Antonietta clutched him to her, dragging him even closer, lifting her hips to meet him in a wild, sensual ride. She couldn't tell where one o.r.g.a.s.m left off and the next one started. A tidal wave swept through her body that went on and on, each stronger than the last, yet never enough. Her appet.i.te for him seemed insatiable. Her fingernails dug into his skin, dragging his hips into her while her entire body rose up to meet his, bucking beneath him in the thrall of total pleasure.

Byron reveled in the way she gave herself completely, without reservation, to him. His body swelled beyond his expectations.

There was a roaring in his ears, a dark storm of sensual hunger overtaking him a rush. I want you to hear the words, cara mia, to know what I am giving you, what you give me. This is the mating ritual. The words that have the power to restore the two halves of our souls to one. I claim you as my life mate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my life mate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care.

Her feminine sheath was tight and hot, a velvet friction driving him utterly mad. He felt the fiery blast start somewhere around his toes and drive up through his body with the force of a battering ram. Antonietta took him deeper, driving her hips up to meet the fury of his body so that they were welded together in the midst of explosion. He thought he might have disintegrated, holding fast to Antonietta and his sanity.

Antonietta lay beneath him, clinging to his arms, fingertips rubbing at his biceps, exploring the shape and definition of his muscles as she tried to regain her ability to breathe and her equilibrium. Byron buried his face against her neck, his lips soothing on her pulse, his body so deeply buried in hers she was certain they were locked together forever.

"Do you think we know the meaning of the words take it easy and slow?" There was humor in her voice. "I thought we were going to set the room on fire."

"My skin is scorched," he said. He propped himself up on one elbow to take some of his weight off of her, his other hand shaping her breast.

Antonietta felt the ripple of reaction through her entire body. "Don't even breathe on me. I've melted into the carpet." Her lashes drifted down. "I'm going to go to sleep right here on the floor, and I want to wake up with you still inside of me." She sighed blissfully. "You may just be the greatest lover in the history of the world."

He bent his head to the temptation of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his tongue swirling around her nipple. The way her body tightened around his made him smile. "May be the greatest lover?" He sucked hard on her breast to punish her, laughed when her hips thrashed again, the rippling of an o.r.g.a.s.m was.h.i.+ng over her. "You respond so beautifully, Antonietta." She was soft and giving, her body so welcoming of his.

She tangled her fingers in his hair as his mouth worked greedily at her breast. "Do you plan on spending the night lavis.h.i.+ng attention on my breast? Not that I'm complaining, but you're making me crazy. I can't afford to get any hotter. Now I know why there are rare cases of spontaneous combustion."

"I was thinking I might spend the night chewing on other parts of your anatomy," he answered. "I have decided I want to try every way in the world there is to make love to you. What is that famous book with all those intriguing positions and ideas?"

Her fingers caressed his hair, laughter bubbling up so that her muscles clenched around him intimately. "Well, not tonight.

Tonight you are somehow going to figure out how to get me from here to the Jacuzzi without both of us falling in a heap on the floor."

"We are already on the floor. In any case, it would require me removing my body from yours, and I think I have found a home. You are the hottest thing on the face of the earth. I am staying right where I am."

"Lazy man. I promise to make love to you all night, but if I don't get into some soothing water, I might not be able to keep that promise. We were a bit on the vigorous side." For a moment she held his head to her breast, allowing waves of pleasure to wash over her. She felt coc.o.o.ned in sensual delight.

He kissed her nipple with a soft sigh of regret. "I suppose you are right, but I want you to know, I was enjoying myself."

"When we go to bed, I'll let you have all the fun you want. You can indulge your every fantasy." She had been in his mind; she saw each fantasy and was excited with the knowledge of his intentions. "I wish I had your stamina, but I don't. I need to rest. I don't want to be sore."

"My saliva contains a healing agent. We do not have to worry about that. I will not allow you to feel discomfort." He slowly began to withdraw from her body. Her muscles reacted, gripping at him, trying to hold him to her. Byron kissed her throat. "See how you are? Even your body does not want us to separate."

"Don't listen." She wrapped her arms around his neck when he scooped her up to cradle her against his chest. "I can't move. I may not ever again."

The water in the Jacuzzi was hot and foamy, bursting around her and against her most sensitive parts. Even that sensation seemed to be highly erotic. Antonietta sighed blissfully. "This is perfection. Do you have candles?"

"If you want them."

"I can't see them, but if they're scented, it's always nice."

Almost at once the room was filled with the fragrance of honeysuckle and rain. Antonietta smiled and allowed her legs to drift to the surface, her arms spread wide to embrace the atmosphere. "My very own sorcerer."

Water washed over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, across her belly b.u.t.ton, over the triangle of dark, curls and the shadow between her legs.

Byron leaned back and watched her, a peculiar emotion stabbing at the pit of his stomach. She was so tightly bound to him, so entrenched in his heart and soul, he wasn't certain how it happened. Just looking at her sent a spear piercing his body. It was a strange sensation, a physical pain, aching with love when he looked at her.

"So what kind of music do you like?" Antonietta floated in the gently rippling water, her hair spread around her like so much seaweed. Her head b.u.mped against Byron's chest. His arms locked around hers to hold her in place while the water bubbled and fizzed over her sensitized skin.

"Josef sings a particularly interesting version of rap," he said.

Her mouth opened wide in a gasp of alarm. She slid beneath the water as she spluttered a protest. He caught her and pulled her to the surface, his soft laughter mocking. "I have all your music," he a.s.sured.

"That was really mean," she said. "In retaliation, I might point out we didn't use birth control. I don't even think about birth control when I'm around you, which is silly, because I'm always responsible. I can't see your face, and I hope you're frowning."

He took her hand, brought her fingertips to shape his mouth. "Does it feel as if I am frowning?"

She s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand away. "You are impossible to upset. You'd probably be thrilled if I got pregnant, which isn't logical at all."

"I would prefer you wait until I convert you."

Antonietta sat up, scooted to the small hollowed-out seat beside him. "All this talk of conversion sounds suspiciously like a vampire. What's the difference?"

"A vampire is wholly evil. Carpathian males lose emotions around two hundred years when they are fully adults. At that time, the lure of power begins to work at them, whispers to feel the rush of the kill. We are predators, with some animal traits. We can be dangerous when provoked, but we do not kill indiscriminately. A vampire lives to bring pain and torment and ultimately death to others. We take blood but do not harm those we take from. A vampire kills for the adrenaline in the blood and also the rush of power, a momentary thrill, when he kills. It is the duty of our hunters to bring these males to justice and protect our species by concealing their existence."

"That was what you meant by a hunter. A vampire hunter."

"Yes, among other things. I have done so, but it is not my calling."

"For which I'm grateful. How long do you live?"

He shrugged, a lazy s.h.i.+ft of his shoulders causing the water to wash over her skin. His hand caught her foot, pulled it into his lap so his fingers could ma.s.sage her. "Unless there is a mortal wound and no one to supply blood, we can live as long as we wish."

"So if I became as you are, I would live, but I would watch my family die, and eventually even their children."

"Unfortunately, that is one of the difficulties we all face. We have people we lose, but then, everyone does. Don Giovanni is not going to live forever. You will have to face his death, no matter what. And young Margurite could have been killed when the s.h.i.+eld fell. Anything can happen in life." His fingers moved up to her calf.

Antonietta slid down further beneath the water to extend her leg to him. "That's true; I can't argue with that. I wouldn't be able to be awake during daylight hours?"

"No, and you would have to acclimate your skin to the early morning hours slowly before you could be out during that time."

"But I would have you."

"You are my life mate, Antonietta. You will always have me."

"Men leave women all the time, Byron. You're asking me to change my entire way of life for you. I love my family. I love the palazzo. I don't want to leave my home. And I don't want to quit my career. Music defines who and what I am."

"It is impossible for life mates to leave one another. I have not asked you to give up your career or to leave your home. There are some Carpathians who live with humans, and it works out very well."

"How does conversion work?"

"We exchange blood three times. The blood works on your organs, reshaping and changing you to what you should be.

Already there are signs of it."

She idly flicked the surface of the water, popping bubbles as they churned around her. "What about my eyes? The strangest things have happened lately. I've seen flashes of light, shadows, even colors, as if I'm seeing body heat. I thought it was because we're so closely connected."

Byron turned the information over in his mind. "I saw color through Jacques. It was not my memory I was tapping into, but his vision of his life mate. That is unusual. We tap into memories to feel emotion, but it does not work that way with vision as a rule.

Perhaps there is something in my lineage that allows for such a thing. I would think your sight would be restored as the blood heals and reshapes. Our eyes are different, more functional for night vision. Is the thought of seeing again more tempting than choosing to be with me?"

Antonietta laughed. "You are such a male. That's such a little-boy thing to say."

He tugged on her foot until she slid underwater. Antoinetta pulled her leg away from him and reversed direction beneath the water to b.u.mp her head against his stomach. She circled his waist with her arms to anchor herself and rested her head in his lap, her mouth closing over his floating p.e.n.i.s.

Byron looked down at the wealth of silky hair floating in the churning water. Her mouth provided a strong suction that brought him to instant attention. Her tongue danced and teased and stroked until his body trembled and hungered all over again. She seemed to be pulling a volcano from the very center of his being. His blood thickened and pooled, and his every nerve ending seemed to be centered where her hot, pa.s.sionate mouth was working. The breath slammed out of his lungs. She came up for air, a water nymph laughing at him.

"Come here, you crazy woman." He reached for her, pulled her to him. "We will live in your house with your family. You will travel the world playing your music for people, and I will once again make art from the gems I call to me. Live your life with me. I cannot bear to be without you. Life mates are for eternity, Antonietta. We can be married in the way of your people and live and seem to age. At times we may have to go away, but we will always return if that is your wish."

She tilted her head, a small siren's smile playing around her mouth. "Can you really make it so I'm not uncomfortable and we can make love all night?"

"Absolutely.""I think I need proof before I commit to any more biting."

In answer, he lifted her, seating her on the rim of the Jacuzzi, parting her thighs wide enough to allow his broad shoulders between her legs. "A challenge I cannot resist." He bent his head to her, teeth nipping gently on the insides of her thighs, his breath warm on her most vulnerable entrance.

His hands gathered her hips and simply slid her into his mouth so that she cried out, grabbed fistfuls of his hair for an anchor.

Antonietta allowed her head to fall back. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s seemed to ache with fullness. Every muscle in her body went taut. His tongue did incredible things, caressing, and stroking, and probing. Everywhere he touched, he soothed and heightened her pleasure. Her body coiled tighter and tighter, winding like a spring. She was wet and hot and impatient for him. She wanted to cry with the wonder and beauty of the way he could make her feel. And yet she needed. And hungered. For him.

Byron lifted his head, brought her mouth to his, sharing her taste, his tongue teasing hers before he spun her around and bent her over the edge. "Is that enough proof? I can give you more." His hands cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s while he pressed against her b.u.t.tocks, deliberately showing her the fullness of his desire. "Do you need more?"

She reached back in an effort to guide him into her. Byron avoided her hand, rubbed again, his teeth nipping her firm bottom.

Antonietta began to turn around, determined two could play. Byron held her against the rim, caught her hips, and pushed into her tight sheath with exquisite slowness. "You want slow and easy, remember?"

He was so thick, she could feel him stretching her, pus.h.i.+ng his way into her folds, the slow friction driving her to the edge of madness. "I didn't say that. I'm sure I didn't say that." He was very strong, holding her with a gentle but completely unbreakable grip, all the while moving with leisurely, long strokes. Each surge forward made her shudder with pleasure. She had to remain completely still while he did the work.

She stopped trying to struggle back into him, just allowing the pleasure to wash over her in waves. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s tightened, and Byron's every movement enhanced her experience, just as he meant it to. Antonietta reached for his mind to share her every o.r.g.a.s.m, the beauty of giving herself up to heat and fire. To him. She could feel his growing exhilaration as her body became more and more stimulated, gripping him tightly and taking him with her right over the edge.

When she could breathe again, Antonietta found herself laughing as he stepped carefully backward, taking her with him into the bubbling water. "Are we permanently stuck together? My legs are going to give out, and I didn't do any of the work." The water bubbled over her b.u.t.tocks, fizzed between their bodies, and teased her feminine core. "I hope you know you're never going to persuade me using s.e.x. You can try, I hope you do try, but I'm going to make a decision based on other things. Important things like your choice of music." The laughter faded from inside of her. Antonietta went very still.

Byron slipped out of her body, turned her around to face him, his hands resting lightly on her hips. "What is it, Antonietta?"

"Do I have a choice, Byron? Are you asking me if I want this conversion or telling me about it because you intend to convert me, no matter how I feel?"

Her fingernails dug into his arms. He could feel the beat of her heart, hear the steady, frightened rhythm. Byron curled one hand around the nape of her neck. "I brought you here with every intention of converting you." His voice was very low. "My first duty to you and to my people is to protect you."

"I need to sit down." Her breath was trapped somewhere in her lungs, and her legs were rubbery. She felt behind her for one of the seats. Byron helped her to sit in the foaming water. "Turn off the jets."

He did so, and the room was suddenly quiet. She drew up her knees, wrapped her arms around them. "Do you have any idea how vulnerable a woman can feel? I'm a strong woman and not afraid of most things, but I'm intelligent enough to stay in an environment that works for me. I have managed to do most things I've wanted, but I've always made certain that I surrounded myself with people I trusted. Being blind makes me even more vulnerable. I can't slap your face and walk out of here like a drama queen. If I fell over a chair, it would ruin the effect."

"Do you want to slap my face?"

She pushed her wet hair from her face. "No, I want you to let me make my own decision. This isn't a small thing you're asking of me. This is even bigger than marriage, and I was never going to get married."

"Why wouldn't you marry, Antonietta?"

She shrugged her shoulders. The water held heat, and right now she needed heat. "How would I ever know a man wanted me for me? I'm not how you see me at all. I'm overweight, and I do have scars; not like Tasha led me to believe, but they're there.

I've seen firsthand how damaging a wrong marriage can be. Paul and Tasha suffered so much. You have no idea. Their father was such a womanizer." She rubbed her hand over her face. "He was with every maid in the palazzo and every other woman he could charm. He was in all the tabloids. He didn't care where he was or who would see him. He was capable of having s.e.x with a woman in front of the Paul and Tasha and laughing about it. He was abrupt and disapproving with Paul and showered Tasha with presents and little else.""He had no honor, Antonietta. I do."

"Aunt Selena knew about all the women. She drank so she could pretend otherwise. There was a rumor that one of his women had his baby." Antonietta rubbed her hand across her mouth as if trying to wipe away a bad memory. "Aunt Selena died one day under what the authorities claim were suspicious circ.u.mstances. She and Anton were in the tower. There was a terrible fight. Nonno went up and tried to calm her and get her to come down. Even Helena tried. Selena fell or was pushed. It was a horrible time in our lives. If there ever was a baby, Uncle Anton paid the woman off, and she aborted it, because it was never mentioned again. He went on with his life as if nothing happened."

"How did he die?"

"A car accident. He was drinking and went off the road." She leaned the back of her head against the rim of the Jacuzzi.

"Tasha's been married. Both times her husband cheated on her. Franco is married, and his life is miserable. The few men I've dated that seemed a reasonable partner ended up wanting my money and/or the Scarletti business."

"Is that what you think I want, Antonietta?" His voice was very quiet.

She s.h.i.+vered despite the heat of the water. "You want me to be a creature, another species that needs blood to survive. You want me to change what I am for you."

"Would you prefer me to walk away from you?"

The moment he said the words, she felt a wrenching panic inside of her. "I thought you said life mates could never be apart."

"Do you want me to leave you? Do you want to go on with a life that does not include me in it? That is the question, more than any other, for you to decide."

"I want out of here." She stood up, the water pouring off of her.

Byron was there instantly, lifting her out of the Jacuzzi and wrapping a soft towel around her. Antonietta clutched it to her and made her way to the bed, using the map in Byron's mind. "Then there is a choice. You brought me here to convert me, but you're giving me a choice."

"You would never be happy or trust me completely if I made such an important decision for you, Antonietta. I know that much about you. I want your trust. And I want you to choose me. I do not want it to be because you are my life mate, or because you might regain your sight, or even because we have good s.e.x. I want you to say yes because you feel the same way about me as I feel about you. I want you to know you love me that much."

"Great s.e.x," she corrected softly. He was tearing her up inside. If he had tried to force her, she would have fought him at every turn, but he was asking her. More than just asking her. He was stripping away his pride and laying his feelings at her feet.

"Byron, if I ask you to live with me at the palazzo, the two of us together, married in my way, and we could find a way to be safe, would you do it if I didn't follow through with the conversion?"

"You are my life mate. I would choose to live with you and grow old with you. I would end my life when you died."

Antonietta heard the ring of truth in his voice. She curled up on the bed, her head on the pillow. "Come keep me warm, Byron."

He went to her immediately, just as she knew he would, fitting his body around hers, his arms drawing her close, wrapping around her so that she felt safe and warm.

"I want a family wedding with Tasha standing up for me. And I want you to make peace with her."

"She is determined to have Captain Diego throw me in prison."

"She'll stop when you're family. We protect family, and that will include you."