by Alice Brown
He wrapped his arm around her to gently rub her back. “Erica, breathe, love, or you’re going to faint on me right here.” He gave her his crooked smile as her eyes came up to meet his with a perplexed look. “Breathe” he commanded, and finally heard her release the air out of her lungs and then refill.
Not sure what to make out of her odd reaction, Kevin became a little nervous. “Do you like it?” he asked hesitantly. He had thought the ring beautiful when he spotted it, but hey, he was a man, what did he know about women’s jewelry? “If not, we can go shopping for another ring, and I’ll let you pick out the next one.” He found himself more jittery and nervous then he could ever remember. Had she changed her mind about marrying him? Did she not like the ring? Had he inadvertently done something that brought back bad memories?
“Oh, Kevin, I love it. It is so beautiful.” She breathed in pure reverence, and then slightly tipped her head towards the box. “May I?”
“Of course,” Kevin replied, as he took the ring out of the box, and gently picked up her hand. He quickly realized that he was holding his breath as he slipped the ring on her finger. He had no idea what size her finger was when he bought the ring, and he had purchased it as is. He was under the assumption that they would be visiting a jeweler to have it sized. Now, as he slipped the ring into place, they both realized it was a perfect fit. What great luck!
Erica sat in his lap, admiring the ring for a long moment. “I want you to know I have never been as happy as I am right now,” she whispered with tears streaming down her cheeks. She tilted her head up for a kiss, and Kevin willingly obliged.
Realizing that he had never answered her question about biting, he now looked at her intently. “Now that you’ve agreed to be my wife, I have no aversion to a small nip once in a while, and although I have the power to help your wounds heal faster, and make the experience pleasurable, I will not leave your gorgeous body full of holes. I don’t need to bite you and leave my mark to know I have your love. And as far as you putting yourself back together, I’ve got all the patience in the world, love,” Kevin whispered against her ear, and then leaned in for a hungry kiss.
* * * *
It was well after three a.m. as Kevin stroked Erica’s hair, watching her eyes slowly drift shut. They had made good use of the remainder of the chocolate sauce after round two of lovemaking, when Kevin let his fangs slide down and latched onto Erica’s neck as he drove into her immediately prior to both of them releasing an orgasm more potent then Kevin had ever thought possible. Erica had screamed out with her release, but it had been purely out of pleasure. He came almost simultaneously with her, and both reached a height of ecstasy that almost caused a blackout. When he released her neck, he used a bit of his own blood to cover Erica’s wound. Slicing his own finger with a fang, he gently spread his own blood over the two tiny dots. The last thing she needed was another scar. Much to his satisfaction, her skin healed up almost before his blood was dry. He then had insisted she eat a snack, since he had taken blood from her. He might not have taken much, but that didn’t stop him from being concerned over her getting lightheaded, weak, or even faint. He dug out the remainder of the food in the picnic basket, along with the wine. After she had eaten what she wanted, he used the remainder of the chocolate sauce to drizzle over her body, and then lick every inch clean. Mmmm, God bless whoever invented chocolate! Kevin now thought with a grin, as he licked his lips to taste a mixture of chocolate sauce and the sweetness of Erica.
Shifting so that he could lay on his back, and pull her on top of him, he continued to stroke her hair and down her naked back until she drifted off into a deep sleep. He shook his head in wonder, amazed at how quickly she could fall asleep, even as he realized that he had indeed worn her out. He was grateful that he virtually needed no sleep, feeling certain that he wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink after everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours.
He reached over to the nightstand next to the bed and grabbed his cell phone. Glancing back down to make certain Erica was sleeping soundly, he opened his phone. There were a couple of people he wanted to give the good news to. The first name that came to mind was his old friend, Mr. Atkins. And of course, he would need to call his family. Marshall would never forgive him for not getting a call, but Kevin felt certain the team was still in Brazil wrapping up things. Knowing that everyone he planned to call were vampires, he could speak softly and not have to worry about waking Erica up.
Chapter Fifteen
Erica woke up alone, the scent of food tickling her nose and bringing her out of bed in a flash. Following her nose, she paused long enough to throw on a robe that had been left conveniently at the bottom of the bed.
She found Kevin standing in front of the stove. Walking over to him, she inhaled deeply upon reaching the stove, as her stomach protested that it wasn’t receiving any benefit from her sense of smell whatsoever. Kevin wrapped his arm around her as soon as she arrived alongside him and gave her a long kiss.
“Good morning. Breakfast will be ready in just a moment. Are you hungry?” he inquired.
“Yes, actually, I’m starved,” she replied with a smile.
“I’m not surprised. We both worked up an appetite last night,” he replied with a grin.
“Are you hungry? Did you…?” She paused there, trying to word her question delicately.
Kevin reached behind her and opened up the refrigerator. “Rosetta made sure I packed plenty,” he answered smoothly as Erica took a peek inside to see numerous bags of blood stacked neatly on the top shelf.
Reaching around her, Kevin pulled out the container of orange juice. “And in answer to your question, yes, I’ve already had my breakfast, although what I wouldn’t give for a glass of this stuff.” He stared at the juice longingly as he poured a glass and handed it to Erica. “I used to love fresh-squeezed orange juice,” he murmured, as he shook his head with a slight frown and went back to the stove.
“Well, you could have a small amount, couldn’t you?” Erica inquired, remembering him eating melted chocolate off of her last night.
“Normally, I probably could, but my stomach was a bit queasy this morning. I probably pushed my limit last night with the chocolate.” He gave her an impish grin. “I just couldn’t resist. You tasted so damn delectable with it dribbled all over your body.”
Erica, filled with concern, gave him a sympathetic look. “Is there anything we can do for your stomach? Do you need more blood to counter the food, or is there something else that can be done?”
Kevin stopped cooking her breakfast and gazed into her eyes. Never had anyone showed as much compassion and concern for his well-being. He had a wonderful, loving family, but as the leader for the VCTF, he was quite accustomed to taking care of himself.
“No, baby, but thank you for your concern. The blood I drank earlier will help some. The rest will just have to process through my body.” He reached over and gave her a hug. “Go on over to the table, your breakfast is almost ready.”
Erica had barely taken a bite of her breakfast when the doorbell rang. Glancing over to Kevin she inquired, “Are we expecting someone?”
“No, maybe it is the cleaning crew, although Rosetta called and told them we would be here, so they shouldn’t be disturbing us.” Kevin stood up and headed for the door a bit irritated at the disturbance.
A female’s voice could be heard the moment Kevin opened the front door, and Erica recognized the voice immediately. A few seconds later, Jennifer sailed into the kitchen.
“Erica, congratulations, honey! Oh, and welcome to the family! This of course, is from Charles and Rosetta, as I have already considered you part of the family for some time now!” She practically tackled Erica in a tight hug.
“Thanks, Jennifer. Did you come all of this way just to congratulate us? Wait a minute! How did you know?” Erica pulled back and asked skeptically.
“Well, I got a really late night call last night from a certain brother of mine, or I should sa
y a really early morning call! I decided I had nothing better to do anyway, so I drove down. I thought maybe we could do a little shopping!” Jennifer exclaimed happily.
“Shopping?” questioned Erica. “What are we shopping for?”
Jennifer glanced over to her brother and shot her eyebrows up. “You haven’t talked to her yet, have you?” she accused.
“Oh for crying out loud, Jennifer, I just got home yesterday morning! I’ve been a little busy catching up on lost time!” Kevin grumbled to his sister, running an agitated hand through his hair.
Turning her attention back to Erica, Jennifer sat down next to her. “Kevin was supposed to talk to you about this, but since he hasn’t, I will.”
“Jennifer!” Kevin growled in warning.
“Kevin, lighten up! Once everything has been explained to her, she’ll be fine!” Jennifer retorted, turning her attention back to Erica.
“You see, dear, there are tons of friends of the family that are anxious to meet you. Rosetta has suggested to Kevin that the two of you start showing your faces a little more out in public. Kevin told her he would need to speak to you about it first, before committing to anything. He has been turning down invitations to social events for some time now.”
Kevin watched Erica’s eyes go wide, and then quickly turn accusing eyes on him. “So, you lied to me before?” Her question caught Kevin off guard, momentarily, as he attempted to figure out what she was talking about. “I asked you a while back if there were any activities you or your family were not able to do due to a human being in their midst. Did you lie to me? Am I the reason you are turning these invitations down?”
Kevin turned to his sister first, anger rising. “Thanks a load for nothing!” he muttered at her, and then quickly turned his attention back to Erica. Attempting to tap down his anger at his sister and handle this situation with calmness, he replied, “No, I didn’t lie to you, I haven’t attended any of these social events in years. It became a point that it was quite obvious what the single ladies at these events had on their minds, and I wasn’t interested. Now that I have someone to go with, it might be fun. We could always try one or two, and if you don’t feel comfortable, then I’ll just go back to declining the invitations,” he added with a small smile, hoping she wasn’t going to get pissed at him for not discussing this with her in private.
“What kind of social events are we talking about here?” Erica inquired, arching her eyebrow up as she directed her attention back to Jennifer.
“Well, there are dinners, balls, and charity events scheduled throughout the year, and Rosetta has been trying to get Kevin to attend for numerous years. A member of the family is almost always expected to attend. People tend to get their noses out of joint when we don’t. Rosetta usually sends one of us girls, since Kevin is such a stick in the mud,” Jennifer stated as she cast her brother a glare.
Erica sucked in a deep breath, and then dove into the unknown waters. “Okay, what did you want to start with?” She was a little wary about all of this, but, obviously, the two people sitting in front of her knew far more about these things than she did.
Jennifer sat back, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave her brother a triumphant grin. “Well, let me see,” she mused, as she seemed deep in thought. “I know the Governor’s Charity Ball is right around the corner, and the family is always invited. Charles stays in close contact with the governor of our state, primarily due to the VCTF work, so we usually get invited to any high profile event scheduled. Then there is a charity ball for our kind to raise money for our hospital. I think this year part of that money is being slated to go towards the elderly village. Those are the only two I can think of right now, but Rosetta always has a list of all the upcoming events.”
“I take it these are formal events?” Erica stated in an uncertain voice.
Kevin didn’t like where this conversation seemed to be headed. “Yes, why, scared you won’t like what you see with me in a tux?” he quickly shot back to her, flashing his best impish grin in an attempt to bring a smile to her face. He felt certain she was sitting there feeling like she had been ganged up against, and that bothered him to no end!
“No, I don’t own any type of formal wear, myself,” she answered, very slowly and quietly, glancing away from the two people in front of her and staring at the floor.
All fears about her being uneasy rang true as Kevin watched her turn her eyes away from him. He had been around her enough to know she did that when she was upset or embarrassed. He would have loved for this conversation to be just Erica and him, but Jennifer was quick to jump in and respond. “That’s why I am here, silly. It just so happens there is a great little boutique here that is owned and operated by one of our kind. She is going to love you. Our family has been clients of hers for years now! I thought maybe we would head over there in a little while and see what she can do for us. Rosetta swears she has the ability to get in whatever you are looking for, and in the perfect size and color. Besides,” she quickly added, “we have to start looking at wedding gowns! Have you thought about what type of wedding you want?”
Erica gave Kevin’s sister a look of total disbelief. He had just asked her to marry him last night, and this girl thinks she already has her wedding planned out? Was she kidding?
The other thing that was bothering her was she had planned a day split between cuddling next to Kevin and laying out on the beach. At this point, it didn’t look like either of those were going to happen.
And then back to the wedding. They hadn’t discussed a single issue yet. She wanted to know what he wanted and even more than that, what kind of a budget were they on? Was he thinking lavish indoor, open bar, or just family and close friends and have the ceremony performed at home?
“So, are you game for going and checking out the dress shop?” Jennifer asked eagerly.
“Sure,” Erica replied completely deadpan.
“Erica, try to contain your enthusiasm, it’s overwhelming,” Jennifer snapped, rolling her eyes at her soon to be sister-in-law. “For the life of me, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be excited. We’ll have Kevin’s no-limit credit card in hand!”
The money issue no longer bothered her. Kevin had yet to say one word about any spending. If he trusted his sister with his credit card, then she was just going to go along for the ride! This man had spent more on her over the past few months than she had ever spent on herself her entire life! She felt a bit like Cinderella every time they went shopping and tried on expensive clothing.
The other thing that was bothering her was the fact that all of this was being thrown to her at once. She wanted to just ride the blissful wave she had been on ever since Kevin proposed to her last night. Couldn’t all of this have waited a day, or a week?
“Jennifer, I need a couple of minutes with Erica. You can wait in the living room,” Kevin stated calmly, but gave his sister a pointed look that clearly stated he was not to be argued with.
Jennifer stood up and left the room immediately, as Kevin placed a hand on top of Erica’s. “Love, talk to me,” he directed kindly. He reached over and ran a finger down her cheek. “What are you thinking?” he inquired softly, making the pitch of his voice soft and gentle. He knew she was upset, and he desperately wanted to make things right. He could have invaded her mind easily and found out in a heartbeat what the problem was, but he had made a promise not to do that, and he was desperately trying to uphold that promise. If she would only learn to open up and tell him what was bothering her, he would gladly move heaven and earth to make her happy.
“It’s nothing really that big, it’s just I had hoped to spend the day with you. We haven’t even had a chance to discuss the wedding. I don’t want to start making decisions regarding it without consulting you first.
“Things like, what kind of budget are we going to be on? Do you want something simple? Or do you want something big and lavish? If it was up to me I’d say we just go elope and be done with it.”
A chokin
g noise could be heard from the living room at the elopement idea. Evidently Jennifer was hoping for a big event, something right up her alley. Well, Erica thought, if she wants such a big event, I’m going to make her be in charge of getting it set up!
So that is what the problem is, Kevin thought to himself. He had been a little worried she was having second thoughts about marrying him. Okay, now that it was out in the open, he could fix this one, or at least he thought he could.
“First of all, we will be spending the day together. I have no problem driving my favorite two ladies around while they shop. Second, I like the sound of your elopement plan.” He stopped there and grinned, knowing his sister would be unable to keep quiet about her displeasure of this. Ten seconds later both he and Erica heard her coughing loudly. He chuckled. He knew his sister well!
“But, as much as the idea of elopement sounds fun, my mother would never forgive us. And unfortunately, as prominent as our family is, she is probably going to want to throw something big. We’ll just make them do all the work since they are the ones wanting to throw such a big event, will that work for you?”
Erica smiled up at him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he replied honestly.
“I am assuming you are planning to pay for our wedding. Before I let someone,” Erica paused and motioned with her head towards the door that led into the living room, “go hog wild, I need to know if it is going to put us in debt.”
He gave her a grin until he realized he had never fully opened up to her about their finances. And yes, it was theirs, because she had agreed to be his wife. In his book, whatever was his now equally belonged to her, also.
He leaned over the table a bit until his nose was practically touching hers. “No, we will not be in debt for this wedding.” He paused for a second, and then grinned before asking. “You don’t plan on getting married once a week for the next thirty years, do you?”
