“After our breakup, I promised myself that I would … that I would … redeem myself in your eyes. I decided to abstain from sex for a while.” She hoped she didn’t look as sheepish as she felt. “I … I didn’t want you to remember me that way.”
Gabriella’s sleek black eyebrows arched, the amber eyes showing surprise and then admiration.
“And?”
“And what?”
Gabriella shrugged, her face split in a wide smile.
“Did you succeed?”
Jessica thought of lying, but quickly reconsidered. This was Gaby, she deserved the truth.
“No, I didn’t.” Gabriella blinked at her, but before the brunette could ask, Jess quickly continued. “About three years ago I slipped up. But only that one time.” She added the last part quickly.
Gabriella nodded, gently biting her under lip, a sign Jessica knew very well. It meant she was assessing the information and when she looked up Jessica could already read the next question in her expressive eyes.
“What was it about her that made you break your promise?”
Jessica lowered her head and looked down at her entwined fingers. She’d made a conscious effort never to think about Rissa, because three years on, it still felt like she’d made a huge mistake letting the woman go. On the other hand, it felt good to talk about Rissa instead of subjecting her memories to the furthest, deepest recesses of her mind.
“She was different. Honest, sexy, and mysterious. She just showed up in my bedroom one night and … as much as I wanted to tell her to leave, I couldn’t.” Jessica relived the moment when Rissa started to unbutton her shirt. “I craved her touch. She was intoxicating … like a drug.” She looked up and saw the pensive look in the amber eyes. “After only two nights together, she hinted that she might want more than I could offer at the time and we decided to go our separate ways.”
“Was it your idea to break it off?”
“Sort of.” Jessica answered honestly. “I didn’t try to stop her when she left.”
There was a long moment of silence as they both looked out over the semi-deserted Marktplatzt. “And did you see her again after that?”
“No. A couple years ago I went back to look for her, but nobody knew who she was, nor where came from or where she’d disappeared to.”
They were interrupted by loud laughter a few yards away, where a group of teenagers were fooling around chasing each other on their bikes.
“Do you know why you went back to look for her?”
Jessica felt her heart beat escalating. Why indeed? She was so focused on trying to find out who Rissa was and where she was, to even ponder her decision to return to Cleaver Keep and look for her. She shook her head.
“I don’t know. Maybe I was just curious to find out if she still lived there. Maybe it was because of the sex.” She said honestly and felt herself blush deeply. “We were great together and I’ve been unable to take anyone else to my bed since.” She shook her head again. “I really don’t know why I went back there.”
She searched through her pockets and took out the two bottles of gin from the minibar. She handed one to Gabriella and unscrewed the other, taking a long sip.
“Has it crossed your mind that you might’ve fallen in love with her?”
†
Gabriella unscrewed her bottle and took a sip, pulling her face as the liquid burned down her throat. She looked at the bottle and saw that she’d downed more than half. This was typical Jessica, unpredictable as always. Who would’ve expected a multimillionaire to raid her hotel mini bar and carry the stash around with her? She turned to tease her about being cheap, but the smile died on her face.
Jessica sat motionless next to her; the stricken look on her face prompted Gabriella to quickly place the bottle on the bench next to her and reached for Jessica’s hand.
“Jess? What’s wrong, Jess?” What could’ve happened between now and a few seconds ago to have left Jessica so rattled, she wondered.
“An hour after she left, I got the strangest feeling.” She tipped the bottle and swallowed the remainder of the gin. “It was as if I knew I’d made a huge mistake letting her walk out of my life. But I never thought that I might’ve been in love with her. We don’t even know each other.”
Gabriella relaxed immediately. It wasn’t as life threatening as she’d thought. She reached for her bottle and took another sip, gasping as it burned the same path down to the pit of her stomach. She grimaced. Damn, she never could stomach gin.
“What are you going to do about it, now that you know you have feelings for her? You still do have feelings for her, don’t you?” She studied Jessica’s face closely.
“I guess.”
“What kind of answer is that? Either you do or you don’t.” Gabriella had to employ a lot of effort to keep her voice neutral.
“I honestly don’t know how I’ll react if I see her again.”
Gabriella’s heart melted at the forlorn look on Jessica’s face. Four years on, she still felt an overwhelming tenderness for this beautiful and seemingly broken woman. “But how do you feel when you think about her?”
“Alone,” Jessica said in a soft, empty voice. Gabriella felt her heart constrict and she placed a gentle hand on Jessica’s arm. There was definitely love, or something akin to love, present. There were two options open to Jess now. Either she could try and find this woman, or try to hook Jessica up with someone else. But first things first, they needed to go back to the hotel. She glanced at her watch; she’d left the hotel almost two hours ago. It was time to go back to Trinity. They’d made a promise to each other never to go to bed angry and she wasn’t going to be the one to break that promise.
“Let’s go to the hotel. Those youths over there are becoming too raunchy now, next they’ll want to pick a fight with us and then we’ll have to kick their asses.”
She saw Jessica grin, as she came to her feet and smiled too. It was great to have her friend back.
“You’re right. I’m not really in the mood for snapping necks and bending spines.”
Laughing together, they started the long trek across the huge market place to their hotel.
†
Trinity longingly watched the two women as they walked away. From where she stood in the dark, her eyes hungrily followed Gabriella’s form. She stiffened suddenly and her senses zeroed in on a powerful aura close by. The air was virtually pulsing with power. Even the youths must have sensed the powerful pulse, because they quickly got on their bicycles and peddled off, constantly looking over their shoulders. She didn’t have to wait long.
A figure materialized a few feet away from her, walking straight to the bench which Gabriella and Jessica had occupied just moments before. She saw the dark head turn in the direction the two women walked, then turn to look directly at her. Trinity slowly stepped out of the shadows.
“Are you having problems?”
“She is angry at me.”
Tahlia nodded and slowly sat down on the bench.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Trinity came to sit next to the dark woman and closed her eyes, mentally warding off the powerful ripples coming off the woman. It would’ve been frightening to her to have so much power, but Tahlia was carrying it so comfortably. How did Jemima contain this dangerous woman? She looked up into Tahlia’s eyes and saw wry amusement in the black depths. Tahlia had been reading her mind.
“The woman she is with now is her former mate. We had an argument about her.” She recalled the conversation she’d been privy to between Gabriella and Jessica. “But I was wrong. She told me my suspicions were misplaced and that I should trust her. Instead, I acted like a jealous fool and threatened the woman.” Tahlia’s black eyes glittered in the dark and Trinity could sense her disapproval, but still Tahlia said nothing. “I’ve tried to apologize to her, but she told me that she wanted space and did not want to see me.”
The cool breeze whispered through Tahlia’s the raven-black locks
, pulling them in all directions; she slowly lifted a hand to rake through her hair. In a fluid motion, Tahlia came to her feet.
“She has cooled off somewhat and is ready to talk to you again.” Trinity came to her feet. “You will have to show her that you are truly contrite. I will leave it to you to find a way to make that happen.” And then, the Vampire Queen was gone.
Trinity slowly made her way across the cobblestone space toward the hotel. She did have an idea that would place her back in Gabriella’s good books. She would just have to find the woman Jessica was looking for, but she’d have to keep it quiet. She’d hate for any of the other hunters to get wind of her matchmaking scheme. Her reputation would never survive the knock.
Chapter 5
Soft, warm lips gently nuzzled a cool cheek. With a satisfied sigh, Tahlia fell back on the bed. She reveled in the tingles which raced down her spine at the soft and gentle touches on her body. What a homecoming.
Jemima’s hands slipped under Tahlia’s turtleneck and she sat up so she could help her wife pull it over her head. Next were her jeans and then her black silk panties. Lying back, naked, she watched Jemima looking at her, those brilliant blue eyes devouring her. Jemima’s hands joined in and she slowly moved them from over her stomach, down, and further down until they came to a stop between her legs. She heard Jemima sigh softly at what she found there. Tahlia was already wet. The moment she’d stepped into their room and spied Jemima, naked and waiting for her, she’d felt a rush of moisture gathering between her legs.
She groaned when she felt Jemima part the slick folds gently and press her thumb down on the swollen nub. Tahlia turned her face sideways, away from Jemima’s smoldering gaze. Looking into that azure gaze across a gleaming conference table was extremely distracting, but looking into those eyes now, while she was slowly rubbing her clit, was almost too much for Tahlia to bear. She gritted her teeth when Jemima slowly pushed a finger inside, making her pelvis lift from the bed. At the same time Jemima’s hot mouth captured the bud.
Tahlia sighed. It was times like these that she relished the sweet surrender of her immense power, her responsibility. At this moment she was but a woman, lying in the warm, loving arms of her mate. A deep growl escaped her lips as her wife’s loving ministrations brought her to an earth shattering climax.
“You stayed out longer than I expected,” Jemima murmured softly in her ear, long after the trembling had subsided.
Tahlia slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to focus on her wife.
“I met with Trinity.”
“And Gabriella?” Jemima didn’t move but Tahlia could feel the tension in her wife’s body.
“They had an argument, but I think they’ll sort it out.” Her hands lazily stroked over Jemima’s naked back, tracing the scratch marks she’d left there during their wild coupling. Fortunately, they would disappear completely in a while. “Gabriella’s former lover is in town and Trinity’s jealously got the better of her.”
Jemima chuckled softly and leaned over Tahlia until their lips were a hair’s breadth away.
“I’d thought it would be the other way around with Gabriella being jealous of all the attention Trinity was getting from other women.” She sensually sucked on Tahlia’s lower lip. “Vampires are so hot.”
Tahlia playfully slapped Jemima’s soft backside.
“Humans have a powerful appeal too, you know. Remember how I drooled over you not too long ago.” The black eyes were fiercely possessive as they stared into the twinkling blue eyes. “If anyone ever tries to come between us, I do not know what I will do.”
“You never need to worry that I’ll be tempted to look elsewhere.” Jemima said softly and Tahlia smiled back at her, just as the horizon began to lighten.
She bundled Jemima into her arms and swung her feet off the bed. With her wife held close to her heart, the Vampire Queen walked over to the patch of the earth not far away from the bed and with a flick of her hand, Jemima parted the earth. Deep within the soft, rich soil, Tahlia planted a gentle kiss on Jemima’s lips, double-checked the safeguards and waited while her body systematically shut down in preparation of her daylight nap.
†
The office door softly clicked closed and quick footsteps sounded. A rustle of papers were followed by the sound of a pen scribbling hastily over paper. The footsteps returned to the door and the door closed again. The footsteps continued down the hallway into an elevator and down a flight of stairs. Heavy doors swung open and a piece of paper exchanged hands. The footsteps quickly retraced their path.
A trembling hand dialed a series of numbers. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“I have something for you, same time, same place.”
†
When she entered the suite, Trinity’s eyes quickly swept over the empty bed and she stiffened. Where was Gabriella? She was supposed to have been here a long time ago. She quickly walked through the door leading to the small lounge and sighed softly. Gabriella was curled up on the couch, watching TV. She must’ve sensed a presence behind her, because the dark head turned slowly. Green and gold clashed and Trinity swallowed slowly. She would grovel, just to have that cool look in the amber eyes replaced with a soft loving gaze. She quickly stepped closer and came to sit on the couch next to Gabriella.
“I am so sorry, baby. I was out of line and acted very stupid. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me, please?” All the while she’d been talking, the amber eyes remained unreadable and Trinity felt a frisson of fear snaking down her spine. Gabriella never held grudges … but there was always a first time. She reached to take the remote from the warm hand which held it and placed the control on the nearby coffee table. “I was unreasonable and I am begging you to forgive me.” There was a short silence and then Gabriella sat up slowly.
“You have nothing to be worried about. Jess is in love with someone else,” Gabriella said softly.
Trinity stopped herself just in time from saying that she knew. Gabriella would flip if she found out that Trinity had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Not to mention that she’d followed her when she was clear about wanting to be alone.
“More reason for me to feel stupid.” She brought the hand to her lips. “Tell me what I can do to make you forgive me.”
Gabriella shook her head.
“There’s no need, I’m not angry at you anymore. I’m just surprised that a confident, intelligent woman, such as you, would think for one moment that I would be so stupid as to be tempted by another woman.” Gabriella sat back against the arm of the couch, her gaze searching Trinity’s face intently. Trinity wanted to probe her mind, the suspense almost too much for her to bear. “I love you and I will love only you until my last dying breath.”
Trinity experienced a mixed feeling of humility and shame at the soft declaration of love. She came to her feet and sunk to her knees in front of Gabriella.
“I never doubted your love, my heart. I doubted my own ability to be able to keep you from falling out of love with me.” She took the hand closest to her and brought it to her lips. “I promise you that it will never, ever happen again.”
She saw the amber eyes softening and she pushed her arms under Gabriella’s body and lifted her easily until the brunette was seated in her lap. They didn’t speak; they just held each other tightly. Trinity pushed her nose into the fragrant dark hair of her fiancé and smiled. It felt good not to have Gabriella angry at her. It felt even better holding her in her arms. Her heart swelled with love.
Trinity’s voice echoed, hoarse with emotion as she declared her love to Gabriella.
†
A bottle of water miraculously appeared from nowhere and was pushed into her shaking hand. Jessica quickly unscrewed the bottle and gulped it down thirstily. After taking a full breath, she looked up. Her eyes were a dark, stormy grey as they skewered Howard.
Howard shrugged, his blue eyes twinkling merrily.
“You knew I didn’t want to do this, but you bullied me into this, giving me no choice. I had to find a way of getting back at you.” He swirled on his heels, his arms spread wide, encompassing the Cologne skyline. “This is it.”
Jessica bent over from the waist down, still struggling to control her ragged breathing.
“I suspected as much. You are quite predictable, Howard,” she wheezed and took another sip of water.
Laughing, Howard wandered off to enjoy the panoramic view of Cologne and left her there, still gasping for breath. She was going to fire his ass as soon as she touched ground again. Her lungs felt like they wanted to come out through her mouth. She really needed to find time to go to the gym again and cut back on her alcohol consumption. This morning she woke up with the mother of all hangovers and thought about calling off the sight-seeing tour. Howard wanted nothing of that, insisting that because of her, he had to change his plans and wasn’t going to wander around the city alone. She looked up to see where he was, but instead, her eyes fell on the tall woman standing a few feet from her.
What the hell was she doing here? The green eyes stared back at her with an expression of mild amusement. If the redhead had climbed the 2,000 steps up here, it didn’t show at all. She looked crisp and poised, as always, in a flowing, white linen pantsuit, with expensive shades clutched in a well-manicured hand.
A Guardian's Salvation Page 7
