Dante’s Salvation

by Anna Leigh Keaton

  Wendy stood in stunned silence. When her thoughts stilled, she realized one thing. She wasn’t repulsed. Though the thought was rather odd, she knew it to be true. If he needed blood to survive, she’d rather he took hers than some other woman’s.

  “If you don’t give me a chance,” she shouted at his back, “how will you know if I can live with it or not?”

  He stopped but didn’t turn back.

  She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and realized they had an audience on the opposite side of the street. She might have found a stronger part of herself these last few weeks, but she wasn’t about to air all her dirty laundry right there on the street.

  Putting her purse strap over her shoulder, she hurried down the sidewalk at a fast jog. He turned just before she reached him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up the street, heading for her apartment.

  “Wendy—”

  “Just shut up and walk me home. Be the gentleman you were that night I met you.”

  He fell into step next to her and laced his fingers with hers. She smiled to herself, but this wasn’t the leisurely stroll they’d taken that first night. This time she had a purpose. She needed to get him inside her apartment and ask all the questions that had plagued her since she woke up in that clinic.

  When they reached her building, she let go of his hand in order to pull her keys from her purse.

  “Wend—”

  “Don’t talk yet. You’re coming in, and then we’ll talk.”

  “I don’t think—”

  She whirled on him and planted her hands on her hips. “You’ve been calling me for over a week, and today you sent me the most beautiful rose I’ve ever seen. Are you backing out? If so, why all the phone calls?”

  He stared at her with sad eyes, but he pressed his lips together. She stepped forward, wound her arms around his waist, and laid her head against his shoulder. She figured she understood without him having to lay it out for her. He was afraid if he didn’t leave now, it would hurt worse later. The same way she’d felt when she first met him. Only she’d overcome her fears. Could he?

  “You said you loved me,” she reminded him. “Did you mean it?”

  “With all my heart,” he whispered and wrapped his arms around her. His big hand coasted over her hair in that gentle gesture she’d grown to adore. He was so big, so strong, yet so gentle.

  “There’s a lot I can’t remember of that night with Evan, but I know one thing. You were willing to die to save me.”

  “I never wanted you involved. It nearly killed me when I realized that monster had you.” His fingers skimmed her jaw then threaded through her hair.

  “That morning, before Digger interrupted, were you going to tell me?”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  She slowly pulled back and looked into his gorgeous face. “Why did you decide to open your heart after a hundred-fifty years?”

  He cupped her cheek in his big, warm palm. Skimmed his thumb over her bottom lip, which made her tingle all the way to her toes. “I had no choice. I’ve always heard that when a vampire meets their human mate, they just know...” A sad smile tilted his lips. “All I knew was that I needed you. If you hadn’t come to the shop, I would have come after you. I would have pursued you to the ends of the earth.”

  “Then how could you walk away now?” she asked, her throat tight and achy.

  “You don’t trust me. What is a relationship without trust? And you’re right. I should have been honest from the beginning. I shouldn’t have—”

  She pulled his head down and pressed her lips against his to stop him. His mouth was gentle, undemanding. It was a sweet kiss that stole her breath and made her quiver. He breathed in deep then skimmed his tongue along her lips. When she opened, he slipped inside, teasing her tongue with his.

  With a groan, she clung to him, afraid her knees would give way. When she felt the hard press of his cock against her belly, she shivered. “Dante,” she whispered when he rested his forehead against hers and panted.

  “I’m sorry, love. I’m sorry for everything.”

  “I know. Come upstairs.”

  He nodded. “So we can talk.”

  She grinned and pulled back so she could unlock the door. Her hand shook, and it took three tries to get the key into the lock. She giggled and shoved the door open, grabbed his hand, and hauled him to the elevator.

  They’d talk, all right, but not until after... She went up on tiptoe and kissed him again as the elevator doors shut. He was fast to respond this time, wrapping her in a tight embrace, gripping her bottom and holding her snug against his cock.

  The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. She backed out of the car, still holding on to him so he couldn’t pull away, and stopped in front of her apartment across the hall.

  “Sweetheart,” he muttered as he kissed her chin, her jaw, her ear. “We have to stop.”

  She grinned at the panting sounds he made and looked up into his eyes. “I don’t want to stop. I want you to make love to me.”

  He stared into her eyes for a long moment, and a tiny part of her feared another brain erasure, but in her heart she knew he wouldn’t do that to her. He’d done it for real, logical reasons before. Not on a whim.

  “Don’t run away,” she said, hoping he read the sincerity in her eyes, from her heart.

  A soft chuckle came out of him, and he turned his head to kiss her palm.

  She reached behind her and slipped her key in the door. “Come on.” She hooked her finger in the collar of his shirt and pulled him inside. She didn’t stop until she’d tugged him into the bedroom.

  “Wendy, we do need to talk.”

  She nodded and started unbuttoning her blouse. “Yes, we do.”

  He tipped his head to the side in the most endearing way when she dropped her shirt and reached for the button on her jeans. “You don’t want to talk right now, do you?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with humor.

  She shook her head, then laughed as she shoved her pants down her legs and kicked off her shoes. “Depends on how good your concentration is, I guess.”

  He chuckled and pulled his shirt over his head. His stomach muscles rippled. His biceps bulged slightly. She stopped in the middle of reaching behind her to unhook her bra. Goodness, he was gorgeous.

  Raising an eyebrow at her, he reached for the fly of his jeans. “You’re staring.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. It feels like it’s been forever since I saw you.”

  He reached for her then, pulled her into his arms, and buried his face against her hair. “It’s been the worst week and a half of my life.”

  She clung to him, breathing in his spicy scent, reveling in the touch of their skin. “Mine, too. I thought I could forget you. I thought I was better off without you.” She pulled back and looked into his face. “Swear to me that what I feel is real and not some hypnotic implant you stuck there.”

  He reached up and held her face between his palms. “I swear to you, Wendy, I would never, ever do anything like that. I admit the first time I told you I loved you, you were mesmerized, but I would never try to trick you into feeling something you didn’t.”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “That’s why I woke up that morning knowing you loved me when you’d never said it.”

  He nodded. “It was true then. It’s true now. I love you.”

  She believed him. She trusted him. Lifting her hand from where she’d held his side, she held her wrist up. “I want you to...” She swallowed hard, just a little afraid it might hurt. “...drink my blood.”

  He glanced at her arm then back into her eyes. “No.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dante watched Wendy’s eyes widen, and he sensed her withdrawal, if not physically then emotionally.

  “No?” she asked, confusion clear in her eyes.

  He pulled her against him when she would have backed away. “No, I won’t drink your blood from your wrist. That’s how I take blood from women at the club. I mesmer
ize them and then take what I need.” He shook his head and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t need to take blood from women any longer. I...” He chuckled. “I have a connection at a blood bank now.”

  Her brow furrowed. “You don’t want my blood anymore?”

  “Oh, love, I want badly. But I won’t take it if you’re frightened of it.”

  She licked her lips. “I’m not afraid. Besides, you said you took it before, and I didn’t even know. Where did you take it from anyway? I didn’t see any marks on my neck.”

  He slid his hands down her back, over her butt, then brought one around and slipped it up the inside of her right thigh. “Here. While I was on my knees in front you.”

  She shivered, and her eyelids drooped.

  “And I don’t leave marks.” He skimmed his fingers over the crotch of her silky panties. She whimpered and gripped his shoulders. “I don’t need your blood, love. I will never again take what you don’t offer.” He slipped his middle finger under the edge of her underwear and through her damp curls.

  “Why...ah...why didn’t I know last time?”

  He wound his arm around her back to keep her from collapsing and brought his lips against her ear. “Because, when I bit, you were crying out in ecstasy. My teeth are so sharp when I feed, you can’t feel it. But there’s a rush of pleasure when my saliva mixes with your blood, going through your veins. It makes your orgasm even stronger.”

  Wendy arched her back and pressed against his hand when he slid one finger into her cunt and flicked her clit with his thumb. “I... I’d never come from...ahh...oral sex before.” Her juices slicked his palm.

  In a bit of awe, he asked, “Talking about this is turning you on, isn’t it?”

  She nodded. “You turn me on. I want you to...to...”

  “Feed from you? Claim you as my mate?”

  Her breathing hitched. “Your mate.” She looked up at him through hooded eyes. “Like...forever?”

  He stopped stroking her pussy and withdrew his hand as he looked deep into her eyes, praying he read her right. “I want forever with you, Wendy. I’ve searched several lifetimes for a woman with your heart, your soul. Can you see past what I am to the man inside of me?”

  “Oh, Dante,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I’ve never made good choices where men were concerned. And then this young, gorgeous, worldly man sweeps me off my feet, and he’s got more problems than any...human...I’ve ever dated.”

  He chuckled. “I do have a few.”

  She was silent as she looked at him. “Does stuff like what happened with Evan happen often?”

  He shook his head. “Only about once every hundred years or so.”

  “You’ll never grow old?”

  “It’s a very slow progression. I was twenty-four when I was turned. I’ve aged a bit in the last three hundred years.”

  She swallowed so hard it was audible. “What happens when I get old and wrinkled, gain forty pounds and get gray hair?”

  He touched his lips to hers. “I’ll never betray you, love. I’ll never leave you.” He swept his tongue into her mouth just once, tasting her warmth. When he pulled back, he said, “There’s also the... If you wanted...” He closed his eyes. He didn’t want her trapped in the same world he was, yet he wanted to spend the next dozen centuries with her and no one else. “I could turn you.”

  “Umm.”

  He shook his head. “That is not a discussion for tonight.” He touched her cheek, her chin, the shell of her ear.

  “Dante,” she said softly.

  “Hmm?” He couldn’t tear his gaze from her silky skin.

  “Make me your mate.”

  A grin spread over his face as peace settled in his heart. Then he scooped her into his arms and dropped her on the bed. She giggled as he shucked off his jeans and underwear and came down on top of her, taking her mouth in a hard, deep, wet kiss.

  Wendy moaned and bucked against him, her damp heat and silky panties sliding along the length of his cock. “More,” she gasped when he moved to her jaw, kissing his way down her neck.

  He reached under her, popped the clasp on her bra, and peeled it away. When he cupped her breasts and flicked his thumbs over her already hardened nipples, she shivered and grinned.

  “You have magic hands. Since that first time you touched me when you blotted spilled coffee from my hand...” She sighed. “I love you, Dante.”

  Taking his gaze from her beautiful, lush breasts, he looked into her eyes. “I love you, too, Wendy.”

  She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulled his mouth down to hers, and speared her tongue into his mouth. His cock throbbed, and his gums ached. He let his fangs distend. The time for secrets was over.

  She squirmed against his erection, rubbing her damp heat against him. Without breaking their kiss, stroking his tongue against hers, he shoved her panties down her thighs. She spread her legs wide and lifted herself to him, meeting him more than halfway, and he plunged into her fast and deep.

  She cried out and jerked her mouth from his, arching her beautiful neck as she pressed her head into the pillow.

  “Look at me,” he said, buried deep within her, her cunt pulsing around his cock, trying to draw out an orgasm.

  Her eyes opened, and she giggled. “You’re lisping.”

  He grinned, showing her his fangs. She shivered beneath him, but her pussy clenched tight around him. He didn’t repulse her. She wasn’t afraid. He could smell her excitement.

  “I’m going to bite your neck as you come. I’m going to drink your blood and make you mine.”

  She thrust her hips up, urging him to move. “I’m already yours. I’ve been yours since the night you walked me home and didn’t try to seduce me.”

  He chuckled, leaned down, and licked her neck, right over the heavy beat of her pulse. “I did seduce you, love. I saw you touch yourself that night. Heard you cry out my name as you came around your own fingers.”

  She gasped, and her excitement grew. Her cunt squeezed his cock, her juices hot and slick.

  “How...?”

  He drew back then thrust again, hard. “Let me have a couple secrets.”

  Her grip tightened in his hair. “Did you...like it?”

  He thrust again, and she whimpered. “Yes. I masturbated afterwards. I could still smell you on my clothing.”

  “Please,” she panted. “I need...”

  He reached down, wrapped one arm beneath her knee, and pulled it up high on his side, opening her wide. “I’m going to bite you now.”

  She nodded and bucked against him when he plunged deep into her. “I want it.”

  “I love you,” he ground out as he started a hard, fast rhythm of press and draw, delving deeper into her body than he’d ever been.

  “Love...you...” she said around moans.

  As her cunt began to pulse around him, and her breaths grew short and whimpery, he leaned down and licked her pulse point.

  She tipped her head to the side, giving him better access. With her acceptance, he pierced her flesh.

  She cried out and bowed her back, nearly throwing him off. The hot, sweet rush of her blood on his tongue brought him to his own orgasm. As he drank, he pumped into her, riding out the sweetest torment he’d ever experienced.

  Wendy screamed and clung to him, her fingernails digging into his shoulders, her inner muscles clenching again and again and again, forcing him into a second orgasm—something that had never before happened to him.

  He released her neck, tipped his head back, and shouted as every muscle in his body clenched in pure, beautiful ecstasy.

  It could have been minutes or hours. Wendy wasn’t sure how long had passed until she awoke in the warm shelter of Dante’s arms. The scent of sex, his cologne, and the cool breeze streaming in through the window mingled into a sweet fragrance she never wanted to leave.

  “Hey,” he whispered as he shifted up on an elbow and looked down at her. “You okay?”

  S
he grinned. “Uh huh.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “You passed out.” He chuckled. “That has never happened without me mesmerizing before.”

  “That was...” She sighed and snuggled against his chest. “Amazing.” She shivered as another tingle shot through her, clenching her pussy and tightening her nipples.

  “Do we still need to talk?” he asked, his tone changing from playful to apprehensive.

  She nodded and traced the gorgeous muscles of his chest. “I just have a couple questions.”

  “Okay.”

  “Will you ever quit your job and expect me to support you?”

  “What?”

  She leaned back to look him in the face. “That’s what my last boyfriend did. I don’t want to be with a bum.”

  Dante sighed. “No, love. I would never expect you to support me. I’m stinking rich, if you hadn’t noticed. We could travel the world for the rest of—”

  “The rest of my life?” she finished.

  He nodded and cupped her cheek. “We can do whatever you wish to do. All I want is to make you happy. I’ll do anything to make you happy.”

  Her heart melted. “I like my job, but I wouldn’t mind traveling a little.”

  He smiled but didn’t say anything more.

  “Okay,” she said, blowing out a breath. “What’s with you cooking with garlic? Aren’t vampires repulsed by it?”

  He chuckled and softly kissed her. “No. That is just a fable.” He touched the crucifix between her breasts. “And these don’t hurt me, either.”

  “Sunlight?”

  “Ahh,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “That is true to an extent. My eyes are sensitive to it, and I sunburn very easily. If I were exposed long enough, it would kill me.” Then he winked. “Why do you think I live in the rainiest, cloudiest state in the country?”

  “So you can go out in the daylight, just not the sun?”

  He nodded.

  “Basically, then, you’re normal except for the blood drinking thing.”

  He nodded again.