Into The Light (Immortal Hearts Book 1)

by Katherine Hastings

  His desperation pushed into my mouth and I returned it with my own. Our frantic kiss deepened, and I moaned into his mouth, exhaling my fears and constraints, surrendering myself to his will and his life. I didn’t know what the future held for us, but in that moment, I knew that we were in this together.

  A strong arm swept me even tighter against his chest. I tightened my embrace around his neck while he carried me back to the barn. The cold stones felt sharp against my back when he pressed me up against them, a dull pain eased away by his kiss. I slid my palms across his chest and moved them down the tight abs rippling beneath my touch. Grabbing the bottom of his shirt, I dragged it up, sliding the soft fabric over his head. Watching his smooth, sculpted body come into view sent a shock of heat down my spine that moved through me before settling between my legs. With our eyes locked, I traced my finger along the lines carved into his stomach before spreading my fingers and sliding my palms across his chest. His eyes closed for a moment and he exhaled a contented sigh.

  He opened his eyes, and his gaze fell to my breasts that lifted with every eager breath. My skin burned beneath his gaze, and I wanted to feel his hands on me and in me again. As if he could read my thoughts or feel my raging desire, he obeyed my silent command, sliding his hands along the contours of my body until they settled on my breasts. Closing my eyes, I mirrored his satisfied sigh.

  When the tight fabric of my dress denied him access, he growled, and with one quick movement he spun me around, pressing my chest into the wall. His fingers traced down my shoulders to the top of the dress binding me in with dozens of small buttons. My skin shivered when his lips brushed the back of my neck. I grabbed ahold of the stones and held on tight while his lips traveled down my spine. Strong hands grabbed at my dress, and in one swift movement I felt the constraints release with the sounds of my buttons showering the ground like raindrops. The breeze blew across my exposed back and my skin prickled from the contrasting sensations of the cool breeze and his hot breath as it worked down my spine.

  His hands moved to my hips and spun me around again. Stepping back, he reached up and slid his hands along my shoulders, pushing the cap sleeves of the dress while he smoothed them down my arms. My dress slid down to the ground unchallenged and piled in a heap at my feet. I stood before him in my black lace underwear, my exposed breasts rising and falling with each panting breath. He raked my body with a fiery gaze that seared my skin everywhere it went. When it settled onto my perked nipples, I bit my lower lip and pressed my body deeper into the wall.

  He stepped forward and slid a hand behind my head, pulling my mouth to his hungry lips. They didn’t stay long, and I whimpered when he moved them down my neck. His hands slid up my sides while his lips traveled down my neck. They met together on my breasts, his hands pushing them up into his waiting mouth. I inhaled a deep breath when his lips closed around my nipple and a gentle pull tugged it deeper into his mouth. A light flick of his tongue sent my body shuddering and then he moved to the other. My head swirled along with his tongue while he sucked and licked my stiffened peaks. When he released it from his mouth, the cold air hit the damp, warm skin and sent another shiver snaking down my spine.

  He didn’t give me any time to recover. I was in his arms and lowered to the ground before I could finish my satisfied breath. The damp grass cooled my overheated skin, and I relished the way the blades tickled my body while I lay sprawled out beneath him. Aiden kneeled above me, desire brewing like a storm behind his eyes. With just one look I felt my body aching for more, yearning to feel him fill me again.

  Pressing my knees open, he moved between my legs while he unzipped his pants. I watched while his cock broke free, hard and straining against him, and in one swift movement he encased it with a condom. He lowered himself between my legs, and I spread them wider waiting to feel him push himself inside of me. He lowered his lips to mine, sliding his tongue into my mouth and tangling it with my own. I held his face in my hands, pulling his lips deeper into mine while I kissed him with a desperation I felt in the pit of my stomach.

  The pressure pushed against my opening and I moaned into his mouth, tipping my hips to encourage him in. Slowly he slid inside of me and I ached to feel more of him, my need to have him to the hilt intensified my moan. Inch by inch he moved deeper into me until finally he thrust in with a power that caused me to inhale a sharp breath and hold it while I adjusted to the exquisite fullness. Our breaths mingled into one while he held himself there. I could feel our bodies connecting again, an energy that transcended sex and linked us together in an unbreakable bond.

  He began moving inside of me and my hands slid around his back and dug into his skin, pulling him down onto me. The weight of his body pushed into me and I moved my hips to match his. We moved together as one, our bodies melding together while his pace quickened, and our passion deepened. My legs wrapped around his waist and I inhaled the soft moan that slipped past his lips.

  The pressure started to build, and my body buzzed and vibrated as I began the climb back to the heights where only Aiden could bring me. His pace quickened, and my body begged for release, the pressure reaching levels that sent my senses to heights I couldn’t endure. I screamed out when the release finally came, my emotions colliding and churning in a symphony of pleasure. Our bodies shuddered together as we collided, the waves of ecstasy pulled us under and tossed us around while we clung to each other until the last of the waves had passed.

  We lay still tangled together in the grass, our breaths intermingling while we inhaled and exhaled, and the weight of him pressing down on me soothed me and scared me. It wasn’t just the weight of his body I now felt on me... it was the weight of our life together, the weight of the decision I’d just made to give myself over to this man and all the challenges we would face. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the weight of us, but I had no choice.

  I was his, and he was mine.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered my delayed response, pressing my lips to his ear.

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tightly into his embrace. I felt safe again now that my fight was over. Relief had washed over me when I’d made my choice to cast my fears and doubts aside and throw myself into this, into him, and trust that we would find our way through the confusion together.

  A brisk wind blew and cut across my naked body. I shivered and pressed closer to him for warmth, but his cool skin only chilled me more.

  “Are you cold?” he asked, propping onto an elbow and running a hand through my hair.

  “A little,” I admitted.

  Before I could utter another word, he disappeared then reappeared in a second holding a thick wool blanket speckled with wood shavings and hay. He lifted me up and lay me back down on it, settling along my side and pulling me into his arms before closing the blanket in a warm cocoon around us. I closed my eyes and snuggled in deeper, savoring the feel of his skin all around my body. I didn’t know what lie ahead for us, but if it meant spending my life in his arms, I would face any challenges head on. There was nothing now but this... but him. He consumed me and I would relish every second of it.

  “It’s all right, Emilia,” he whispered in my ear. “We will figure out all the details. All that matters is that I love you and I will do anything for you. Anything.”

  “And I would do anything for you,” I responded.

  “Turn then. Become a vampire with me and we will never be apart again,” he said, and the weight of his words stole away my breath. “Let me turn you.”

  He tightened his embrace, and I was grateful my back was to him and he couldn’t see the bulging eyes that were my silent response.

  Me? A vampire?

  “You don’t have to decide tonight but think about it.” He kissed my cheek.

  “I don’t need time,” I answered, my certainty startling me. “I can’t become a vampire, Aiden. Not even for you.”

  “Oh.” I heard the hurt in his response.

  I rolled over in his arms so I co
uld see his face. Pain and disappointment were visible in the tense lines that formed around his eyes.

  “It’s not that I don’t think it might be amazing to be immortal, and powerful, and all those things. Trust me, I’ve already thought about it a lot.” I touched his face and tried to soothe the sting from my refusal. “I love life, Aiden. I love food, and sunshine, and the freedom my humanity brings me. I don’t want to drink blood and live in the dark.”

  “But you will die, and I will be left to walk the earth without you,” he whispered, and I saw a glassy glare shimmer in his eyes. “I don’t want to be here without you, Emilia.”

  “I know.” I ran my fingers through his hair. “But I feel as Isobel felt. I want a human life. One single life filled with joy, pain, and eventually death. I want to savor every bite of my food and run down the beach and splash in the ocean. I don’t want to live in eternal darkness, consumed by a need for blood. I don’t want to turn into Leeya.”

  “You could never be Leeya,” he answered.

  “You don’t know that. What if I lost my humanity and with it everything that you love about me?”

  “I will never not love you, Emilia. Not for a single second of my existence will I not love you.”

  I felt the intensity of his stare consuming me again, begging me to give up my fight and submit to his desires. And the thought of spending an eternity at his side coaxed me with a crooked finger to abandon my own desires and loves and join him. But I couldn’t. Not this time.

  “Aiden. I gave up everything for a man once. Literally, everything. My money. My education. My passions. My time. My pride. My life. I won’t do it again. I can’t. I need to be me, and I need to hold on to the things that make me me. I love food, Aiden. Like really love it... more than most people. And the sun and the beach. Those things are so important to me. I know you don’t understand but I can’t give up my humanity for you. What if you leave me? What if you turn me into a vampire and decide it was a bad idea and now I’m left to wander eternity without you? Then what?”

  “I won’t leave you, Emilia! Ever!” The force of his words shook me, and I knew he meant it. But it still didn’t undo the certainty I felt in my decision.

  “I can’t, Aiden. If you love me, you won’t ask me to do this. You won’t ask me to give up myself to fit with you. I can’t lose myself again... not even for you. All I want is to be with you, and the rest we will figure out. And yes, eventually I will get old and my tits will sag, and wrinkles will cover my body. I’ll be mortified to have you look at me when you still look like that.” I waved a hand over his perfect physique. “But it’s my choice and I need you to respect it. And I need you to love me for me and accept this. I’m going to grow old and die, and you will be left alone, and that kills me, but we will have a long and happy life together until then. It’s all I can give you.”

  He inhaled a deep sigh and his gaze intensified while he searched my eyes. We lay there for a moment, the silence deafening while I waited for his response.

  “I’ll become human again,” he said, his eyes locked tight with mine.

  “What?” I choked out the word.

  He reached forward and touched my face, lowering down for a soft kiss before propping himself back up again. “I want to be human with you, Emilia. I want to experience everything you experience. To hold your hand in the sun and rush into the ocean. Taste all the foods that draw those cute noises out of you. Let you feel warm when my arms wrap around you. And die when you die, a full and incredible life started and ended together. I won’t go on without you and I don’t want to miss a moment of your life while I’m locked up in a light-tight room. I want this, Emilia. I want to be human again.”

  My heart pounded so fast I could hear it drumming in my ears. “Are you sure, Aiden? You’d give up eternity for me?”

  “There is no eternity without you.” He sighed. “Not one I want to be part of, anyway.”

  “Aiden, this is a huge decision.”

  “It’s time, Emilia. I’ve lived for over six hundred years... more than enough lifetimes that I never should have experienced. And you’re right. What is the point of living forever if I’m trapped in a world of darkness and solitude? This isn’t a life worth hanging on to. It’s time for me to live... to really live. And now that I know I can be human I’m not watching another woman I love fade away without me. You fade; I fade. We do this together. But until then I intend to savor every second on this Earth at your side.”

  “Aiden,” I whispered and leaned up, pressing my lips into his. “I can’t believe you would do this for me.”

  “I’m doing this for you, and for us... and for me. I want this, Emilia. It’s so clear to me now. You’ve reminded me how incredible it is to be truly alive. The only question left is... will you still love me when I’m just a human? When I no longer have my powers, my strength, my speed, and my ability to make your ex-husband humiliate himself in front of the masses? Will you still love me when I’m just a man who loves you more than life itself?”

  A smile pulled up my lips, and I nodded. I grabbed his face and pressed my lips hard into his. “Yes,” I whispered between kisses. “I will love you always.”

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll start the transition before the sun comes up,” he said and flipped me onto my back. His smooth skin glistened in the moonlight while he towered over me. “But I want to taste you one last time before I go.”

  A nod tipped my head, and I raised my chin, offering him my neck. He settled between my legs and slid inside me while his fangs pierced my skin. I gasped at the intensity of the feelings and savored every second he was in me while we connected over and over again beneath the full moon until the sun demanded his return. I locked the way he made me feel into my memory while the euphoria washed over me in waves. The next time I saw him, he would be human.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Aiden

  “YOU’RE JOKING!” MARK shouted, storming around the room. “You can’t be serious, Aiden! Just like that? You’re going to be human?”

  Emilia sat on my lap in the living room in her torn dress. The sun neared its rise, and each second I argued with Mark wasted the time I needed to prepare for my transition.

  “You can’t just turn human! You can’t give it all up, Aiden!”

  “I’m not giving anything up, Mark. I’m gaining everything.” I squeezed Emilia around the waist. “I’m ready to live. To really live.”

  He stopped and placed a hand on his cocked hip. “Do you even know how this works? Have you done any research? Is it safe?”

  “It’s not like I can Google it, Mark.”

  “He’s right,” Emilia said, turning to me. “Are you sure this is safe? Is it really just as simple as not drinking blood for a few weeks? Has anyone ever done this successfully?”

  “Yes, remember? That vampire turned human after an extended fast,” I said, exasperated after going in circles with Mark for the better part of a half hour.

  Mark tossed his hands up in the air. “Yeah, but then what? They decapitated him just a few days later so do we really know if this works? Has anyone else done it?”

  I shook my head. “Not that I know of.”

  “So, you’re going to starve yourself to death... or to life, or whatever, and then we’re just going to cross our fingers that you get to live happily ever after?”

  “That’s the plan,” I said with a shrug.

  Emilia tipped up my face and stared at me with worried eyes. “Maybe he’s right, Aiden. I think we should wait. Let’s take a breath and you can call some of your vampire friends and see if anyone has any other information on this. There must be someone.”

  I stifled a chuckle. “No other vampire would ever choose to be human, so I’m pretty certain I’m going to be the Guinea pig.”

  She brushed her fingers through my hair. “Let’s just wait a few days, Aiden. There’s no rush. Maybe call your family first and talk to them about it.”

  “I don’t want to wait!
” I struggled to keep my voice down. Now that I’d made this decision, I couldn’t wait another second to start my new life. It would take weeks of excruciating pain to achieve my goal, and the longer I sat here arguing with them, the longer it would be before I could get started. I wanted her. I wanted life. I wanted to taste food and feel the sun on my face again. I wanted this and no amount of arguing would change my mind now. It was worth the risk. She was worth the risk. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

  “We’re just worried about you, Aiden,” Mark said, taking a seat across from me. “If you don’t make it, I don’t know what I’ll do. You’ve kind of grown on me.”

  I smiled and nodded. “I’m touched, Mark, and you’ve grown on me, too. But I will be all right. I can feel it. It’s calling me and I don’t want to wait. Calling my family will only drive them straight to our door to rip me out of the room and prevent my change. They can’t know until it’s over and it’s too late. In less than five minutes the sun will come up and I need to be locked in the light-tight, vampire-proof holding cell. And you’re not going to let me out until I am human again.”

  Emilia bit her lip and shot a look to Mark before turning back to me. “I’m scared, Aiden. I don’t want to lose you... I can’t lose you. It’s not worth it.”

  Reaching up I took her chin in my hand. “It’s worth it. I’m ready to live for you. And for me.”

  Mark let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, if we can’t change your mind, then I guess I’ll go get the room ready. Do you need water? Food? I have no idea how this works.”