“Oh, for the love of the saints . . .” She squirmed in his arms for a moment, pulling off her shirt and wrapping it around his head.
Now I can’t see.
“I’ll tell you where to go. Forward five steps, then stop.”
“I really don’t need—”
“Stop being such a baby. Five steps.”
They made it to the car, although Alec’s hands were burning something fierce by the time he placed Cora in the backseat. He was going to sit up front next to Noelle in order to give Cora room to stretch out her leg, but she just grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in after her.
“Go!” she ordered Noelle, and the Guardian, at least, didn’t argue. Gravel kicked out behind them as the tires spun, finally getting a grip.
“Put your leg up on me,” Alec ordered, trying to arrange Cora’s leg, but she shook her head and pulled him toward her, plastering herself against the window.
“Get in the middle,” she said in her delightfully bossy tone.
“I’m not—”
Get in the middle, you idiot. The sun won’t reach you there.
I’m not going to let you hurt yourself—
“I’ll sit on you, OK? Just sit there.”
Have I mentioned that I don’t like bossy women?
Have I mentioned that I don’t like vampires?
Frequently.
Yeah , well, get over yourself. She waited until he moved to the middle of the seat before she scooted over and carefully sat across his legs. “There. Comfy?”
He closed his eyes for a second, the sting of his face and hands fading as her scent permeated his awareness, the feeling of her in his arms, warm and soft, one of her exquisite hips pressed against his penis, making it instantly come to life. He had an almost overwhelming urge to bite her, not just to feed, but simply because he wanted to mark her, to let every man know she was his, and his alone.
Cora turned to look at him, her eyes wide and somewhat hazy with passion. I’m not yours, Alec. Although the biting thing really sounds . . . no. Never mind. I didn’t just think that.
He was surprised that she had overheard his thoughts, since she hadn’t been able to previously.
Who’s projecting now? she asked with a smug little smile into his mind.
He pinched her behind, caressing the sweet curves of her ass as he asked, “Where exactly are we, Noelle?”
“Arizona. Outside of Flagstaff, actually. How did you knock out Mr. de Marco? I didn’t see you do anything.”
Cora sagged against him, her fingers absently toying with the hair at his nape. He wondered how long he’d be able to stand that without having to make love to her.
Her fingers stilled for a moment as she glanced at him from the corners of her eyes before a wicked little smile curled her lips.
“Where are we going? I only have this rental car for another day, so if you’re hoping to drive somewhere at a distance, I’m afraid—”
“Into the nearest town, then the airport,” Alec said, warring with his need to claim Cora again—her mouth, her body, her soul—and common sense.
“Will do,” Noelle said, turning onto a main highway.
“Airport?” Cora asked. “Where are we going?”
“Where do you live?” he countered.
“Outside of San Francisco.”
“Then we’ll have a doctor see you first, and fly into San Francisco, so we can pick up your passport and anything you want to bring with you.”
“Bring with me where?” she asked, and by the way she held herself, he knew she was in increasing pain. He wished he could take it from her, and nuzzled her neck, hoping to distract her.
“Florence.”
“Florence . . . Italy?” Cora asked, her voice a squeak as he nibbled on her earlobe. Jesus wept! Do that sucky thing behind my ear again.
He sucked. She moaned in his head.
Why Italy?
That’s where my friend and his Beloved live.
The friend you betrayed?
Yes. Kristoff and Pia are tied up with de Marco and Ulfur. They’ll help us.
Why on earth would they do that when you betrayed one and seduced the other?
He smiled at the jealousy she fought whenever she thought of Pia.
We didn’t have sex, mi corazón. Well, she touched me, I touched her, and that was it. I suppose you could call that sort of a minor form of sex. Regardless, you have nothing to be jealous of.
I am not . . . oh, move on. Why would they help us?
Because I’m not going to give them any other choice, he said, and gently pushed her out of his mind. He had some planning to do.
Two hours later Cora limped out to Noelle’s car, glaring at him when he offered to carry her.
“The tetanus shot hurt more than the bullet. Stop hovering over me, Alec, I’m fine. It’s just a smidgen pinchy now. Did you do something to me to make me heal faster than normal? Because that doctor said that it looked like the wound was several days old, and almost healed over.”
He kept to the shadows of the medical building before sliding next to her into the backseat of the car. “I haven’t done anything to you, no. It could be the Tool making you . . . more.”
“More what?” Cora looked startled at the idea.
“More than mortal, I think,” Noelle said, starting the car, pausing to glance back at him. “We Beloveds, even when not Joined, are kind of . . . oh, I like to think of us as ‘woman plus.’ We have extra bonus abilities, like healing faster, and being more resilient, things like that.”
“We Beloveds?” Cora almost choked on the word.
She thinks you’re my Beloved. Do not argue with her—it’s easier if she believes it to be true.
Is it? She clearly wanted to say more, but withdrew from him mentally.
“Yes. Didn’t Alec tell you? I’m a Beloved, too, although the Dark One I was supposed to save ended up liking my roommate more than me.”
Cora cast him a curious look. “Beloveds can do that? ”
“No,” he answered.
“Sometimes they can, yes,” Noelle contradicted him. “Sebastian—he was the Dark One—said it had something to do with fate, that sometimes it got messed up, and assigned the wrong Beloved to a Dark One. Airport?”
“Please,” Alec answered.
“You got it. I should return home, anyway.”
“So this vampire you were supposed to hook up with ran off with your roomie? The dog!” Cora said, shooting him irritated glances just as if he were at fault. “I hope you let them know how you feel.”
“Oh, I did. At first I was hurt, but I realized that they really were meant for one another. Besides, Belle—she was my roomie—promised to help find me a Dark One who doesn’t have a Beloved.”
Noelle’s gaze in the mirror flickered to him.
Cora put her hand on his leg and glared at the mirror. You say one word, and I’ll pop you on your incredibly gorgeous nose.
He put his hand over hers and stroked the backs of her fingers. I’m surprised you care enough to feel possessive, querida.
I’m not being possessive. I’m just protecting you because you let de Marco shoot you in the back in order to save me. Noelle wouldn’t be right for you at all. You can thank me later for getting her off your back. “And I take it she hasn’t found one yet?”
“No, although I’ve met just about every unredeemed Dark One in Europe.” Noelle sighed.
“You’d think one of them would be happy to have you swoop in and save him,” Cora said, drumming her fingers on his leg.
“You’d think so, but I guess not. I wouldn’t mind, except Belle is constantly after me to try to meet more Dark Ones, and to be honest, I’m perfectly happy the way I am. And besides, men are like stray cats, you know? When one needs you, they find you.”
Cora laughed. Alec refrained from making any comment, focusing his attention on more important matters. He had to figure out how he was going to convince Kristoff to go against the Mora
vian Council. Kris wasn’t going to like it, but Alec had too much at stake to tolerate any refusal of help.
He had to protect Cora, and it was beginning to look like there was only one way to do that.
Chapter Eight
I spent the entire flight to Florence pretending to sleep. I wasn’t proud of that fact, and I did actually snooze a goodly part of the time, thanks to some pain pills, but I had just reached a point where my mind seemed to be completely out of my control.
“I am going to sleep,” I told Alec an hour after the private jet he had chartered took off. The fact that he had the resources to think nothing about hiring private jets to send him rocketing around the world was one of the things my mind had a hard time dealing with.
“I don’t know why,” he said without looking up from his laptop.
“I’m tired. And that dinner you insisted I eat was huge, and it made me sleepy.”
“I meant that I don’t know why you feel that traveling in a private jet is in any way outstanding. I assure you that the company that hires out this jet flies their clients all over the world.”
“It may be standard operating policy where vamps are concerned,” I said, dropping my voice so the stewardess at the other end of the cabin couldn’t hear us, “but in my social circle, it’s a big deal. I’m going to curl up on the couch, if you don’t mind, and try to sleep off all that food.”
“You needed to eat. I had taken too much blood,” he said, his gaze still on the laptop that sat before him. “Why don’t you sleep in the bed?”
I looked over at the long brown suede couch that was tucked against one side of the cabin. The whole interior was done in a lovely latte and cream color scheme, the six leather chairs made with butter-soft leather that was so comfortable, I could have slept sitting upright in them. “It turns into a bed?” I asked, nodding toward the couch.
“No. There’s a bedroom in the back.” He looked up, his green cat’s eyes dancing with amusement. “I could show it to you if you like.”
I leaned forward over the glossy inlaid wood table that sat between our facing chairs, my voice a whisper as the stewardess tidied up the remains of our dinner—Alec’s having been eaten by me, since he evidently didn’t eat food that didn’t come straight from the vein. “I said no sex, and I mean it, buster. If you so much as think of seducing me again—”
“I believe the seduction in the Akasha was a mutual endeavor.”
“—like you tried at my apartment—”
He smiled, the handsome bastard. “Ah. That was due to the fact that I thought you were stripping for me rather than simply changing your clothes. I apologized for that.”
“—and at the airport—”
He shrugged. “I was hungry. You offered to feed me. We were alone. Things got a little carried away. I apologized for that, too.”
“—and five minutes ago, when I was in the bathroom.”
His smile broadened. “That was simply a matter of wishing to make sure your wound had thoroughly healed, and being unable to resist the nearness of your naked flesh.”
“Flattering as it is to be the object of lust by a bloodthirsty fiend in sexy men’s clothes, I stand by what I said, Alec—no sex. I’ll feed you because you helped me, and are continuing to help me, but I’m not interested in you in a male-female sort of way. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”
“Yes,” he said, swiveling around in his chair to consider me, his gaze raking me from toes to nose. “You’ve made it extremely clear that you’re in denial, because you know you’re just as attracted to me as I am to you. Anger should be next, although perhaps you’re at that stage simultaneously with denial. I can’t wait for bargaining.”
I glared at him. “I am not in the five stages of grief, and I am definitely not attracted to you!”
He splayed his fingers across one of my breasts. My breath caught in my throat, my heart beating wildly at the touch, and my nipples, those traitors to my better intentions, hardened visibly under the thin gauze dress I’d donned for the anticipated warmth of Italy.
Alec pursed his lips as his thumb swept over my nipple. I shivered, for a moment entertaining the idea that I could have my cake—hot, steamy lovemaking with Alec—and keep him at arm’s length at the same time, but realized that was the sheerest of follies.
“Damn you,” I snarled, stalking off toward the back of the cabin.
Sleep well, love.
You can go to hell!
Pleasant dreams, too. Hopefully ones about you and me being naked together.
I froze for a second at the images with which he filled my head, then ran the rest of the way to the bedroom, desperate to shut out both the images and the knowledge that he was right.
I was utterly, completely, wholly in denial, and determined to stay that way.
An hour later I was still tossing and turning on the bed, not totally comfortable with the idea of an airplane having a bedroom to begin with. What if there was turbulence ? I looked, but there were no seat belts on the bed, so I contented myself with very carefully tucking myself in with the sheets pulled very tight over me. But mostly, I was sleepless because my body sang a sad little song of loss over the fact that it was confined to the bed, while Alec was sitting out in the main cabin, in glorious manliness.
Just what was he doing with that laptop?
Taking care of some business.
Stop eavesdropping! I ground my teeth at him for a few minutes, then unable to keep from asking, What sort of business? Businessy business, or vampire business?
I am involved in several mundane financial businesses, querida.
Really?
Yes, really. I have to have some way to fund trips in private jets, he answered, amusement rife in his mind.
Oh, I suppose . . . I thought you just . . . you know . . . had money.
I do have money. I’ve spent my life working for it.
I didn’t know why, but that pleased me. I’ve always liked people who made their own fortunes, both literal and figurative.
As do I. I thought you were tired?
I was. I am. Don’t you dare offer to have sex with me so I’ll sleep. And don’t tell me you’re not going to offer that, because I can feel that you are.
His laughter echoed in my head as I snuggled into the pillow, willing myself to sleep.
I surfaced from a dream of being bathed in warm, golden honey to find myself facedown on the bed, the lights in the room dimmed, and a sexy vampire kissing his way up my spine, his hands caressing my behind. “You are wearing black lace. Have I told you how much black lace lingerie arouses me? Nothing is quite so sexy as it is against the flesh of a warm, willing woman.”
I swear his hands were made of fire. I struggled against the need to purr, saying instead in a hoarse voice, “Have we landed?”
“Yes. We’re in New York, refueling. We should be taking off again shortly.”
“Oh. Alec, I said no sex, and I meant—”
Hush. I won’t do anything you don’t desire me to do. I simply can’t resist you any longer.
I groaned to myself, both at the sensation of his tongue painting a line up my spine and at the knowledge that what I desired was him, pure and simple.
But not on the only terms he wanted me.
Oh, great, he was right—I was at the bargaining stage! Dammit!
Even that knowledge did nothing to stop me as his hands slid between my legs, stroking me through the black lace and satin underwear, teasing me until he slid them off, his magical fingers making sure to inflame me further. His fingers danced in my hidden depths, his mouth moving over to one hip. I shivered at the heat of it, moving restlessly on the sheets, my breasts aching for his touch. “You’re hungry again.”
“I’m always hungry for you.” One finger sank into me, making my muscles quiver and grip him, my body tight and hot with need.
“Then you’d better go ahead and have a snack. I wouldn’t want it getting around that I was a poor hostess. My mot
her would never let me live it down.”
He licked a spot on my hip, his breath steaming it, hesitating to ask, “How do you feel?”
“Chock-full of blood.”
His mind was full of concern. I smiled at it, letting him feel how aroused I was. Truly, I’m fine. Go ahead, Alec. I can feel your hunger gnawing at you.
The familiar sting of his teeth piercing the skin on my hip dissolved to pure pleasure as he drank from me, his finger joined by a second as they curled within me, making me squirm as they found sensitive spots that I had no idea existed.
His fingers flexed as I moved against him, driven wild by the combination of his touch and the sensation of him feeding, everything I ever wanted in that small room at the back of a narrow jet.
When a third finger joined the other two, I just about came off the bed with the orgasm that followed, my toes digging into the mattress as I tried desperately to get air into my lungs.
You are so responsive, he marveled, his fingers still inside me as my muscles quivered around them. One touch and you go up like a powder keg. Do you want me to stop, querida?
“No,” I panted, amazed at the fact that my body was still keyed up . . . until I realized that what I was feeling was his arousal, bound so tightly to mine, I knew I would never be able to separate them again.
That thought scared me to my core, but before I could address it, his fingers were gone, the hard length of him thrusting into me, drawing a moan of absolute rapture from deep in my chest.
Alec! I cried, not used to the position, wanting to wrap myself around him, needing to touch him even as he pounded into my body, my muscles welcoming his intrusion with happy little quivers.
Now, love, now, he moaned, his fingers sweeping across flesh that I had assumed would be too sensitive for touch, but his climax triggered another of my own, sending us both flying.
Literally, since a subdued comment from the pilot over the intercom warned we were cleared for takeoff.
He poured his pleasure into both my body and brain as the climax seemed to go on and on, suddenly biting hard on my shoulder, not a feeding bite, but one of possession, a way of marking me to warn all other males that I was taken.
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