Once they were out of the shower and dry, and enveloped in thick terry-cloth robes, he dressed her wounds and they sat on the couch.
“You should—”
“I need to—”
Ricardo motioned for her to continue. “I need to call Mami and let her know I’m fine.”
He handed Sara the phone and sat patiently, uncertain of just where he stood with her. His lies and his lifestyle had nearly gotten her killed, and he wasn’t sure how she would handle that.
Then again, if there was any woman who could handle it, it would be Sara, he thought as he recollected her strength and courage as she had come to his assistance in the tunnel.
“Sí, Mami, I’m fine. Just a minor problem with the subway that had me running late. I’m off now and with Ricardo.”
Sara paused and he could hear her mother on the line, her singsong tones tinged with relief. A second later, Sara said, “Don’t expect me tonight. I’ll be back in the morning.”
He didn’t want to read too much into that statement. It could be she was just too tired to make it home, or thought her mother would freak if she saw the bandages on her wrists and the shiner on her face. Her statement didn’t mean that she—
“I want to stay with you tonight.” The words tumbled from her lips and her eyes never left his face. She watched the play of emotions there. Surprise. Confusion. Delight.
“Just tonight?” he asked, with a teasing arch of his brow.
“For starters.” She leaned into his side and laid her hand on his chest. “How are you?”
“Drained,” he immediately confessed, but then quickly added, “You lied to your mami just now.”
“Sometimes you lie to protect someone you love,” she acknowledged, relieving some of the worry from his heart.
“Does that mean you’ll forgive me for not telling you sooner about what I am? What I can do?”
Sara stroked his cheek. She had come so close to losing him, and yet being with him would never be easy. His was a life filled with lies and vampires, and who knew what else was to come in the future? Despite that, he was special enough to take the risk.
“You can promise me that you’ll never lie to me again,” she replied.
“I can promise that, only…My life is a complicated one and I’ll never be rich. Or work regular hours. Or—”
She slipped her hand over his mouth to silence him. “I want only one thing from you.”
“And that is?” he mumbled against the palm of her hand.
“That you love me.”
“Do you think we could start right now?”
She smiled, leaned close and whispered against his lips, “Definitely.”
He tunneled his hands into her hair, held her close for his kiss. When their lips met, she opened her mouth against his, opened her heart, and within her she felt him. His power and his love, stronger than ever before.
“Ricardo?” she questioned as she pulled away.
“I’ve had to hold back in the past. To control everything I was feeling. Everything I wanted to show you,” he said.
“Then show me now, amorcito.”
He did, raising his hands to her shoulders and slipping the robe off to reveal her naked body. Gently he ran his palm down her flesh, and everywhere he touched, her skin tingled and flared to life. As he cupped her breasts, her nipples tightened and he bent his head to lick them.
Sara wanted more. She cupped his head to her and he encircled one tight peak with his mouth and sucked on it. Each tug of his lips pulled at the center of her and warmed her core until she couldn’t wait a moment longer to be filled by him.
She parted the robe he wore, glanced down at his erection and didn’t hesitate.
She climbed into his lap and then slowly sank down onto him. But she didn’t move. She didn’t have to, as with that possession a wondrous sensation grew within her. One that was more than physical. One that was almost beyond spiritual.
She gazed down at him, at the happiness on his face, and said to him again, “Show me, amor.”
Ricardo held her close, feeling a unity with her like none he ever had before. He reached up and stroked her face. “Are you ready?”
At her nod, he placed one hand over her heart, much as he had once before, only this time, he didn’t hold back. He closed his eyes and let her experience all that he felt for her. All that he wanted. All that he could give.
She gasped and her body arched, jolted by the force of everything that he had held back until that moment. But then something wondrous happened as she grabbed hold of his shoulders and gazed down at him. Into his head, into his body came her answering energy, full of passion and life. Full of love for him.
His body shook from the strength of it. The force of her caring wrapped around him as her arms encircled him, completing the fusion of their energies with the merging of their physical forms. As she shifted her hips on him, he bent and kissed her breasts, drove up into her center, and slowly the physical took control.
When their release came, it was together, the way it should be. Complete and without reservation. Rewarding like nothing else he had ever experienced.
After, they sank against each other and he smiled as he caressed her cheek. “Sara Martinez, I love you with all my heart and soul. You’re like no one I’ve ever met before.”
She turned her face and pressed a kiss into the palm of his hand. “Neither are you. I love you, Ricardo. I want you in my life.”
“Even with the Fang Gang and all its trappings?” he asked as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.
“Even with. Just don’t expect me to feed them, okay?”
He smiled broadly, bent his head until his lips barely brushed hers. “So it’s you and me, then. Together forever?”
“Forever,” she confirmed, and gave herself over to his kiss.
Devotion Calls Page 21
