A Vampire's Fallen Christmas Star (Vampires On Holiday #2)
Page 17
“By throwing yourself at my rival?”
She tossed her wool shawl on a chair. “You’re impossible.”
“Delores, you’re too trusting, naive.”
“No, I’m not.” She whirled around. “I danced more with you than I did with him.”
Janus scoffed. “You were counting?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He grabbed her and kissed her. Damn his possessiveness. She molded her sweet body to his and returned his kiss, stirring his passion. God, he was a slave to her. She broke the kiss and he sighed, wanting more, so much more.
She rested her forehead on his chest. “Janus, you have to trust me. I’d never betray you.”
He held her close. “You don’t know men like Lear. He thrives on destroying women’s reputations. It gives him some sick satisfaction. I won’t let your reputation be tarnished. You’re my wife and I won’t allow him to tear us apart.”
She freed herself from his embrace. “I’m not a fool.”
“Delores, I want you to stay away from him.” He lowered his gaze. “For your sake and mine.”
She stepped away and smacked his hand off her arm. “Are you threatening to kill him or me?”
He winced. God, why was everything so difficult with her? “I’d never harm you or let anyone else harm you. I love you.”
Her frown lines disappeared and she looped her arm through his. “I love you.” She reached up and gave him a quick peck on his lips. “But I can protect myself.”
“Delores if anything happened to you, my heart would shatter.”
She put her hands on his chest and skimmed them up around his neck. She nuzzled his throat and the soft brush of her lips quickened his blood. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“Delores.” He groaned. One kiss turned him into a rutting bull.
“When you first found me on the road after those bandits left me to perish and asked me if I wanted to live, do you know why I said yes?”
Trying to concentrate and not give into his lust, he gasped. “No. Why?”
“I gazed upon the most handsome man I’d ever met. You were beautiful. I wanted to live so I could gaze upon you, even if it was just one more time.” She unbuttoned his double-breasted jacket and slipped her hands underneath his shirt, fingers toying with his nipples. He couldn’t think.
He captured her parted mouth and tasted her sweetness, the lingering of wine. God, he wanted to take her there in front of the fireplace and lick her satiny skin.
“You’re the one who cast a spell upon me,” he said. “My light to my darkness. I’ll always be able to find you. Even in death, I’ll find you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve given you my heart. Our love is imprinted on our soul. If one of us dies, the deceased can come back in this life and the living could sense their presence.”
“So, we can find each other?”
He ran his finger down her cheek. “It’s not that simple. The rebirth takes away memories and those memories must be rekindled. I need you to stay alive.” He didn’t tell her sometimes the process failed to work. “I couldn’t live in darkness again.”
She unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it down his shoulders. “But you have to trust me. How could I be with any other man after being with you?”
He cupped her cheeks. She was a dazzling gem. “You’re so beautiful.”
She broke away and laid her head on his chest. He loved the way her hair caressed his bare skin and wrapped his arms around her. She was his life.
Their Christmas tree was decorated with the ornaments from her grandparents. Red and gold presents were crowded around the tree. “Janus, you think every man wants me.”
“Men do desire you.”
She caressed his face. “I love you,” she whispered. “But I’ll not live in your diamond cage.”
He leaned into her palm. “I just don’t want you to be hurt.”
“From who? Men who want to dance with me. Your own jealousy?”
“Promise me you’ll not accept anymore party invitations from him. Not even for tea.”
She dropped her hand. “And if I don’t?”
Disappointment sunk into him at her challenge. “You’ll break my heart.”
“I’m not yours to control.”
He slid his hands down her arms. “I know.” Damn his fear. He had to quit trying to control her or she’d leave him.
“I need to go for a walk.”
For a demure and slight woman, she was stronger than any man and could easily defend herself. He could deny her nothing. But he would never allow her to go for a walk alone in the middle of the night. ’Twas dangerous, even for her. “Let’s take a stroll into Hyde Park.”
Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the snow covered park. He tried to hold her hand, but she pulled away from him. His heart ached. Snow gently floated down around them. The trees loomed ahead of them, their bare branches reaching toward the midnight sky and the twinkling stars above. Delores bent down and he stopped. “What are you doing?”
She scooped some snow and threw at him, hitting him on his arm. She laughed and he slowly smiled.
“Catch me if you can?”
She ran ahead and tossed more snow at him.
He lifted his eyebrow. “So, you want to play, do you?”
He knelt to grab some snow when tingles crept down his neck. He jerked his head up. They weren’t alone in the park. A man.
Kill her.
He could read his thoughts. Was the man referring to Delores? He concentrated.
’Twasn’t just a thug. ’Twas his worst fear. A vampire killer.
With vampire speed, he dashed after Delores. “Delores, come here. Now!”
Her eyes glowed and she sprinted ahead. “No, you’ll have to catch me, darling.” She darted between a grove of trees and he lost sight of her.
Heavier snowflakes fell across the park, blanketing benches, tree branches and gardens. He fought back the panic threatening to override him and concentrated. Cold gripped him and he shook but it wasn’t from the chill. Fear thumped through his veins. Delores was walking into a trap. What if he couldn’t find her?
Damn it. He should have mastered these mind reading powers by now. But high emotions closed these powers. If anything happened to Delores, it would be his fault.
He pushed back his terror and inhaled. His superior smell detected the soft scent of roses and sprinted towards it.
Snow blew around Delores. Tendrils of her hair fluttered in the breeze and cascaded down her back. The hem of her gown was soiled from the wet ground. Thank God, she was alive.
“Delores,” he yelled. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
From behind her, a dark cloaked figure approached her. The park lantern shined on a smug face. Lear.
Janus choked on his fear. “No!”
Lear lifted a crossbow.
“Delores,” he called out, but he was too late. Lear fired and the arrow embedded into Delores’s shoulder. She clutched the arrow and crumbled to the ground. Lear whipped out a sword and cleaved her head.
Janus’s world died.