Night Rhythm: Sirens book 3

by Charlenne Teglia

  “What is it?”

  His hand moved to cup and raise her chin. She let him lift her face, let him read the mixed emotions written there. “I’m afraid.”

  His face shuttered. “Of me?”

  She shook her head. “Afraid this isn’t real. Afraid you won’t be here tomorrow.”

  His eyes heated. “After all the time I’ve spent searching for you, don’t think I’ll let you slip through my fingers now that I’ve found you.” He brought her closer until their lips met. Valentine teased her mouth with his, seducing her, coaxing her to open for him. Then he kissed her hard, stealing her breath and filling her senses with the taste and texture of himself.

  He tasted dark and wicked and wonderful. His tongue twined with hers in a skillful echo of the way their bodies fit together, slid almost apart, then came together again. She felt the sharp edge of his fang and impulse made her flick the point of her tongue against it.

  Valentine growled, a fierce and predatory sound that sent twin thrills of fear and excitement through her. The tip of his fang grazed her flesh. She tasted a coppery hint of her own blood on her tongue. Valentine devoured what she offered, licked away the salty evidence of her unplanned act, then broke the kiss with a harsh groan.

  “You tempt me too much. I hunger for you. For all of you.”

  “Sorry,” Lisa said, her voice as uneven as her breath. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. But as much as I might want blood and sex from you, you shouldn’t offer me both without considering the repercussions. You let me into your house, into your bed, into your life. I won’t take more unless you’ve had time to be sure it’s what you want.” His lips brushed against her hair in a soft caress. “And if you never want it, I’ll be content to have you want me.”

  “I do want you.” Lisa made the admission without reservation. “More than I’ve ever wanted any man.” Because she’d been waiting for him? Had some hidden part of herself measured all others against the standard he’d set and found them lacking?

  “That pleases me.” Valentine’s hands played over her body. “Although I have an unfair advantage over any mortal men you’ve known.”

  “Yes. You can hypnotize me into having multiple orgasms.”

  He let out a soft laugh, a mix of masculine confidence and humor. “I don’t need hypnosis to make you come for me again and again.”

  Her body clenched in reaction to the erotic promise in his voice. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She didn’t doubt it, but it was going to be fun letting him prove it. “This is for keeps, you know,” she told him. “I want you to stick around after the orgasms are over.”

  “I don’t intend to let you get away.” He kissed the top of her head. “How dark are the drapes in here?”

  Oh. Right. Sunlight would be a concern. Luckily for her vampire lover, she was used to working nights and sleeping during the day. “Dark,” Lisa told him. “And I pull the curtains over blinds. I don’t usually get to bed before 3:00 a.m. so I need the light blocked out.”

  “Good.”

  It was a long time after that before either of them spoke again.

  Chapter Seven

  Six months later…

  “I’ve been thinking,” Lisa said.

  “Sounds dangerous. I know what kinds of ideas you get.” Valentine gave her a knowing smile as he tugged her down to sit between his thighs on their bed. She ran an appreciative hand over his leg, enjoying the feel of him under the thin fabric. He was still addicted to black, but she had to admit the silk pajama bottoms suited him. Especially since he’d left off the top and gone commando underneath.

  That made him overdressed compared to her. She’d come to him naked.

  “Yes, well, you should know. You give me most of them.” She sighed in pleasure as he began to brush her hair. Who knew something that sounded so mundane could feel so good? Her scalp tightened and tingled as the horsehair bristles of the handmade natural brush Valentine had bought for her massaged the roots of her hair before being drawn down in a slow stroke, smoothing the length of it.

  He’d addicted her to the nightly routine, and he’d coaxed her into letting her hair grow too. It would take a long time to reach her waist, but it now fell almost to her shoulder blades. The initial inconvenience of the unaccustomed length was a small price to pay for something that had come to represent a sensual delight and a shared bond. He knew she’d let her hair grow to please him. In return, Valentine brushed it until it gleamed—and then set out to please her.

  A hairbrush, Lisa quickly discovered, had many uses beyond taming tangles. Especially when held in Valentine’s hand. And her innovative lover seemed bent on introducing her to all of the possible varied acts a brush could perform.

  The bristles, when drawn lightly across bare skin, could create a sensation that wavered between tickling and scratching and made her writhe. The back of the brush applied to her bare butt or thighs made blood rush to her lower body and made her labia swell until she was writhing again and halfway to coming. And the shape and thickness of the handle had yet another use…

  Just thinking about all the things Valentine had done to her under the guise of brushing her hair had her breathing faster, a flush of heat spreading over her skin, and her womb clenching in liquid desire.

  “Tell me what you’ve been thinking this time.”

  That I’d love you just for buying me this brush, she thought, but didn’t say. Better to tell him what she’d decided before they got side-tracked. “That inter-species relationships aren’t really best for the long haul.”

  The brush came to an abrupt halt. “Really.” Valentine’s voice sounded like it was made from ground glass.

  “Yeah. I mean, you have the whole immortality thing going on, barring an accident with a stake or some holy water. And I’m mortal. I also travel a lot and you know how dangerous that is these days with maniacs hijacking airplanes.” Lisa twisted around to look at him. “So I decided this just isn’t going to work out. You’re going to have to make me into one of the undead too.”

  “I see.” Valentine studied her face for a minute. “You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?”

  “Yes.” She’d given it a lot of thought as time went on and she’d gradually begun to relax and trust that he wouldn’t leave her. Or that she wouldn’t wake up one morning to realize it was all a dream.

  But as long as she stayed human, she stayed vulnerable. They were together now and she was determined for them to stay that way, safe from the threat of separation by her fragile mortality. The part of her that remembered the past remembered the pain of loss. The same loss Valentine had endured for centuries. Lisa didn’t intend for either of them to experience it again.

  She knew exactly how vital Valentine was to her and how much she meant to him. She’d discussed the changes with Meghan. She knew what she was giving up and what she’d gain. But Valentine would want assurance that she had made her decision with full knowledge of the repercussions. She could live with all of them. She didn’t want to live without him, or worse, leave him to live without her a second time.

  “I know what I’m getting into and I’m not going to regret it later. I’ll tell you what I would regret; if some stupid accident ended this and left you alone again. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about that.”

  “It has crossed my mind.” His voice was neutral, but she could feel the tension in his body. It was his worst nightmare, and they both knew it. Changing her would ensure it couldn’t happen.

  “So, give me Dracula’s kiss and we’ll live happily ever after.” Lisa settled back against him and waited for him to resume brushing her hair. He did, with slow, sensual strokes that simultaneously stimulated and relaxed her completely. When he finished, he set the brush aside and adjusted her head to one side so that her bared neck lay like an invitation.

  “Happily ever after. I like the sound of that.” Valentine kissed the c
urve of her neck, tasting the delicate skin before he raked her with his teeth. He didn’t extend his fangs or pierce her skin, just grazed the sensitive line from neck to shoulder. The sharp caress made her shiver in reaction. He aroused her so easily. She didn’t doubt that she’d find pleasure in his bite.

  “We’ve earned it, don’t you think?” Her voice went unsteady even as she tried to keep her tone light.

  “That we have.” Valentine murmured his answer into the column of her throat, his lips skimming the pulse point that beat there. “Blood and sex and the chance to take all of you. That’s what you’re offering me?”

  Take all of her. Lisa’s vaginal walls clenched at his words. She imagined being taken completely. Valentine, filling her with his cock while piercing her veins, spilling her blood, spilling himself into her. Fucking her. Taking her. Making her his forever, drinking her essence in while he pumped her full of his.

  “Yes.” Her voice was a thread of sound, but he heard.

  “It will hurt, after.” The warning was unnecessary, but her heart melted at his concern.

  “I know. You’ll just have to make it feel good enough to be worth it.”

  “Done.”

  His fingers speared into her hair. Then his hands fisted in the silky strands he’d taken such pains to brush smooth, yanking her head back. His lips roved over the column of her throat, nibbling and licking, nuzzling, teasing. Tasting. He guided her with his hands in her hair, urging her down until she sprawled sideways in his lap. Then he released her hair and sent his hands roaming along her torso.

  He stroked the curve of her waist, the dip of her belly, the rise of her ribcage. He didn’t cup the breasts that felt swollen with need for his touch, didn’t brush his palms lightly over the tight buds of her nipples or run his fingers along her sex.

  “Valentine.” She protested his teasing, but didn’t worry that he’d deny her for too long. He wanted this as much as she did.

  “Mmm? Did you want something?” He gave her a wicked look. Then he bent to kiss the soft skin of her abdomen. She made an inarticulate sound of want and frustration. He let out a soft laugh, his breath stirring the curls between her thighs and sending heat rushing through her.

  “Kiss me. There.” She wanted his mouth to move lower, wanted to feel his breath against her sex, then his tongue.

  “We’d both have to move for that.” Valentine ran his hands up, around her breasts, then over them, finally filling his palms with her aching flesh. He kneaded her breasts and then brought his thumbs and forefingers together over her nipples, pinching them until she squirmed in his lap.

  “So we’ll move.”

  “I like you where you are.”

  “You’re killing me.”

  “Yes.” Valentine lifted his head and the look in his eyes caught her. Predatory. Lusting. Hungry. “But I will make it worthwhile.”

  Lisa didn’t doubt that. She doubted her own control, though, and her capacity for patience.

  He teased her nipples, rolling them between his fingers, brushing his palms over them, and the stimulation made her sex plump with need. She felt herself growing slick and hot, swollen, urgent. Valentine brought his hands down to slide between her thighs, urging them apart. She opened herself to him without hesitation.

  “Beautiful.” He petted her pussy, but didn’t open her with his fingers, didn’t slide one into her. She bucked her hips in frustrated hunger, trying to get more direct contact, more pressure on her clitoris, a deeper caress. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand it, he slid her off his lap, onto the mattress, and moved up over her. His hands gripped the silk of his pajama bottoms and jerked them down, baring his cock. He left them just below his hips, out of the way but not off, and for some reason that sent a thrill of heat through her.

  He wasn’t even going to stop to take his pants all the way off before he drove into her…

  Valentine curled a hand around the base of his thick shaft. “Is this what you want?”

  “I’m not sure. Is this what you want?” Lisa brazenly ran a hand along her sex, stroking herself, coating her fingertip with her natural lubrication before she pressed it against his mouth. He licked it clean, his eyes burning into hers. Her breath caught in her throat and she knew the time for teasing had just ended.

  He covered her body with his with no further preliminaries. His chest pressed into her breasts, a welcome weight. The head of his cock nudged at her slick opening, and she lifted her hips in invitation. He surged forward and her sex stretched around him, accommodating him as he thrust into her.

  “Valentine.” He felt so impossibly good, so right, pressing so deeply inside her.

  “My love.” He rasped the words against the silk of her hair. She felt his lips move along her cheek, down, and arched her neck to bare the vulnerable curve to him as she arched her back to take him even further into her body, until he pressed at her cervix. The deep penetration made her gasp. His teeth rasping along her skin made her shudder. Her breath came faster, and she felt her sex quivering, spasming around the rigid length of his cock, and knew her orgasm wasn’t far off.

  He felt it, too, and with a feral growl, he took what she offered and gave her an immortal kiss. His fangs sank into her, and his bite made her writhe in ecstasy. Pleasure burst through her as he took all of her and gave her all of himself. Forever.

  About the Author

  Charlene Teglia decided she wanted to earn a living writing fiction at age twelve. After piling up enough written pages to sink Atlantis again, she sat down to write a novel and find out if it would sell. The first novel was so much fun that she got carried away and kept going, although it took another eight years to make her first novel sale. In between, she worked for various software and technology companies. She left HP when she realized she wanted to write printer repair instructions in iambic pentameter. They thought she was so funny, they left her name plate on her cube after she left like a shrine. Or maybe it was as a warning to others. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Idaho.

  Learn more about Charlene’s books at www.charleneteglia.com or drop her an email to charlene@charleneteglia.com.

  Look for these titles by Charlene Teglia

  Now Available:

  The Gripping Beast

  Night Music

  Miss Lonely Hearts

  Which man will Callie choose, the alien or the warrior? Or can she have both?

  Davin’s Quest

  © 2008 Bianca D’Arc

  Resonance Mates Book 2

  For each Alvian, there is one perfect match—a Resonance Mate whose soul blends in perfect harmony. Unlike the rest of his race, Davin has emotions and suffers for it. Without a mate, he is doomed to go mad. Searching for answers and understanding, he seeks out Callie O’Hara, a human woman with strong empathic gifts. Could this fragile human be his Resonance Mate?

  Rick St. John is a tough-as-nails survivor of the Alvian occupation of Earth. He doesn’t believe in much, but when he sees Callie for the first time, he starts to believe in love at first sight.

  The Governing Council is gunning for Davin, the upstart who dares to defy them. And they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. Davin and Rick must come to terms with their feelings for Callie in order to keep her safe, while she has to find a way to save them both…with her love.

  Warning: Warning, this title contains hot alien love, explicit sex, graphic language, and ménage a trois.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Davin’s Quest:

  Rick recovered over the next day and a half. Callie brought him food and chastised him when he overtaxed himself walking to the bathroom and back to the bed, but he sort of enjoyed it. He’d never had anyone look after him. Well, not since before the cataclysm, but he’d only been a kid when his mother died.

  Callie mothered him a bit, but with her, there was also the attraction. Rick loved to watch her move. He liked to make her smile and inwardly he basked in her attention, though he’d never let her know it.
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  Davin was a background presence, there constantly, watching with troubled eyes. Rick used the tall alien’s presence to keep himself on track, and Davin left him in peace…until he was healed and it was time to go back to his own quarters.

  Preparing to leave the Chief Engineer’s suite, Davin blocked Rick’s path.

  “We need to talk about Callie before you leave.”

  “I’ve already said all I’m going to say on the subject.” Rick tried to push past, but Davin blocked him again.

  “Don’t be a fool.” Davin’s voice was low, urgent. “You could be her resonance mate! It’d be a crime to throw that away.”

  Rick’s reply was cut off as Callie walked in from the other room, her brow furrowed. She undoubtedly felt the emotion crowding the room and zinging back and forth between the two men in a standoff by the door.

  Rick kept his voice pitched low. “Look, we don’t even know if I could be this resonance thing you keep going on about.” Rick was fed up.

  “There’s one sure way to find out,” Davin’s words and stance dared Rick. The alien didn’t bother to keep his voice down. “Kiss her.”

  Silence reigned for a long moment while Rick stood, tempted beyond reason. Then Callie pushed him too far, simply by moving to stand altogether too close. She reached up and placed her one hand on his shoulder.

  “What’s this about?” she asked.

  Rick’s fingers formed fists as he fought against his baser instincts that said to grab her and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before. Instead, he backed off, moving back into the room, leaving Davin facing his woman.

  “Callie, you and Rick Hum. He could be another resonance mate, but he’s too stubborn to find out.”

  Callie actually blushed as Rick watched. “Davin, I…” She moved into the alien man’s arms, hugging him. “I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry, my love. There’s something there, but I…”