Frailty: The Darkshine by Jenika Snow

standing in front of her, so close she could smell the cologne on his body, or maybe it was just his smell.
    They stood toe to toe, their body heat mixing together and warming the room to a scorching level. She could hear his accelerated breathing, could see his chest rising and falling rapidly. Looking into his eyes, she felt off balanced from her wild emotions. “What’s happening to me, Gaijryc?”
    “You know.”
    “I don’t. You make me feel something I’ve never felt before.” She said the last words on a whisper, not caring that she had just admitted her feelings to him, to her vampire.
    “At least I’m not the only one.”
    His admission about his feelings warmed her. She closed her eyes as his fingers skimmed along her bare arm, ran along her shoulder, and cupped the side of her neck. Leaning into his caress, she didn’t care about what was going on, or what this might lead to. Opening her eyes, she watched as Gaijryc slowly started to lower his head toward her. She should have stepped away, should have moved to the other side of the cabin, but as Gaijryc pressed his firm lips to hers, all common sense went out of her mind.
    Helina let herself sink into the kiss. His mouth moved tentatively over hers as if he wasn’t sure what to do. His tongue stroked over the seam of her lips, not forcing its way in, but coaxing her to participate. Opening her mouth, she instantly tasted the very male essence of him. Their tongues touched, moved against each other as his other hand went to her waist and gripped it gently. She moved her hands to his chest—the first time she had willingly taken the initiative to touch him. Helina didn’t realize it until right then, but she had been terrified of him, terrified of the emotions he invoked in her.
    The muscles under his shirt were defined and hard. They flexed beneath her fingers as he moved his hand up her hip and over her rib cage to cover her aching breast. Gasping, she absorbed the delicious feeling he was causing within her. His kiss intensified and his other hand went to her other breast. She moaned again into his mouth and let him take the lead; let him show her what he wanted. He moved her backwards, never once breaking their mouths apart. The edge of the bed hit the back of her knees and she blindly sat down, letting Gaijryc move his body over hers as he pushed her back.
    “Helina.”
    He said her name on a moan, breaking their kiss and moving his mouth to her collarbone, where he sucked and laved at it. She tilted her head back, felt him grab her wrists and bring them over her head. The position stretched out in front of him, made her vulnerable to whatever he deemed. Shivering at the feel of him sliding his hands down the sides of her breasts, she sucked in air. He continued to work his hands over her body, over the sides of her ribcage, and across her hips.
    “Is this okay, Helina? Does this feel good?”
    “Oh, yes,” she breathed out, shaking from the intensity of his light touches. He slowly slid his hand under the hem of her shirt and skimmed his fingers over her skin. Slowly opening her eye, she watched him, surprised that his attention was on her face, his eyes on her.
    “Wait.”
    He instantly stopped and looked at her with concern. Pushing herself onto her elbows, she moved the hair out of her face. Her heart was beating like a freight train—so hard she could feel it slamming against her sternum.
    “What is it, Helina? Did I hurt you?” He ran his hands over her body, looking at her with an almost critical eye.
    “You didn’t hurt me.”
    He stopped checking her over and sat on his heels.
    “It’s just that, well.” She was embarrassed to even say it, but she knew he would find out eventually. Sitting up, she leaned against the headboard. “I’m a virgin.” She said it so quickly she didn’t even know if he had understood her.
    “What?”
    She felt her ears and face become hot and refused to look at him. “I said I’m a virgin.