A familiar scent clung to the intruder, robbing Lavinia of her breath. Her legs pumped, flying over the sandy dunes as she ran toward Adrian.
Don’t come close, her mate ordered, kicking his opponent.
Lavinia ignored him. Her eyes locked on the man’s. A choked gasp lodged in her throat, and she recoiled at the sight of traits that were too similar to her father’s to be a coincidence.
Run! Adrian landed two uppercuts before his enemy struck back.
“You! Half-breed!” the man shouted, pinning Lavinia with a hard stare.
For a moment, Lavinia stood, transfixed, staring at Joshua Rainier. Her grandfather. The monster who had ruined her family’s life and ordered Carolina’s murder, as well as that of many other innocents. He looked like an older, more rugged version of her father, but where her father exuded kindness, Rainier emanated an evil stench that made her gag.
“Come with me, and I’ll let this bloodsucker live,” Rainier said, a cruel sneer curving his lips as he studied Lavinia with his glassy eyes.
Before she could even think of a reply, Adrian shoved the werewolf to the ground and pummeled his opponent’s face and torso with his fists. A vicious snarl escaped Rainier’s mouth as he shifted, unsettling Adrian.
Acting on pure instinct, Lavinia released her wolf.
41
No! Adrian screamed in Lavinia’s mind, hoping she would finally heed his counsel.
Lavinia’s small wolf sent him her thoughts, enveloping his mind and heart with unwavering love, letting him know that she would die for him if necessary. Before he could do anything to stop her, she launched herself at the majestic wolf, her fur shining under the bright sun.
The she-wolf attacked, her fangs aiming at her opponent’s jugular. Her speed gave her the advantage of surprise at first, but the alpha wolf soon regained the upper hand. Rainier’s wolf turned at the last moment, his large muzzle closing around the she-wolf’s neck. Like a big dog playing with a chew toy, he shook his head back and forth.
Fear and rage drove Adrian forward, his heart galloping madly as his eyes zeroed in on the vein throbbing at the side of the alpha wolf’s neck. His unsheathed fangs lengthened further in his mouth, cutting his tongue. Bloodlust took possession of his senses, governing his actions.
The alpha wolf’s eyes snapped wide, but it was too late. Adrian had already bitten the beast, his fangs cutting through hide, flesh, and sinew. The wolf’s blood sprayed all over Adrian, marring the golden-white sand with dark-red splatters. Driven by a savage thirst, Adrian gorged on his enemy’s life essence. His fangs burrowed deeper until his face was buried inside the wolf’s neck.
Rainier’s heartbeats slowed to a faint pulse. Adrian’s fury didn’t abate. While sucking the wolf dry, he slashed through the animal’s thick skin with his nails. The satisfying sound of breaking bones reached Adrian’s ears before his fingers found the soft, wet organ pulsing in the wolf’s chest. Adrian’s hand closed around Rainier’s heart.
One moment, the frail organ beat against Adrian’s hold. The next, his hand squashed it, silencing its owner forever.
A strong emotion entered his mind as Lavinia’s wolf called through their link.
Adrian blinked. Slowly removing his hand from the wolf, he stepped back as the alpha shifted into his dead human form. Adrian spun toward Lavinia. As if in the midst of a violent change, she wavered in between forms—first a wolf, then a human, and back and forth, bleeding profusely from her throat.
I’m here. Everything’s going to be fine, my little wolf, he said to her in his mind, bending over her and cradling her shifting body in his arms. Her shifting throes made it difficult for him to hold onto her, but he didn’t let her go. He caressed her gently, feeling her smooth skin ripple and sprout fur as she tried and failed to remain in wolf form to heal faster.
“I’m here,” he repeated out loud, covering her mouth with his lips. He cut his tongue and let his blood drip into her. He brushed her throat to coax her to swallow and only stopped feeding her his blood when her shaking subdued.
Finally stable, Lavinia relaxed in his embrace, her body settling in the human form. Her jagged wound closed before his eyes soon after.
“Adrian—” Her eyes opened, and she gave him an adoring look that melted his heart.
“It’s over,” he said.
Her gaze went to the dead werewolf.
“He won’t hurt you ever again.” Adrian kissed her softly.
“The world is a better place without him,” she whispered.
He could sense the pain lacing her words and held her closer.
“It’s finally over—” She shook her head, trembling.
“It is. And with his lieutenant dead, the Caliban Wolf Clan is officially no more.” He kissed the crown of her head.
Lavinia moved in his arms. “Dead?”
“When I went to the house to fix your breakfast, Mark called—he had been calling for a while, actually, but with us being otherwise engaged and the bad reception, I didn’t notice earlier. He told me they had discovered Berlizzi had been communicating with Rainier all along, using their pack link to give up our location. In the meantime, a Caliban squad burst into the Directive’s headquarters to rescue Berlizzi and, in the fight that followed, he and the rest of his gang were killed.”
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Lavinia said, snuggling closer to him.
“Indeed.” Adrian’s hands kneaded her cold skin that immediately warmed.
Adrian, she whispered in his mind, her longing loud and clear as if she had shouted her request.
“I’d like nothing better than to whisk you to our bedroom, but Mark is arriving,” he said, pointing his gaze at the horizon.
A small dot hovered in the sky, getting larger as he stared at it.
“I’ll get rid of him in record time. I promise.” He smiled at her. “And I’ll ask for another day in paradise. We’ve earned it.”
Lavinia pressed her hand against his head and pulled him down to her for an earth-shaking kiss that lasted until the helicopter landed on the beach.
Epilogue
The next day, Adrian and Lavinia returned from their hearing at the Directive’s headquarters famished and looking forward to holing up in their bedroom for several hours, or better yet, days. If Adrian had it his way, the rest of the world would forget they even existed.
“There’s a culinary feast waiting for you,” Adrian said when Lavinia commented that she could eat a whole cow.
He had ordered a smorgasbord he intended for her to eat in bed while he ate her. He also couldn’t wait to introduce Lavinia to his extensive collection of silk ropes, but his phone rang the moment they stepped inside the house.
Automatically, his finger went to turn off the cell phone, but Lavinia stopped him.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Just Lando. I can talk to him later.” He leaned to kiss her.
Lavinia put a finger against his mouth. “It might be important.”
“Whatever it is, it can wait,” he said, stubbornly pressing his lips against her finger.
“Do you remember what happened the last time we didn’t answer our cell phones?” she said, even more stubborn than him.
He groaned. “Okay, okay.” In the meantime, the call had gone to voice mail. “See? It wasn’t important.”
“Call him back so we can go upstairs,” she insisted.
Adrian shook his head in frustration. “Only because I want this to be over with.”
Lando answered on the first ring. “I need to tell you something—”
“I’m busy at the moment,” Adrian answered, and Lavinia rolled her eyes. He pinched her nipple through her sweater, making her gasp and giggle at the same time.
“It’s very important,” Lando insisted. “You’ll want to know what I found.”
“We’ll come visit you in a few days,” Adrian said, then shook his head. “Let’s make it a week, then days. Fifteen days top.”
“It’s about your bloo
dmate,” Lando said.
That stopped Adrian’s heart. “What about her?”
“This is not a conversation to have on the phone.” Lando’s voice sounded cheerful, which confused Adrian.
His mind had already concocted several scenarios, none of which would make him laugh. “Come over now.” He hung up, wondering what his friend could’ve possibly found that was so important, it couldn’t wait.
Lando took less than half an hour to arrive, which in Rome during commuting time was as fast as the speed of light. Yet, to Adrian, it seemed like a year. He yanked the door open as soon as he heard footsteps stopping outside.
“What is it?” Adrian demanded without preliminary greetings.
“It’s nice to see you, too,” Lando said with a big smile, pointing at the foyer. “Are you going to let me in?” he asked a moment later.
Adrian stepped aside. “Please, come in,” he managed to utter under his breath.
Lavinia stood at the arched entrance to the sitting room. “Hi,” she said, offering her hand to Lando.
“You must be Lavinia,” Lando said in his smooth tone, which immediately annoyed Adrian, making him wish he had not opened the door. “I’m Count Lando Carenzi, but please it’s just Lando to you, my dear.”
“You said it was urgent,” Adrian reminded him, moving to Lavinia’s side and possessively pulling her to him. His fangs pressed against his gums.
Lando raised an eyebrow and gave Adrian an amused glance before turning his attention to Lavinia once again. “My dear Lavinia, it’s an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you,” she said, gently squeezing Adrian’s hand, which he’d pressed against her hip.
Don’t be a caveman, she thought, projecting her smile in his mind.
I can’t help it, he replied.
“So?” Adrian said, staring at Lando.
“Can we sit?” Lando asked, his gaze cutting to the settees behind Lavinia.
“By all means.” Adrian opened his arm in a gesture of welcome. He was one word away from losing his patience.
Lando waited for Lavinia to lower herself onto the silk divan before taking the opposite chair.
Adrian sat by Lavinia. “What did you find?” he asked in a stern tone.
No barking, Lavinia thought.
I'm a study in civility. Adrian wound his arm around her back.
Lando’s eyes lit as he answered, “The most beautiful news.”
Adrian waved his hand, motioning for his friend to go on.
“I was rereading a few of the notes in the Satan Archives—”
Satan Archives? Lavinia asked via the mental link.
I’ll explain later. Adrian patted her shoulder.
“And there’s that passage I’ve told you about that I’ve been struggling to decipher for some time.” Lando continued. “It mentioned the words progeny and bloodmate. Remember?” he asked Adrian before turning to Lavinia. “But the calligraphy is corrupted, and an entire sentence is missing.” He paused for a moment. At the sight of the hard glint in Adrian’s eyes, he said, “The night of the gala, I met with the librarian and mentioned that note to him, asking if he knew anything about bloodmates’ progeny…”
“And?” Adrian asked when his blood brother looked first at him, then at Lavinia, without adding a word.
“It turns out that the librarian has been researching about the Vampire’s Thirst for years and, unbeknownst to me, he knows a great deal about the topic.” Lando’s smile grew large as he paused one more time.
Before Adrian threatened him with bodily harm, Lando resumed talking. “He showed me several passages from texts as ancient as the Satan Archives, and they all agree on one point: bloodmates can procreate.” Wearing a satisfied grin, Lando tilted his head and crossed his arms over his chest.
Bloodmates can procreate, Adrian repeated the words in his mind.
Adrian… did I understand correctly? From the look of her, Lavinia’s jaw almost dropped.
“Is it true?” Adrian asked Lando. His heart had stopped beating, and he could hardly breathe.
“Only one way to find out, my friend,” Lando answered with a joyous laugh. He stood and bowed to Lavinia. “I’ll leave you two to ponder the news.” Reaching into his jacket pocket, he retrieved a business card. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of questions when the shock of the news wears out. You know where to find me. If you want to talk with the librarian, here is his card.”
Lando saw himself out without Adrian being the wiser. He only had eyes for Lavinia, who smiled at him with the most beautiful expression on her face.
“We could have a baby Adrian, you and I,” she whispered, her eyes filling with moisture.
“Or a baby Lavinia,” he said, wiping her joyful tears with his thumb.
“A baby—” She shook her head. “Can you believe it?”
Adrian laughed. “Not in a million years.”
Lavinia’s expression darkened all of a sudden. “But what kind of a baby will it be? I am a half-breed and you a vampire—”
“As Lando said, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” Adrian took her in his arms and kissed her soundly. “I’d say to give it a good try and see what happens.”
“You are a wise man—” Lavinia chuckled.
“I intend to be thorough in our efforts. We’ll start here and make love on every surface in this house, just to be sure.” His fingers deftly unbuttoned her blouse, uncovering a purple lace bra with the crisscross pattern he so liked.
“I agree with your plan wholeheartedly.” Lavinia pushed against his touch, her nipples hardening against the lace.
True to his word, Adrian gave her a slow tour of the house that ended in the bedroom several hours later, where they finally fed each other in the most pleasurable way, while kissing and nibbling.
“I love you, my little, feisty wolf,” Adrian whispered against the swell of her breasts after taking his fill.
“I love you, my big, gentle vampire.”
Lavinia’s throaty moan was all he needed to ignite his passion again.
“Forever mine,” he said, licking the small pricks on her soft flesh. “As I am forever yours.”
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Monica
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Acknowledgments
As usual, I must thank my kids and my dad for just being the wonderful people they are.
Ava K. Michaels, for being an incredibly supportive author and friend, and for letting me be a part of her A Vampire’s Thirst world.
Katie, Kory, and Angela from my critique group, for their keen eyes in catching typos and their insightful comments. Valentine Lobo's story is way better thanks to you, magnificent ladies.
Natalie for being a wonderful editor.
All my friends, who are always very supportive and don't complain when I disappear for days.
Roberto, because he is the true inspiration behind my heroes.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Monica La Porta landed in Seattle several years ago, where she lives with her family. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to concoct new universes. When Monica isn’t writing or reading, she can be found painting on her digital tablet or sculpting. Whenever the sun shines, she comes out of her cave and treats her beloved beagle, Nero, to long walks into the Washington wild.
You can find Monica La Porta here:
Blog: http://www.monicalaporta.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicalaportaauthor/
Goodreads: http
s://www.goodreads.com/MonicaLaPorta
Twitter: https://twitter.com/momilp
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