"You taste like the forest, wild and untamed and so erotic you make me crazy." The admission broke from her, the confession of a grave sin. The bubbles fizzed and burst against their sensitized skin, foamed on their most intimate parts. Mikhail leaned back, taking their weight, securing her on his lap. Her rounded bottom brushed against him, sent sweet fire streaking through their blood. "You taste like sweet, hot spice, addictive and so sensual." His teeth grazed the nape of her neck, and sent a shiver of excitement down her spine. Raven lay quietly in his arms, her mind reeling under the impact of what she had done. She would never get enough of Mikhail. There was a wildness between them that could never be sated. Raven was unable to piece it all together; her brain simply refused to acknowledge what she might have become. She had no idea what he meant when he said his species "fed." The impressions were there, but she only had knowledge of what Mikhail shared with her. Was sex always involved? He had said no, but she couldn't imagine taking blood deliberately. She closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't do this with anyone else. She couldn't imagine taking blood from a human. Mikhail pressed her head to him, his fingers soothing in her hair. He murmured softly, his voice pitched low and compelling. She needed time to adjust to her Carpathian blood, the intense emotions and urgent needs. She had willingly participated in the mating ritual. She had made the blood exchange without his silent compulsion. They were irrevocably bound, and there was no reason for her to suffer needless human recriminations and fear of the future. Let her mind accept this new reality slowly. Mikhail was brutally honest with himself. After waiting several lifetimes for this woman, he didn't want her with anyone else. He had never thought of feeding as an intimate thing, only a simple necessity. But the idea of Raven biting into another man's neck, taking his life force into her body, was abhorrent to him. Every time he gave her his blood, he felt sexual excitement, an overwhelming need to protect and care for her. He had no idea what other Carpathian men felt for their mates, but he knew any man near Raven would be in grave danger. It was just as well her human mind refused to allow her to accept their way of preying on humans."