Out of the Light, Into the Shadows

by Lori Foster

  Part of Jordan balked at what Nick had told her, how Ringo had taken justice into his own hands and killed Peter, but she had to wrap her mind around this new reality. It had been the best way to handle the situation so Peter couldn’t continue to murder when there was no possibility of traditional means of prosecution.

  “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Katie about this. She’s due back in a couple of days.”

  “Maybe she already understands that Peter was no longer the boy she knew as her brother. You said she avoided his company.”

  “That’s true.” Nick kissed her forehead. “But what about you? Us? Is there still an us, Jordan?”

  Now that all the secrets were gone, all the oddities explained, Jordan had no reservations. “There is if you want there to be,” she told him, brushing her lips across his, closing her eyes to savor the passion his kisses always sparked in her.

  “Oh, I want,” he said, looking down into her eyes. “Are you okay with being a vampire? I wanted you to have a choice, but I’m not sure that you understood totally what you were getting into.”

  Even as the whole concept of the undead threatened to overwhelm her, Jordan was nothing if not prosaic. “This sure as hell wasn’t in my plans, and I have more questions than hairs on my head, but it’s okay. Standing here naked in the bathroom being kissed by the man I love, or being buried? No contest, Nick. Don’t take on any guilt for this … and let go of the guilt over Peter. It wasn’t your fault, none of it was your fault.”

  He sighed, his fingers squeezing her upper arms. “Thank you. And we can do anything you want, you know. We have the world, and eternity, at our disposal. I just want to be with you, to enjoy ourselves.”

  Jordan sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Eternity with you sounds amazing. But let’s just start with tonight. Hold me, Nick. Love me.”

  “That will be the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.”

  There was something fabulous about knowing that she was not alone, that she had someone to share her time, her heart, her thoughts with. Someone who had seen murder himself, who understood what her life and her job were like. “Hey, are you calling me easy?”

  Nick laughed softly into her hair as he nuzzled her ear. “You said it, not me.”

  “I should refuse to have sex with you,” she said, even as she tilted her head back to give him better access to her neck.

  “Mmm-hmm,” he said, like he didn’t believe her for one second.

  Hell, she didn’t believe it herself, especially when his fingers teased her nipples.

  Then Nick suddenly pulled back. “I love you, Jordan.”

  “God, I love you, too.” Jordan stiffened as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “Can I say ‘God’ now that I’m a vampire?”

  Nick’s mouth turned up in a smile. “You can say whatever you want.”

  “Then I say take me to bed and bite me.”