by Tina Folsom
“I’ve known about your past all along.”
She pulled away further. “You what?”
“When I found you in my house that first night, I had my friend Nico make inquiries. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I was afraid you’d be angry at me for investigating you.”
“You knew I was a whore?”
“Shh. You’re no whore. You’re pure.”
“I’m not pure. I’m soiled. I’m—”
He laid his hand on her heart. “In here, you’re pure. It doesn’t matter to me what lies in your past. You’re what I want. Be mine. Let me make you happy.”
“You mean this, don’t you?”
He simply nodded. A moment later she threw herself into his arms and held him tighter than he’d ever been held.
“I love you, Lorenzo.”
He lifted her chin up to brush his lips against hers. “For eternity.” Then he lowered her back onto the sheets and moved over her, sliding in between her spread thighs. “My love, if we ever make it out of this bed, I’ll shower you with every treasure you can imagine.”
“And what can I give you?”
He smiled. “I already have my own treasure. You.”
Epilogue
Three weeks later
“The men on this list don’t exist,” Raphael proclaimed, holding up the infamous piece of paper Bianca had found.
As murmurs of disbelief rippled through the dozen friends who were assembled in Raphael’s parlor, Lorenzo felt disappointment settle in. He’d been so sure the list showed the members of the hated Guardians of the Holy Waters, the group who’d been hunting him and his friends for years.
He let his gaze travel to Bianca, who sat on the sofa next to Isabella and gave her a reassuring look. While Nico, Raphael, Dante, and the latter two’s wives had already met Bianca three weeks earlier, today Lorenzo had introduced her as his wife to the remainder of their closely knit group. Rumors about his nuptials had already traveled like a wildfire through the canals of Venice, and his friends had been eager to set eyes on the woman who’d stolen his heart.
“Then why would Signore Greco hide it with a ring of the Guardians? Is it to try and throw us off their trail?” Andrea asked.
“A ruse, I assume,” Dante explained. “I assure you, Raphael and I have investigated each and every single name on this list. Without any success. The names are false.”
“And incomplete.” Isabella’s words made Lorenzo snap his gaze to her.
“How can you know that?” Lorenzo took a step closer to her.
“Because neither my late husband’s nor Massimo’s name is on it.”
“Nor Salvatore’s,” Viola, who stood next to Dante, added.
Lorenzo remembered all too well what had happened to the three men: Giovanni, Isabella’s first husband and a Guardian had drowned. Massimo, another Guardian, who’d threatened to kill Raphael had been shot dead by Isabella, and Salvatore, the Guardian who’d nearly killed Dante and had forced him to turn Viola into a vampire to save her from certain death, had been shot and killed by Raphael.
“Maybe they’re not on the list because they’re dead,” Lorenzo voiced his observation.
Bianca shook her head. “I don’t think so. The ink on the paper looks old and worn. My father didn’t write this list in the last few months before his death.”
Raphael looked at the list in his hands again. “I agree. This is older than simply a few months. Hence it’s impossible for those three men not to be on the list. Signore Greco couldn’t have known about their deaths when he wrote down the names.”
“Maybe they are on the list after all.” Everybody turned at Nico’s words.
“How so?” Lorenzo asked, curious whether Nico had figured something out that the rest of them had overlooked.
“A code.”
Raphael’s gaze swept over the paper in his hands. “By God!”
“Yes,” Nico continued, “what if they all have code names they call each other by, so that if they are being overheard, their true identities won’t be revealed?”
Lorenzo’s spirit lifted. The find hadn’t been for naught. “Then we simply have to figure out the code. Knowing that Massimo, Giovanni and Salvatore have to be on the list, if we can decipher what their code names were, we can get behind the logic of it and figure out the remaining names.”
Nico grinned. “You’re taking the words right out of my mouth, my friend.”
“Excellent!” Dante slapped Nico on the shoulder and looked into the round. “Let’s get to work then.”
As his friends huddled together to pour over the list, Isabella rose from her seat and approached him. In a low voice, she addressed him. “Lorenzo, I think you should take your wife home. She seems unwell.”
Instantly, his gaze shot to his wife, and indeed she looked somewhat pale. “Thank you, Isabella.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it before he strode to Bianca.
“My sweet, let’s go home.”
Bianca gave him a grateful smile. “If you need to stay, I can go by myself.”
Lorenzo pulled her up to stand. “I’d rather spend the rest of the night with you than with my friends.” Then he snaked his arm around her waist. “Now come, you need to rest.”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
He smiled at her attempt to brush off his concern and made his excuses before he led Bianca out of the house. Glad that his house was only steps from Raphael and Dante’s, he lifted her into his arms and carried her, ignoring her protests.
“I can walk.”
He pressed a quick kiss on her lips to stop her from talking, then carried her into their home and up the stairs. “I like having you in my arms.”
In their chamber, he gently set her on her feet. She instantly swayed, then ran for the commode which held a pitcher of water and a bowl.
“Oh, no!” she wailed, before she bent over the bowl and cast up her accounts.
With two steps, Lorenzo was behind her, slid his arm around her waist and supported her. Despite the fact that she was unwell, he couldn’t suppress his smile. His sweet little wife was giving him the most amazing present.
With his free hand he poured her a glass of water.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong. Maybe the meat I ate was spoiled.”
“Drink.”
She took a gulp of water, washing out her mouth, then spit it out. “I’m better. I’m sorry you had to see this.”
Lorenzo’s hand slid possessively over her stomach, and his lips went to her ear. “My sweet, I’ll be here whenever you need me. And now that we can be relatively certain that you’re enceinte, we have a decision to make.”
“Enceinte?” Bianca gasped and turned to face him.
“Yes, my love. There can be no other reason for your sickness. And if you need any more proof: you’ve not once rejected my advances in the last weeks and claimed to have your courses.”
“Oh, my God.” She looked down at herself and pressed her hand onto her stomach, then looked back up at him with wonder in her eyes. “A child.”
“Yes, our child. But we have to—”
She grabbed his hand. “Lorenzo, will it be vampire like you or human like me?”
“That is for you to decide.”
Bianca gave him a confused look. “But how?”
“If you decide you want a human child, there’s nothing for you to do. But should you decide you want a child that’s half vampire, half human, for it can never be fully vampire, you have to drink my blood while the child is in your womb. You have time to decide until you’re four months along.”
Would she want a child that was part vampire? Lorenzo knew what he wanted.
“What do you want?” Bianca asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I want. This is your decision. Your choice.” He didn’t want to influence her with his own preference, so he didn’t voice it.
“If it’s half vampire, will it be hurt in the sun?”
“No
. A half vampire, half human child will be able to walk in the sun and the shadows, having the traits and strengths of both species. It’ll be stronger than either.”
“But will it age?”
He understood her concern and was glad to be able to lay it to rest. “Yes, the child will grow and age as any human child. But as soon as it reaches maturity, it’ll stop aging just like any vampire whose age is frozen at their turning.”
Bianca nodded, clearly contemplating his words. Then she looked at him, her eyes going to his neck where his vein throbbed uncontrollably. She licked her lips. “What does blood taste like?”
Lorenzo’s heart leapt. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
She nodded.
He drew her into his embrace. “You don’t know what this means to me. Nobody’s ever accepted me like you have. And now, to know that you’re prepared to have our child be half vampire, you’re making me the happiest man in the entire world.”
“I love you, Lorenzo,” she whispered and pressed herself closer. “Make love to me and let me drink your blood.”
And there was nothing else he’d rather do in that instant.
THE END
Excerpt of Yvette’s Haven (Scanguards Vampires #4)
Haven exhaled. The woman was stunning. An actress for sure, even though he’d never seen her in a movie. What else could she be with that porcelain skin and the short black hair that was styled back away from her flawless face? Her high cheekbones accentuated her green eyes, and her red lips were so plump and kissable, he felt his cock ache at the thought of her mouth on—
Haven tried to shake off the erotic vision tumbling through his mind. He wasn’t like his brother, who fell for every pretty face without thinking, but as he swept his gaze over her perfect body, appreciating the lush curves hidden under her black dress, he wondered why he’d ever faulted Wesley for his weakness. Right now, he was feeling that same kind of weakness he’d always chastised his brother for.
Haven’s cock expanded under his entirely too-tight formal suit which he’d rented at a tuxedo store down the street. It wasn’t like he was ever going to wear that kind of wardrobe again. There was no point in buying such a useless garment. But as much as he tried to concentrate his thoughts on his unusual attire, they instantly drifted back to the beauty across the room and to the way she made his cock throb with lust.
Clearly, that’s all this was: lust. His life had become too single-minded over the years—only concentrating on hunting vampires and searching for his sister—and he hadn’t allowed himself to enjoy the company of women for too long. He didn’t like being distracted by them. He had no time for family and love when all he wanted was to restore the family he’d lost.
It shouldn’t matter to him that this stranger, who didn’t shy away from the intensity of his gaze, inspired all kinds of desires, none of which were suitable for display in a public ballroom with hundreds of guests watching. The images currently charging through his mind were more suitable to a dark hallway closet where he could press the woman against a wall and fuck her until he’d slaked his lust and felt normal again. Already now, he knew it would take more than just one quick fuck. Maybe he’d have to have her under him for a few hours to get this feeling out of his system. And if she was any good, well, he could spare a whole night, but only after he’d taken care of what he’d come for. That didn’t mean he couldn’t go over there and get her phone number, though.
Before he could change his mind, Haven walked up to her, only stopping when he was a foot away from her. To his surprise, she didn’t back away but stood her ground: the sign of a confident woman. And why wouldn’t she be confident? With her sultry looks, she could have any of the men in this room panting at her feet. Licking them even.
“I’m Haven.” He turned on his charm and started counting. Thirty seconds was all he would need to get her number. And not a fake 5-5-5 number either.
“Odd name.”
He inhaled her scent. She wore barely any perfume. It rather seemed as if her skin smelled of oranges. He didn’t know of any commercial perfume of that scent. “My mother was into odd things.”
She nodded as if she knew what that meant. “You were working on the movie?”
Was she trying to figure out if he was a big producer who could help her career? He wouldn’t give her that satisfaction. No, when she submitted to his touch, she would do so because of who he was, not what he was. “Stuntman,” he lied. It was a job unimportant enough for a woman like her, yet would show off his physical prowess. And being a bounty hunter wasn’t that much different from being a stuntman. Only that danger was more up close and personal, more of a surety. For him, no safety nets existed. No ambulance was waiting when he got injured. No crew stood by to help him out if he got in too deep.
She gave a satisfied smile, her eyes traveling over his body. And damn it if he didn’t love the way she licked her lips at the same time. “I figured.”
Was it getting hot in here? “And you?”
“I’m not a stuntman,” she purposefully misunderstood his question. It didn’t matter. He didn’t really care what she was. All he cared about was where she’d be very soon: under his body.
“Didn’t think so.” He swept an appreciative glance over her body, lingering on her round breasts for longer than necessary. When he met her eyes again, the knowledge that he’d been assessing her female assets was on her face, yet she didn’t pull away or look at him with disgust.
“You think you’ve got what it takes?” The words rolled off her lips in a seductive sweep. Her pink tongue emerged, moistening her lips. “Many have tried. None have succeeded.”
Fuck, the sight of that tongue did things to him. His body temperature spiked several degrees. He tugged at his shirt’s collar, realizing he’d already taken off his tie earlier. He couldn’t very well take off his shirt. “I’m willing to give it a shot.”
Now it was her turn to look up and down his body. It didn’t escape him how she held her gaze at his groin, assessing its ever-growing package. And he wasn’t going to hide it from her. Might as well make sure she knew what she was in for.
“It might just do.”
He’d never met a woman who’d so openly propositioned him. Or was she merely responding to his offer? It didn’t matter. All that was important was that they were in the midst of negotiating the terms of their sexual encounter. The whether had already been confirmed. Now it was only a matter of figuring out the when and where. As well as the how long.
End of Excerpt
Excerpt of Gabriel’s Mate, Scanguards Vampires #3
The click-clack of her heels echoed against the buildings. Maya could barely see the pavement through the fog, which hung like a thick mist in the night air, amplifying every sound.
A rustle coming from somewhere behind her made her accelerate her already hasty steps. A chill so severe it felt as if an icy hand had touched her skin went through her. She hated the dark, and it was on nights like these that she cursed her on-call duty. Darkness had always scared her and lately it did even more so.
She opened her purse as she approached the three-story apartment building she’d been living in for the last two years. With shaking fingers, she fished for her house keys. The moment she felt the cold metal in her damp palm, she felt better. In a few seconds, she would be back in bed and get a few hours of sleep before her next shift started. But more importantly, shortly she would be back in the safety of her own four walls.
As she turned to the stairs leading up to the heavy entrance door, she noticed the darkness in the foyer. She glanced up. The light bulb over the door must have burned out. A couple of hours ago it had been burning brightly. She put it on her mental list of things to tell her landlord.
Maya felt for the railing and gripped it, counting the steps as she walked up.
She never reached the door.
“Maya.”
Her breath caught as she spun on her heels. Engulfed in the dark and the fog, s
he couldn’t make out his face. She didn’t need to – she knew his voice. She knew who he was. It almost paralyzed her. Her heart beat into her throat in a frantic tattoo as fear inside her gut spiraled.
“No!” she screamed and scrambled back toward the door, hoping against all odds she could escape.
He’d come back like he’d vowed.
His hand dug into her shoulder and pulled her back to face him. But instead of his face, all she could focus on was the white of his pointed teeth.
“You will be mine.”
The threat was the last thing she heard before she felt his sharp fangs break through her skin and sink into her neck. As the blood drained from her, so did the memories of the last few weeks.
***
“And you’ve tried surgery already?” Dr. Drake inquired without looking up from his notepad.
Gabriel released a frustrated huff and brushed an imaginary dust particle off his jeans. “Didn’t work.”
“I see.” He cleared his throat. “Mr. Giles, have you had this …” – the doctor winced and made a nondescript hand movement – “uh … all your life? Even when you were human?”
Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut for a second. After puberty, there wasn’t a day in his living memory that he’d not had this problem. Everything had been normal when he’d been a little boy, but the moment his hormones had started raging, his life had changed. Even as a human, he’d been an outcast.
He felt the scar on his face throb, remembering the moment he’d received it and jerked himself away from the memory. The physical pain had long eased, but the emotional pain was as vivid as ever. “I had it long before I became a vampire. Back then, nobody thought of surgery. Hell, an infection would have probably killed me.” If he’d known how his life would turn out he would have taken a knife to himself, but hindsight was always twenty-twenty. “Anyway, as you probably know better than I do, my body regenerates while I sleep and heals what it perceives to be a wound. So, no, surgery hasn’t worked.”
“I assume this has caused problems with your sex life?”
