by Tina Donahue
Join the club. Never in Desiree’s life had she been deliberately mean to anyone, but what unfolded now felt damn good. Before Brooke could budge, Desiree landed on her head, her bat claws digging into her scalp.
Shrieking, she slapped her hair.
Too late. Desiree had already flown away.
Looking everywhere, Brooke dashed to the front door.
Hunter pounced, landing in front of her. He reared back, his length taller than his mortal form, and kept her from escape.
She bounced and yelled, “Get away from me!”
His roar shook the cups and plates, the wild tinkling drowning out other sounds.
Her face turned whiter than its normal vampire shade, but defiance glowed in her eyes. “Fuck you.”
In a flash, she transformed.
On no, you don’t.
Before Brooke could gain too much altitude, Desiree crashed into her, sending her into a spin then a stall, no different from a plane, her wings useless to help her recover.
She hit the floor, the smack sickening.
Hunter slapped his paw on her back, far enough from her mouth to keep her from biting him, then looked at the manager.
He tossed a container to Mike, who settled it over her head.
With that part trapped, Hunter slid his paw out.
Mike toed her inside the barrier, flipped it over quickly then slammed the top shut.
Her shrieks spilled from it, the high-pitch worse than nails dragging over a chalkboard.
The manager winced but offered a thumbs-up. Patrons covered their ears.
Mike shook Brooke’s prison repeatedly. At last, she quieted, unable to escape her confinement or transform in such a small area.
Desiree flew to Hunter and pressed her snout against his.
Desire and pleasure filled his golden eyes.
They’d done it. Brooke was history and on her way to a mental health clinic Hunter had found for paras and the undead. Hopefully, there she’d get the treatment she needed and would find another vamp she could hook up with in a normal and healthy relationship.
Hope really did spring eternal for Desiree, except when it came to her problems. These moments marked the last ones for her and Hunter.
Her adrenaline rush petered out, melancholy replacing it, leaving her bereft. She rode on his back to the johns then sat on her sheath rather than dressing. She didn’t have the strength, yet couldn’t lose herself in blessed sleep, too many memories buzzing in her head, intent on reminding her what she’d never again have with him.
She pressed her hand to her mouth to keep it from trembling and blinked repeatedly, driving back tears. If the café served Death by Chocolate, she’d knock back a dozen until she was so boozy she couldn’t think, feel, or grieve.
“Hey.” Hunter stood in the doorway. “What are you doing?”
Mourning. She waved her hand. “Go on and tell your men what to do next. I’ll be out eventually. No need to stick around. I’ll fly home.”
He hunkered down next to her. “Why would you do that?”
Because he’d need time to clear out his things so no trace remained when she returned. Even his socks and underwear might send her into a days-long crying jag. She couldn’t let that happen when she had a show to run, people to help, an eternity to slog through.
To hell with Death by Chocolate. She needed a Long Island iced tea.
Hunter leaned in. “Are you about to cry?”
She blinked away tears and shook her head.
“You are.” He sank to the floor and pulled her into him. “What happened had to be done. Brooke wasn’t going to listen to reason. If anything, she might have ended up destroying herself to get to you. We saved her. And believe me, the clinic won’t do anything barbaric like electroshock therapy, chemically induced seizures, or a lobotomy. That’s in the past. They’ll give her something to calm down, and then they’ll encourage her to talk. If you want, we can visit her sometime…well into the future when she’s better. You two might hit it off. You can—”
“Stop it. Just. Stop.” She jerked away.
He couldn’t have looked more baffled. “You can’t be sorry for what we did. I consider it a compassionate act. Unless… Did you really want me to off her?”
“No.” She scooted away. “Quit talking about the future, especially you and me having one. We don’t. Never will.” Wrenching sobs shook her. “You damn well know that and why.”
He caught a tear near her mouth.
She pushed his hand away. “Don’t. No matter what you do or say, it’s not going to change reality.”
Face lowered, he took a deep breath. “We need to talk.” Standing, he pulled her to her feet and tossed her the dress.
It landed on her shoulder.
“Put that on. Now. Then we’re going home. Then we’re talk—”
“You can lecture me until you run out of words, but it won’t change my mind.” She yanked on her sheath and slipped on her heels.
He glanced at them and smiled, mischief and need in his eyes.
Damn. Don’t make me want you. “I can’t do this, Hunter. That’s final.”
“Do what? Walk in your heels? Did you sprain your ankle when you shifted or landed on her head?” He grinned. “That was sweet. Wish I could have taken pictures of you and her when—”
“I can’t love you, all right?”
“Of course, it’s not. And sure you can. Come along.”
“No.” She fought him.
He slung her over his shoulder, carried her through the café, and out to her car.
Mike offered a sweet smile. Hunter’s other men struggled not to grin.
She gave them the finger.
Hunter piled her into the passenger seat and pointed. “Try to leave and see what happens. If I don’t catch you, one of my men will.”
“Not if I take wing.”
“Really?” He gestured to two blond dudes standing next to Mike. “Meet Kylar and Nolan. Vamps like you. They’re on my team now.”
“Hunter, please, you’re only prolonging your agony by being with me.”
“Then it’s lucky I’m a masochist. Put on your seatbelt.” He wore his military face, commanding and hot as hell. “I’m not asking twice.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She did as he’d commanded. The sooner they were at her place, the quicker he could pack.
Once inside, he backed her into the living room, then the hall, and finally the bedroom.
“You want to make love now?” She flapped her hands. “You should be getting your stuff together so you can leave.”
“Is that what you think?” He stripped then removed her sheath before she could stop him and pointed at her heels. “Those stay.”
“Hunter. Listen, please.”
“No, you listen. I’m here forever.” He tugged her to the bed and fell over, them hitting it together. The frame groaned and the springs popped.
Not letting her recover, he crawled on top and held her wrists to the mattress.
Her pussy liked his alpha move, moisture dampening it, her channel begging for his cock. She fought the urge and tightened her jaw. “What’s next? Bondage?”
“Believe me, I’ve thought of it. Anything to keep you still.”
She writhed. “Let go.”
“Now, if only I had something to gag you. Hey, I do.” He thrust his tongue into her mouth.
Her pleased whimper happened before she could stop it, nipples tightening to hard peaks, her damp folds growing plumper.
Stop it.
She couldn’t, but still tore her mouth free. One of them had to be the adult here. “You’re making this worse.”
“Wrong.” He touched his nose to hers. “I’m showing you how I feel. By the way, you’ll never be anything but a vampire. I know. I checked with every reliable source on this planet and on those Gerri’s visited. Your condition’s permanent. No potion, spell, or anything else will change that. And I’m truly sorry. I wanted so much for you to have your life back.” He lowe
red his head and breathed hard. “However, Francisco and Stella, the top warlock and witch in New Orleans, have come up with incantations and elixirs to eliminate your blood lust. I appreciate what your friends did, but Stella and Francisco’s solutions are permanent. You’ll never have to worry about craving plasma again. As to why you’re still warm and can blush is a mystery we may never solve.”
Stunned, she could barely speak. “You did all that for me? You tried to bring my life back?”
He nodded. “I know how much it means to you to have a family.”
No one had ever gone through such pains for her. Emotion gurgled in her throat. “Thank you.”
“I’d do it again and more if I could.” He held her gaze. “But I want you to know we can have a family, just as we want.”
She swallowed. “You mean a family consisting of you and me?”
“For a start, but others, too…if you’ll open your heart and mind to the possibility. Like Gerri said, the answer’s been in front of me the entire time, but I chose not to see it.”
Desiree wasn’t following. “Are you talking about us having friends, like Mike and the other guys who work with you, and my BFFs? That still won’t give you children.”
“We’ll give them to each other and love them like our own. It’s all that matters.”
At last, she got it. “Adoption?”
“Yeah.” He hugged her to him. “Tomorrow, we can start the wheels rolling. If you want.”
She did and couldn’t believe she’d been blind to sharing their love with kids who were already here and needed someone to help them through life. “Just try and stop me.”
“So, I’m not fired any longer? I can stay?”
“Take a chance on leaving, mister, and see what happens.” She wrapped her legs around him, captured his mouth, and refused to let go.
Epilogue
A year later…
Hunter parked the minivan at the courthouse, his Harley and single ways in the past. As a married man now, nothing meant more to him than his family.
Desiree’s death grip on his hand brought a smile. He bumped her arm. “No need to be nervous.”
“Tell me that when we’re on the way home.” She stared at the brick building as if monsters lurked inside, rather than their future. “What if something went wrong, and they tell us no? What if they separate us from Trinity and Usiah and place those poor kids with someone else? What if—”
“Shh.” He pressed his finger to her lips. “We did everything that needed doing days ago. This is just a formality. Nothing godawful is going to happen. Except when the kids get mouthy, break rules, push our buttons, drive us batty, and other stuff that makes parents question their sanity. But, hey, look at the bright side. They’re not teens yet. When they are…”
Laughing, she smacked his arm. “Please, you’re sugarcoating this too much for me.”
“That’s my job.”
Her humor faded, worry returned. “I adore those kids. I can’t imagine a day without them. They seem to like us, but what if that’s changed and they don’t want us as their parents?”
A question he’d never considered though he couldn’t avoid it now. The judge waited for them in her chambers, Usiah and Trinity already there. Since they were older children, their opinions on who they preferred for a forever family came into play.
Although there had been rocky moments in the beginning when neither child had fully trusted him and Desiree to keep their promises, or love them when they acted out, that time had passed months ago. The initial sleepovers turned into weekend visits, and longer, as everyone got to know each other and grew comfortable. Still, both kids had known hard pasts: parents abandoning them, adults lying or conning at every juncture. Little wonder they were gun-shy when it came to hope and commitment. Not that he could voice his thoughts. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Desiree nodded but still looked slightly ill. “What if—”
“Nope. None of that. We’ve already worried about my bodyguard business not being acceptable, Brooke breaking out of the mental health clinic, which she hasn’t, our house not being big enough, this vehicle not being the right color, and everything else under the sun, moon, and stars. We’re imperfect but good people. Precisely what the kids need. Let’s go.”
Despite his pretty speech, his legs still shook. He grasped her hand as tightly as she did his and entered the building.
Mrs. Sterling, the social worker handling their case, waited for them by the judge’s door. “Mr. and Mrs. Klein.” Smiling, she shook their hands. “Ready for this?”
They nodded. Hunter figured Desiree’s throat was as tight as his, not allowing speech.
In his past, he’d battled stalkers, local celebrities’ crazed fans, no end of nasty shifters, and psychotic paras who would have liked to see him dead. They hadn’t been badass enough for him to break a sweat. This scared him shitless.
It had to go right.
Steeling himself for anything and everything that could go wrong, he followed Mrs. Sterling and Desiree into the chamber.
Trinity glanced over first, her pale little face lighting up. “Desiree, Hunter!” She jumped from her chair and threw her arms around Desiree.
Tears filled his eyes.
At ten, Trinity was a vampire, having been turned by an SOB bloodsucker who’d denied her a future. Her chalk-white skin and blonde hair made her seem too fragile to be real.
Hunter was certain he’d never seen a skinnier child.
Like Desiree, Trinity adored chocolate, her craving for blood eliminated by Stella and Francisco’s potions.
Now, if only the witch and warlock’s magic allowed Trinity to grow and age as a normal child would. They promised to work on a solution until they succeeded.
Shyer than Trinity by a mile, Usiah finally joined them and put out his hand like an adult. Sort of. At twelve, he offered Hunter an intricate handshake ending with them bumping fists.
A pleased smile spread across Usiah’s face, his teeth blindingly white against his ebony skin. As a black dragon shifter, he was an anomaly among his kind. No different than Hunter had been growing up with hyena shifters. Wanting an easier road for Usiah, he’d used patience and respect to prove he accepted and celebrated the boy whatever way he came.
They hugged. Then Hunter got his chance with Trinity, Desiree with Usiah, everyone sniffing and clearing their throats from too much emotion.
Judge Faustaff beamed at them from her desk. “Do I need to ask the youngest people here what they want to do about going home with Mr. and Mrs. Klein?”
“No,” the kids shouted as one.
Trinity raced to the judge’s desk, her form a blur, her vamp powers taking over. She bounced in place. “They’re my family. I love them.”
Faustaff smiled then glanced at Usiah. “And you, young man?”
“They’re kinda cool.”
Hunter rubbed Usiah’s tight curls. “Think you might keep us, huh?”
“Yeah.” He spoke to the judge. “Can we go now? I want a burger.”
“I need a brownie.” Trinity pressed her hands to her thin chest. “If I don’t get one, I’ll die.”
Happy tears ran down Desiree’s face.
Hunter barely held his in check.
At last, they had the family they’d always wanted and each other, too.
As one, they left the chambers, Trinity and Usiah bolting ahead.
Desiree slipped her arm through Hunter’s. “Thanks for being such a good guy.”
“Around you, I have no choice.” He stopped to kiss and hug her then pulled her toward their kids. “Let’s go home.”
And begin their real future.
About the Author
Tina is an Amazon and international bestselling novelist who writes passionate romance for every taste—“heat with heart”—for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. She’s won Readers’ Choice Awards,
was named a finalist in the EPIC competition, received a Book of the Year award, The Golden Nib Award, awards of merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competitions, and second place in the NEC RWA contests. She’s featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.
On a less serious note: She’s an admitted and unrepentant chocoholic, brakes for Mexican restaurants, and has been known to moan like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally while wolfing down tostadas. She’s flown a single-engine airplane
(freaking scary), rewired an old house using an ‘electricity for dummies’ book, and is horribly shy despite the hot romances she writes.
Learn more about Tina and read her novels here:
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Other Books by Tina
Coming in 2018 – 2019
Wanna Be Bad
2019
Ready for Trouble
Men in Uniform Anthology
March 2019
Seducing the Beast
Book Six – Taming the Beast
February 2019
Disciplining the Beast
Book Five – Taming the Beast
November 2018
Available Now
