of training. If you want to go about this safely, you will join MacKay S and I and get the training you need. But even then, if you’re not ready for battle, you will not be allowed to fight. I know for a fact that Lara and Olivia do not engage in vampire battles. They work more in the area of investigation.”

With a sigh, Pam reached for her wrapper. “I did apply at MacKay S and I. Six months ago. They turned me down.”

Mikhail sat back. “I didn’t know.”

She slipped on the wrapper. “That’s when I decided to be a free agent and take care of my own training. I suppose if you won’t let me fight with you, I’ll have to go solo.”

“What?” He grabbed her arm. “Are you suicidal?”