The Force of Wind — Elizabeth Hunter

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From The Force of Wind...

"Who are the lion and the dragon?"

He pulled back. "What?"

"Elder He, the other fire vampire?"

"Yes?"

"She said, 'Who is this human who's protected by the lion and the dragon?' Was she talking about you and Baojia?"

Giovanni chuckled. "Yes, she's quite dramatic, isn't she? She always has been."

"So, are you the dragon?" Beatrice teased, pulling at the back of his shirt as she walked backward toward the silk-covered bed beyond the arched doorway. "The dragon that breathes fire?"

He bent down and hitched up her legs around his waist, carrying her toward the bed and laying her on the red pillows. "We're in China; the dragon is a water symbol here."

"Oh?" she asked as his warm hands stroked along her waist. "So you're the lion? Why are you the
lion?" 

"I'm from the West, and the lion is a symbol of the sun," he said as he laid gentle kisses along her collar. "The sun is the mother of fire."

"But..." She sighed as she felt the quick lick of amnis wherever his lips touched. Her heart began to race. "That seems kind of cruel. You can't go out in the sun."

He only smiled, and she could see the length of his fangs gleaming in the low light of the candles that lit the room.

"Tesoro mio, the lion may be a symbol of the sun..." He bent down, lifted her body toward his, and gave one long, slow lick from her collarbone to her ear. "But he hunts at night."