Captured by Desire (5 page)

They came together as one, each wanting the other with a desperation that couldn’t be explained. Jules wrapped her arms around his neck as his lips took hers in a fierce, fiery kiss.

The kiss ignited both of them into a frenzy of unquenchable, ravenous need. Her hands clawed at his back as she tried to get as close to him as she could.

“Cristian. Please,” she begged between kisses.

His answer was a moan when she rubbed her hips against him. With a mouth that set her skin on fire, he kissed down her neck to the valley between her breasts before he took a nipple into his hot mouth.

Jules let her head fall back and her eyes close. Intense pleasure surged through her body, so beautiful it blinded her. His tongue circled her hard nipple, teasing it with his teeth before he drew it into his mouth to suckle.

Cristian had never felt such lust before, never wanted to defy everything he knew to touch a woman. But then again, he had never known Jules.

Now that she was in his arms, he couldn’t imagine another woman in his life. Her beauty, her seductive body made his life almost bearable.

He moved to her other nipple, teasing it until her soft moans turned to cries of pleasure. He could kiss her body all day long, but his cock wanted inside her, to feel her heat, her tightness wrapped around him.

He moved his hand between their bodies and cupped her sex to find her already wet for him. She gave a strangled cry and rocked her hips against him. And though he wanted to explore her more, he couldn’t hold back the tide of lust.

Cristian laid her on the ground before bracing his hands on either side of her head. His gaze was caught in hers as her legs opened for him, beckoning him. He couldn’t believe the woman beneath him.

She was everything he could have wanted and more. She had seen him at his worst and still desired him. It seemed almost impossible to comprehend.

Her hands pulled at his sides until his straining cock rubbed against her sex. Cristian hissed in a breath as she moaned. He looked down into her sherry eyes as she smiled up at him. Then, she reached down and took his arousal in her hand to guide it into her.

The pleasure was so intense, Cristian thought he would spill right then. The farther he pushed into her tight sheath, the more his desire grew. He gritted his teeth and gave a hard thrust until he was seated to the root.

“Yes,” she whispered, the sound almost a purr in his ear.

Her long, slim legs wrapped around him, urging him even deeper. As much as he wanted to hold back until Jules peaked, he couldn’t stop his body’s reaction to her.

He pulled out until only the head of his cock remained, before thrusting into her tight channel. She gave a soft cry of pleasure, the sound music to his ears.

Again and again Cristian plunged inside of her, filling her, stretching her. She was tight, hot and deliciously wet. He set up a punishing rhythm, driving hard, fast, and deep into her.

Jules met him thrust for thrust. She held nothing back, and as much as he feared letting loose his control, he was powerless to hold back.

She demanded all of him.

And he eagerly gave it to her.

Cristian pumped his hips as she tightened her legs around him. Her breathing was as ragged as his, and a light sheen of sweat covered their bodies.

When he was near to giving in to his climax, Cristian rolled to his back, taking Jules with him. She grinned down at him as she sat up and began to move her hips in circles. Cristian groaned at the erotic sight and feel of her.

He cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples, stroking them and teasing them to heighten her pleasure. Her lips parted as her head dropped back.

A ray of sunlight broke through the branches and lit upon her. For an instant Cristian couldn’t move, the sight of her was so breathtaking.

Her hips began to move quicker, letting him know she was near to peaking. Cristian moved a hand to her sex and ran a finger through her curls until he found her clitoris.

A scream fell from her lips as she stiffened over him. Her sex began to clenching around his cock. That was all it took to send him over the edge.

Cristian grabbed her hips as his orgasm took him. It was long and intense, taking him higher and higher each time her sheath clamped down on him.

They rode the waves of pleasure together, the tide of bliss sweeping through them, in them…around them.

When he finally came to, Jules was laid across his chest, her breathing harsh and ragged.

“It’s almost like a small death,” she murmured.

He couldn’t agree more. And he wanted to experience it again. He smiled as he ran his fingers through her thick, chestnut locks.

It would be so easy to see her in his life, so easy to see a future with her. And that stopped him cold in his tracks.

Chapter Six

Jules felt her eyelids getting heavy, but she was too comfortable atop Cristian to move.

His hands were leisurely running through her hair. Jules closed her eyes and let herself imagine what it would be like to have someone like Cristian in her life. He was annoying with his dominating ways, but now she knew why and understood it. His seductive green eyes conveyed deep emotions that she couldn’t get enough of.

And he protected her like no one but her father had before.

All in all, he was a good man. But a good man deserved someone who was respectable, someone who wouldn’t embarrass him. She decided right then, that though she enjoyed their lovemaking, if they made it off the mountain, she would leave Cristian and Romania behind without a backward glance.

As much as it pained her, the simple truth was that she wasn’t the woman for him. The knowledge made her eyes burn with unshed tears and her throat close with emotion.

“Tell me what you know of the Wendigo,” Cristian suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Jules swallowed past the lump in her throat, but didn’t move. “I know only what my father wrote in his letters. It was after I realized what he was after that I leafed through his books. There isn’t much said about the Wendigo, though what I did find gave a detailed description.”

“What did it say?”

“The Wendigo is really a man who has lost his sanity from a combination of magic and cannibalism. They say it’s a fearsome monster, taller, swifter, and deadlier than any man. He’s skeletally thin with skin that’s nearly white and completely hairless. The most bizarre part is they say the Wendigo has inhumanly long teeth, claws instead of fingernails, and glowing eyes.”

“Then your father was most certainly looking for the Wendigo,” Cristian said after a moment. “What did his letters say?”

Jules lifted her head to look into his eyes. “At first they were full of excitement as he jotted down some of the stories he’d heard on his way to Romania. Once here, he wrote almost daily, each letter filled with details on the Wendigo and how many people had gone missing since it began hunting.”

Cristian nodded. “The Wendigo will hunt and feed for several months before it’ll hibernate in its lair for a time.”

“We have to find it then.”

He softly ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “You should’ve stayed in Brasov. I can hunt better alone.”

“You know as well as I that our best chance is to hunt it now. Leave me in the circle if you have to.”

“Nay.” His voice was hard and cold. “He stayed near the circle all night, waiting for you to make a mistake and step out of it. I can’t chance that again.”

She shrugged, though his words disturbed her. “Make the circle bigger.”

“You’re fearless,” he said, amazement in his gaze.

Jules rose and turned her back to him while she pulled on her shirt. “I’m far from fearless. I stayed in my father’s house for three years. A fearless woman would’ve faced the women of society that had made her run and hide. I didn’t do that. I hid.”

“You came out here looking for your father, knowing you might have to do it alone. That’s more fearless than facing society.”

She chuckled and looked over her shoulder at him. “The truth was, I was ashamed of myself. I thought the best thing would be for me to keep to myself.”

“You created your own prison.”

“I did,” she admitted and looked away.

“Tell me,” he urged so softly that she had to close her eyes against the tears that gathered.

She would rather he not know, but Cristian wasn’t a normal man who might ask once. He would continue until she told him. It was better to tell him now. “I had an affair, but not just any affair. I found out too late my lover was already married. My father was shamed and ridiculed for what I’d done.”

Suddenly, warm, strong hands gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. “You did what hundreds of others have done since the beginning of time. Don’t punish yourself for giving into your body’s desires. As for the man, he’s the one to blame, not you. He knew what he was doing.”

She glanced down as a smile pulled at her lips. “My father said the same thing.”

“He sounds like a very smart man.”

“He is.”

Cristian rose and held out his hand for her. “Then let’s find him and my parents and end this.”

* * * *

Cristian hadn’t wanted to depart the safety of the circle, but he couldn’t leave Jules behind either, not when he didn’t know how long it would take him to track and kill the Wendigo.

“Stay close,” he cautioned as they moved up the mountain.

The air began to cool as they climbed higher. As fast as the Wendigo moved, it could be anywhere. The Carpathians were a long range of mountains that stretched through the center of Romania.

Cristian knew the creature was close. The Wendigo wanted them, so it would hunt them until it caught them.

“Are you sure it’s out there?” Jules asked as her gaze darted around.

“Most certainly. You remember the symbols?” He had shown her how to write the four symbols if the Wendigo should appear, or if something happened to him.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“If something should happen....”

“Don’t.” She stopped him from saying more. “Nothing will happen to you.”

Cristian halted and faced her. “You need to be prepared in case something does. Your gun won’t do much.”

“It will. The bullets are made of silver. My father says silver will kill almost anything supernatural.”

His brows rose at her words. “Your father was right, but there is only one thing that can kill the Wendigo, and your bullets, silver or not, will only anger it.”

Her teeth worried her lower lip. Dread and resignation filled her sherry eyes. He took her shoulders in his hands and made her look at him.

“We’ll get off the mountain.”

She forced a smile. “Of course we will. I’ve no doubts at all.”

Cristian let her lie. They had been walking only a few hours, but he wasn’t moving them as quickly as the day before. He was keeping a lookout for the Wendigo, because when he caught the first glimpse of it, he would go after it.

“Why could I hardly wake you this morning?” Jules asked.

He shrugged and shifted his bag on his shoulder. “When I turn for an entire night, it drains me. Sleep helps my body to restore.”

“Are you immortal?”

“I don’t really know. My parents aren’t, so I doubt I am.”

She regarded him with solemn eyes. “You’re very unique. There can be no telling to your powers.”

“I suppose.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why do you act as though you don’t care? Your gifts are amazing.”

“You had your cage, Jules. I have mine. People don’t exactly embrace me when they learn what I am. I’ve learned to keep that part of me hidden.”

She snorted. “You grew up in Brasov, yes?”

“I did.”

“Then surely they had to know something, and they seem to like you.”

“They know I’m not quite human, but they don’t know what I am. If they found out I had even a drop of vampire in me, they’d cut off my head. I’d rather they didn’t learn.”

“Fair enough.” She turned her head and gasped.

Immediately, Cristian looked to where her gaze had fallen. “What is it?”

“I saw something,” she whispered.

He glanced at their path and knew with the rocks and narrow passages, it would be the perfect time for the Wendigo to attack. “Write the symbols,” he urged her.

While Jules hastily drew the symbols on the ground, Cristian moved around her, daring the Wendigo to attack. When she was done, she jumped to her feet and dusted off her hands. Cristian moved into the circle with her and sighed.

He could be chasing after it if only Jules wasn’t there to worry about, but had he not let her come with him, she’d have gone by herself with her hired men. They would have left her alone, and the Wendigo would’ve already caught her.

“What now?”

Cristian blew out a breath and clenched his fists. “The trail I’m following is one my parents always took. It leads up toward the top of the mountain where the passages are very narrow.”