She went into the bathroom to gather some toiletries. When she returned to pack them, she discovered the red nightgown had been neatly folded and slipped between two sweaters.
“Is this yer family?” He lifted a framed photo off the top of her dresser.
“Yes.” She moved closer so she could point out each person. “That’s my mom and dad. Kathleen and Kai Ling. They’re both physics professors.”
“Ye told me about yer Irish grandfather. So yer mother is Irish?”
“Yes. When I was about five years old, I asked her why my eyes couldn’t be green like hers, and ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with genetics.”
“Ye like green eyes?” He gave her a wide-eyed look.
She smiled. “Yes. And I love the pipes, too. My grandfather used to play.” She sighed. “The summer I spent with him was one of the happiest times in my life.”
“We’ll make more happy times for you.” He pointed at her in the photo. “Ye were a bonny lass.”
She snorted. The photo didn’t capture how gawky and shy she’d been at the time. “I was eleven. An unplanned late addition to the family, or as my father called it, an accident of cosmic proportions.”
Dougal winced. “I would have called you a miracle. Ye are to me.”
Her heart swelled. How many times would she have loved to hear that while growing up? Instead, she’d been constantly pressured to live up to the high standards her brothers had set. Homeschooled, devoid of any friends until she’d gone off to college to swim among the sharks.
“And these are yer brothers?” Dougal asked.
“Yes, this one is Albert. He was eighteen at the time. And the one in the graduation robe is Isaac. He was sixteen and graduating college.”
“That young?”
Leah nodded. “Albert and Isaac both started college at thirteen. And they both had their Ph.D.’s by the time they were nineteen. I left for college when I was fourteen, but I didn’t become a doctor till I was twenty-one.” She made a face. “I took some flak for that. They thought I should be a doctor of some kind before the age of twenty.”
Dougal frowned. “Are ye serious?”
She shrugged. “My parents weren’t happy with my decision to go to med school. And they think genetics is a waste of time. I was supposed to be like Albert and Isaac and get my doctorate in quantum physics. Why study lowly humans when I could take on the entire universe?”
Dougal gave her an incredulous look. “Do they no’ realize how brilliant ye are?”
“I was slower than my brothers.”
He huffed. “Give me yer parents’ address, and I’ll track them down and knock their heads together.”
Leah grinned. “That would get you off to a great start with the future—” She stopped herself from saying in-laws. Dougal hadn’t even confessed to loving her, so she was getting way ahead of herself. “It’s not like I was abused. They paid for all my education, and I’m very grateful for that.”
“They shouldna have made ye feel like a failure,” he grumbled. “Ye’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, and I’ve been around a few centuries.”
Her heart squeezed. How could she not love this man? “Thank you.”
He slanted her a worried look. “Connor thinks ye’re too smart for me.”
“Well, I’ll have to track him doon and knock him in the head.”
Dougal chuckled. “So yer brothers—are they named after Isaac Newton and . . .”
“Albert Einstein, yes.” She put the framed photo back on the dresser. “Leah is just a nickname. My parents named me after Galileo, so my name is actually Galileah.”
He flinched.
“I know. It’s weird.”
“Ga-li-leah?” he asked slowly.
“Yes.” She wondered why he looked so shocked. “You don’t like it?”
“I-I dinna realize how . . .”
“What?”
“Ka-li-lei,” he whispered as he wandered back to the bed and sat on the edge. Staring at the floor, he shrugged his right shoulder.
“Is something wrong?” She approached him.
“Nay, it all seems verra . . . right.” He rolled his shoulder again. “Sometimes my tattoo itches and burns.”
“Is it infected?” She reached out to unbutton his shirt. “Let me see.”
He frowned but didn’t stop her. “Can ye accept me as I am? I’m far from perfect.”
“You mean the vampire thing?” She finished unbuttoning his shirt. “I don’t understand it, but I’m okay with it.” She skimmed a hand over his tattoo. It didn’t look infected.
“I left home when I was fourteen, too.”
“You went to college? Or a boarding school?”
“Nay.” His chest expanded as he took a deep breath. “I was kidnapped. Taken aboard a British merchant ship as forced labor.”
“Oh, my gosh!” She sat on the bed beside him. “Are you kidding me? That’s terrible!”
“I tried to escape. The first time, because I was young and ignorant, they gave me only ten lashes. But the second time, they gave me twenty-five.” He took off his shirt and tossed it on the floor. “Ye should know what ye’re getting with me.”
She gasped when he twisted to the side. His back was crisscrossed with welts. “Oh, my God. Dougal.” The poor man had carried these scars for almost three centuries.
Tears burned her eyes as she traced a scar with her fingertip. “This was so cruel.” A fourteen-year-old boy, taken from his family and treated like this. “How did you survive?”
“There was a cook on board, an old Irishman, who took pity on me. He told me the best way to survive was to be valued by the crew. He did that by cooking for them and entertaining them with his bagpipes. First he taught me how to play the tin whistle. When I caught on quickly, he taught me to play the pipes.”
“The Uilleann pipes?” She smoothed her fingers over each scar.
“Aye. After a few years, I had adjusted to my new life, but one time, when we were leaving India, we were attacked by some Indonesian pirates. I was captured and taken to Shanghai, where I was sold.”
She flinched. “Sold?”
“Aye. A few years later, after I regained my freedom, I took on the dragon as a symbol of power and to hide my mark of shame.” He turned toward her to show her his right shoulder. “This is where I was branded when I was seventeen. As a slave.”
Wincing, she touched the raised skin. Whoever had done the tattoo had made the welts look like scales on the dragon. “I’m so sorry.”
“Eventually I made it back to Scotland, but my family had died.”
“And then you died at the Battle of Culloden,” she finished, her eyes welling with tears. “Oh, Dougal.” She placed her hands on his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
“Doona fash. ’Twas long ago.” He took her hands in his own. “I only told you about the scars ’cause I dinna want you to be alarmed or to think I was a criminal.”
“How could I think poorly of you?” A tear ran down her face.
“Och.” He swept it aside with his thumb. “I shouldna have told you. The last thing I want is yer pity.”
“What do you want?”
“Ye doona know?” He gave her an exasperated look. “Lass, I’ve taken everything off but my kilt. And I can be rid of it in about three seconds.”
She smiled, even though her face was growing hot. “You want me to desire you?”
“Aye.”
Her skin tingled, and she wondered how quickly she could make his eyes turn red. With her fingertips, she traced the dragon where it curled around his chest. “Should I feel uncontrollable lust for you?”
“Aye.”
His eyes were still green. She rubbed his nipple. “Should I have wild and crazy sex with you?”
“Aye. Please.”
Still no change in his eyes. She smoothed her hand up to his face. “Should I confess to being madly in love with you?”
His eyes glowed red.
Bingo
. Another tear rolled down her face. “Were ye waiting to hear the word love?”
“Aye.” He cradled her face with his hands. “I’ve been praying ye could love me. For I love you with all my heart and soul.”
“Oh, Dougal.” More tears escaped, and he wiped them away.
“Leah.” He kissed her gently, then sat back and grasped the lapels of her lab coat. “May I?”
“Yes.” In two seconds, her lab coat was on the floor.
He kissed her again, then his fingers trailed down the front of her T-shirt, lingering over her breasts, then moving down to grab the hem. “May I?”
She smiled. “Yes.” She lifted her arms as he whisked the T-shirt over her head, then tossed it on the floor.
Again he kissed her and smoothed his hands down to her bra. Under the thin silk, her nipples pebbled.
“Look at that,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb over the hardened tip.
She sucked in shuddering breath. Moisture pooled between her legs.
His hands moved to the bra clasp on her back. “May I?”
“God, yes! Please!”
He unhooked her bra and flung it across the room. “Och, so lovely.” He cupped her breasts, stroking the nipples with his thumbs. His eyes glowed a brighter red.
She squeezed her thighs together. “I can’t take it anymore.” She unfastened her jeans and pulled down the zipper.
“I was going to do that.”
“You’re too slow!” She wiggled, pushing the jeans over her hips.
“Ye’re complaining already? We’ve barely gotten started.” He stood and grasped the hem of her jeans. With a hard tug, he pulled them off so fast that she fell onto her back. “Ye realize now that ye’ve insulted my manhood.”
She rose up onto her elbows. “I haven’t even seen your manhood. ’Cause you’re too slow!”
His mouth twitching, he grasped her ankles and lifted them up to his face. “As the injured party, I have the right to demand compensation.” He nipped at her big toe.
More moisture seeped from her core. “What would you like?”
“To do as I please.” He tickled her instep with his tongue, and her leg jerked in response.
“You wish.”
“I do wish.” He smoothed his hands down her legs to her hips, where he grabbed her underwear. In a few seconds he had them tossed aside, and he grasped her ankles again.
Her heart raced, and her breathing grew erratic.
Slowly he spread her legs and looked at her.
She shuddered.
“Och, lass. Ye’ve been shorn like a sheep.” He rested her ankles on his shoulders while he touched her smooth waxed skin, then stroked the narrow strip of hair.
“Dougal.” She pressed her heels into his shoulders, lifting her hips. “Please. Hurry.”
“If ye’re going to keep complaining, I’ll have to make you scream.”
She hissed in a breath when his fingers slid between her folds. “I—I’m complaining.”
“Och, ye’re so slippery and wet. I can see it. And smell it. ’Tis like rich, sweet honey.”
“I’m complaining!”
“Are ye now?” He pinched her clitoris, and her heart stuttered. “Did ye want to scream, lass?”
“Yes,” she squeaked.
He kneeled beside the bed and pulled her core to his face.
She squirmed under the onslaught of his mouth and tongue. He tickled, sipped, and nibbled till she was panting for air and whimpering. It was too much, too glorious, too exquisite.
A keening cry escaped when he latched onto her clitoris and suckled hard. Tension coiled, then shattered with a climax that made her scream.
With her eyes shut, she drifted in a sensual sea of aftershocks, her body sated and throbbing, and her heart pounding. As her breathing returned to normal, she opened her eyes and found him standing naked by the side of the bed.
“Oh my gosh,” she breathed. He was huge. Totally erect and magnificent. She scooted back. “Holy crapoly.”
He frowned. “Are ye complaining again?”
A smile tugged at her mouth. “Yes. Definitely. You’re way too big.”
“Am I?” He climbed onto the bed on all fours.
“Yes. And much too gorgeous.”
He pushed her onto her back and moved between her legs. “Then I’ll have to demand compensation.”
Thank God. “I never knew you could be so demanding. That was another complaint, you know.”
His mouth twitched. “All I want, lass, is to give you all the pleasure ye can bear.”
“I can take it.” She reached down to stroke his erection. “How much can you bear?”
He sucked in a breath. “No’ much. I’m about to explode.” He moved her hand to his chest. “Ye’ll have to molest me later.”
“You wish.”
“I do wish.” He fitted himself at the entrance to her core. “Are ye ready?”
“Yes.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
“Leah.” He eased inside a few inches, and his eyes glowed a deep red. “I’ll never lose you again.”
Again? She started to question him, but gasped when he plunged inside. He was so big, she was grateful when he stayed still for a moment so she could adjust.
“Are ye all right?” he whispered, his breath feathering her ear.
“Yes.” She smoothed her hands over his back, feeling the welts that crisscrossed his skin.
“I love you.” He kissed a path down her neck.
“I love you, too.”
“Leah.” He nuzzled her breasts, then drew a nipple into his mouth to suckle.
With a moan she dug her heels into his back and rocked against him.
He responded, withdrawing almost completely before plunging back in.
“Dougal.” She gripped him tighter.
He kissed her while he withdrew once again at an agonizingly slow pace.
“Oh, God, faster. Please.”
“Are ye complaining?” He kissed her brow. “Shall I make ye scream?”
“Yes!” She gasped when he plunged inside, then continued to thrust at a faster and faster pace. Deeper and deeper.
Her climax hit suddenly with a force that stole her breath and left her dazed, with stars spinning around her head. With a groan, he pumped into her, then collapsed, half sprawled, on top of her.
“Holy crapoly,” she whispered. She’d never known sex could be this good. But then, she’d never been in love like this before.
A kernel of fear lodged in her heart. The more she loved, the more vulnerable she was. The more her heart would break if anything—she pushed those thoughts away. She was always thinking too fast and getting ahead of herself.
She tightened her grip around Dougal’s neck. He loved her. She loved him. And they were perfect for each other. That was all she needed to think. This was a time to feel. And she had never felt so loved and cherished.
He eased himself off her and gathered her in his arms. “Are ye all right?”
“Mmm.” She smoothed a hand over his choco-abs and looked at his face. His eyes were glittering green, and his hair was wild about his shoulders. “That was the best.”
“The best is yet to come.” He lifted his head to kiss her. “Do ye have any food here?”
“Some chips. Frozen pizza.” She propped herself on an elbow to look at him. “Why do you ask? You don’t eat real food.”
“I have a bottle in my sporran.” He brushed her hair back from her brow. “I was worried about you keeping yer strength up. I’ll be ready to go again in a few minutes.”
“Really?”
“Aye. I’ve waited almost three hundred years for you. Ye think once is going to be enough?”
She smiled. Forever would be long enough.
“Beside, ye’re with a Vamp now.” He fondled her breast. “And we can go all night long.”
“Hmm.” She slid her hand down to his groin. “As a scientist, I may have to put your theo
ry to the test.”
He hissed in a breath as she stroked him. “I willna let you down.” He hardened in her hand.
“Wow. You passed.”
His eyes turned red. “I’m just barely getting started.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Dougal grew increasingly frustrated over the next few nights. With all the busy preparations going on and lack of privacy at the townhouse, he couldn’t find another opportunity to be alone with Leah.
One night had not been enough. He couldn’t see her on the monitor without longing to touch her. He couldn’t sit with her in the kitchen without hungering for her.
After a long night of lovemaking, he knew every inch of her body. How she felt and tasted. The softness of her breasts tipped with hardened nipples and the sweet taste of her core when its folds grew swollen and slick for want of him.
He knew how to make her moan and incite her to scream. He knew how to drive her over the edge, and he’d watched all the expressions that flitted over her beautiful face as she journeyed from pleasant arousal to a frantic, desperate climax. But even knowing all that, it still wasn’t enough. He needed more.
Three more nights had passed, and he was sitting with her in the kitchen while she ate a grilled chicken salad he’d teleported in from the Romatech cafeteria.
“We’ve produced enough serum to treat fifty soldiers,” she said as she cut a chicken strip in two. “I just wish we’d been able to test it better.”
“Ye’ll get the chance soon enough.”
“I’d like to try it on two or three soldiers first to see how well it works. Then we can make any necessary adjustments before tackling a larger group.” With a sigh, she set down her plastic knife. “The chicken is a little tough tonight.”
He leaned closer and whispered, “Are ye complaining?”
She glanced up, her cheeks turning pink. “I wish. You have an excellent way of handling complaints.”
He squeezed her leg under the table. “My main concern right now is keeping you safe on this mission. It worries me that I canna stay with you all the time.” The plan had her working on the small Japanese island with Abby and Laszlo, while he and J.L. went to China to snatch a few of Master Han’s soldiers.
“We should be fine.” She patted his hand, then picked up her fork to continue eating. “Gregori, Angus, and the shifters will be staying with us.”
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