"Please tell me what to do to save you." There was desperation in her voice. "You can stop it." "I can't, Mikhail. Stop this, you're scaring me." She pressed as hard as she was capable, but the blood continued to flow between her fingers. "Your tongue has the power to heal; so does the saliva in your mouth." His voice was dark, hypnotic. He leaned back as if his strength was waning. "But do not counteract my choice unless you live also, because I refuse to go back to a world of darkness." Frantically she bent her head to his chest, swept her tongue over the edges of the wound, sealing the gap as if it had never been. The revulsion was in her brain, but not in her body. Something wild lifted its head; her eyes went slumberous and sensual. Heat coiled, and spread. Her body hungered, craved him. She heard the ebb and flow of the blood in his veins, the drumbeat of his heart, like a call. She wanted more, needed the erotic ecstasy only he could provide. Mikhail's hands were in her hair, bunching, dragging her head back, exposing her throat. His mouth moved over her soft skin, her frantic pulse. "Are you sure, Raven?" He whispered it so sensually her body went liquid in answer. "I want you to be completely sure. You must be certain this is your choice." She circled his neck with her arms, cradled his head. "Yes." The memory of his mouth moving against her, the white-hot pleasure piercing her very soul, made heat pool low and wicked in her abdomen. She wanted this, even needed this."