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pounding
    of her pulse was an aphrodisiac and it took all his willpower not to allow his fangs to
    slip out once more to pierce her tender chest.
    His finger went a bit deeper inside and he reveled in the feel of the moistness that
    oozed around it, readying her for what was to come. When his mouth claimed the rosy
    peak of one breast, she arched her hip up in need for a deeper penetration.
    Spiraling his tongue around and around her burgeoning nipple, he merely grazed it
    with his teeth and she was shivering like a willow in a strong windstorm. Her little
    moans were sweet music to his ears and he gently clamped his teeth over that straining
    bud, his finger going just a bit deeper still inside her.
    “Oh!” she cried out.
    Moist heat clung to his finger from tip to second joint. Her sheath was tight around
    his probe, her hymen a sweet little band that labeled her virginal. Though he ached to
    press deeper inside her, he did not want to risk rupturing her maidenhead until they
    were legally man and wife. He gently removed his finger, smiling at her groan of
    disappointment.
    He released his gentle hold on her nipple and put his lips to her ear once more.
    “I will give you sweet, sweet pleasure, my love,” he told her. “Do not fret.”
    Catherine groaned again for the base of his hand was once more pressing against
    her nether curls, his wet finger scratching delicately along one fold then the other. Her
    hips were undulating against the sheet, her breathing coming in quick, expectant little
    pants, her hands opening and closing, her heels digging into the mattress.
    “Now you are ready,” he whispered, and moved the pad of his middle finger onto
    her love pearl.
    Bucking beneath that touch, Catherine cried out and as he began stroking her,
    bringing her juices up, the blood down to engorge that tender, swelling little head, the
    25
    Charlotte Boyett-Compo
    man at her side moved his mouth over the throbbing vein at her throat and as the
    ripples of pleasure shot through her lower body, he sank his fangs into her sweet flesh.
    * * * * *
    Nyria was on her knees at the keyhole, watching the inevitable happening in the
    room beyond. Bitter tears fell heedlessly down the housekeeper’s face and the palms of
    her hands were brutally scored with the half-moon imprints of her sharp nails.
    She made herself watch it all and she knew hatred she could not control for the
    young woman whose soul—though not her virginal body—was being claimed by
    Nyria’s master.
    26
    Shades of the Wind
    Chapter Three
    Awakening with the first light of dawn, Catherine shot up quickly in bed, her heart
    racing, one hand to her chest. What had snatched her from her slumber quickly faded as
    she sat there, striving to hold onto a faint image that was rapidly receding with each
    breath she took.
    Her body and mind felt heavy, drugged, encased in cottony layers, and it was all
    she could do to throw back the covers and swing her legs from the bed. She experienced
    instant lightheadedness and reached out to take hold of the bedpost. With legs that felt
    rubbery, she pulled herself to her feet and stood there wavering, her hand pressed to
    her forehead, clutching the bedpost.
    Strange sensations were drifting through her mind—whispery warmth on her lips,
    her shoulders, a slight stinging pain upon the side of her neck. She felt drained,
    depleted and sleepy. Surmising her lethargy was due to the long trip to Anubeion, she
    forced herself to walk across the room to the bathing area to perform her morning
    ablutions.
    Remembering nothing at all of what had taken place the night before, Catherine
    was growing anxious by the time Jacob came to unlock her door and bring in her tray
    the next morning. She had been pacing for over an hour, ready to do verbal war with
    Nyria about locking the door to her room, but when that door opened, it was the mute
    servant who came in with an apologetic smile on his dark face. He signed to her that
    Nyria was