Free Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy Page B

him. Viper gave a soft moan. His last few lovers had been vampires and he had nearly forgotten the pleasure of feeling himself drenched in such heat.
    â€œDammit, Viper, let me up.”
    â€œNo. You’ve already tried to run away once tonight.” His arms tightened about her. “Once is all you get.”
    Something that might have been outrage rippled over her delicate features. “I didn’t run away.”
    â€œYou waited until I could not halt you and you slipped from my home. What would you call it?”
    Her lips thinned with annoyance. Clearly she disliked being accused of slipping away like a thief in the night.
    A demon with a sense of honor.
    â€œI had a few errands to run. Surely I’m allowed some freedom?”
    â€œThat depends. What are you doing here?”
    â€œI left something behind.”
    â€œSomething?”
    If her arms had been free, Viper didn’t doubt she would have given him a solid punch to the nose. Which was precisely why her arms weren’t free.
    â€œA friend,” she at last gritted.
    Friend? Viper turned his head to regard the small, fluttering gargoyle who was attempting to hide in the branches of a nearby tree. He had spotted the demon when he had come from the tiny opening, but he had dismissed him once he had caught sight of Shay.
    She managed to drive most things from his mind when she was near.
    A rather dangerous realization.
    â€œYou mean the gargoyle?” he demanded with a hint of surprise.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHe belongs to Evor?”
    â€œYes.”
    He gave a slow lift of his brows. “If you had requested, I would have bought him last night. There was no need to endanger yourself.”
    She blinked in astonishment at his soft words. Even her muscles relaxed as if she temporarily forgot he was the enemy.
    Viper silently savored the feel of her body pressed close against him.
    â€œEvor has never attempted to auction Levet.” Remembered pain flashed through her eyes. “He prefers to leave him as a treat for his goons to torture.”
    His arms loosened their hold enough to allow his fingers to trace a light pattern up her spine. He didn’t like seeing that hurt darken her eyes. It made him want to drain someone.
    Beginning with the pasty-faced troll.
    â€œFor the right price, Evor would sell his own mother,” he growled.
    It took a moment before she grudgingly met his steady gaze. “I could hardly be expected to know you would be willing to grant your slave such a favor.”
    His hand shifted to cup the back of her head. “Why are you so determined to consider yourself a slave when I have yet to do so?”
    She blinked at his blunt demand. “What else could I be? You bought me from a slave trader. You possess the amulet that keeps me chained to you regardless of my own desires.”
    â€œWould you prefer that I return you to Evor? You would rather possess a different master?”
    â€œDoes it matter what I want?”
    â€œAnswer the question.”
    Despite the darkness Viper could easily read the emotions rippling over her face.
    Confusion. Embarrassment. And at last a reluctant acceptance.
    â€œNo,” she whispered so softly that if he hadn’t been a vampire he would never have heard her. But he was. And he did. And it was enough to make his hand tighten on the back of her head to press her head downward.
    Her breath came in a rush as he captured her lips, captured the heat of her, and pulled it deep within him. She tasted of warm honey and life. A taste sweet enough for a vampire to drown in.
    Thrusting his fingers into her hair Viper allowed his free hand to sweep down to cup her hip. He wanted her here, now. He wanted her with a raw ache that was nearly frightening in its intensity.
    Gently parting her lips with his tongue he searched the moist cavern of her mouth. He groaned deep in his throat as her hands clutched at his arms and for a startling moment she