Pleased with the idea, Mara leaned over the edge of the crib and kissed her son’s cheek. “I’ll never leave you,” she murmured. “I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt you again, I promise.”
Warmth filled her heart as her son smiled in his sleep, almost as if he understood what his mother had said.
“Sweet little boy,” Mara whispered. “Do you know how much I love you?”
“I’m sure he does.”
Mara glanced over her shoulder as Logan entered the room.
He came to stand beside her, his expression guarded. “So, you’ve made your decision.”
“Yes.” She kissed Derek’s cheek, then moved away from the crib. “You were right. He belongs here, with me.”
“What about me?” Logan asked. “Where do I belong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mara, don’t play games with me. You know how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt. There’s nothing to stop us from being together now, if that’s what you want.”
“Logan.” Taking his hand in hers, Mara lifted it to her lips and kissed his palm. “I love you, Logan. I don’t think I ever stopped. I’m not sure what I’ve been running away from all these years. But I know what I want now. And it’s you, by my side, forever.”
“Mara!”
He reached for her, but she held up her hand, keeping him at bay. “It’s not that easy. I know how you feel about having a baby in the house, how difficult it is for you. And I’ve sensed your jealousy.”
“I won’t deny it. As idiotic and petty as it sounds, I’ve been jealous of the boy. I told you that before. I did some research, and it’s quite common for men to be jealous of a new baby. But Derek is your son, and I’ll love him for that reason alone. As for his being here”—he shrugged—“it’s getting easier having him around. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Drawing her into his arms, he held her close, content, for the moment, just to hold her and then, tilting her head back, he claimed her lips with his in a kiss that held nothing back. Mara, Queen of the Vampires, was his, for now and forever.
“Mara?”
Breathless from the intensity of his kiss, she met his gaze. “More.”
He brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “Derek should have a father,” he said. “I always wanted it to be me, so, will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Is tomorrow night too soon?”
She frowned. Was he serious?
Logan blew out a sigh. “I guess we should wait a while.”
“Perhaps.” Had she still been human, people would have expected her to mourn before contemplating marriage. But she wasn’t human anymore. Still, it was customary to have a period of mourning for the dead. Jewish people observed shivah, which lasted seven days. Parents mourned the death of a child for a year. In old England, a widow was expected to dress in mourning for as long as four years. Black was the traditional color for mourning in most parts of the world, although queens in medieval Europe and Spain had worn white.
If she married so soon, there were those who would call her callous, unfeeling, but those who knew her would understand. It wasn’t indifference to Kyle’s death. She grieved for his loss, but nothing would bring him back. She had offered him a chance at a new life, and he had rejected it. “I don’t want to wait too long.”
“Just you and me and the priest, okay?”
“No one else?” she asked, thinking of the Cordova family.
“Just our son.”
Mara caressed his cheek, thinking that she had never loved Logan Blackwood more than she did at that moment. As for Vince and his family, she hoped they would understand.
Mara contacted Father Lanzoni later that night, and he agreed to come to her house in the Hollywood Hills the following week to perform the ceremony.
After hanging up the phone, Mara found herself again having second thoughts. Was she doing the right thing? She had just buried her first husband. Was she being disrespectful to Kyle’s memory? Maybe she should have told Logan they needed to wait a few months, she thought, and then shook her head. She was Nosferatu, no longer bound by the customs and mores of ordinary people. She had nothing to prove to anyone. Perhaps it was wrong of her to marry Logan so soon after Kyle’s demise, but it didn’t feel wrong. In fact, nothing had ever felt so right.
Chapter Forty-six
The next week passed quickly. With Logan’s help, Mara moved her belongings from the house in Porterville to the house in the Hollywood Hills. Before they left, they spent one night visiting Vince and Cara, another with Rane and Rafe and their wives. It felt good to be with them again, to know she was again their equal and not an outsider.
“We’re going to miss you,” Savanah said. “I’m going to miss you. Promise me you’ll keep in touch.”
“She’d better,” Rane said with mock severity.
“You know I will,” Mara promised. “And you’re always welcome to come for a visit. I’d like Derek and Abbey to be friends.”
“Of course,” Savanah said, smiling.
On the ride home, Mara couldn’t help feeling a little guilty for not telling the Cordova family about her upcoming marriage.
She slid a glance at Logan. They had agreed not to sleep together until after the wedding. Mara found it endearing that Logan wanted to wait. On one hand, it seemed a little silly; after all, they had made love many times before. But Logan had insisted this was different. They were starting a new life together, and he wanted to start it right.
The night of the wedding, Father Lanzoni arrived with the setting sun.
“So,” he said, taking Mara’s hand in his. “What I sensed the other night is true. You are one of us again.”
“Yes, thanks to Logan.”
“I sense no weakening in your powers,” the priest remarked, “but then, I suppose that was to be expected. You turned Logan, after all. His blood is yours. And so . . . no regrets?”
“No. This is who I am.”
The priest nodded. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, Logan went downstairs to get the baby.”
“The child is well after his ordeal?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve decided to raise him yourself?”
Mara nodded. “Since I’m not bound by the Dark Sleep, I can look after him day and night.”
“And Logan? How does he feel about having a child in the house?”
“He’s adjusting,” Mara said. She knew Logan had a weakness for infants, knew there were times when it was difficult for him to be around Derek, and yet he genuinely cared for her son. “He loves Derek because he’s mine, and because, well, who wouldn’t love him?” She made light of the question, but she knew about Logan’s past, knew how he felt about children.
Logan arrived with the baby just then. Father Lanzoni grinned at the sight of the tall rugged-looking vampire lovingly cradling a baby in his arms. It was a sight he didn’t see every day, a sight rarely seen in their world.
“Are we ready then?” the priest asked.
Logan took Mara’s hand in his. “Yes, Father.”
“It pleases me to be here,” Father Lanzoni said. “I can feel the love you have for one another, and for the child. There are those of us who have turned our backs on our humanity, those who prey on mortals like savage beasts. And then there are others, like the Cordova family, who have managed to rise above their instincts.
“Mara, I sense a change in you, a softening, a gentling, if you will, brought about perhaps by your recent experiences not only as a mortal, but as a mother. And so it gives me great pleasure to join the two of you in marriage.
“Mara, will you take Logan, here present, to be your lawfully wedded husband for as long as you both shall live?”
“I will.”
“Logan, will you take Mara, here present, to be your lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live?”
Logan gazed into Mara’s eyes as he murmured, “I will.”
&nb
sp; “Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife and child, bound together by your love for one another, and by the laws of the land, from this night forward.” The priest smiled at Logan. “You may kiss your bride.”
Logan wrapped his free arm around Mara’s waist and drew her close to his side. “I love you, wife, now and forever,” he murmured, his voice husky.
“And I love you,” Mara said, “now and forever.”
Logan smiled at her and then, careful not to crush the baby between them, he bestowed his first husbandly kiss on his bride while their son and an ancient priest looked on, smiling.
Epilogue
One week later
Lou McDonald sat with her feet propped on a corner of her desk. Weeks had passed and she’d had no word from Mara or her companion. The baby would be several months old by now and she was dying to know if it was a boy or a girl, if it was normal or vampire. Or perhaps some bizarre combination of both.
She had contacted everyone she could think of who might have a clue as to Mara’s whereabouts, but to no avail. Either her snitches didn’t know, or they just weren’t talking. Cindy wasn’t having any luck on her end, either.
Lou was about to close up shop and call it a day when her computer notified her she had a new e-mail. She didn’t recognize the screen name.
Dropping her feet to the floor, she opened the message.
McDonald, your fee has been credited to your bank. FYI, Bowden is dead. Ramsden and his wife are dead. Mara has regained her powers. Logan Blackwood
Lou read the message a second time. Scowling, she muttered, “The least he could have done was let me know if the baby was a boy or a girl.”
Two weeks later
Savanah Cordova sat on the sofa, her mother’s black book open on her lap as she brought the journal up to date, noting that Travis Jackson had been destroyed by hunter Louise McDonald. She added the names of Dr. Thomas Ramsden and his wife, Janis Leigh Ramsden, noting that the former had been destroyed by Mara, and the latter by her own husband.
Turning the page, she added the names of Ed Rogen and Sasha (no known last name), noting that both had been killed in Reno, Nevada, by Logan Blackwood.
And the battle raged on, she thought as she closed the book, and wondered what kind of world her daughter would inherit. Would Abbey be a hunter? It was in her blood, after all. And what of Derek? Had he inherited his mother’s vampire heritage?
Would Derek become Nosferatu when he reached puberty, the way Rane and Rafe had?
Would Derek and Abbey Marie be friends?
Or enemies.
Only time would tell.
Six weeks later
Mara sat in the nursery, quietly rocking her son. In the last few weeks, Derek had regained the weight he had lost while in Ramsden’s custody. His cheeks were rosy with good health. His appetite was excellent. He slept through the night, and rarely cried.
And every now and then, after the sun had set, his deep blue eyes shone with a faint red glow, proving that he was, indeed, his mother’s son.
Dear Readers,
I’m excited and relieved that Mara’s story, Night’s Mistress, is finally a reality. She’s an amazing character. As many of you know, she started out as a minor player in Night’s Kiss. I never had any plans for her to be in the subsequent Children of the Night books. But there was something about her that captivated me . . . and my readers, also.
I wrote the first draft of her story quite some time ago and even announced in the back of Night’s Pleasure that her book would be coming soon. But then . . . it didn’t. I began to have doubts about the story, which is unusual for me. And I began to get letters—lots of letters—asking where her story was and wanting to know more about this ancient vampire. With so many people writing to tell me how much they liked her and how eager they were for her story, I began to wonder if anything I wrote would live up to my readers’ expectations. Not a good place for a writer to be!
But, a promise is a promise, so I went through the manuscript again. And again. And finally, at long last, I’m happy with Mara’s journey. I hope my readers will be, too.
I almost forgot. Congratulations to Linda Lattimer, Ingeborg Deyaert, and Farrah Pettis for winning my Name the Hero contest.
Best,
Amanda
www.amandaashley.net
[email protected]
Read all of Amanda Ashley’s
Children of the Night series,
available now from your
local bookseller and online.
It all begins with
NIGHT’S KISS
HE HAS FOUND HIS SOUL’S DESIRE . . .
The Dark Gift has brought Roshan DeLongpre a lifetime of bitter loneliness—until, by chance, he comes across a picture of Brenna Flanagan. There is something hauntingly familiar in Brenna’s fiery red hair and sensual body, something that compels him to travel into the past, save the beautiful witch from the stake, and bring her safely to his own time. Now, in the modern world, Brenna’s seductive innocence and sense of wonder are utterly bewitching the once-weary vampire, blinding him to a growing danger. For there is one whose dark magick is strong . . . one who knows who they both are and won’t stop till their powers are his . . . and they are nothing more than shadows through time . . .
Eternal passion continues . . .
Enter the lush, sensual world of
bestselling author Amanda Ashley . . . a place
where vampires indulge their appetites,
but find they can fall prey to love and desire.
NIGHT’S TOUCH
ONE KISS CAN SEAL YOUR FATE . . .
Cara DeLongpre wandered into the mysterious Nocturne club looking for a fleeting diversion from her sheltered life. Instead she found a dark, seductive stranger whose touch entices her beyond the safety she’s always known and into a heady carnal bliss . . .
A year ago, Vincent Cordova believed that vampires existed only in bad movies and bogeyman stories. That was before a chance encounter left him with unimaginable powers, a hellish thirst, and an aching loneliness he’s sure will never end . . . until the night he meets Cara DeLongpre. Cara’s beauty and bewitching innocence call to his mind, his heart . . . his blood. For Vincent senses the Dark Gift shared by Cara’s parents, and the lurking threat from an ancient and powerful foe. And he knows that the only thing more dangerous than the enemy waiting to seek its vengeance is the secret carried by those Cara trusts the most . . .
Fall prey to the ultimate seduction . . .
NIGHT’S MASTER
PASSION HAS A DARKER SIDE . . .
Kathy McKenna was sure that the little Midwestern town of Oak Hollow would be isolated enough for safety, but the moment the black-clad stranger walked into her bookstore, she knew she was wrong. Raphael Cordova exudes smoldering power, and his sensual touch draws Kathy into a world of limitless pleasure and unimaginable dangers.
Oak Hollow was supposed to be neutral territory for supernatural beings. Instead it has become home to an evil force determined to destroy them—and kill any mortal who gets in the way. As leader of the North American vampires, Raphael has always put duty first, but then, no woman ever enthralled him the way Kathy does. And as the enemy’s terrifying plan is revealed, Raphael’s desire could be a fatal distraction for all of his kind, and for the woman he has sworn to love forever . . .
NIGHT’S PLEASURE
DESIRE CASTS A DARK SPELL . . .
Savanah Gentry’s life was so much simpler when she was a reporter for the local newspaper. That was before her father’s sudden death drew her into a mysterious new world she was just beginning to understand. A vampire hunter by birth, Savanah has been entrusted with a legacy that puts everyone she cares for in danger—including the seductive, sensual vampire who unleashes her most primal desires . . .
Rane Cordova has always been alone, half hating himself for his Dark Gift even as he relishes its extraordinary power. But one look at Savanah fills him wi
th the need to take everything she has to give and carry her to heights of unimagined ecstasy. And though he never intended their relationship to go this far, now Savanah is in more danger than she knows—and facing a relentless enemy determined to eliminate Rane and all his kind . . .
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2013 by Madeline Baker
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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ISBN: 978-1-4201-3041-6
eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3042-3
eISBN-10: 1-4201-3042-0
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