The Perfect Ten Boxed Set

by Dianna Love

  Vampire! Dear God, he was absolutely beautiful! And he made no attempt to cloak what he was. In the artificial light of the lab, he shone with an incandescent vitality.

  “Ainsley, permit me to introduce Aiden Afflack, an associate of mine.”

  Keenly aware of the gorgeous stranger’s personal power, she moved closer to Delano, but extended her hand. “How do you do, Mr. Afflack?”

  He grasped her hand briefly before releasing it, but the sensation of power shot up her arm, spiking her heartbeat again.

  “Very well, thank you. And you?”

  She murmured what she hoped was an appropriate response, but her eyes had already gone to Delano.

  Reading the questions there correctly, Delano spoke. “Aiden is a good friend of mine, Ainsley. Our association goes back longer than either of us like to credit.”

  This drew a chuckle from Aiden, a soft, easy expression of amusement that sent a tingle up her spine.

  “He’s right, I’m afraid,” he drawled.

  Lord, he had charisma! That laugh of his slid right in under a woman’s defenses and said, Like me. A lot. She could easily see how this charmer could win over women with a dazzling smile and a flowery compliment. She could also see he was a heartbreaker. He was everything, in fact, that Delano was not. Delano had always downplayed his vitality, and easy, casual seduction was not in his repertoire.

  Ainsley smiled politely and waited for an explanation.

  “Aiden has agreed to do a job for me, provided you concur with our approach.”

  Her stomach lurched. “What kind of job?”

  “My investigation of Lucy Michaels’ situation discloses some unpleasant things about her husband,” Delano said. “He’s the chief of police in St. Cloud, correct?”

  “Correct.”

  “And he abused Lucy to the point where she felt she had to flee, to protect herself and her daughter. Correct?”

  Ainsley’s fists tightened at the thought of Weldon Michaels and all the misery he was responsible for. “Also correct.”

  “Did you know that Weldon Michaels is bosom buddies with the director of your department in the hospital where you worked in St. Cloud?”

  Chief Michaels and Dr. Demmings were pals? “Really?”

  “And did you know Dr. Demmings was in the process of divorcing his wife? I understand that can be an expensive proposition. The good doctor was a prime candidate for a cash bribe, and Chief Michaels offered him a handsome one to get you fired.”

  Ainsley felt her blood pressure mounting. “Weldon Michaels did this to me? That little weasel got me fired?”

  “Beyond the shadow of a doubt. You see, he must have figured out that you were subsidizing Lucy and Devon’s living expenses. He probably figured if he could pauperize you, Lucy would surface sooner rather than later.”

  “Ohhh! I’ll have his balls!

  Delano laughed. “Frankly, I think we have a better idea.”

  “I can’t imagine what that could be.”

  “I propose to have Aiden pay him a visit.”

  Ainsley’s gaze flew to the stranger, who had a hard glint about his eyes now. “You wouldn’t … I mean…” She looked at Delano again, her eyes searching his. “You’re not proposing to…”

  “Kill him?” The softly-voiced question came from Aiden Afflack. “No. I won’t even hurt him, unless you consider possible injury to his pride. Or unless you want me to.”

  His smile thinned ever so slightly, but Ainsley sucked in her breath at the leashed menace in it.

  “I’m just proposing to spend a leisurely evening with Chief Michaels, acquainting him with the full scope and diversity of the creatures with which he shares the night. We’re thinking that once he appreciates that his wife keeps company with not one, but many of us, he’ll lose interest in persecuting her further. In fact, she should be able to move back home in about,” he paused to consult his watch, “forty-eight hours. And of course, we’d make sure that he appreciates that this Pax Vampira applies to you, as well. I will make sure that he’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure that you can return to your job, if you so desire.”

  Ainsley’s head spun. What to ask first? “What’s to stop him from reporting your … visit?”

  Aiden shrugged. “The same thing that dissuaded you from seeking treatment at a hospital when you were attacked. No one would believe him. His job would be forfeit if he makes a report of a vampire who partook of his blood, but left no evidence. A vampire who moved like lightening, but who looked like a normal man. A vampire who can leap a full story with a 200 lb. man in his arms. A vampire that knows all his dirty domestic secrets.”

  “Delano?” She glanced up at him.

  He nodded. “It can be done just as Aiden has described. You need only give your consent. And you have our word that Chief Michaels will come to no lasting harm, while learning a new respect for coloring within the lines. Aiden will impress on him, also, that we can uncover all his many and grave abuses of power in pursuit of his wife. He’ll be left with no doubt that if he so much as sneezes in the direction of Lucy, Devon or you, he’ll not only be deposed as chief, but would likely face prosecution.” He fixed her with an intent gaze. “This can work, Ainsley. You can go back home. You and Lucy and Devon.”

  But what about you? she wanted to wail. What will I do back in St. Cloud without you?

  She shook off the thought. She had to think of Lucy and Devon. These years on the run had taken a visible toll on Lucy, and Ainsley was sure Devon, ever uncomplaining, must suffer horribly each time they were uprooted…

  And now they could go home, if she gave the word. They could stop running, stop looking over their shoulders. Thanks to this beautiful, terrifying vampire, Aiden Afflack. And thanks to Delano.

  “Ainsley?” Delano prompted.

  “Okay.” She blinked. “Okay, do it.”

  “Excellent.”

  Aiden’s smile was a fearsome thing to behold. Ainsley moved closer to Delano, who took her hand.

  “Thank you,” Delano said. “Aiden will leave tonight. I’ve got an aircraft chartered. He’ll get there in plenty of time to scope out Michaels’ place this evening. Then tomorrow night, our friend Weldon is in for a long night of re-education.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you both. It will mean the world to Lucy and Devon to be able to go home at last.”

  “Our pleasure.” Delano smiled into her eyes, but she could see he was holding something back still. “Now for the other matter.”

  Ainsley’s heart thudded harder. So they were going to talk about it after all. Then she noticed the handsome vampire had made no move to leave. “Umm, don’t you think we should have some privacy for this?”

  “Actually, no,” Delano replied. “Aiden may wind up playing a fairly integral part in what happens next.”

  Her eyes flew to the smiling Aiden and back to the unsmiling Delano. “I don’t understand.”

  “I overheard your conversation with Eli.”

  It took all she had not to bury her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry about that,” she said, holding his gaze. “I shouldn’t have discussed our … situation … with Eli or anyone else.”

  “I wasn’t being critical,” he insisted. “You must feel free to discuss anything that troubles you with your friends. But the fact remains that you seem to think that now that the mutation has reversed itself, I might not feel the same about you. Indeed, I got the impression you felt I ought to play the field, so I might be certain.”

  Ainsley flicked a glance at Aiden. When she saw how avidly he was following the discussion, she could have died of mortification. “That’s private, Delano. I don’t see why we need to discuss our affairs in front of your guest.”

  “I’m sorry, my love, but I’m going to need Aiden for this next part.”

  Her heart, already pounding, kicked up into overdrive. “What are you talking about?”

  “When we were blood-bonded, you had your misgivings about our relationsh
ip, but they centered around causing me a premature death. At the heart of it, you were confident in my love for you, my complete and total devotion. I felt it when I held you, so you needn’t deny it.”

  “How could I?” She swallowed to try to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.

  “But since my reversal, all I can feel is your doubt, your anxiety, the worry that you trapped me into this relationship when you—”

  “I did trap you.” Her face burned with embarrassment at having this discussion in front of a stranger, but she couldn’t let that stop her from saying what must be said. “But I swear to you, Del, I didn’t mean to.”

  “You are blameless, Ainsley. It would not have happened had I not still been keeping secrets from you. And if you call that a trap, every man should be so lucky as to fall into one so sweet.”

  Despite her best efforts to control her breathing, a sob escaped her. “But you have choices, now. Choices you didn’t have before.”

  “I do. And one of those choices is to embrace the blood-bond again, soberly, thoughtfully, and of my own volition. That’s why I brought Aiden here tonight, to turn me back. It will take a matter of about thirty hours, but my vampiric powers should be restored. We can have it back, Ainsley, if that’s what you want.”

  She started to cry in earnest, lifting the hem of her sweater to stem the tide. Delano handed her a handkerchief, which she applied to her cheeks, then used to blow her nose.

  “Just give the word, my love, and Aiden will do it.”

  “Are you saying you love me still?” She swiped at fresh tears. “That you’re ready to shackle yourself to me, forsaking all others, even though … even though…” Even though it will literally kill you when I die. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

  He grasped her face in his big hands. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I love you, Ainsley Crawford, and I am yours as long as you want me. That didn’t change just because of the reversal. Nor did my commitment to the vaccine and my life’s work of turning back the rogue tide.”

  Her hands went to his chest, possessed of a mind of their own. “Do you want to go back?”

  The ambivalence in his eyes raked her raw sensibilities.

  “Ainsley…”

  “The truth. Please, Delano.”

  He sighed. “One of my aims all along was to reverse my own mutation, which I saw from the beginning as a vile curse, visited upon me against my will by a vampress who thought that was the path to owning me. All these years, I’ve sought to return to what I was. That’s been my aim for so long, I knew nothing else.”

  “And now?”

  “Now, I no longer want it. Not at this price. Not without you.”

  The tears brimmed again, distorting his precious face. She made no attempt to stem them this time.

  “And what if you can have your mortal life back, and me too? Would you choose to have Aiden turn you then? Either way, I will stay with you. And either way, your life expectancy will be constrained.” She brushed back a lock of his hair, which had fallen forward. “I swear, if I could be turned, I would ask Aiden to do it for us both, right now, so that we have eternity together. But we can’t. Not with my blood.”

  He pulled her face closer and kissed her eyelids, one at a time. “Then I choose to age with you. You may not see the evidence of the blood-bond, and you may not be able to slip into my mind with the ease you did before, but sweetheart, it’s still there. It has to be. Because I feel like I’d die without you.”

  The breath she’d been holding rushed out of her. “Oh, me too!”

  Suddenly his arms were around her. She circled her own arms around him lightly, mindful of his injured ribs. His mouth closed on hers, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

  When next they looked up, Aiden had left the lab.

  “Ainsley?”

  She smiled at how thick his voice sounded. “Yes?”

  “How ’bout we find Aiden again and get him to turn me so my ribs get better in the next five hours. Then I’ll be ready to make love to you the way I want. All we have to do is lose the condoms, and I’ll eventually turn back again…

  She laughed against his neck. “Trust me, Dr. Bowen. Making love won’t be a problem,” she murmured into his ear, before biting the lobe delicately. “I’m a nurse, remember? You’re in good hands.”

  “Oh, I know it, Nurse Crawford.” He laughed, but when he pulled back, his eyes sobered. “You want this, don’t you? Truly?”

  She smiled up at him, her heart brimming. “Truly, I do. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. I want to wake up in the same bed with you every morning. I want to have the right to touch you like this. I want to wake up in the night and be able to reach for you.”

  His hands tightened on her waist. “We can move back to St. Cloud as soon as my house repairs are finished.”

  She turned her attention to his throat again, this time at the juncture where neck met shoulder. “I’d like that.”

  “And would you like children?”

  Her roving mouth stopped and she leaned back in his arms. “Children?”

  “That would be one of the consequences of my reversal. I’ll be fertile again. Well, theoretically.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “Or not,” he said quickly. “We can change that whole fertility thing if you want. I know there’s a surgery. Just so we’re clear, I want you for you, not for any little Bowens you might produce.”

  Her heart thudded in her throat. Did he know what he was saying? “Del, our children … they’d have the Merzetti blood. They’d be in danger from the moment they were born.” Her throat tightened. “I don’t know if I could stand that.”

  “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, my sweet. They’ll be in no danger, or at least no more than the average child. Because by then, we’ll be into mass production of the vaccine. Their blood won’t matter.” He smiled down at her. “They’ll just be adorable girls, hopefully with their mother’s beautiful hair and violet eyes.”

  “Girls.” She chewed her lip. “We’d have to tell them about the Merzetti Effect. They’ll need to understand. If we don’t, they’ll do as I did. They’ll get pregnant and reject their daughters.”

  He smoothed a hand over her hair. “We’ll tell them, my love. And we’ll tell them about the fearless exploits of their mother and their half-sister Devon and their Aunt Lucy.”

  She blinked rapidly. “This could really work, couldn’t it? I could have a baby. I could keep my baby. Our baby.”

  “You absolutely could.”

  Then, because it seemed far too long since he’d done it last, he kissed her mouth. When he lifted his head, there were no more tears glinting in her eyes. But they glinted with something else.

  “We could make a little Bowen right now, couldn’t we?” Her hand went to the placket of his trousers. “Theoretically.”

  He groaned, hardening beneath her touch. “Theoretically, yes.”

  “Then let’s put your theory to the test.”

  A moment later, he lay on their hastily-shed clothing with her straddling his body, the heat of her core pressing against his erection.

  He gritted his teeth, trying to hang on to reason. “Are you sure, love? I’ll be just a regular guy. A human. No special powers.”

  “Oddly enough, human is kind of what I always had in mind for the father of my children.”

  He laughed, wishing the state of his ribs would allow him to curl up and pull her down, but as though sensing his need, she bent to him, capturing his laugh with her mouth.

  “I love you,” he said when she let him breathe again.

  “I love you, too,” she said, and proceeded to show him how much.

  # # #

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  About the Author

  Norah Wilson lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with her husband, two adult children, her beloved Rotti-Lab mix Chloe, and kitty-come-lately Ruckus. Norah has had three of her romantic suspense stories final in the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest until she sold her first story in 2004. She was also the winner of Dorchester Publishing’s New Voice in Romance contest in 2003.

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  TIME TRAP

  by

  Micah Caida

  GLOSSARY

  ANASKO (uh – NAS – ko)

  Be’tallia (Beh – TAHL – ya)

  K’ryan (KRY – ahn)

  C’raydonians (krah – DOE – nee – ahns)

  croggle (KROG – ul)

  dugurat (DO – gah – rat)

  furkken (FUR – kin)

  G’ortians (GORE – shuns)

  Hy’bridt (HY – brit)

  Komaen Sphere (KOE – main)

  Micah Caida (MY – kah – KAY – dah)

  MystiK (MISS – tick)

  Neelah (NEE – lah)

  Phen (FEN)

  prantheer (pran – THEE – er)