Rose wrapped her arms tighter around Kara’s middle, feeling the muscles of Kara’s stomach against her skin, feeling the rough outline of Kara’s scar against her skin. The steady drumbeat of Kara’s heart echoed in her ear as she rested with her head against Kara’s chest. She felt Kara’s fingers sliding absently through her long, red hair, and she relished that soothing, peaceful sensation. Rose tended to scoff at the sappy, cliché idea of romance and soulmates, but she couldn’t deny, as they lay together—finally actually together—that nothing had ever felt this right.
Rose heard Kara murmuring something softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper, but she couldn’t understand the words. She listened for a few moments, smiling at how beautiful and musical the words sounded. Kara’s voice had a sexy, melodic lilt even when she spoke in English, but when she spoke in her native tongue—Old Norse—it sounded even softer and breathier. Beautiful.
When Kara finished, Rose asked, “What were you saying just now?”
Kara bent her head and kissed the top of Rose’s forehead, her soft, warm lips lingering longer than necessary. “It was a poem,” she sighed, “in Old Norse.”
Rose shifted so that she could look at Kara. “Translate it for me. Please?”
Kara’s lips curved into a gentle, adoring smile. “Promise not to laugh?”
Rose flashed a cute smile at her. “If I must,” she said, feigning reluctance.
Kara just smiled at her for a moment, and there was so much emotion there, in her intense, light blue eyes, that it momentarily stunned Rose. “Okay,” she whispered. She rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes, sighing pleasantly at the softness of Rose’s wavy, red hair sliding through her fingers. Then, she began to recite the Old Norse poem, translating each word to English:
“Oh, gods. Oh, gods.
What have you done to me?
I was strong. So strong.
What have you done?
I was without weakness,
Until you sent her.
She, oh, she,
Is so lovely, so gentle.
One look at her,
And I am undone.”
When Kara finished reciting the poem, she opened her eyes and looked at Rose, and the vulnerability and adoration that shone so brightly in her piercing, blue eyes struck Rose speechless. So, Rose did the only thing she could do in that moment. She crawled onto her hands and knees, over Kara, and kissed her.
Kara moaned at the taste of Rose’s lips, at the softness of her mouth. She grasped Rose’s face in her hands, deepening the kiss, and wrapped her legs around Rose’s hips. Rose gasped as Kara flipped their position so that she was on top of Rose, instead. Then, Kara began to rock her hips gently against Rose’s.
“Mmmm,” Kara murmured against Rose’s lips. “You clearly like poetry.”
Rose giggled at her teasing, “Me? You’re the one who was reciting it!”
“But you’re the one who kissed me for it,” Kara said with a grin. She trailed her tongue down Rose’s jaw to her neck, smiling as Rose moaned at the sensation. “I think I’m going to have to keep this in mind. Poetry equals foreplay.”
Rose just shook her head, unable to suppress the bright smile that spread across her face. “I liked the poem, but only because it came from your mouth.”
Kara’s smiled tilted wickedly, and her cornflower-blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “You like a lot of the things that I do with my mouth, don’t you?”
Rose squeezed her eyes shut as she giggled loudly. “You are so terrible!”
“But you love me, anyway,” Kara said with a smile. There was something about the way she said it…as if it were a question, instead of just a playful taunt.
Rose glanced up at her, a soft, affectionate smile pulling at her lips—a smile that melted everything inside of Kara. She ran her fingers over Kara’s face, feeling the soft, fair skin beneath her fingertips. “I do,” she confessed, “so much.”
Kara breathed out a deep sigh, full of happiness and adoration. “I meant every word of that poem, Rose,” she said, watching Rose with a hesitant, worried expression. “You are the loveliest person I’ve ever met—inside and out—and no one has ever made me feel like this before. I feel…wonderful…and vulnerable.”
Rose stared at her speechlessly for several moments. “Not even Alana?”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “I loved Alana, but she never loved me back. She never gave anything of herself to me. She only took. But you—you captivated me from day one. Because…when you didn’t even know me, you put yourself in danger for me. You revealed your power to those vampires, just to spare me from a little pain and hardship. I glimpsed your bravery, kindness, and selflessness the night I met you, and I think…I must have started falling in love with you then.”
Rose offered her an adorable smile. “Love at first…bullet?” she teased.
Kara laughed. “You’re such a nerd,” she teased back, “and I love it.”
Rose moaned softly and pleasantly as Kara kissed her again, Kara’s warm, naked body pressing against hers, her weight pressing Rose into the soft mattress.
“I don’t want this day to end,” Rose confessed between kisses—slow, sweet kisses. She watched as Kara lifted herself up on her arms to look down at Rose, curiosity burning in her light blue eyes. “It feels like…there’s so much happiness surrounding us right now, protecting us from all of the crap that’s going on in the world. And once we leave this room, reality will crash through.”
Kara offered her a mischievous smirk. “Well, we could lock ourselves in here all night tomorrow night as well and just keep fucking until the world ends.”
Rose wrinkled her nose. “The world is going to end a whole lot sooner if we don’t save it, and I don’t think our…sexual intercourse…is going to help.”
Kara’s lips pulled to one side as she considered that. “I’d still risk it.”
Rose rolled her eyes and pushed Kara off of her. “Oh, hush,” she giggled.
Kara rolled onto her side and propped her arm beneath her head, a smile curving at the corners of her lips as she watched Rose laugh. “Seriously, though,” she said softly, “things might get bad soon, but…if anyone can save us, it’s you.”
Rose’s smile faded. “I wish I could believe that,” she sighed, as worry settled in her stomach, “but it’d help if I didn’t have such a bad feeling about it.”
—
“You don’t believe me,” Jared said, his dark eyes flashing with anger.
His father leaned back in his office chair, bracketing his hands on his stomach. “Now, I never said that, and you know it,” he said in that patronizing tone that Jared hated so much. “I just think that maybe you could’ve done better.”
Jared leaned forward, his dark, curly hair falling forward over his face, as he grasped the desk tightly. “If it weren’t for my relationship with Owen. Right?”
“Don’t you talk to your father that way,” said a familiar voice, suddenly.
Jared straightened, his dark gaze shifting toward the doorway. “Sorry,” he said quickly, watching as she stepped into the office with them, “Commander.”
She walked past him and picked up a red folder from the desk, not even looking up at him as she flipped through the papers inside. Her black suit jacket hung open, unbuttoned, revealing the Assassins of Light emblem that was sewn into the black shirt beneath. She swept one of her black curls behind her ear and looked up at him, smiling. “There’s no one else around. You can call me Mom.”
Jared nodded. “Sorry. Habit,” he muttered. “Look, I did my best. I came to you as soon as I knew about Rose, when I overheard her talking at the party.”
His mother nodded, but she continued to flip through the folder, reading the papers inside. “Did you add the new information?” she asked her husband.
He spun his chair toward her. “Yeah. I updated it about two hours ago.”
Jared rolled his eyes, frustrated by their inattentiveness. “I t
ried to kill my boyfriend,” he said between clenched teeth, “and you don’t think I did my best?”
His father held up his hands. “I never said that,” he said again, shrugging his broad shoulders. “I just think you might have been too emotionally involved.”
“I shot a fucking bullet at my boyfriend,” Jared snarled.
His mother slammed the folder back onto the desk with so much force that it might as well have been a heavy object, the sound echoing throughout the silent office. She rounded the desk, her dress shoes clacking against the tile floor, as she came to stand in front of him, her dark eyes narrowing. “Fix your tone.”
Jared lowered his head and stepped back. “Sorry, Mother,” he said softly.
“You’re relieved of your duties,” she told him, her lips twisted into a dark scowl, “until you can prove that your mind is in the right place.” Then, her gaze softened, just a little, and she placed her hand on his jaw, lifting his face until his gaze met hers. “Owen lived with us for a few years. Don’t think that we don’t care about him, too. But he made his choice. You must set your emotions aside.”
“I already have,” Jared tried to explain. “Just…let me prove myself.”
“I’ve made my decision,” she said. “You’re relieved of your duties.”
Jared stepped back, his lip curling in anger. “I’ll prove it,” he muttered, as he spun around and walked toward the door. “My emotions are not involved.”
After the door closed, his father said, “You forgot to take his weapons.”
His wife, the Commander of their base, turned back toward him, her full, red lips curving into a wicked smile. “No, I didn’t,” she said easily. She swept a loose curl behind her ear and rounded the desk again, picking up the red folder.
He watched her curiously. “You meant for him to keep his weapons?”
She chuckled, “He can’t prove himself, if he’s not armed, now can he?”
18
The Red-Eyed Vampire
Rose awoke with a smile on her lips. She felt so comfortable and content, so warm and sated, with the warmth of Kara’s arms around her. As she became increasingly aware of Kara’s bare skin against hers—the softness of Kara’s breasts against her back, the heat of Kara’s breath on her neck, their loosely entangled legs—the events of the day came rushing back to her. Her face grew warm as she remembered their hours and hours of making love before they finally fell asleep.
Her pleasant reverie was interrupted when someone cleared their throat.
Rose’s eyes popped open, and she squeaked in surprise as she saw a dark form at the edge of the bed. She instinctively tried to jolt upright in bed, but the strength of Kara’s arms held her in place. Her face turned the color of a lobster.
“Uhhh,” she stammered, her eyes wide, “this isn’t what it looks like.”
Aaron raised a thick, dark eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure it is.”
Her face grew even hotter. “What are you even doing in here?”
Unlike Rose and Kara, who were still trying to make up for their many missed hours of sleep during the day, Aaron was already dressed. He wore his usual, tight jeans and T-shirt that made him look more like a college student than an ancient, homicidal vampire, and he stared at them impatiently, his arms crossed across his chest, as if they had insulted him by not being awake. “I need to talk to my second-in-command,” he said irritably, “not that it’s any of your business.”
Rose stared blankly at him, her eyebrows raised. “You couldn’t knock?”
He wrinkled his nose, as if she’d just asked him to put on a goat costume and do the cancan. “I don’t knock,” he said slowly, frowning bewilderedly at her.
Rose tried to check the time, but the fragments of the pale blue lamp that she’d shattered earlier that day blocked her view of the clock. “What time is it?”
“Seventeen minutes until sunset,” he muttered, “not that it matters.”
Rose sighed and tugged the blankets higher over her chest, ensuring that they wouldn’t slip any lower, and then, she turned in Kara’s arms. She blushed as the movement caused their curves to press together in all of the right places. Or…well…wrong places, in this particular circumstance. Kara, still asleep, moaned and pressed herself harder against Rose. “Oh my word,” Rose said, mortified, as a jolt of desire shot through her body. “Kara? Kara, I need you to wake up.”
Kara opened her eyes, pinning Rose with her piercing, ice-blue gaze. “Rose,” she murmured, pleased to find that their earlier activities hadn’t just been a dream. She immediately captured Rose’s lips in a slow, indulgent kiss. Her hands trailed along the curve of Rose’s back, down to her butt. She pulled Rose closer.
“Kara,” Rose gasped, pulling back. “Umm…Aaron wants to talk to you.”
Kara moved her lips to Rose’s neck, kissing and sucking. “He can wait.”
“Uh,” Rose squeaked, desperately trying not to moan at the sensation of Kara’s lips on her neck. “You don’t understand. I mean…he’s here. In the room.”
Kara pulled back for a moment, just long enough to shift her gaze toward the edge of the bed, where Aaron stood, tapping his foot impatiently. She glared at him, obviously annoyed by his intrusion. “Well, if it bothers him, he can leave,” she said, kissing Rose’s neck. “He came in uninvited. He’s not my first priority.”
“Excuse me?” Aaron balked. “Since when am I not your first priority?”
Rose blushed as Kara kissed her shoulder. “But…what if it bothers me?”
Kara immediately froze, her gaze shifting up to meet Rose’s. “Does it?”
Rose offered her an apologetic smile. “I mean…it’s just…he doesn’t seem to be leaving,” she rambled nervously. “And it’s kind of…embarrassing.”
Kara stared at her, blinking in surprise. “Oh. Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Rose.”
Rose hadn’t expected an apology at all, much less the concern and guilt she saw in Kara’s eyes now. “It’s okay. Can you just…find out what he wants?”
“I’ll do better than that,” Kara told her with a smile. “I’ll get rid of him.”
Aaron’s dark skin had turned such a dark red that Rose was pretty sure, if he’d been a cartoon character, there would have been steam pouring from his ears. “You’re going to get rid of me?” he repeated, as Kara climbed out of bed.
Kara straightened, not the least bit embarrassed by her nudity. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” she said, crossing her arms. “So? What do you want?”
His eyes narrowed. “I really don’t have the patience for your attitude.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Kara laughed, “because I have plenty of attitude.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “What information do you have for the mission?”
Kara glanced at the dresser, where she’d left an outdated, black phone unplugged. “I’ll have to charge my phone, but I’ll write it all out for you as soon as it’s charged. I only have about half of what we need. It’ll take one more night.”
Aaron nodded. “I know,” he sighed. “Have you spoken to Talulah yet?”
Kara winced a little. “Maybe…er…someone else should contact her?”
His black eyes narrowed. “I don’t care about your history. Contact her.”
Rose glanced back and forth between them curiously. “Who is Talulah?”
He turned toward her. “How is that any of your business, baby vampire?”
“Oh, great,” Rose muttered sarcastically. “We’re back to calling me that.”
“I want to see that information within an hour,” he told Kara. “You’re my second-in-command. I need your focus.” He shot a meaningful look at Rose.
Kara waved him toward the door. “Yeah, yeah, I’m absolutely focused.”
He scowled suspiciously at her, but he left the room, anyway, grumbling under his breath about being shooed out of the room by his second-in-command.
Kara closed the door behind him and turned toward Rose. She bi
t her lip as she stared longingly at Rose, tracing her heated gaze over Rose’s soft curves, outlined beneath the thin, white sheets. “Last night,” she growled lowly, “was…”
“Amazing,” Rose finished, a bright smile spreading across her face.
Kara’s lips lifted into a mischievous smile as she prowled toward the bed. She hopped onto the bed and crawled up Rose’s body, capturing Rose’s lips in an intense kiss. “I’m sorry for embarrassing you,” she whispered against Rose’s lips.
“It’s fine. I know how shameless you Vikings can be,” Rose teased.
“Mmm-hmm,” Kara murmured, her lips twitching into a smile as she kissed Rose again. “Still…” She ripped the blanket away from Rose’s body, her piercing, blue eyes darkening with lust, as she trailed her gaze over Rose’s fair, freckled skin. She lowered her lips to Rose’s breasts. “You must let me apologize.”
Rose moaned as she felt Kara’s lips close around her nipple. “It’s really not…necessary,” she grunted, barely able to put words together into sentences.
“I insist,” Kara growled as she trailed kisses down Rose’s body, pausing at her waist. She grasped Rose’s thighs and looked up at Rose, grinning wickedly.
Rose watched her with wide, bright blue eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Apologizing,” Kara said before burying her face between Rose’s legs.
Rose gasped, clawing at the sheets beneath her, as Kara began to torment Rose with her tongue. “This isn’t,” Rose squeaked, “how most people apologize.”
—
Audrey spun around, frowning bewilderedly at her humming friend—that she’d never seen hum before. She elbowed an equally puzzled Owen. “What’s up with Rose?” she whispered. “She’s humming. Since when does Rose hum?”
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