Guardian's Hope (43 page)

He looked so peaceful lying there. He
obviously wasn’t in pain and she decided not to wake him. Rest and
sleep often did the job where medicine could not. She’d get her
shower first and then check his wounds for any demon infection he
may have missed.

She headed for the bathroom, picking up his
dirty clothes as she went. The strewn clothing was a sign of his
exhaustion. He was always so very careful of his things. She
watched him again to make sure he wasn’t showing any signs of
discomfort.

She was half asleep herself when she finally
stripped off her clothes and stood beneath the pounding heat of the
shower. She soaped with her eyes closed and only opened them long
enough to find the shampoo bottle and again for conditioner. She
was so tired; she wanted to stand there until the water ran
cold.

She dried herself in the same sleepy daze,
going through the motions without paying attention. It wasn’t until
she wiped the steam from the mirror and started to dry her hair
that she saw it.

Her eyes snapped open, wide awake and alert.
She watched her reflection in the mirror reach up and touch the
tiny white rose above her left breast and then looked down to check
reality against reflection.

She was mated. There was no fancy gown, no
ritual escort to the church, no beseeching the blessing, no fiery
piercing of her heart; none of the things Grace told her about.
When had it happened? And if she was mated, didn’t that mean…?

She wrapped a towel around her and went to
Nico. He was just as she’d left him. She crawled up on the bed next
to him and sat back on her heels. Slowly, so as not to wake him,
she pulled the covers back and there it was, another tiny white
rose, a match for her own, amidst the white lilies above the skull
and tears. Hope kissed her fingertip and placed it on the delicate
bud.

Nico’s eyes opened.

“You’re back.”

She nodded, unable to speak.

“And you’re all right?” He was worried now.
Why wouldn’t she speak?

She nodded again.

He sat up, concerned. “Precious, what is
it?”

She used one finger to pull the towel down
enough to show him the mark.

“Oh, shit,” he whispered and he reached out
to lightly touch the rose with the pad of his middle finger. The
rose was so tiny, it was almost obscured.

She mimicked his gesture, placing her finger
over the rose on his chest.

“When? How?” He frowned and then his eyes lit
with the knowledge. “When I fell. I thought the pain in my heart
was my first death. I didn’t understand why it came with such joy
and then I saw you and you were all that mattered.”

“When you fell, I felt it. I prayed, Nico. I
asked Him to take me instead or at least let me go with you.” The
tears started. “If you were right and your soul was doomed to Hell,
I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“Oh, precious, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I wanted to do this right, for you. I wanted
you to have the ceremony, the celebration. I wanted it to be a
dream come true. I want to give you everything you desire and
deserve.” He knelt in front of her and held her hands.

“I never dreamed of a wedding, Nico.” It was
true. “Isn’t that odd? I dreamed of a husband, a mate, and the
children we would have together, but I never dreamed of a wedding.”
She released her hands from his and placed one on his chest and one
on her own. “What we pledged in our hearts is all we need and these
are the proof.”

“My precious Hope,” he whispered, his voice
deep and gravelly with emotion.

The way he held her face in his hands the way
his eyes bored into hers was in no way new, yet the roses over
their hearts made it new.

As if he’d never kissed her before, he
brought his lips to hers, softly, tentatively, as if he thought she
might pull away. She didn’t. She kissed him back and opened her
mouth to him, inviting him in, telling him with her lips and tongue
that this was the way it was meant to be. Their roses were proof
they’d been blessed with this love.

He broke the kiss and held her away and
slowly unwrapped the towel. He stared at her for the longest time;
the fullness of her figure, the softness of her form, the
invitation of her lips, the kindness of her eyes, and the
tenderness of her heart. She was the embodiment of everything he
thought was beyond his reach. She was his Hope.

“You’re mine,” he said, “Forever.”

She no longer blushed at his perusal. In his
eyes she was beautiful and that made it real. Her smile was secret
and seductive as she ran her finger over his chest. She traced the
lilies in full bloom and the banner ribbon with the words ‘Paenitet
Me’ – I Repent, written in script. Her nail followed the lines of
the black skull and the pad of her finger touched each tiny red
teardrop. These were the symbols of his calling as a Guardian. The
skull was his willingness to die for his vocation and the tears for
the blood he would shed, not only for the Paenitentia, but for her.
Lastly, she kissed the tiny white rose that matched the one above
her left breast.

“I’m yours, but not forever.” She leaned
forward and kissed the white rose. “Not until this little blossom
is red.” She rose on her knees and pressed her body against
his.

Nico’s erection, already full and straining,
swelled even more with his longing. He kissed her again and laid
her gently down against the pillows. His lips moved over her eyes
and cheeks and neck, down to her breasts, lavishing each with his
attentions until they were heavy and swollen and her nipples
tightly pebbled with pleasure and need.

Hope ran her fingers through his hair,
gripping handfuls of the silky strands when his teeth scraped
against her nipple before sucking it deeply into his mouth. She
opened her mind and sent her love skimming across the bridge.

“
You brought me to life. You saw me when I
couldn’t see myself. You took away my shame and replaced it with
love. Before, I was nothing. It was what I was raised to be. You
believed in what I could be and now I’m on my way. I love you with
every fiber of my being and with the essence of my soul. I want to
be bound to you forever and always. You are my heart and without
you it will cease to beat. Make me yours Nico, through my heart,
body and blood.
”

Her fingers played along the ridges and
valleys that marked his back. Some would view these as a
disfigurement, as scars of horror. It was how Nico saw them. She
saw them as part of his beauty. They were the visible signs of his
strength of will and endurance. Someday, with her love and belief
in his goodness, he would see them as she did; not marks of shame,
but badges of honor. She heard his heart call to hers.

“
You gave me back the life I had
forgotten. You made me believe in my redemption. How else could I
be blessed with a woman such as you? You cleansed my heart with
your love and shared with me the virtues of your soul. You saw me,
not as I was, but as I could be. I am forever yours, my precious
Hope, and I will spend my life upholding your faith in me. Make me
yours forever, Hope, through my heart, body and blood.

He whispered the last against her lips as she
pressed her body to his. They kissed and caressed one another and
explored each other’s bodies in the light of their new commitment
and when Nico finally entered her, they felt a new joy in their
union and a reverence for the miracle that had been bestowed on
them. There was no banter, no playful teasing. That would come
later in celebration of their mating. This was something more,
something sacred.

The sensations of their bodies soared to new
heights and their minds joined in shared bliss. Their hearts shared
the same insistent beat. Their breaths came in short matching
bursts. They no longer felt the bed beneath them or the air around
them. They reached a state of consciousness where ecstasy reigned,
where nothing existed except the sensations coursing through their
bodies and their hearts.

Hope opened her eyes and cried out at the
terrible beauty of Nico’s face before her. Eyes, flaming red,
stared into hers with heart wrenching longing. Like a fine marble
statue come to life, his lips pulled back to expose his fangs. She
rose to meet him, felt the sharp sting of his teeth at her neck and
then the world shattered in a blinding flash of light. Orgasm after
orgasm exploded through her and left her trembling in his arms.

He gave her little time to recover before he
was driving himself into her, seeking his own release and with the
gentle pressure of her hand on his shoulder, he rolled with her
until she was on top. And she took control, riding him with her
head thrown back and her eyes looking heavenward with an expression
of pure bliss.

His right hand went to her breast and the
white rose above it as he brought his left wrist to his mouth and
slashed it with his fang.

She didn’t hesitate when he raised it to her
mouth. She welcomed it with lips and tongue. He tasted of sweetness
and spice.

They came together and the world exploded
again with light and color as they shouted with the joy of it. When
heaven and earth realigned, Hope collapsed on top of him and Nico
held her close, pressing the red rose over her breast to the one
hiding among the lilies on his chest. She was his and he was hers
and the future was theirs together.

Buffy curled into a ball on the chair in the
corner of the room, wrapped her tail over her nose and purred.

BOOKS BY JACQUELINE RHOADES

Thanks for reading
Guardian's Hope
,
the second in my Guardians of the Race Series. I hope you enjoyed
reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you'd like to know
more about me, and the books I've written, or read excerpts from my
work, you can visit me at
http://www.jacquelinerhoades.com

Other Paranormal Romances By Jacqueline
Rhoades

Available in all major ebook formats

The Guardians Of The Race Series

Guardian's Grace #1

Guardian's Joy #3

Alpha's Mate Series

The Alpha's Mate

Excerpt from
Guardian's Joy

Book 3
in the
Guardians of the Race

Chapter 1

It was done. At the suggestion of her
Captain, she’d taken a six month leave to think it over and today,
six months to the day, it was done.

“I don’t like doing this, Justice,” Captain
Murray told her as he accepted her letter of resignation. “You said
you’d talk to Dr. Afton.”

“I did. It didn’t change anything.”

“It might have, if you’d gone more than
twice,” he growled.

The shrink wanted to talk about her past and
John’s death and JJ wasn’t going there. The truth about either
subject would do nothing but earn her a medical leave and maybe a
stay in the local psych ward. No matter how confidential the shrink
claimed to be, word would get out and no cop wanted to share the
front of a black and white with a nut case. JJ didn’t blame them.
She’d feel the same way.

“Look, Captain, this isn’t about John’s
death. It’s about me. I’ve felt this way for a long time.”

That much was the truth. For the past two
years, the only reason she’d stayed with the force was John and
he’d been gone for six months. It was time she left, too. And so,
it was done. No gun. No badge. No cop.

Her mind still back in the Captain’s office,
JJ dumped her things in the chair by the foot of the stairs. She
had taken two steps up when her attention was redirected by a muted
clank from the kitchen, followed by another and a soft thud. She
was down behind the chair and reaching cautiously for the personal
Glock she kept in the drawer of the small entry table when the cat
strolled into the dining area from the kitchen, the door swinging
closed behind it. It sauntered through the living room, paused long
enough to hiss and flatten its ears at the sight of the gun,
clearly stating its opinion of firearms, and continued on to the
front door where it sat calmly on the small braided rug. It stared
at the knob as if expecting the brass ball to turn on its own.

“Damn. I thought I threw you out.” She set
the gun on the table. “I could have shot you, you know.” The cat
didn’t look impressed. JJ looked closer at the pint sized tigress.
“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”

The yellow cat had shown up two weeks ago in
the pouring rain, yowling on her porch until she took pity on it
and let it in. She’d given it a saucer of milk and shared the can
of tuna that was meant to be her sandwich supper. Her mistake. The
wily feline kept sneaking back into her house no matter how many
times she threw it out. She’d searched high and low for the way it
got in, but she’d had no luck finding it.

The little tabby sniffed and continued to
look at the door.

“Fine.” She unlocked and opened the door.
“Go home and don’t come back. There’s no place for you here,” she
said as the cat brushed past her legs.

The cat looked back, flicked its tail twice
and continued on its way. It would be back and they both knew it.
There was a ten pound bag of kitty kibble in the kitchen that
insured its return. JJ closed the door and ran up the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later, she was ready to
roll. Black leather pants as soft as butter melted over her long
thin legs. Her full sleeved black poet’s shirt was topped by a
leather vest with four latch hook closings. She would have liked to
complete the look with a pair of spike heeled boots, but they were
impractical in her line of work so she settled for the combat style
that laced up over her ankles. She grabbed her keys and headed out
to her car.