Chapter Sixteen
Much better than venison. Chasing down a herd and cornering a huge beast that fought hard to live was so much better than the deer begging him with their eyes not to attack before bolting. He loved the primal feel, the power behind his capability to shape-shift. Though he wouldn't do it in front of Damali anymore, since it bugged her out.
Damn, he hadn't even gone all the way, and she'd freaked. That was cool. Some things she didn't need to see. There were plenty of other pleasures he could expose her to that he hadn't even draped on her yet, guaranteed to blow her mind. He chuckled just thinking about a few options. She'd liked that mist thing, though... touching everywhere at once, turning the entire surface of her skin into one aching erogenous zone, then materializing inside her on a hard thrust. She'd definitely liked that. He shook his head.
Still, there was nothing like the big cats. A part of him could understand the female vamp's proclivity for it, although hanging on level five was a little over the top. But that realm did have some fantastic shit to draw from. Yeah, he liked panther.
Wolves were cool, too. He'd tried that shape once or twice. But he was more of a panther kind of guy. They rolled solo. But if her team ever came into such power as to be able to transform, he imagined Damali's guardians more as wolf types, a group, a pack. Cool people. Hung tight as a strategic unit. He liked them, and respected that about them.
But his baby was definitely all panther. Not because of the way she hung tight with family; that was not a panther trait. It was the way she moved that gave him a jungle-cat image of her... feline, agile. A huntress. No, not a panther, but rather a lioness. Fought with ferocity. Was loyal. Loved pleasure, could give it and take it all night. Regal. Yeah. A young queen. That's what his Leo baby was. Golden colored.
Sexy as hell... Damn, if she could bear fangs... He immediately banished the thought.
It was dangerous to even go there, thinking of any of them as an extension of his vampire life. It had to be the environment, and the simple fact that he'd never turned a single soul into a vampire. Maybe one night? No. He was serving time and on a mission to reclaim his soul. That would not be forgiven. An affair, maybe they'd turn a blind eye... but if he jacked a human, all bets were off.
Decisions, decisions, and forbidden knowledge dangling before him that was so tempting. He smiled, thinking of Eve. Had he been in the Garden, he mighta had to take a bite of apple, too. Wasn't all her fault. Shit, if Adam couldn't hang, what was the sister supposed to do? All she wanted was learn from a master, and the guy who came to teach her was the best in the business. Girlfriend got a bad rap.
Carlos sighed and looked up at the full moon. Knowledge acquisition was in his nature as a vampire. What did they want from him? At the base of all power was extreme knowledge. At the core of every vampire was a hunger for power, which rivaled their thirst for blood, and their razor-sharp minds siphoned and absorbed new information like a sponge. That was what they were, as an entity
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