Reawakening (30 page)

And what about her mom? Had she been forced to have any other children? If she did, they were rogues by now and according to Rom, all the rogues would be destroyed. That made her sad, even though she knew there could be no other real outcome. But was there a chance that maybe one of the younger kids, who were still untainted, could be saved? Probably not and she just needed to let it go.

Giselle told her that her mother was likely killed after she was born. Apparently bearing barren vampire females were pretty much life ending in their underground prison. And how completely fucked up was that. Males determined the sex, and she didn’t think that could be any different in the vampire species, but what the hell did she know.

“Hello, beauty,” a raspy voice rumbled in her ear, brushing over her nerve endings like feathers. Rooted to the same spot in the library for the last hour, she’d been so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t heard Rom approach.

“Hello yourself, my handsome mate.”

“What are you contemplating so hard?” He sat down next to her, but immediately pulled her into his lap, straddling him. Her favorite position. Well, one of many, really.

“I received some interesting news this afternoon.”

He brushed an errant curl from her face. “You look disturbed. Tell me who upset you and I’ll take care of them.”

“Really? And what will you do exactly?”

He considered her question for a moment, before answering. “I’ll fuck them up, of course.”

Laughing, she said, “Oh my God. You are totally serious. What if one of my sisters upset me? Would you
fuck
them up?”

“Well, of course, not. But I’d have a talk with their mates and then their punishment is up to them.”

She slapped him on the shoulder. “You need to stop being so protective. You can’t shield me from anything or anyone that could make me unhappy, Rom. It’s not realistic.”

The loving look he gave would have brought her to her knees, had she not been sitting on them. But his words … his words were so authentic and so sincere they brought tears to her eyes and melted her heart. “But I can try, Sarah.”

Anyone, who thought Romaric was cold and heartless, didn’t know a damn thing about him. He was scary fierce and frustratingly protective and aggressively dominating, but she’d come to decide those weren’t bad qualities, because she knew without them, he wouldn’t have the ability to love her as deeply and as strongly as he so clearly did.

“You are simply incredible,” she murmured.

A smirk upturned the best lips she’d ever tasted. “Yes. I know.”

“Ha! I’m beginning to think your ego is bigger than your cock, vampire.”

In the next second, she was pinned underneath his heavy bulk, his evident desire pressing on just the right spot. “I can assure you, beauty, nothing is bigger than my cock,” he replied before taking her lips in a soul-sucking kiss.

“Prove it,” she said breathlessly when he trailed kisses down her neck to the swell of her breasts. She wanted nothing more than to spend the time they had before he went to Romania in a tangle of hot, sweaty limbs.

“That sounds like a challenge.” Nimble fingers dipped inside the top of her blouse, seeking a rigid nipple, making her moan his name. “What about your news?” he rasped against her throat, sucking gently in just the right spot.

News … what news?
Every brain cell banded together with single-minded intention when he did those diabolical things with his mouth and hands and other—
harder
—body parts. And it wasn’t to talk.

“Later. Take me home and fuck me.”

“As you wish, milady,”
he chuckled.

Within seconds, they were back in their house in Washington, but in Rom’s office instead of their bedroom.

“What are we doing in here?” she asked, chest still heaving from their earlier exertion. She ached for him to fill her and didn’t need a pit stop so he could make a phone call or send a damn email for God’s sake.

A slow, predatory smile spread across Rom’s undeniably beautiful face and that familiar warmth zinged between her legs. His smoldering eyes blazed across every inch of her scantily clad body, and the fire he left behind burned its way straight south between her legs. She couldn’t imagine ever tiring of the way he eyed her like she was his favorite meal.

“The only business I’ll be conducting in here is to bury myself so far inside your pussy, you’ll be begging me to stop.”

She smiled lazily back. “Oh, you’re wrong there. I’ll never beg you to stop. Do your worst.”

“Another challenge, beauty?” he said in a low, sensual voice.

“Do you expect anything less?” Taking several steps back, she slowly drew her hands up her torso, cupping her achy breasts through her white fitted tank. She didn’t miss his sharp intake of breath or the heat his glowing eyes now threw her way. Whatever plans he had just gone completely by the wayside. This was now
her
show.

Feeling bold and definitely tempting the beast, she reached for the zipper on her short flowery skirt and eyes never leaving his, unzipped and dropped it to the floor. She’d worn a particularly sexy pair of deep blue and barely-there lacy thong panties, with an equally matching skimpy bra.

“You take my breath away, Sarah,” he muttered. And without her now keen hearing, she wasn’t sure she would have heard it from the distance she had now put between them. Intending to put on a little show, she wanted him riveted to her every movement, but those soft words were almost her undoing.

He was so alpha, but so romantic at the same time and the contrast was mind-blowing. Never knowing if something filthy dirty or heart wrenching was going to come out of his mouth always kept her on her toes.

Deciding to move on with the show, her hands moved to the hem of her shirt, bringing it up inch-by-inch, teasing the fabric against her sensitive flesh, aching for the feel of his fingers on her skin instead of hers, but enjoying too much the way his hungry eyes devoured her to rush this.

Pulling the tank over her head, she now stood in her matching lingerie set and a pair of tall summer wedges. Reaching behind, she undid the clasp of her bra and happily let it join the growing pile of discarded clothes on the floor beside her.

“Jesus,” he growled. “I can smell your arousal from here. I could get drunk on your scent.” He was now leaning against his desk; gripping it so tightly the knuckles on both hands were white. His breathing had become shallower and she reveled in the fact she could affect him like this.

Unable to help herself, she palmed and kneaded both breasts and closed her eyes, enjoyed the relief touching them gave her. Rolling her pebbled nipples between her fingers, she heard him groan and when she opened her lids, he was stroking his thick and strained erection through his pants, eyes laced with molten desire. His raw masculinity nearly had her running into his arms, begging for him to take her.

Snaking one hand down her stomach, instead, she inched it under her now very wet panties and ran a finger through her drenched folds, unable to help the moan that fell from her lips. Hot sparks of their shared connection now thundered through her veins.

She felt his lust.

It was heady.

Before she knew it, cold wood pressed against her back and cool air hit her naked sex moments before his hot mouth was upon her. “Enough,” he rumbled and the vibrations against her aching body ratcheted up her lust tenfold. His thick fingers penetrated her roughly and he began a punishing rhythm as he nipped and licked and used his tongue in wicked ways that should be illegal. As she was about to crest he stopped, nipping everywhere but where she so desperately needed him to in order to send her flying.

“Don’t tease,” she whined. Sharp teeth pricked particularly hard, but not enough to break the skin. Dammit.

“I’m schooling you. And I have more patience than you can even fathom, beauty.”

“Rom …”

“Mmmm … I could stay between these beautiful thighs all night.” His hand moved again, slowly, dragging his wet digits deliciously along every last internal nerve ending. She shifted her hips trying to gain the pressure and rhythm she needed, but a well-placed arm stopped her flat.

“Please. I need to come.”

“Ah, but you challenged the beast, Sarah, and he does so enjoy rising to it.”

He brought her to the edge countless times, only to cruelly pull back, leaving her panting; a fine sheen of sweat now covered her straining body. She begged and pleaded until her voice was hoarse and her legs quivered with effort, but he gave her no any quarter.

Nearing orgasm again, she wept with joy and divine ecstasy when she felt the sting of his bite, scattering every thought to the wind. She cried out in sheer bliss, her eyes closed so tight she saw stars. Still in the throes of pleasure, her body flipped, the cold of the desk on her front quickly warming with her body heat.

Without warning, he harshly grabbed her hips and easily thrust his unyielding, silky shaft into her slick sheath and held still. “I’m going to fuck you now, beauty. Hard and fast and rough.”

He withdrew until only his thick head remained inside and plunged again so rough her breath rushed out and she had to hang onto the edge of the desk for leverage. “And once I’m done fucking you and making you scream …” out, in … out, in … out, in …“I’m going to spend hours making love to you, making you moan.”

“Oh God … Rom … so good.”

It was a brutal, punishing coupling. Living up to everything he’d promised, she screamed for him now and moaned for him later as he spent the next several hours wringing unending hedonistic pleasure from every inch of her body.

She gloried in every single second of it, hoping beyond hope it wouldn’t be their last.

Chapter 49

Rom

It was just after midnight and he needed to get moving, but he could hardly stomach the thought of leaving his mate, whose every naked limb was currently wrapped snugly around him in peaceful slumber. She gripped him tightly as if she was afraid he would sneak away in the dead of night.

As if.

She needn’t worry. He wouldn’t ever let her go. And although he wouldn’t do anything foolish, he was done worrying that this would be the end. This was just the beginning. He may have a few loose ends to clean up to keep them both safe, but he hadn’t lived this long by happenstance. He was confident in his strategic, battle and preternatural skills and he’d accepted the fact he couldn’t do it alone. He would let Circo accompany him and he’d even tap Geoffrey, Devon or Damian if necessary. It was time to swallow his pride and just kill these fucks so he could move on.

So they could all be free.

There were so many things he wanted to do with Sarah. So many places he wanted take her and show her and make love to her. And he couldn’t do any of those things with these threats hanging over their heads like vicious black thunderclouds. They’d all been hiding and he was tired of it. Sarah had spent the last several months tucked away in a house or a shelter, unable to enjoy the simple joys of going for a coffee or shopping for clothes. She’d told him the only time she’d been allowed out, other than a walk on the grounds, was to see her parents, and that was simply unacceptable.

He’d changed so much in just the short time he’d known Sarah. The vulnerability part he could do without, but he could honestly say she was the only one he would ever be comfortable
showing
vulnerability to. And who knew he had a softer, gentler, even romantic side? He sure as hell didn’t. He didn’t intend to say half the things he did to her, but when he opened his mouth, they just involuntarily poured out. It was sappy and maybe he needed to get his man card back, but fuck all if he just didn’t care. Who knew such simple words could cause light as bright as a thousand suns in her eyes when he spoke them? He’d do and say anything to keep that light burning brilliant now and always.

And he’d do absolutely anything to keep her safe. With that thought, he begrudgingly tried to wake her. It was time.

“Beauty, it’s time.” Sarah was one of the strongest women he’d ever met, but she’d cried herself to sleep and every tear was like a shallow cut directly to his heart. It pained him to be parted from her as much as it did her.

“Sweetheart, time to wake.” He gently shook her, but she was fast asleep. Rolling her onto her back, he extracted himself from her arms and legs. He took several minutes to simply admire not only her outer beauty, but also the inner beauty that shone so brilliantly it dwarfed the outer a hundred times over.

Leaning down, he placed soft kisses to her jaw and her neck downward until he got to the sweetest spot on earth. What the hell, another half hour wouldn’t hurt. He’d woken her this way every day since they’d bonded and he wasn’t about to break their streak. It was quickly becoming his good luck charm.

Several minutes later she was panting and thrashing and singing his name like a symphony as she came before her eyelids finally fluttered open. “Hi,” she said softly.

He just smiled, suddenly not trusting his voice to remain steady.

Shit, pull it together. You’re a goddamned lord for Christ’s sake.

When she reached down to run a finger along his jaw, he almost lost it. Quickly crawling up her body, he grabbed her and buried his face in her neck. Wrapping her hands around his head, she pulled him closely to her.

“Come home to me or I’ll haunt you forever.”

He extracted himself from her, kissing her soft lips. “Always so bossy.”

“You love it.”

“Hmm … I wouldn’t use the word
love
.” He would.

She smiled knowingly. She’d heard him. Their mental and emotional connection since bonding was strong, intense and incredibly amazing. Like everything he’d heard of but nothing he could have possibly expected or understood until he’d experienced it for himself. And their physical connection was simply mind-bending, but that was fully expected since it was the mating bond calling to one another.