Sinsperationally Yours

by Prince, Nikki

  “Good. Burnu called to make sure.” His eyes searched her face. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

  The warmth of feeling in his eyes made her blush with pleasure. She was glad too.

  “I…want to tell you how wonderful and special I think you are,” he said. “I’m sorry I made a mess of everything. I’ll understand if you want to leave right now. But I will insist on paying for your plane ticket.”

  She was silent as she mulled his words over in her head, trying to decide what to make of them.

  “I’d rather you stayed thought,” he continued. “I just can’t help feeling that we’ve stumbled on something good. If you don’t have to rush off anywhere, why not stay with me for a while? I want to get to know you better.”

  She hesitated, relationships were not her strong suit. The powerful feelings she was beginning to have for him made her want to stay, but it also scared her. “I’ll think about it,” she said to buy some time.

  A look of disappointment flitted across his face and quickly disappeared. “Alright.” He laced his fingers through her hand. “There’s something else I want to ask you.” He looked down then back up at her. “My brother called. He really wants to see me this morning and hear what I found out on my trip. He’s also anxious because Beth is due to ovulate today.”

  Geneva stiffened. He still wanted to use her.

  “I know how you must be feeling, and I understand,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be much of a brother if I didn’t ask you to please at least meet them.”

  His hazel eyes locked hopefully on her face, the beautiful eyes that had captured her when she’d first met him. “Okay. I’ll meet them,” she said grudgingly.

  He drove her to his office, holding her hand the whole way. When they arrived, his assistant told him that his brother and wife had arrived early and gone into the hospital next door to look at the newborns.

  “It’s one of their favorite things to do,” he said, as he led her across the street to the maternity ward.

  They found the couple, arms around each other, staring through the glass.

  “That one’s yawning,” the woman cooed.

  “The little girl there has a mitten that’s coming loose,” the man said. “I’ll have to let the nurse know when she comes back.”

  The look on their faces struck her like a lightening bolt, she knew exactly how they felt. They were feeling the same things she had when she’d held little Liam on the plane. She understood now why Stephen had been so determined to capture her. It was all so clear. They looked so happy and hopeful, just skating on the edge of sadness.

  Stephen introduced everyone and as she shook their hands they shot curious looks at Stephen. He must not have told them what she was.

  “Should we go to your office?” Beth asked, glancing at Geneva again.

  Stephen glanced around then spoke. “No, we can talk here. There’s a reason I wanted you to meet Geneva.”

  “Are you a doctor too?” Sean asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  They waited. She could see Stephen struggling with how to explain so she took matters into her own hands. “I’m a succubus. Your brother asked me to come and meet you.”

  They looked even more confused and turned their inquiring eyes to Stephen.

  “Ah, yeah. I didn’t tell you that part before. That’s why I went to Las Vegas. I believe she may be able to help you. It’s a long shot though. Ultimately it’s up to her if she’s willing to try. I just asked her to come meet you. That’s it.”

  “A succubus,” Sean said wonderingly.

  “I don’t care what she is,” Beth blurted. “If there’s any hope that she can do something I’m completely willing to try it.” Her face was becoming red and tears forming in her eyes.

  “Shouldn’t we at least talk about what she can do?” Sean asked hesitantly.

  “No,” Beth said turning on him. “I trust Stephen. He wouldn’t have gone so far out of his way to find her if she couldn’t help us. Besides, I’m ovulating today. If we don’t do something today it’ll be another chance lost and more time we have to wait. I’ve already been patient enough with everything the doctors have put me through already. She looks lovely to me and I’m sure she understands how I feel.” Her tone had risen as she spoke, the desperation leaking out.

  Beth turned her blue eyes back to Geneva. “What can we do to convince you to help us?” she pleaded. “We can pay you, money’s no problem.”

  Geneva’s eyes flickered through the window to the babies lying there in their bassinets covered in pastel pink and blue. Beth was right, she knew exactly how she felt. Forty-eight hours ago, she would have said no she didn’t but now she had a very good idea of what it felt like to want to have a comfortable home and a husband to keep her warm at night and a baby to snuggle against her chest. If she’d been in Beth’s shoes she knew she would have tried anything and everything as well. Her heart melted, there was no way she could refuse to help them.

  She looked at the couple briefly again and then turned to Stephen. “Well then. We’d better get started.”

  ***

  Back in his office Stephen walked down the hall with a small cup in his hands to where Geneva sat waiting for him at his desk. Her eyes gazed out over the ocean, reminding him of himself. It struck him then, what a miracle she truly was. She had appeared out of nowhere and captured his heart and soul when all he had been trying to do was help his brother.

  Her green eyes turned to him when he entered the room and his breath hitched

  “Here it is,” he said holding up the sperm sample she’d requested. His brother had generated a fresh sample for her a few minutes ago in one of the private rooms.

  She looked at the cup and then at him. “I know now that what you did was out of love for your brother and his wife. I can already tell what wonderful people they are and can see why you went to such an extreme. They deserve to have a child.”

  She took the cup from him and held it balanced gently in her hands, her fingers curved around the cup. Through his shaman’s eyes he could see her begin to glow as she gazed at it, concentrating.

  “Ah!” she said, but he didn’t interrupt her to find out what that meant. A faint glow emanated from liquid cup and then faded gently away.

  She handed the cup back to him with a smile. “There you go. They are ready and willing now, all they needed was a little pep-talk.”

  His brow quirked and he grinned. “Pep talk?” He took the cup from her and held it to the light wishing he could distinguish any difference without the aid of a microscope. “I’d better get them implanted straight away,” he said. Beth was waiting in the other room and his partner, Dr. Ross, had agreed to perform the artificial insemination. Poking his head out the door he called one of the medical assistants, gave her the cup and directed her to Beth’s room down the hall.

  “You look worried,” she said. “Don’t. They’re fine. Actually they’ll be fine for two weeks.”

  “Two weeks?!” he stopped and said incredulously. The normal length of time, without freezing them, was sixty to ninety minutes. “And you’re sure they’ll work?”

  She shrugged. “You said your sister-in-law is ovulating. As long as there’s an egg, no problem. The sperm will get there and do their thing and then the baby will do the rest.”

  He huffed out a breath. “Just like that? Do you know how long scientists have been trying to make it that easy?”

  “I do.” She tossed her sleek, auburn hair over her shoulders, giving him a laughing smile. That’s when he noticed the fire had returned to her eyes. She looked as stunning as when he first met her.

  “Stay with me,” he blurted, then blushed. “At least until we find out what happens with this. I’ll show you around Australia. We’ll have fun.” He couldn’t believe he was speaking of fun. He spent time on fun for a while, work had seemed the highest priority. But she made him want to stop working and experience it with her.

  She hesitated a
split second, her eyes becoming serious. “Ok, I will.” She glanced down shyly at the floor then back to his face. “I want to know more about you too.”

  He took her in his arms and brushed his lips over hers softly.

  “I’m so glad,” he finally said. “I could barely sleep last night thinking you’d be gone this morning.”

  “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” she said.

  His heart warmed and they met once again in a passionate kiss.

  My Guardian Vampire

  By Sabrina Sol

  1812

  Oaxaca, Mexico

  Inhaling a sharp breath, Diego de la Cotera awoke from his dark slumber. Hazy light blinded him and a shiver like none he’d ever experienced before ran though his body.

  “What happened?” he whispered to himself.

  “You died,” a voice in the shadows answered him.

  “Thanks be to God.”

  The voice let out a deep, bellowing laugh. “God had nothing to do with it, my new friend.”

  Diego shot up. He realized he was lying on a cot inside a room he didn’t recognize. A lantern on the table beside him cast off streams of light and he could see the outline of a person sitting just a few feet away. The voice had a body.

  “So I am in hell?” He dropped his head at the realization.

  “In a manner of speaking,” the voice explained. “I mean, this town isn’t Mexico City, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call Oaxaca God-forsaken.”

  His mind raced as he attempted to make sense of the stranger’s words. “I don’t understand. If I’m dead how can I still be in Oaxaca?” Diego heard the gruffness of his voice. He was thirsty. So very thirsty. His throat burned as if he breathed in fire instead of air. Wait! He was breathing!

  None of this made any sense at all. The voice then appeared from the veil of darkness in the form of a man. A soldier, to be exact. Diego recognized him in an instant.

  “You!”

  “Ah, so you remember. Good. I was worried that the crack of the barstool against your skull might have mixed things up inside there,” said the soldier, pointing to his own temple. Then he bowed. “My name is Antonio Montanegro.”

  The pain, or the memory of the pain, throbbed behind his forehead. And then it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

  Diego reached up and rubbed his fingers against the skin just above his right brow. It felt smooth, undisturbed. Yet he remembered it splitting open, remembered a sticky wetness as his own blood ran down into his eye. Then, blackness. And more pain, this time on his neck. He moved his fingers down and searched his throat, feeling only two raised bumps.

  “Your wounds are almost gone. The transformation is almost complete.”

  “Transformation? What did you do to me?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Rather, I gave you a gift—the gift of eternal life as a vampire.”

  Every muscle, every nerve screamed in denial. Vampires were lore. They didn’t exist. He couldn’t be such a creature. “It’s not possible. I must be sick with fever and you are just a terrible hallucination. This isn’t real. It can’t be.”

  Antonio sighed. “But it is. How else can you explain the fact you have no wounds, no broken bones from our scuffle? How else can you explain that you have no heartbeat, yet there you sit talking to me?”

  Diego moved his hand to his chest and searched for the familiar beating but found only stillness. He pounded his fist against himself harder and harder. Nothing. Not even a faint pulse. Yet he lived…in a way.

  “You had no right!” he screamed at the soldier. “I wanted to die. I need to die.”

  “Let me guess. This must have something to do with that ‘Mila’ you kept mumbling about in your sleep? What happened? Did this whore break your heart and you’ve decided that you can’t live without her.”

  Fury propelled his body off the bed, but couldn’t sustain his balance once on his feet. Diego’s knees buckled as the room spun around him like a blurry vortex and he winced in preparation of his face hitting the ground. But the crash never came and instead he felt himself lifted back onto the bed.

  “You’re in no position to fight. Your body is still weak. The transformation will take at least another fortnight and then you will have the strength to at least attempt to harm me.” Antonio’s hearty laugh caused Diego to cough on his own bile of anger and hate. He decided he would kill him as soon as he had the chance.

  “You’re not going to kill me,” Antonio said matter-of-factly.

  He snapped his head to the left to look at his new enemy.

  “We’re connected now. I may not be able to read your mind word for word, but I can feel your loathing and taste your bitterness. But that’s to be expected in the beginning. Believe me, you will thank me for this one day.”

  “I doubt that,” he spat back. “You’ve turned me into a monster. Why should I be grateful for this?”

  “This woman who broke your once-beating heart, as a vampire you can exact your revenge.”

  “You know nothing. She didn’t break my heart. Death did! Death stole her away from me and her young child!”

  “She died? And she left behind a child?” Antonio seemed to consider this information interesting. His mouth twisted into a sick smile. “Even better then, my friend.”

  Diego shook his head as tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. “How can you speak such a thing?” He let out a grief-stricken moan as hopelessness washed over him. His beloved was dead and he’d been cursed to remain here on this earth without her. He wept openly then, not caring anymore if this man—this vampire--witnessed his despair.

  “I must say I’m impressed with the depth of your agony. This is a good sign. It will be useful later.”

  “You are the cruelest monster I have ever met,” he wailed. “Why must you take so much pleasure from my pain?”

  “It’s not pleasure, Diego. I’m only doing my duty as your maker to show you the advantages of being a vampire.” Antonio moved further into the light. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

  Through his sobs, he could only answer with another question. “What does reincarnation have to do with being a vampire?”

  “For you, it will have everything to do with it. Tell me, was your beloved a good woman or, how do I say this? An adulter…”

  “Don’t you dare speak that word! Mila was a widow. Her child’s father died in the battle of Calderón. She was the most selfless and caring woman I’ve ever known. She changed me. She saved me.”

  Before he’d met Mila, he’d been living a worthless life—caring more about his wealth and possessions or the next socialite’s reputation he could ruin. Then she came to work in his manor as one of his servants and he grew to admire her gentle, benevolent spirit. She taught him about love and honor and how they were worth fighting for.

  Worth dying for.

  That’s why he had walked into the cantina that night and picked a fight with a random soldier. He’d gone there looking for an end to his pain. Not a beginning.

  He shook his head at Antonio. “This curse that you have placed on me is only just that – a curse. I still do not understand why you continue to torture me with questions about her.”

  The vampire moved his hands behind his back as he explained. “Because those who have lived a noble life are given another chance in this world to be reborn as one of their own descendants. And if your love is as pure as you profess it to be, when she returns you will recognize her soul in an instant no matter her new human form.”

  The vampire’s words hit him with a force greater than the deadly bar stool. He summoned every last parcel of strength he still had left and pushed himself up so he could sit on the edge of the bed to face the man who took away his life, but now dangled the promise of a new one. “Do not toy with my sensibilities. Are you saying there’s a chance I will find Mila again?”

  His so-called maker and possible savior walked up next to the bed and pulled a small carving knife from be
hind his back. The blade shimmered for a second in the candlelight before it sliced across Antonio’s wrist. Red mixed with silver and Diego’s strong thirst became an excruciating hunger that tore at his gut.

  He smelled the blood. Nearly tasted it. And it repulsed and thrilled him at the same time.

  “It’s time to make your choice,” Antonio said as he thrust his wrist before Diego’s mouth. “Drink from me and your transformation will be complete. You will be a vampire –immortal and powerful—and we will walk and fight together as family until the day your precious Mila returns your love once again. Don’t drink and I’ll kill you without a second thought. You’ll be taken from this world and cast into another where there are no guarantees about who or what you will find on the other side.”

  “Why should I trust or believe you?”

  “You shouldn’t,” he said matter-of-factly. “But I think deep down, you know that what I say is truth.”

  The thought of holding Mila once again caused his cock to stir beneath his trousers, another inexplicable sign of being very much alive. He also felt something growing in him that he hadn’t felt since the day they both realized she was dying: Hope.

  He held on to that and released any nagging worry that his new “friend” wasn’t telling him. Because in a deal with such a devil, Diego figured there must be a catch. But it didn’t matter at that moment. All that mattered was finding his Mila. And if it took him an eternity, then so be it.

  He’d deal with the consequences later.

  Day One

  Mila awoke right as the orgasm overtook her.

  Waves of pleasure crested and crashed deep within, hurtling her toward an unwanted consciousness. Her own involuntary moan echoed in her ear and Mila knew at that point it was useless to fight it. The dream was over. Time to wake up. She opened her eyes, squeezed her thighs together and surrendered to the climax.