Spade ignored Denise's stunned whisper to put her down. "I thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen," he called out. "Even though I take my leave of you, please, stay as long as you wish. I look forward to seeing all of you again soon."

Denise felt her face flame as Spade carried her past the people in the ballroom as nonchalantly as if what he was doing wasn't outrageous. The knowing laughter by a few of the vampires they passed didn't help her growing embarrassment, either. It was one thing for Spade to act affectionate; another to publicly carry her off in a feigned burst of passion.

The only reason she quit arguing was that she caught Web's speculative look out of the corner of her eye as Spade swept past him. Web was too dangerous to let him become suspicious. After all, Spade had killed Web's dealer, Black Jack, only a few days ago. Web had to wonder who'd done it, and he'd already expressed skepticism at Spade moving in next door with his shockingly alive girlfriend.

Denise kept her mouth shut the whole way up the flight of stairs to the third floor. She didn't say anything even when Spade carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him. When he set her down, though, she immediately shoved him back, giving him an annoyed look as she crossed the room to turn on the television. Loudly.

"That was over the top," she hissed, surprised to see Spade right behind her when she turned around. He'd somehow already taken off his mask, sword, and jacket, and was now untying the complicated, elegant knot at his throat.

She swallowed hard. Maybe the costume had been uncomfortable?

"I disagree," Spade replied, drawing the knot free before unbuttoning his shirt so quickly, his hand was only a blur. His eyes were still emerald-green, locking with hers in a way that made her breath catch.

You've seen him take off his shirt before, don't read anything into it, Denise scolded herself, stepping to the side to walk past him.

His arm shot out, bracing against the wall unit and blocking her path. What sort of game was he playing?

"Spade - "

She didn't get the rest of the sentence out, because suddenly his mouth was on her neck, lips and tongue probing her pulse to send a luscious shiver through her. His arm remained where it was, an open barrier she could escape, if she wanted to.

Denise took in a shuddering breath, forcing back the heat that raced below her belly. "Stop it. I'm not like you. That sort of thing affects me even if I know it's fake."

A low laugh sounded in her ear. "It's supposed to affect you," Spade said, biting her earlobe gently. "And at no time have I ever touched you where it's been anything but real."

He drew her mask off as he spoke, his other hand still braced against the wall unit. Two light tugs and her earrings were removed, then Spade took out the combs holding up her hair.

Denise froze, her emotions in a death match with the desire sweeping through her. What had changed his mind about her, she didn't know, but Spade's intentions were clear. She could have him now, and oh, she wanted him. Her body almost trembled with need, especially with Spade's mouth continuing its sultry path down her neck.

But no matter how much she wanted him, she was leaving tomorrow. Was this Spade's going-away present?

"Stop," Denise said, her voice quiet but sharp. "Yes, you're affecting me, but I'm not into mercy screws, casual sex, or one-night stands."

She expected anger, laughter, or a shrug before he turned away, but Spade drew off his shirt instead.

"Did you hear me?" Denise asked, trying not to stare at his pale, muscular chest or that hard, flat stomach with its narrow line of black hair disappearing into his pants.

A brow arched before he bent to tug off his boots. "I did indeed, but none of those apply, so I'm not concerned."

God, he'd be naked soon. A memory of what he'd looked like in the shower made her fists clench. That throb in her loins increased until it was so strong, Spade had to hear it.

He was beside her again in the next heartbeat, his hands caressing her face, lips so close to hers she could almost taste them.

"There's nothing casual about my feelings for you, Denise," he whispered. His voice deepened. "And I have no intention of letting you go anywhere tomorrow, or the next day, or the next."

His mouth covered hers, swallowing her gasp as he pulled her to him. Spade's tongue probed past her lips in sensual demand, making heat scorch up her spine. She opened her mouth, groaning at the sensual flicks of his tongue combined with the hard feel of his body pressed along hers.

A sliver of fear shot through her when she felt his fangs lengthen, their sharpness grazing her tongue as she explored his mouth. What if they nicked her and he was thrown into a bloodlust again? She hadn't even tried to stop him when he drank her before; it had felt too good. If Spade inadvertently drew her blood while they were making love, he might lose control and end up killing her - and she might not even notice until she woke up dead.

"Wait," she said, turning her head away from his deep, drugging kisses.

He stopped, one hand still tangled in her hair while a cooler draft on her back let her know the other had been unzipping her dress. "Too fast?" he muttered thickly.

The blazing heat in his gaze almost made Denise throw caution to the winds and not voice her concern, but it was a matter of life and death. "Your fangs. Can't you make them...go away so you don't accidentally bite me?"

Spade's laugh was soft and wicked. "Oh, I have every intention of biting you, but don't fret; I won't break your skin."

"What?" she gasped, but he just laughed again. That cool draft increased as he picked her up, her dress somehow in a heap on the floor next to his pants. Denise blinked. How had he gotten their clothes off so fast?

Her breath caught as she felt the softness of the bed at her back in the next instant. Spade crouched over her, completely naked, so large and so gorgeous, she could only stare. His body was even more muscular up close, his shoulders wide enough that they cut off her view of the rest of the room. Denise traced her hands down his arms, feeling the thick, corded muscles tighten as he leaned down to kiss her again.

She opened her mouth, relishing the skillful thrust of his tongue as it teased and stroked along hers. His fingers slid down her arm, catching the edge of her glove before pulling it down, bit by bit, until it was off. Then he repeated the action with her other glove. When her arms were bare, Spade drew back. His hair fell over his face, eyes glittering through the black strands as he slowly kissed each of her forearms, tracing his lips and his tongue over the intricate tattoos that covered her brands.

The erotic feel of his mouth was enough to make her almost close her eyes in bliss, but that would have cut off her view of the magnificent male poised over her. In that moment, his gaze flashing emerald, fangs extending from his upper teeth, pale, powerful body absolutely still except for his caressing mouth, Spade had never looked more inhuman - or sensual.

A wild, primal hunger filled her. Denise didn't just want to make love to him. She wanted to devour him.

She slid down, pulling him on top of her. Spade balanced his weight, pressing her against the bed without crushing her. He kissed her, letting out a groan when she opened her legs and rubbed herself against the long, thick length of him.

"Do that again," he rasped.

The pressure at her core inflamed her, sending waves of need crashing through her. Denise arched against him once more, letting out a choked moan as Spade undulated his hips. His pelvis rubbed again her clitoris in a deep caress, the heavy length of him pushing against the barrier of her underwear.

What had started out as a sweet ache in her loins turned feverish. She ran her hands down Spade's back to his hips, digging her nails into those rounded muscles and pressing him closer in greedy demand.

Denise tore her mouth away from his. "Now," she whispered raggedly, arching against him, crying out in pleasure at the friction, but also in frustration at the material that prevented him from being inside her.

Spade yanked down her bustier, and it came apart in his hand. He tossed it away, his mouth closing over her nipple and sucking so firmly, Denise was sure his fangs would pierce it. Then she quit caring about that at the bombardment of pleasure shooting from her breast, making that throb inside her almost unbearable. She twisted underneath him, her hand descending between them to pull aside her panties, but Spade caught it. He drew both her wrists over her head, holding them with one hand, using the other to pull her underwear down her legs so slowly, Denise was sweating by the time it cleared her ankles.

"Don't tease me," she moaned.

Spade gave her breast a last lick before moving up to slant his mouth over hers, spreading her legs farther apart with his knees.

"I told you, darling - I don't tease," he said when he broke away, Denise gasping in a breath after his long, passionate kiss.

That gasp turned into a rising moan as Spade's mouth descended between her legs. His tongue raked her flesh, licking and probing where that throbbing ache was the strongest. Heat engulfed her, filling her veins with honeyed flames as that wet, flexible pressure alternated between flicking her clitoris to delving inside her depths. She arched, writhing in wordless demand to feel more. Spade yanked her closer, pulling her leg around his back, his tongue moving in firm, ceaseless strokes.

The ever-tightening bands of ecstasy inside her were about to snap. As her last coherent thought, Denise sank her hands into Spade's shoulders and pulled at him, hard, sliding down at the same time.

"Now," she almost shouted.

He was on top of her in the next moment, his mouth stealing her breath with a richly flavored kiss, his hand holding her thigh as he lowered his hips. The first hard breach of his flesh into hers made her loins contract with an almost painful pleasure. The second, deeper thrust had her moaning into his mouth at the thick feel of him stretching her inner flesh. The third stroke buried him fully inside her, and when he undulated his pelvis against her at the same time, the fullness combined with erotic pressure made pleasure burst within her.

Denise cried out at the climax rippling through her, sending rapturous contractions through her loins. Another deep grind of Spade's body intensified those ripples, prolonging them while that hungry ache inside her changed to sweet, glowing satisfaction.

She didn't realize she'd closed her eyes until she opened them to see Spade's blazing green gaze. His hair fell around his face in black waves and his expression was sheer lustful intentness as he watched the last tremors of orgasm shake her.

"I want to feel that again," he said, his tone darkly resonant.

Denise slid her hands from his back to tangle in his hair. "You first."

His lips curled as he slowly drew out of her. "I love your voice this way," he murmured, kissing her jaw while her nerve endings shivered with anticipation at that hard length entering her again. "Such a throaty purr, so enticing...say something else."

He thrust into her as he spoke, a long, languid stroke that made her moan instead of speak. Just as before, his hips flexed right when he was deepest inside her, rubbing against her most sensitive spot even as that fullness felt almost overwhelming.

"Spade...yes..."

She couldn't manage to say more, even think more. Her hands crept down his back, feeling his muscles bunch as another long thrust and rock of his hips made her mind go numb and her body come alive. She curled her legs around him, gasping as he moved even deeper, wanting more though she wasn't sure she could stand it.

"Ah, darling, you're burning me in the sweetest way," he muttered, hooking her knee under his arm to hold her lower body tighter to him. Another thrust closed her eyes at the building pressure inside her, returning with amazing swiftness after her recent release. The combination of those deep, seeking thrusts and that erotic massaging of her clitoris had her rocking against Spade in blind need.

He kissed her, plundering her mouth with the same passion that had her straining toward him. Denise slid her tongue between his fangs to suck his, consumed by the taste and feel of him. His arms were a pale cage around her, his weight pinning her to the mattress, hips meting out incredible pleasure with each mind-blowing thrust.

She started to whimper, her hands alternately clenching or raking down his back. The hard rhythm inside her was too much, not enough, and so good all at the same time.

"Please," she moaned against his mouth.

Spade pulled away, drawing her other knee under his arm and holding both of them in a firm grip. He shifted so her hips lifted, and when he thrust forward, the hard length of him pushed even deeper inside her. She cried out, the fullness too intense but somehow addictive, that sensual grinding almost constant in this position.

She couldn't reach his mouth, but his chest brushed her lips. Denise kissed it, savoring the hardness and the roping muscles moving underneath that smooth pale skin. She caught his nipple in her mouth, sucking, aroused even more by his groan in response.

Those hard strokes inside her increased in pace, inflaming her. She sucked harder, pinching his other nipple. His grip tightened.

"More." A hoarse command punctuated by a deep roll of his hips that almost made stars appear in her vision.

Denise divided her attention between his nipples, sucking, licking, and biting each of them. Her mind began to whirl as Spade kept increasing the rhythm of his thrusts. Pleasure narrowed her consciousness until she felt like her world consisted of nothing but this bed and the two of them. That inner tension kept growing, twisting and clenching her body tighter around him while her pulse seemed to thunder out of control.

"Come with me, come with me now," she gasped, feeling the pressure about to burst inside her.

Everything tilted in the next second, then she was on top of Spade. He was still inside her, and when she pressed against him, he moved with rapid, forceful strokes that rocked her backward in ecstasy. Spade sat up, one arm pressing her hips to his, the other balancing her. His mouth latched on to her breast, kissing it before catching the nipple with his teeth and biting it.

Denise would have cried out a warning, but she couldn't think. She wasn't even controlling their rhythm. Though she was on top, Spade had her locked in a sensual grip while he moved faster and more erotically than any human possibly could. She held on to his arms, her head thrown back, lost in the sensations spreading from her loins to her entire body.

The pleasure inside ruptured right before she heard Spade let out a guttural moan. Then another, powerful shudder mixed with the internal spasms reverberating through her. Denise clung to him, shaking with the remains of her orgasm and the continued throb of his.