“Are you going to get the twins and bring them home? I haven’t played Chutes and Ladders in a long time.”
He chuckled. “They’re a little too young for that one. When they do come home, how about a rousing game of Blue’s Clues?”
“Deal.”
It seemed kind of silly to make those promises. We didn’t know what life was going to be like. I had no intention of living in Broken Heart. I mean, why would I? My heart stuttered. The numero uno reason stood near the counter buttering bread for toast I wasn’t gonna eat.
I crossed the kitchen, and Ralph dropped the bread. His gaze was on mine. I wanted him, and he wanted me. There was no fire working mojo on our emotions. It was just us. I took Ralph’s hands, which were rough and calloused. Working man’s hands. I kissed each knuckle. Then I opened his fingers up and turned his hands over. I pressed my lips to the center of each palm.
Wordlessly, Ralph led me into his bedroom and shut the door behind him. A single lamp barely penetrated the darkness of the room. But I didn’t need to see everything. Just him.
Before I knew it, we’d tumbled onto the bed. He rolled me into his arms and looked down at me.
“You really are special to me, Libby.” Ralph cradled my face.
“I’m feeling mushy about you, too,” I said. Oh yeah, I was definitely having a mondo attack of the warm fuzzies.
I dared to slip inside his pajama bottoms and was rewarded with his bare buttocks. I cupped his tight ass, and he groaned, rubbing his cock against me.
“We can’t,” he whispered, unbuttoning my top. “We can’t.”
“We can.” I pried one of my hands between us and dipped inside the silky pants to touch his shaft. He felt velvet-smooth, and hard. I had never had the pleasure of touching a man’s penis before. I was nearly delirious with the idea of what he would feel like inside me.
Ralph’s lips discovered my breasts. He laved one nipple into hardness, and then suckled it. Sensations rolled through me, a thousand fabulous zips and zaps. His lips clamped around my other nipple, while his fingers rolled the wet peak.
Oh! Oh! Oh yeah!
I pushed off his pants and tried to wiggle out of mine, but then Ralph did something really moronic.
He scuttled away from me. “Stop, Libby. Please.”
“No way.” I got rid of my pajama bottoms and straddled him.
His gaze was drawn to my nudity, especially the part between my legs. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from touching my curls.
His finger stroked my clit.
“Ralph!” I nearly swallowed my tongue.
He snatched his hand away. “Really. Libby. I mean it.”
“Uh-huh.” I rolled his pants down and rubbed my wet heat against his cock. Sparks of pleasure shot into my womb. “It’s never been like this for me. Can’t we finish?”
His hands clamped my hips, forcing me to stop. I looked at him, my heart thudding. His expression was pure torment.
“You don’t understand,” said Ralph. “If we make love, we’ll be bound.”
“Okay.” I twitched my hips.
He groaned, his eyes closing briefly. “For a hundred years.”
“Sounds good.” I held on to his hands and leaned forward. “Now, let’s go.”
“Oh, God.” He gritted his teeth, and once again stalled my movements. “Libby, if we make love, we’ll be married. For a hundred years.”
His tone got through the haze of my lust before his words did. I worried my lower lip as I thought about what he said. “You mean, if we have sex, we’re mated?”
Hadn’t Stanley said that Patrick and Jessica were bound? The fate of one depended on the fate of the other. If Patrick died, so would she. That was a tad more commitment than a plain ol’ human marriage.
I sighed woefully. “I suppose it’s too early in the relationship to get hitched for a century.”
“Hey, now. We could . . .” He trailed off, and I looked at him, hope renewed. He shook his head. “This is all happening too fast.”
I wasn’t a hussy, although I really wanted to be his hussy. His reluctance, however justified, was putting a dent in my self-esteem.
“No one’s wanted me before, and you do,” I said, as if offering my virginity would persuade him to rock my world.
“No one’s wanted you?” He gently lifted me off and slid out from underneath me. “I’ve wanted you since the second I met you.”
I noticed Ralph’s fangs were extended. Stimulating a vampire’s hunger could be a dangerous thing. I put a hand to my throat and gulped.
“I want to make love to you,” said Ralph, “even though we can’t completely bind.”
“Okay,” I said, lust blooming in my core. “Okay.”
Ralph’s gaze slid over every inch of my skin. I returned the favor. He was lean and muscled, with curly brown hair on his chest and legs. I gripped his shaft, my fingers stroking the velvety skin.
He groaned, his hand stalling mine. “It’s been a long time. We better go slow.”
I released him, unsure of what to do next. I needn’t have worried. Ralph knew exactly what to do.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “Let me touch you.”
Ralph’s fingers danced on my bare skin. He left no place unexplored, and every feathery touch made me want more.
He skimmed the underside of my breasts, teasing my areolae. He suckled one nipple, letting go to blow softly on the crinkled flesh until the peak tightened even more. He did the same to my other nipple. Sensations rippled and my belly quivered.
Desire liquefied me. I stroked his rib cage, my fingers running through the hair on his chest. Then I found his nipples. I rubbed them to hardness, then lightly twisted.
Ralph sucked in a sharp breath.
“Oops.” I did it again.
With lips and hands and words, he worshipped me. I felt like a goddess, and he was my supplicant.
I melted under his gentleness. I tried to make him feel the same, but I’d never been with a man. I wasn’t naive, but nervous . . . yeah, I was definitely nervous. My whole body quaked, but Ralph soothed every tremor.
He was patient. He knew how to build the fires, and he was good at it, too. Wow. I’d never felt this way about a man. I had never really felt the tender temptation of lust, of such terrible need. But what unfolded inside me, other than lust, was the absolute knowledge that Ralph was the one. I didn’t care if we could never consummate our relationship, or that he was an immortal vampire. I would give myself to him, heart and soul.
I doubted much in my life. I questioned everything because I had been taught to do so. The establishment said that love built slowly. That people had to court each other, and withstand rituals and relationship milestones to earn the right to love. They had to marry, have kids, contribute to society.
God, what a terrifyingly boring way to fall in love.
I was already on the precipice, and I didn’t fall off the cliff.
I jumped.
Ralph cupped my sex and caressed the outer lips. He pierced me with one finger, and I sucked in a breath. “Oh.”
He kissed me lazily as he moved a second finger inside. Then he stroked in and out in a rhythm that made me ever so happy.
Ralph covered me, sliding his cock against my clit. I was so wet for him, so ready for him to take me. I moaned, my hips matching his rhythm.
My restless hands fluttered to his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin as he rubbed his shaft faster and faster against me.
My legs trembled and my heart thudded as he brought me closer and closer to ecstasy. I wrapped my legs around his buttocks and clawed at his flesh, my moans and movements just as frantic as his.
Our eyes met, and that was it, I flew over the edge into bliss.
Seconds later, I heard Ralph’s groan. His cock trembled against me as he came, his hot seed spilling onto my stomach.
He lay on top of me and looked into my eyes, smiling. “You have my heart,” he whispered.
“And you have mine.”
Dragonfire exploded around us. I heard its song, which trilled about love and connection. About two souls joined as one.
“Um, Libby?”
“Yes, Ralph?” I reveled in our flames of l-o-v-e. We were meant for each other. We were literally hot for one another. We were burning for—
“Sweetheart,” said Ralph, his voice snapping me out my lovey-dovey thoughts. “The bed’s on fire.”
Chapter 17
I yelped, and Ralph fell off me, his hand pressing against his right pectoral.
Above my right breast, it felt as though a poker had been jabbed into my skin. It was so hot and painful that it brought tears to my eyes.
The fire itself didn’t harm us. The bed covers and furniture weren’t so lucky. Holy shit! I sat up and patted the covers, which only made it worse. My dragonfire kept adding fuel to the flames.
Ralph leapt from the bed and ran out of the bedroom, only to return with a fire extinguisher.
He aimed and white foam exploded.
“Goddamn it!” I shouted. “I’m so sick of this stuff.”
“Sorry, honey,” said Ralph. He put down the extinguisher. He was trying really hard not to laugh.
“It’s not funny.” I wiped off my chest. I blinked down at the spot above my right breast. “What’s that?”
“I have one, too.”
On both of our chests was the same mark: A circle about the size of a quarter with two slanted black lines through its middle.
Ralph looked at me. “What just happened?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” I looked at my mark, then at his. I was flabbergasted. “Is it a vampire thing?”
“No. When we claim others, we leave our marks on them, but they can only be seen by other vampires. This is like a tattoo.”
“Do you think it’s dragon-related?”
“Probably,” he said. “I wonder what it means.”
“I don’t want to know.”
Ralph walked to the bed and sat down, right in the white fluff. I loved him for that. He wound his fingers through mine. “Hey, now. Don’t look like that. We’ll figure it all out.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” He sat up and drew me with him. “Let’s get cleaned up.”
We took a shower together. Ralph washed my hair, and I washed his. Then we kissed a lot and, after a while, the water turned cold. But steam still rose from our dragon-heated bodies.
“Damn. No towels,” said Ralph. “I’ll go get a couple from the dryer.”
“What about clothes?” I asked. “I think mine went up in the bed fire.”
“I’ll rustle you up something.”
He turned around and opened the door. His ass looked so cute, I reached out and pinched one taut cheek. He laughed as he stepped into the hallway. I was behind him, my hands reaching toward his buttocks for one more squeeze.
He stopped suddenly and I rammed into him.
“Hey!” I wrapped my arms around his waist and let my hands wander south.
“Libby,” he said. There was warning in his tone, but I didn’t understand why.
“My God, Randolph, who is this person?”
The cultured voice was female, her tone designed to freeze the unworthy. I let go of Ralph and backed away. Oh, my God! Who was that?
“If you don’t mind, Maura, I’d like to get dressed.”
“We’ll meet you in the living room,” she said stiffly.
Ralph turned around. “I’ll bring you something to wear.”
“Okay.” I looked at his closed expression. “Who was that?”
“My mother-in-law.”
Ralph’s mother-in-law sat on the couch, waiting for us like a principal getting ready to dress down the naughty students.
Dressed in a pair of Ralph’s sweats and an old T-shirt, I settled into a recliner near the TV. Ralph chose to stand, arms crossed, his gaze narrowed.
The woman’s silver hair was coiffed in an updo, her brown eyes as hard and flat as pebbles. She was dressed in a Donna Karan pantsuit and she practically dripped with diamonds. Her mink coat was folded on the arm of the couch.
“This is Maura Brighton,” said Ralph. “Therese’s mother. Where’s Harold? Where are the boys? Are they okay?”
“Everyone’s perfectly fine.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same of you, Randolph. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve only been back a day,” Ralph lied smoothly. “And it was unexpected. I planned to call you tomorrow.”
“Is she your housekeeper?” the woman asked, her gaze bouncing around the room, as if to say, She doesn’t do a good job, does she, darling? Yeah, right. She knew I wasn’t a housekeeper, especially since I was just naked in the bathroom with him. If she meant to insult me, she didn’t come close. I’d been called a lot worse names by a lot better people. After all, I was the daughter of the nation’s best-known kooks.
“Her name is Libby Monroe. She’s very special to me.”
Maura’s china-doll features mottled. “You’re dating ? My daughter is barely in the grave, and you’re already trying to replace her?”
“Therese died two years ago,” said Ralph patiently. I’d bet everything in my bank account Ralph hadn’t dated, much less been in a serious relationship, since his wife passed.
She sniffed as her gaze once again found her surroundings lacking. She looked at me and smiled coldly. “You’re not nearly as pretty as she was.”
“Probably not,” I said easily. “I bet she was beautiful. And I think she was very special.”
Maura looked thunderstruck. It was obvious that relations between Ralph and his in-laws were strained enough without adding me into the mix. I’m sure she didn’t expect kindness from someone she viewed as her daughter’s replacement.
“You didn’t answer my question about the boys,” said Ralph. “Where are they?”
Maura’s expression soured. “They’re in the car with Harold.”
Ralph left the room. When he returned, two blond-haired tykes were squealing in his buff arms. Ralph the Daddy was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
He kissed them, tickled them, and hugged them. I’d never seen a man more happy. Ralph needed to be with his sons. They were a family. I couldn’t deny I yearned to be part of it.
Another man entered the living room, looking as dour as Maura. He joined his wife on the couch. He was dressed in Armani, folding his coat into a square on his lap. His eyes were also brown, and less warm than his wife’s.
“Teddy missed you guys,” said Ralph. “You wanna go say hi?”
“Teddy!” shouted the munchkins.
Ralph made airplane noises and tucked one boy under each arm. He flew them into their room. I studied the carpet while Ralph got his sons settled. I bet he wasn’t going to let them go. Not ever again.
Minutes later, Ralph returned, and he looked really pissed. I didn’t blame him.
“You showed up in the middle of the night and snuck into my home. Why?”
“We were hardly sneaking. We have a key. Honestly, Randolph. Why didn’t you tell us you’d returned from Saudi Arabia?” accused Maura, who apparently was the mouthpiece for her and her husband. Her frosty gaze slid over me. Whatever, lady.
Ralph’s eyes went red; he stared at Maura and Harold. In his come-hither voice, he said, “Why did you come here?”
“To pack the boys’ things,” said Maura woodenly.
“And to find evidence of your bad parenting,” added Harold, his eyes as dazed as his wife’s.
I got a perverse satisfaction out of seeing Ralph go vampire on them.
“Why?” asked Ralph.
Maura tilted her head, her empty gaze swinging to Ralph. “We’re challenging you for custody of the twins.”
Ralph stilled; a muscle in his jaw worked. I felt outraged on his behalf. I had no doubts that Ralph was a good father. He’d put his sons first, even if it meant sendi
ng them away.
“Your in-laws are horrid,” I whispered.
“As miserable as they are, they’re still my sons’ grandparents. But yeah, I’m tempted to throw a fireball at them right now.”
“Just one?” Yeah, yeah, bad karma. Well, I’d done plenty tonight to earn my bad karma. What was one thing more?
Amusement glimmered in his eyes. “I like your style, Libby.”
He focused on them both and said, “You will both get into your car and return to your hotel in Tulsa. You’ll sleep restfully, and when you awake you will only remember you took the boys home. You were happy to see them reunited with their father. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
They stood and put on their coats. Then they walked robotlike to the front door and let themselves out. We followed them to the porch and watched. Fat snowflakes were drifting from the night sky. The ground was already blanketed in white.
We heard a car start and a sleek red Jaguar slid past the house. Good. The in-laws were leaving and I was glad to see them go.
“If Broken Heart is so protected,” I asked, “how did they get in here?”
“I claimed my sons, so their marks get them a free pass. But the guardians know them, too.” He turned away, and I didn’t need a compass to know the direction of our relationship. I could feel the distance growing between us. I followed Ralph into the hallway. We could hear the boys in their room playing with their toys.
“Michael and Stephen being here changes everything, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“Of course it does. They already have to deal with an undead father, and now I’m a dragon, too? It’s all too much.”
He looked at me, his eyes filled with regret. Oh, I got it. Throwing a possible dragon girlfriend at them was the “too much” part. “They come first.”
“They should,” I said softly. I stopped short of saying I understood his decision. I wanted him to say that I was worthwhile, too. Why couldn’t he be a father and be my lover? Well, I wasn’t Therese. I could never take her place . . . not for those little boys, and not for Ralph.
But I didn’t want to be a replacement, anyway.
He rubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s getting close to dawn. I need to see if their nanny is available. It’ll take a while to get them on a night schedule again. But Mera usually hangs during the day in case they wake up.”
Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home Page 12