by Tina Folsom
Samson looked between him and Wes, and grimaced. “So you guys have decided to pull in the same direction this time. Well, then, I guess I don’t have a choice.” He addressed Wesley directly, “I want you to take all possible precautions when you attempt this. We don’t want to lose you.”
Wes grinned triumphantly. “You won’t. I can’t wait to tell Haven.”
“Tell me what?” Haven’s deep voice came from the side.
As Wes dragged his brother to another corner of the room, Samson came closer.
“I’m very proud of you,” Samson praised. “The threat is contained, and we’re safe again.”
“For now,” Blake conceded. “What are we gonna do with Ronny?”
“A difficult decision. The two surviving members of Norwood’s gang are on their way to the facility in Grass Valley, and they won’t be out for many years. Luther will make sure of that.”
Luther, who was bonded to Katie, Wesley’s sister, had once been an inmate of that same facility. After he’d been released, he’d subsequently broken back into the prison to follow a lead on a kidnapping, and the council had decided to hire him to improve prison security. He now divided his time between the penitentiary and Scanguards.
“But Ronny is a different case,” Samson continued. “I haven’t decided yet what to do about him. He showed remorse and helped us in the end. However, he’s also the one who knows the formula of the drug and how to produce it. The same thing could happen again.”
“It’s a difficult decision. Luckily, I’m not the one who has to make it,” Blake replied.
“Yeah, the perks of being the boss.”
“Wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.” Blake paused, motioning in the direction of Hannah, who was currently chatting with Roxanne. “Or in Hannah’s. She visited Ronny in lockup last night.”
“Is she going to reconcile with him?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Samson nodded. “Well, even if she is, it won’t influence my decision. Whatever it may be in the end. We have to think of the common good. That’s our mission.”
“Yes, so many people rely on us.”
“Let’s not disappoint them,” Samson said, and smiled, before turning around and leaving.
Finally, he was free to join Lilo again. He’d barely seen her since they’d arrived at the party two hours earlier. When he finally saw her, she was being cornered by Nicholas and Adam, both talking excitedly. Zane and Portia, who’d returned from New Orleans the same day, watched with smiles on their faces.
Blake walked to Lilo and slid his arm around her waist from behind, leaning in to bring his head next to hers.
“Are these hoodlums bothering you?”
She turned her head to him, smiling. “They’re just—”
“Look what Lilo gave us!” Adam interrupted, his voice full of awe. He held up a book Blake recognized. It was a Morgan West bounty hunter novel.
“So?” He shrugged, surprised that Adam could get so excited about a book. “I mean, I read it. It’s great, but I didn’t realize you were into books. Had I known—”
“But Lilo autographed it!” Adam opened the hardcover to the title page and pointed to it. “Look! To Adam and Nicholas, lots of love, Maxim Holt.”
Blake stared at the page. Why would Lilo autograph a book by Maxim Holt? He turned her in his arms.
“You are Maxim Holt?”
She chuckled, a sparkle in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We all have our secrets.”
“Touché.” Blake shook his head. “And I was feeling bad for praising Maxim Holt’s writing in front of you. You must have had a good laugh behind my back.”
“I’m sure you’ll get over it.”
From behind them, Nicholas interrupted, “When are you writing the next one?”
She turned to look at the teenager. “Just as soon as I can get back to work.”
The words sank deep into him. Lilo had responsibilities, a thriving career, adoring fans. And she wanted to get back to work. Did that mean she wanted to return to Nebraska? Or would he be able to convince her to stay? Nothing had been decided yet. And despite the chemistry between them in and out of bed, Lilo hadn’t once said what he needed to hear. He’d confessed his love to her hours before she was taken, but she hadn’t done the same.
Was she not ready?
42
Lilo turned the light off in the bathroom and walked into Blake’s bedroom, dressed only in a short, thin nightdress. Her eyes fell on the bed where Blake was already waiting for her, sitting halfway up, his head and shoulders resting against the headboard. His chest was bare, and she knew he wasn’t wearing anything underneath the sheets either—he hadn’t in the few days that they’d spent together after her and Hannah’s rescue. Every day with Blake seemed better than the next. But she also knew that neither she nor Blake had raised the subject of what would happen now. As if they were both afraid to talk about it for fear of destroying what they had. It certainly was the case for her.
Slowly her gaze wandered up to his face. His eyes were like embers, already shimmering golden at the rim, the vampire inside him awakening. She could tell now whenever he was close to showing his preternatural side, because she’d seen him make the change many times. A week ago she’d been frightened by it, but now she welcomed it, no, hungered for it. And just like she craved his kisses, she yearned for his bite. She understood the draw now, because she felt it physically. She felt the power he had over her, a power he could unleash with a mere smoldering glance, a casual touch, or a quiet whisper. This kind of power would have frightened her not too long ago, but it didn’t anymore, because she knew she exercised the same power over him.
Her vampire lover fulfilled her every wish before she was even able to utter it. Whenever they made love, she felt his desire for her. But there was one thing he hadn’t said since the night she’d been taken. He hadn’t said the words he’d so freely uttered before he’d made love to her in his office. Did he regret having confessed to her that he was in love with her? Had it only been a temporary feeling that he realized wasn’t love after all, but mere lust?
“Aren’t you coming to bed?”
His seductive voice drifted to her, and she approached. He lifted the duvet, revealing one naked leg, and she slipped under the covers next to him. Immediately, he pulled her onto his lap, making her straddle him.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, brushing his fingers along her cheek, before sliding them into her hair.
She forced a smile. “No. It’s just, I’ve been staying at your house for a week now, and maybe it’s time…” She hesitated, not really knowing how to bring up the subject.
Blake nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s time.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Time to talk.”
Her heart beat erratically, but she needed to say what was on her mind. “The night I got captured, you said you loved me. But you haven’t said it since.”
He searched her eyes. “Did you want me to say it again?”
Lilo dropped her lids. She hadn’t expected the question.
Blake put his fingers under her chin to make her meet his eyes. “You didn’t say it back. So I figured I needed to give you more time to let it all sink in. You’re human. You need more time than I do: a vampire’s emotions are amplified. When they fall in love, it can happen so quickly that they sometimes frighten the human they care about.” He sighed. “When you revealed at the party that you were Maxim Holt, I realized something: you have a whole other life away from all of this. I realized I have no right to take you away from your old life. I didn’t want to pressure you, that’s why I didn’t declare myself again. All I could hope for was that you’d fall in love with me in time.”
Her heart leapt. “Does that mean—”
“That I love you?” He smiled. “More than I thought I’d ever be able to love anybody. It frightened me at first, but then I realized my heart would be safe with you. And when they too
k you, I knew I wouldn’t survive if I lost you. What I feel is real, and it won’t vanish.”
She sighed in relief. “Oh, Blake!” She threw her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
“Maybe now would be a good time for you to tell me that you love me, too,” he said into her ear.
Lilo lifted her head and looked at him. “I love you, Blake.”
He rubbed his thumb underneath her eye. “No need to cry about that, baby. I’m sure you could have done worse than me. I’m not such a bad catch.”
She laughed through the tears.
“Lilo, there’s something else.”
She jolted a little, shifting back.
“Don’t look so frightened. It’s something good. Or at least I hope you think it’s good.”
He turned to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and reached inside. When his hand emerged, he was holding a small black velvet box.
Was this a dream? She gasped.
“Wait,” he cautioned, chuckling. “You’ve gotta let me get to it first.” He opened the box, revealing a solitaire with a beautiful round stone in its middle. “I called every jeweler in California to find a diamond the color of your eyes. I finally found one, but not even this blue diamond is as brilliant as your cornflower-blue eyes when you look at me. I want you to always look at me like that.”
She shifted her gaze away from the ring and met his eyes. “Blake, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes to becoming my wife.”
“Yes,” she choked out, while tears streamed down her cheeks.
Blake removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger, tossing the box aside. Then he pulled her to him and captured her lips for a tender, but altogether too brief, kiss. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I’m not done yet. There’s another question I need to ask you.”
Her mind immediately went back to her conversation with Delilah and Nina. She knew what was on Blake’s mind.
“The answer to that question is yes.”
He moved his head back, looking at her. “How could you know what I wanted to ask you?”
She smiled, and ran her fingers through his hair. “Every time you sink your fangs into me, I sense it. Besides, your friends told me enough to know what a vampire who asks a woman to marry him, truly craves.”
“And that doesn’t frighten you?”
“I love your bite.”
“But the bond is more than just a bite. You’ll drink my blood, too. And then there’s the telepathic bond.”
“Telepathic bond?” Neither Delilah nor Nina had mentioned anything about that.
“Yes, a way for the bonded couple to communicate without speaking.”
She smiled. “Doesn’t every couple in love communicate without speaking?”
He chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure some of them do. But this is different. It’s like hearing the other person’s thoughts. You wouldn’t be able to hide much from me at all. Nor I from you. We wouldn’t have any secrets from each other.”
Lilo leaned into him. “I’d like that.”
“A bond is forever. Only death will sever it.”
She kissed a path along his jaw to his ear, then down his neck. “Forever sounds good.”
“I wouldn’t be able to tolerate bottled blood any longer. You’d have to let me feed from you every day.”
She moved to the other side of his neck, planting kisses along his pulsing vein. “Only if you make love to me every day.”
A moan rolled over his lips. “I have no problem with that. But we should make sure you get on the pill for a while.”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “Why?”
“I won’t be sterile anymore once you complete your first menstrual cycle after the bonding. And as much as I’d like to feel your belly grow with my child, I want you to myself for a while first.”
His words made her heart expand even more. “You’ll make a wonderful father.”
He laughed, and she suddenly found herself on her back with Blake hovering over her. “I’ll make an even better husband and lover. How about I start right now?”
“I’m up for that.” She reached down between his legs. “And apparently so are you.”
He tugged at her nightgown, shoving it higher. “Now: I can either rip this flimsy thing to shreds and buy you a new one, or you could lift your arms and take it off. What’s it gonna be, baby?”
She shivered at the thought of his first suggestion and met his eyes, her lips parting.
~ ~ ~
Blake shuddered when he looked into Lilo’s face, realizing what she’d chosen. Heat spread in his body and shot into his fully erect cock.
“You’re one naughty girl, but who am I to deny you anything?” He willed the fingers of his right hand to turn into claws. “So you want it wild?”
Her chest heaved, and her hard nipples pressed against the thin fabric. She licked her lips, making him moan in response.
“I want you, the man and the vampire,” she said, arching toward him.
In response, he sliced through her nightgown, cutting it off her body, while letting the back of his claws slide against her smooth skin. When she shivered, satisfaction filled him. Lilo would make the perfect mate.
“I love you, Lilo,” he murmured against her lips, and drove his cock into her welcoming pussy, before he took her lips and kissed her.
Just as in the previous days and nights he’d spent with her, he found his rhythm and the perfect angle to give Lilo the pleasure she craved. With every thrust of his erection, his pelvic bone rubbed against her clit, teasing moans and sighs from Lilo’s lips. Moans he now captured with his mouth.
To see what he could give her filled him with pride, and that feeling made his cock swell even more and his balls begin to burn with the need for release. But today would be different from the other times they’d made love. Today they would truly join and become one.
Breathing hard, he released her lips and looked at her. He would never get enough of what he saw: a woman on the verge of ecstasy. When her eyes met his, he smiled at her and slowed his strokes.
“It’s time,” he murmured, and she nodded.
Again he let his fingers turn into claws. With one of them he sliced into his shoulder. Blood dripped from it.
“Drink from me, Lilo,” he demanded and lowered himself to bring his shoulder to her lips.
When her lips touched his skin and her tongue licked up the blood, he shuddered. His hips began to pump, driving his cock hard into her.
“More!” he cried out.
She laid her mouth over the incision and sucked.
“Oh God, yes!” This was what he’d been craving ever since he’d met her: that she’d drink his blood and take him into her, accepting him fully.
Thrusting in a steady rhythm now, he lowered his face to her neck. His fangs were already extended, and when he rubbed them against her skin, a jolt went through him. He pierced her skin a second later and drove his sharp canines into Lilo’s flesh.
Blake pulled on the plump vein and let the rich blood run down his throat.
Everything would be different from now on. She was his, and he was hers.
He felt what she felt now. Sensed the approach of her orgasm like a wave about to crest. He let go of his control and gave himself over to her, climaxing with her. As he pumped his seed into her and rocked inside her, he continued to drink from her.
He sent his thoughts to her. I’m yours, Lilo, forever yours.
She would hear him in her head now. As if he was there with her, because he was. Just like he could feel her now, she could sense him.
Blake!
He heard his name echo in his head.
What’s happening to me?
Don’t be afraid, baby.
She clung to him, her lips still on his shoulder, drinking from him.
I’m not afraid anymore. I’m with you now.
I’ll keep you safe, forever, he promised.
Epilogue
Wesley hiked into the woods until he reached the old cabin that Scanguards had raided only a week earlier. When he saw it appear in the darkness, he could sense that his locking spell was still in place. Nobody had entered the house, not even an animal.
He set his backpack on the ground, removing the accelerant he’d brought together with a box of matches. It wouldn’t take much to destroy the house and every sign of the illegal drug manufacturing that had gone on there.
Wesley opened the door and stepped inside. A stale smell greeted him. It got stronger when he reached the kitchen. This was where he’d start the fire. He glanced around and gathered a few old newspapers, a wooden cutting board, and a few books, and piled them up on the kitchen table. Slowly he poured the accelerant over the pile and tossed the empty canister to the floor. He pulled a match from the box and struck it. A small flame lit up.
“Good riddance,” he murmured to himself and tossed the match on the pile.
The flame shot up instantly, but he didn’t wait to watch it burn. He turned on his heel and left the cabin. Outside, he grabbed his backpack, collected the crystals he’d left on his previous visit, and hoisted the backpack over his shoulder.
He waited for a few more minutes until the flames grew and engulfed the house, breaking the windows and pushing through the old tiles on the roof. Only now did he exercise control over the blaze and command it to remain contained to the house.
He chanted the spell and waited for the fire to react. And just as he’d commanded it, the fire consumed only the house and didn’t jump to the surrounding trees. There would be no wildfire.
He exhaled, satisfied. The Höllenkraut drug was destroyed. He could only hope that nobody else would ever try to mess with the dangerous herb again.
Turning his back on the smoldering embers that remained of the old cabin, he headed in the direction he’d followed the stranger a week earlier. Thanks to the notes he’d found in one of Francine’s books, he was almost one hundred percent certain, that he’d chased a Stealth Guardian, a preternatural creature who could not only render himself invisible—which would explain why he hadn’t been able to see him during the chase—but also pass through solid objects like walls and doors. If Francine’s research was to be believed, the Stealth Guardians were a benevolent race who’d made it their mission to protect humans. Just like Scanguards had. Which was reason enough to establish contact with them and see if they could help each other.
