Letting her imagination run free, she then let the fantasy of herself bending forward to lick his nipple glide through her head, as her hand would fall down to the fastening of his pants. She would close her mouth over the taut nipple, and suck hard as she- She felt her mind snap back to attention as Simeon audibly gasped. Her eyes came back into focus and she looked up at him. His dark eyes were almost completely obscured by his enormous pupils, dilated with what she could only believe was an intense pa.s.sion.

Clare frowned in confusion, as Simeon appeared stunned and so utterly aroused she simply couldn't explain why. She felt a flicker of doubt and uncertainty pa.s.s through her, making her vastly uncomfortable. Simeon had said he couldn't read her mind. Had he lied to her?

"I can't read your mind," he said hoa.r.s.ely, making her even more suspicious. She crossed her arms over her chest as he held up a hand placatingly.

"Honestly, Clare," he insisted, "it's obvious that's what you are wondering right now, that's not nuclear physics. What I don't believe you know yet is that you, as a woman who can complete my Soul's Circle, are able to plant your own visions into my mind. Since you had such a basic mind block, and come from the past, and I thought had no knowledge of the humans' innate, slight psychic ability, it wasn't something I had thought to warn you about."

A dozen questions raced through her mind, all jostling for her attention. She opened her mouth, trying to sort out which order to ask her thoughts and begin to satisfy her curiosity, yet she stopped when Simeon gently took her arm and started to lead her down one of the corridors.

"Let's go upstairs first, hey?" he said with a suspicious hoa.r.s.eness to his voice. "Trust me, darling, I have just as many questions as you do but I really would prefer we don't encounter my twin or my elder brother right now."

Clare nodded and docilely allowed him to lead her for now. As he led her through a few twisting corridors she found that, much like Gavreel and Alderic's place, the interior of the house, or lodgings as they called them, was deceptively larger than the appearance first given from the outside.

How she would love to understand this architecture, she mused for a moment.

As Simeon led her through yet another corridor, Clare tried to order her thoughts and work out her confused jumble of emotions.

She licked her lips, and with her customary brutal honesty admitted how much she enjoyed the thrill of power she felt with this vampire. As Simeon led them both to a set of stairs, winding upward almost as if from a fairy tale, Clare looked deeply into his handsome face, and felt herself begin to drown in the depths of his eyes.

Simeon, she knew with a shattering certainty after such a short period of time, would never push her, or abuse her lack of knowledge about this world. She could tell strongly through her ever-growing intuition that he would be patient and kind and very likely treat her as a princess.

Clare knew she could trust her instincts, as she had needed these last few months to fully rely on her gut feelings and her practically unused intuition. Clare had come to fully respect her own inner consciousness and she seriously doubted it would be wrong now after nearly three months of being almost exclusively correct.

Whereas back home one was supposed to rely on facts and knowledge and referenced material, here in this new world, instinct and a "higher understanding" was not only par for the course, but was basically accepted as the norm.

Taking a deep breath, and settling the nerves in her stomach, Clare followed Simeon up the stairs as he led her "to his quarters".

Clare smiled as she realized that Simeon walking in front of her was a mighty fine way to help her nerves and slight uncertainty. She stared at his a.s.s and tried her best to refrain from fantasizing or projecting anymore.

If she couldn't tell when she was projecting her fantasies to him, then she wanted to get a handle on that previously unknown talent before she opened her mind and soul to him too much more.

Even if Simeon Montague had one delectably fine a.s.s that more than deserved a few measly fantasies. Biting gently into all the delicious muscle and seeing how it affected the huge bulge in the front of his pants might even be worth a bit of soul sharing.

When she noticed Simeon's shoulders hunch slightly she wondered if even that small amount of mental fantasizing was enough to project to him. But he continued walking and didn't turn around so Clare thought she might have gotten away with it that time.

No man had ever been privy to her most secret and deepest fantasies, and she wasn't sure she wanted to project too much of them toward Simeon, simply because she couldn't control herself. Even if he had the lightly toned, muscled body of a G.o.d she really didn't want to let themselves get carried away and have one of his brothers walk down a hall and b.u.mp into them.

Clare tried hard to think of something else. She idly wondered what Simeon would cook for her. She genuinely was hungry now, breakfast seeming positively an age ago. Food might be the safest topic of conversation to start with.

Wrestling the large vampire to his bed and playing with his nipples, sucking his large, thick c.o.c.k down her throat and then riding him hard was not necessarily the smartest or safest way for them to work out this odd... Clare found herself smiling as she hesitated, tried to describe even to herself whatever it was that lay between them.

It really seemed way too early and premature to describe the heat and fantasies between them as a relationship.

Was it possible to even have a relationship in under an hour knowing of one another? Clare stifled the giggles that threatened to rise in her throat and tried to concentrate on watching the faint wiggle in Simeon's a.s.s, and leave herself open and trusting in whatever was to come.

Chapter Nine.

Simeon tried to discreetly adjust the material of his pants while simultaneously moving his aching hard-on into a more comfortable position as he walked up the stairs. Under normal circ.u.mstances this might not have been so difficult, but doing so today with the iron-ore hardness of his c.o.c.k, as well as his vain, gentlemanly attempt to not alert Clare to what he was trying made things a whole new and completely different game.

It would have been the understatement of the century to comment that he had been taken aback by the s.e.xy fantasy Clare had unknowingly shared with him. It hadn't only been the crystal clarity of her mental pictures, nor the surprisingly accurate details of the intimate fantasy she had so innocently shared with him, but he had been particularly pleased and taken aback by the sheer force of the heat and enormous level of l.u.s.tful hunger behind her musings and daydream.

He had never before experienced the closeness of a telepathic bond one could share with a lover or partner. There were harsh penalties for penetrating a human's mind, and almost every member of the human race learned from the cradle how to protect themselves anyway.

Simeon himself had never met a human who didn't have an iron-strong block, and most other races also had inbuilt protection from telepathy.

He now could understand how close and special this link he could share with his mate was. He had to admit, if only to himself for now, he really, truly thought it fantastic and now could better appreciate what a small number of his friends had talked about in such reverent tones.

Often, particularly during the s.e.xual marathons he had experienced during his previous heat stages as his telepathy was even stronger than usual, he had indulged in some telepathic s.e.x with the consent of his partner. It had completely blown his mind, and invariably made him hard as granite when he thought back to the incredible, decadent indulgence of it.

Yet words failed him as he tried to think of how to describe the even more powerful feeling of awe and intimacy he had experienced when Clare had shared her fantasy. Even including the fact it had been relatively tame as fantasies went, it had given him the biggest b.o.n.e.r of his long life.

He found it even more ironically amusing he had to try desperately hard to shield his thoughts as they climbed up to where his lodgings were. Most women were adamant about a vampire sharing his thoughts, as they were able to, and many women needed the sense of power and control that could give them.

Simeon felt pleased that Clare didn't want to know exactly what whirled around his mind, but at the same time he worried about her naivete. He grimaced to himself as he silently acknowledged the honestly bizarre mixture of protectiveness and l.u.s.t he felt for this amazing woman.

As he reached the top of his staircase he wiped at the thin trickle of sweat that dotted his brow. It had been all he could do to not react to her fantasy about nibbling-h.e.l.l, even biting-his a.s.s. Simeon had thought he'd done pretty much everything a guy and a girl could do together, and he had sure as h.e.l.l had a lover bite tenderly into his flesh before.

Yet everything seemed somehow new with Clare, more innocent. She had been admiring his a.s.s one moment, and fantasizing about biting it the next. He couldn't understand how that seemed s.e.xy and innocent at the same time, but there you had it.

Simeon had no idea how tightly he held on to his control, nor how easily it might slip, and he really did want to give Clare a bit of time to get used to him and the need he very soon would have of her.

More worrying-if his twin was waiting for a firsthand report on the Book Nook, it was highly likely Rylan was still inside his section of the lodgings.

Simeon certainly felt no desire to mentally go searching for his twin, as even a tiny tug on their mental bond would likely have Rylan searching for him. If his twin caught even the faintest whiff of how hot he was in the presence of this woman, the teasing would begin. But worse, his brother would never leave him and Clare alone without either serious bribing or serious bait.

Simeon wasn't sure exactly where his innate knowledge had come from, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he needed some time alone with Clare. He tried to tell himself he wanted the time to discover more about her and ease them both into what he knew, deep in his soul and mind, he needed to do.

Although he cringed at the thought of how annoyed Clare might be when she fully understood, he knew he had to do it with a growing certainty every second he pa.s.sed in her presence.

Besides which, the hunger-the deep, raging ache far down inside his gut-echoed throughout his soul. He needed her more and more with every breath and it would certainly only get a lot worse before it started to ease up.

Simeon unlocked his lodging door with a slightly shaking, sweaty palm. He smiled sardonically to himself, for once feeling exceedingly grateful he had refrained from allowing Michael to talk him into the newer technology of heat-sensitive palm locks.

While he admitted freely to usually enjoying the latest gadgetry, as well as the usual masculine curiosity and interest in the still growing technology, he had not felt it necessary to update his own personal lodgings with the newer switch. At this moment in time, he knew he would seriously think twice in the future about blindly updating with the newest and latest.

Today, for example, he would not have been given admittance into his rooms as he felt certain his palms were not their usual, steady temperature. With the manner in which he sweated and the utter lack of control he had over himself and his body temperature, he knew there wasn't a chance throughout the five h.e.l.ls that he would have been able to unlock his rooms.

That would have called for finding one of his siblings to unlock the door, which meant they would have been inundated with a litany of curious questions, and much longer conversations and explanations about who Clare was and what she was to him.

He had neither the patience nor desire to go into either one right now. Not to mention the beginnings of years' worth of teasing, taunts and sly reminders of how he hadn't even been able to bring his mate into his quarters without the help of his brothers. It was an indignity he could well live without.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief as the door slid back, he politely stood aside to let Clare in first, feeling his temperature skyrocket as she innocently and likely unknowingly grazed past his ever-hardening body.

Following her, he quickly punched in the codes to change the keypad to exclude both his brothers. He knew it was only a short-term measure, as both Rylan and Michael with time and determination could eventually override his commands if they so desired, but Simeon felt strongly about needing some time and s.p.a.ce alone with Clare.

He wanted them to both work out whatever the five h.e.l.ls was happening between them, and the easiest way he could see that happening was the two of them simply being together and unha.s.sled for a few short hours.

He smiled as Clare made a beeline for his bookshelves. If he had paused to think about it, then that would have been exactly what he would have guessed she would do. Literature choices certainly told a lot about a person and their tastes, and to an extent, their habits.

He smiled as he wondered what she would think of his vastly eclectic tastes as he headed for the cookery. He had everything there, from the latest holo-book thrillers and spy novels, to ancient tomes of otherworldly civilizations, to all forms of literary erotica as well as trashy techno-geek holo-zines.

He truly had such a wide range of tastes and interests that he had built up quite a collection over the years.

"I'll just be through here, in the cookery," he said as he entered the other room. "Feel free to browse while I start things up."

He felt surprised when she cast one more quick but hard glance over his t.i.tles then turned to follow him. He felt his heart skip a beat as she smiled brightly at him as she followed behind where he led.

"That's okay," she said cheerily, "I can snoop around more later. I noticed you have a huge range of t.i.tles, which I hope you can show me more of later. I'm currently more interested in watching you cook. Alderic just places things in a wall unit and they come out looking perfect-on the plate and everything. I've tried cooking a few times," she added with a sheepish grin, "but everything is just so very different-nothing has worked like I expected or thought it should. So I do hope you're planning on showing off for me."

Simeon smiled, rolled up his sleeves and went to the wall unit to cleanse his hands. Clare's bubbly happiness seemed almost infectious in its sincerity. He hadn't smiled so much in he couldn't figure out how long. Her whole face and demeanor lit up with her enthusiasm; anyone would have to have been made from iron not to feel caught up with her.

"I'd love to show off for you, dearheart," he insisted happily, startled to feel a thrill of contentment run right through his whole body. He dried his hands and turned back around to face her.

"Pull up a seat," he said cheerily as he thought ahead to what he could create to truly enslave her senses and chain her to his cooktop. He nodded, indicated the chair beside the bench.

He felt his grin split wider as Clare looked around her and finally pulled the stool out from the bench and sat down on it. Simeon found himself embracing the heat he felt for her, let himself become more comfortable with and almost used to the burning desire he felt for this woman.

He turned around again, back to the cooling unit, and began to rummage through it. He had no idea yet what exactly he looked for, but as he cast his eyes over the plethora of food items stocked neatly he realized he wanted to find any and all old-style foods he or maybe Rylan had ferreted away.

Simeon knew it would be impossible to make a truly "standard" meal to her old method of cooking, but he also knew with the right ingredients and a dash of luck and creativity he could make a fairly decent facsimile of it.

His mind was busily ticking over ancient recipes he remembered from his babyhood in the late twentieth century, and attempted to balance those memories and recipes in conjunction with the foods he was pulling out.

Simeon realized he was muttering incoherently to himself and cast a quick glance at Clare who watched his every move with eager antic.i.p.ation. He racked his brain, trying to remember things he had learned in his youth when he had harbored a secret, desperate love for cooking in many different styles.

So deeply was he in his own thoughts and plans it came as a complete shock to feel the same feminine, heated mental fingers caress his soul and mind, which he had felt earlier from Clare. His erection, which had by no means subsided, but which neither had he thought about for a record of maybe a minute or two, became once again painfully tight.

The crystal clear, perfect mental image of his a.s.s as he bent slightly in front of the cooling unit entered his head, but with a decidedly feminine twist. Simeon swallowed hard, determined to at least try and keep control of himself.

At least this time she was fantasizing about him with his pants on, he decided wryly.

He also found it intriguing it wasn't the sight of his own a.s.s which had him so hot under the collar. It was the l.u.s.t and hunger, the deep, almost unknowing burning which Clare felt for him and subconsciously projected so clearly to him which had him nearly crawling out of his skin with hunger to feel and reciprocate.

The same hunger, beating at him and twisting his guts up, had him finding the always rock-solid control over his baser instincts begin to slip a little. Simeon gritted his teeth and forced his mind away from the feminine hunger invading it and back to the recipes he had been sifting through a moment ago.

Desperately trying to block her from his mind, he made a snap decision and pulled out the packets of ingredients he needed and he began to rifle in the cupboards for the utensils he would be using.

He didn't understand how a virtual telepath-innocent could manage to so clearly project the erotic images to him, particularly without her conscious approval. Gavreel had taught all his sons from the cradle how to erect the mental barriers that help keep all vampires and other telepaths out of each other's minds and thus, keep them sane.

How could one simple human woman-from the far distant past, no less-manage to penetrate his mind with her erotic fantasies? Without even knowing she did it or how to do it?

Simeon felt his curiosity overwhelm him as he felt the delicate fingers of Clare's newest fantasy image hover on the edges of his mind. Swallowing, resigning himself to his curiosity and sheer inability to have any form of barriers between himself and Clare, he opened his mind slightly to her newest unconscious offering.

He saw an image of himself, now b.u.t.t naked, mixing something in the mixing bowl he really did now hold in his hands. Simeon nearly dropped everything cradled in his arms as he looked down to the simple faux-earthenware bowl.

The carnal s.e.xuality of her vision utterly stunned him, and for the first time ever he felt his knees weaken as his desires and his sense of responsibility warred fiercely within him.

He could barely believe Clare found something as simple as him cooking for her seriously erotic. Erotic enough she would share visions of taking him into her mouth as he mixed something unknown in the d.a.m.n bowl he knew he could never look at in the same way ever again.

Simeon swallowed hard as the image of Clare lifting herself up on her knees so she could take the red-hot head of his c.o.c.k into her mouth seared across his mind. He tried desperately hard to mentally pull away from her, so he would not lose the last threads of his control and take her fiercely, right there and right now on his hard, cold floor.

He knew Clare understood what she did to him on some level, but he didn't think she really understood just how close to the edge he walked. When her heated fantasy changed perspective, so the image of her hands delicately flexing into the naked cheeks of his a.s.s burned into his mind, Simeon felt helpless as the heat he had been desperately trying to contain roared out of control and flowed through his veins like a blazing inferno.

He swiveled around, his eyes burning into Clare as she sat on the stool-looking for all the world like an innocent. When she caught his gaze, her eyes widened.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in genuine shock, "I didn't mean to-"

Without even consciously deciding what he would do, he dropped everything he had gathered in his arms onto the bench, utterly uncaring what fell and broke or split open.

In two long strides he stood in front of her. He reached out and grabbed her arm, gently but firmly pulling her warm, soft and womanly body flush against his own aching and hard frame.

He dipped his head down to meet hers, the desperate craving to touch her lips with his more important than explanations or mere words could possibly do justice. Even so, Simeon found himself wanting this first real kiss between them to be gentle and controlled. He wanted this for her sake, not just for his own very real need to keep himself under control.

Keeping a close watch on her reactions and the trembling through her body, Simeon lightly pressed his lips over Clare's.

Simeon felt a gigantic wave of sensuality and satisfaction roll over and straight through him as Clare responded immediately to the gentle press of his lips. She replied hungrily and immediately by grabbing his shoulders and drawing him nearer to the overheated warmth of her body.

She nibbled gently but enticingly on his lower lip, causing him to moan in approval. He could feel the strength of her emotions, her need, beat against the edge of his mind. Her curiosity and desire hands down won his personal award for the most potent of aphrodisiacs he had ever encountered.

She was the most curious mixture of blatant s.e.xuality and utter naivete he had ever come across, and rather than turning him off or making him hesitant, as most innocents would, it fired him even more than the most professional of escorts ever could hope to achieve.

Needing more of her lips and caresses like he needed the air to breathe, Simeon lifted her into his arms and carried them to his bedroom, a thankfully short walk across the room and down the hall.

Clare felt herself being lifted into Simeon's strong arms. The security, warmth, and most importantly of all, the depth of feeling she could feel positively radiating from the vampire in whose arms she lay cuddled, had her senses giddy and lightheaded with happiness.

In that instant she felt her heart cave in, and any last vestige of her resistance dissipated like fog in the sunlight. How could a vampire be hot, s.e.xy, sappily romantic and still gentle and soothing all at the same time?

Clare knew beyond a doubt Simeon was merely reacting to her naughty thoughts-which she had to admit to purposely teasing him with. She had been able to feel his rock-solid control, and it intrigued her.

In contrast to his complete control over himself and his reactions, she could also sense the depth of his desire for her. She knew he felt a deep, burning desire to pull her into him and have their l.u.s.ts burn through them both, incinerating them together.

Somewhere between starting the walk up his stairs and reaching the top she had decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and just jump in. For once in her life she could live daringly, pretend she was one of the heroines in the cheesy romantic and erotic novels she had always secretly indulged in.

She smiled against the hard press of Simeon's lips as he continued their kiss as he carried her somewhere, most likely the bedroom. Even now, she could feel him try to retain his control and not eat her alive, or f.u.c.k her 'til they both fell down.

Clare could feel the strength of his desire, and in that moment she knew she would let herself free-fall as she never had before. She knew she would do anything with him and to him, let him do anything to her in return.

Clare struggled to put words to the pa.s.sion, the intense excitement she could feel coursing through her veins. She almost felt as if she were wrapped in a soap bubble, or maybe caught in the middle of a romantic pop song. She could hear the zinging intensity flare and soar between them, their mutual l.u.s.t and attraction.