“Well, come on then. No funny stuff. I’m too tired to fully appreciate it.”
I turned and began to trot up the stairs. My ears were tuned to the bottom of the stairwell as Marcus followed me. The click of the lock was loud. I waited for the sound of his first step on the hardwood before bolting.
Two steps into the upstairs kitchen he caught me. Strong arms wrapped around my waist and he spun me around in a circle. I yelped when he tossed me in the air and set me on the counter. My hands fell instinctively to his shoulders. We stood grinning like fools until he leaned in to kiss me gently.
What started as innocent joy grew hot despite my best intentions. Marcus broke the kiss like a diver coming up for air. I opened my eyes to take him in while I tried to reconnect my scrambled wits. My stomach growled again and we both started laughing.
“Sit right there and I’ll see what’s lurking in your refrigerator.”
“Oh, don’t do that. You spend entirely too much time when you decide to go all gourmet. I don’t
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want to starve to death before you finish. There’s microwave lasagna in the freezer. Five minutes and I’m fed. In fact, if you’re taking over the kitchen, I’m hitting the shower. The sooner I’m fed and clean, the sooner I can sleep.”
I didn’t hop off the counter, though. I watched as he opened the freezer, made a face and moved to the fridge. He finally glanced over the door and caught me looking.
“Go clean up and I’ll have something edible waiting when you’re done.”
There was a promise of more than food in his face that sent a warm flush through my entire body.
Taking the escape while I had it, I headed to the bathroom.
The shower was hot against my skin and stung the raw flesh on my wrist. Shifting hadn’t helped that, but then again, healing between forms was never a guarantee. I remembered every moment with Marcus in the car while I went through the motions of getting clean. When I turned off the shower, the only thing I could smell on my skin was the cherry-blossom scent of the soap.
Standing in my closet, I reached past my everyday clothes for the silk chemise hanging way in the back. The matching robe made me feel decadent. I pulled my hair into a braid and was ready to face the world—or rather, one very sexy vampire.
There was food on my table that had not been in my apartment when I’d gone to the shower.
Steaks hadn’t been on the menu since I’d started eating alone. Steamed vegetables and a salad completed the meal. It was a masterpiece.
“How?”
“Staff, dearest. There’s nothing to be done with what you call food so I made a call. You need red meat to help you recover from your poor handling last night. Eat, enjoy, so we can go to bed.”
“To sleep.”
I reminded him more to remind myself. The way he smiled back told me he knew it. He held out the chair for me and patted it invitingly. I took the offer for what it was and slid into the seat. The first bite was heaven and there was no way I was going to finish it all, but I gave it my best effort.
“There’s dessert in the refrigerator.”
“It’ll have to wait. You’re going to have to carry me to bed. I don’t think I can walk that far.”
I meant it as a jest, but he took me at my word. He picked me up from the chair and headed for the bedroom with long strides.
“The food. I’ve got to take care of the food.”
“I’ll do it. You go to bed and let me take care of you.” He hadn’t been idle while he’d been waiting for the food. The bed was turned down and the blinds were closed to cloak the room in shadows.
He lay me down on it gently and kissed my forehead.
“I’ll put the food away and join you, if the offer is still open?”
“I’m not sure I actually offered, Marcus. You sort of bullied your way in.”
“Do you want me to go?” His face was serious and there was something fragile between us. He would go if I asked him to.
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“No, don’t go. Come to bed when you’re ready, but no funny business. I was serious when I said that I didn’t have the energy for it.”
“Then you should have worn something else.”
His gaze was heated as it traveled over me. It made me glad I’d bought the set. I watched him go and sat up to take off the robe. Tossing it across the end of the bed, I tucked myself into the covers to wait.
I must have dozed because I started when Marcus came to bed.
“Shh,” he whispered against my ear. “I’m going to hold you. Sleep.”
“I need to set the alarm.” Was that my voice? It sounded so far away.
“I’ll make sure you’re up in time to get ready for your night.”
I took him at his word and allowed myself to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I woke to the most delicious sensations. Silk sliding over my skin. The hot press of a mouth nipping and teasing my belly. Callused hands gliding along my ribcage in slow, tantalizing strokes.
Marcus. No one else knew my body to this extent.
He pulled a gasp out of me as his hands cupped my breast beneath the silk. I thrashed under him and he began to use his body to advantage. The naked skin of his chest rubbed against the wet, sensitized trail along my belly.
My hands tangled in his hair as he nibbled on the underside of my breast. Nipping, suckling the flesh, but ignoring the hard peak that demanded his attention. I growled in frustration, but he laughed against my skin. He ignored me when I tried to pull his face toward the goal I had in mind, but he did start in the general direction I wanted him to go.
When he finally reached that peak, I was panting. As he suckled the tip into his mouth, I arched. It was as if my body was waiting on that final spark to ignite and when it did, the fire swept through me in a rush.
Marcus sensed it and all playfulness vanished from his manner. Gathering his knees under him, he scooted forward, parting my legs without distracting his attention away from his task. His hands came around my shoulders and he urged me to a sitting position, breaking free at last, leaving me wanting more.
His gaze locked with mine as he swept the silk chemise off and threw it away. Grabbing his face, I tugged him down for an open-mouthed kiss. I packed all the demand that I felt into it and he carried me back against the warm cotton sheets to cage me with his body. Breaking the kiss, he smiled at me and had the audacity to tease.
“I remember you as a more patient woman than this, Destiny. Have you changed so much?”
Instead of answering, I pulled his face back to mine and locked my legs around his waist to push my body against his. In answer, he lowered himself to rub against my wet center. The kisses grew wilder until he broke away panting.
“Marcus.” It came out a groan and he chuckled.
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“Never let it be said that I left my lady wanting.”
With the ease of long practice, he took me with one smooth movement. My body arched on its own, pressing every inch of exposed skin against his, and I sucked in the muscle in his shoulder to keep from shouting.
He grunted as my teeth closed over him and my bite upped the passion. Gone was the smooth lover and in his place was a man reclaiming his position. His hands and mouth were still gentle, but his loving was masterful. He knew how to stroke to build the passion into a bonfire.
I nipped and kissed along his shoulder as my hands memorized the lines of his back and buttocks.
When my body tightened, the climax just out of reach, I resorted to begging.
“Marcus, please, please, please!”
He changed the angle slightly and I incinerated. As my body jerked, I bit into his shoulder in earnest to muffle the scream. The taste of blood told me I had broken the skin and I relished it as ecstasy washed over me. He reacted to the pain by pistoning into me before freezing in that one suspended moment before he spilled in hot, heavy waves.
Marcus lowered himself against me, but kept his weight on his elbows. I kissed the bloody imprint of my teeth and pushed on his shoulder.
“Off.”
“Demanding wench.”
There was a carefree quality in his voice that I’d never heard before. He swooped down to kiss me softly before rolling to the side. Off didn’t mean that I was free of him. His arm snaked across me to pull me snuggly against his side. With a laugh, I rolled onto my side and let him spoon me in the afterglow.
“I don’t remember you being that enthusiastic.”
“Should I be insulted?”
“Of course not. It’s not a complaint, just an observation.”
Marcus sighed and kissed my shoulder. “For the first time, I don’t have to hold myself back.
Alexander cannot swoop in to take what I love away from me. I’m finally free. There are options open that I’ve never before considered.”
His voice held wonder and excitement.
“So the way you’ve lived your life is about to change?” It came out fragile. After years of being the one in charge of the boundaries of our relationship, I realized that Marcus’s ideals might have changed with the removal of his father’s threat. And what he wanted might not be me.
“In some ways, I suppose,” he agreed.
Did I dare ask for specifics? Lying there in the afterglow, I battled fear. My heart pounded. “What do you think the biggest change will be?”
“Children,” he answered promptly and pulled me tighter. “In the past, the need to ensure the line
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died with me was obsessive. I couldn’t risk a child of mine falling victim to his revenge. Whether he took the child to raise or eliminated it to cause me pain, the end result of pain would be met. Now, the world has opened to dreams I’ve not allowed myself.”
“In a hurry for that, are you?” I was proud of myself for not letting the crushing weight of the disappointment pressing into my heart show in my tone.
“Hurry? Not really, but if we were so blessed, how would you feel?” A hint of anxiety crept into his voice.
“You’re planning for me to be the theoretical mother of these miraculous offspring?” Hope kindled and burned away the distress.
Marcus wasn’t planning to replace me. At least, not in the immediate future. Who knew what our long-term future held, but we had each other for now.
“I would like to see if we couldn’t reach a mutually beneficial agreement, if you’re open to it.
Someday.”
Instead of answering, I nestled against him. I felt boneless, sated and, dare I say it, happy. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep in the warmth of his body, but other commitments called.
“What time is it?”
“Not quite five.”
Five? I was late. I tried to jump out of the bed, but he held me fast.
“Your dinner reservations have been moved to seven thirty. I arranged to have a car at your disposal for the entire evening. Evan will drive and will be happy take you anywhere you would like to go in style. He’ll be here to pick you up at seven.”
“I’ve got to call Yasmine.”
“I spoke to Kale an hour ago. Everything’s arranged.”
I didn’t know if I should be grateful or angry that he had been so managing. The stirrings of anger washed away when he pulled me close again and kissed the side of my neck.
“You needed the rest so you could enjoy the evening. An hour or two in the grand scheme of things doesn’t mean disaster.”
Relaxing against him, I decided that it was nice to have someone want to take care of me instead of the other way around.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. Will I see you tomorrow night?”
Rolling onto my back, I stared up at his face and tried to wrap my mind around the idea that he might be insecure. Of course, our relationship had never been typical so maybe he had the right to the feeling.
“Do you want to?”
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The carefree smile was back. “Your bed or mine?”
“Mine.”
He leaned down and kissed me tenderly. When we came up for air, the look on his face was no longer carefree. Reaching down, he tugged up the sheet to tuck it over my breasts.
“Then I will leave you to get ready for your evening with Yasmine.”
“You don’t have to leave…”
He cut me off by rolling out of the bed.
“If I don’t go, you really will be late and that will not earn me any points with Yasmine.”
“Does it matter?” I was smiling and feeling like a loon.
“My new goal in life is to convince your sister that I’m good for you.”
We both laughed at that. I watched him gather his clothes and disappear into the bathroom. The sound of the shower running was a pleasant backdrop to my thoughts. Marcus didn’t take long to change and leave me to my own devices.
We said goodbye at the bathroom door. I could trust him to let himself out while I took another shower. I did my best not to think about what today meant as I dried my hair without bothering to style it. Standing in my closet, I finally settled on a pair of slacks and a crisp cotton shirt. Yasmine had vetoed the wild night I had proposed and we’d finally compromised on a quiet dinner and coming back here for a night of conversation and sharing. On a whim, I strolled to my living room and picked up the phone. Dialing the number by heart, I jumped when Milo picked up on the second ring.
“You live.”
“Barely.” Somehow, I’d known he would have at least a version of the story.
“Good to know. You had me worried.”
“Yeah, right. I couldn’t help but notice you weren’t riding to the rescue.”
“Hey, I did my part behind the scenes. We’re lovers, not fighters, remember?”
Laughing with him, I settled on the couch and shot from the hip. “Well, I’m calling to beg a favor if you’re feeling generous. Are you using your table in about an hour?”
“You want something as boring as a table at my restaurant on a Friday night in less than an hour’s notice? Challenge me.”