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He swallowed a groan and clenched his teeth when his cock twitched. “Jelena?”
“I don’t want to wake up.” She nestled her face against his chest. “Why is your heart beating so fast?”
He tightened his hold and rested his chin on top of her silky head. “Because I’m holding a dream in my arms.”
She snickered. “You’re funny. That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Her sigh was deep. “I wish I was Sychar’s dream.”
Zamush clenched his jaw to stop a growl from rumbling in his chest. “Sychar isn’t here. I am.” He cradled the side of her face and forced her to see him. “Jelena, look at me.”
“Zamush?” Her unfocused dual-colored eyes blinked. “Oh, Zamush.” She pulled back and glanced around. “Where are we?” She slouched with a sigh. “It’s so beautiful here.”
“This is my home on Earth. You like it?”
“It’s lovely.” She peered over the balustrade railing. “What is that wonderful smell? It’s sweet, like the perfume my MoMo wore.”
“That’s the night-blooming flowers growing outside.”
She twisted to gaze at him with wide, dilated eyes. “Are we on Earth? I’ve never been to Earth.”
The muscles stretching his mouth in a wide grin hurt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that. “I’m afraid we aren’t on Earth, my anshar. We’re in what my family calls a Dreamwalk. It’s a safe plane between waking and sleep where we can meet and explore each other.” He waved at the scenery bathed in the glow of the full moon. “Do you like?”
Her pert nose crinkled. “Anshar? Dreamwalk? What?” She put her palms on his chest and pushed as if to slide off his lap.
Nope, he couldn’t let her go. Not yet. He tightened his hold. “Jelena, please stay. I agreed to come on this journey so we could get to know one another better. But we can’t do that when you avoid me all the time. Out of desperation, I created these Dreamwalks so you can learn a little about me. See the man I’ve been.”
Jelena’s full lips twitched. “Desperation? I doubt it. You don’t strike me as the type of man who is desperate over anything or anyone.”
He resisted the urge to sigh. “I wanted you to witness two desperate moments in my life. The first was when I was working with Ramses the Great. Back then, the never-ending war between him and the Hittites was taking a terrible toll. Thousands died daily. While that was bad enough, the ensuing diseases and plagues that followed would’ve decimated most of the planet.” Zamush stroked the back of her head and took a small section of hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “Not only did I help him create the world’s first treaty between two large governments, I also enthralled them so they’d listen to each other.”
“What about what you showed me at that icky castle? Was that really Vlad the Impaler? You didn’t look too desperate then.”
He tightened his hold around her. “What I didn’t show you was what happened before then. Vlad plundered Saxon villages and took those people back to Wallachia and had them impaled as a threat to all who opposed him. That’s how he gained the unholy nickname of the Impaler.”
She shuddered. “Yeah, I saw them outside the castle.”
“I posed as a Saxton colonel to broker a truce with Vlad. But he was too far gone in his lust for power. Even when I enthralled him, it didn’t make a difference. I had to take quick action to stop his genocidal madness.” His face flushed as he gave a self-deprecating laugh. “What I didn’t know was several people witnessed me drinking Vlad’s blood. Which helped to create the vampire legend. Damn nonsense has followed me ever since.”
Jelena chuckled. “Yeah, I overheard a couple at first thinking it was you, but then they decided it had to be their glorious leader who had to be the vampir.”
Zamush hissed through clenched teeth. “You overheard a conversation like that?” How could that be? As far as he knew, the person brought into the dream couldn’t see anything but what the creator wanted.
She shrugged. “I didn’t stay to listen to the whole thing, I was too busy trying to follow you.”
“Why did you want to follow me?”
Her brow furrowed. “I, ah…”
His chest tightened. “Where you worried about me?” His breath shortened as he inhaled the addicting fragrance behind her ear. With a trail of light kisses, he ended up at her tempting mouth.
She shivered and moaned.
No sign of resistance. Maybe he should take the chance and step up the seduction. With a soft caress, he kissed those tempting mounds. When his lips glided across hers, some unknown exuberance raced through him. Crazy, impossible ecstasy spread and settled low inside his groin. Sensual, heavy lassitude washed through as she opened to welcome his exploring tongue.
Throughout his long life, Zamush had his share of passion, but he’d experienced nothing like this. He deepened the kiss, taking drugging sips of her lips as she molded hers against his. With a firm grip, he plundered her mouth.
She didn’t fight back. Instead, she growled and wrapped a tight hold around his neck, as if grasping for a lifeline.
He didn’t want the amorous storm between them to break, but common sense reared its ugly head and he pulled back. Now wasn’t the time to get carried away. He ignored every instinct to claim her here and now. He wouldn’t jeopardize the tentative feelings developing between them by forcing the issue. He’d give her time to let go of the fantasy she’d created about Sychar. The most he could hope for at this point was to give her something else to think about.
