After obliging, he tucked the sheets up to Kat’s chin, then under the mattress. Music playing downstairs drifted softly into the room while she snuggled into the comfortable sheets.
“Good night, Kitten.” He bent down to give her a light kiss on her forehead.
Her honeysuckle smell engulfed him, like an aphrodisiac making his body instantly hard. Her enticing scent cocooned him in its delicate aroma. He longed to take her in his arms. Only the thought that she no longer knew him, kept him from the bed. He turned on his heels to take his leave, trying to escape before he gave into temptation.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Kat sat up in the bed and grabbed his hand.
“I was going to leave you to your dreams. I need to go down and help Marcus finish cleaning the living room, so I too can go to sleep.”
“Oh.” The smile fell from her pretty face. Stephan noticed the disappointment in her eyes. Hope filled his heart.
“If you’d like me to stay for a while, I’m sure Marcus could clean up without me.”
“I bet Marcus wouldn’t mind if you stayed with me for a few minutes. In fact…” She hesitated as if not wanting to appear too brazen. “If you wanted to you could sleep here tonight.”
Stephan’s face dropped in shock. Kat smiled and patted the empty bed on her other side. “Why don’t you lie down? I know you must be tired.”
Stephan didn’t move, afraid to say or do anything that might ruin the invitation.
“I know we were a couple and this is your room. You shouldn’t have to sleep on the couch downstairs when this bed is plenty big enough for the both of us.” Kat looked up at him with expectant eyes.
He wanted nothing more than to join her, but he wasn’t sure lying beside her was the best idea, especially in his current state of arousal. He didn’t know if he could trust himself to keep his hands off her.
Stephan hesitated, his gaze troubled. “Are you sure?”
Katrina nodded her head. He pushed into her mind and discovered she wanted him to lie down beside her and hold her close. She didn’t want intercourse, but she needed to feel his strong arms around her to help her feel safe and cherished. He could not help but give her that. He wanted to make her feel safe and loved as much as she wanted to feel it.
He struggled with his decision a moment, then ruthlessly pushed his lust aside and succumbed to the invitation, crawling under the sheets. He lay down beside her, careful not to jostle her as he lay on his back resting his head on his arm. Once he stilled, Kat rolled over and cuddled against his warm body, laying her head on his chest.
“Be careful, Kitten, you’re still healing.” Stephan brought his arm down, circling around her back. “You didn’t overdo tonight with all the dancing, did you?” Concern thickened his voice, giving it a husky quality.
“No. I’m fine. I don’t hurt anymore. I think I’m mostly healed,” Kat reassured him, snuggling against his chest.
They lay together silently, his fingers running through her soft strands as she ran her fingers along his chest.
“I am so sorry we couldn’t restore your memory,” he murmured.
“It’s okay, Stephan.” He winced when she said his name without a hint of love or tenderness. “Who knows maybe one day something will trigger my memories.”
As they lay together listening to the song, In the Air Tonight, drift softly up the stairs, Stephan caught Kat under the chin and brought her face to his. Ever so softly he pressed his lips to hers. She responded immediately, rubbing her mouth back and forth, across his. His tongue darted out, licking along the seam of her lips. Her mouth instinctively opened at his teasing. Only then did he taste the sweetness of her kiss. He poured everything he had into that one kiss, his passion, his love. His hands roamed over her back, pulling her gently against the hard evidence of his desire.
The kiss was liquid sex. Her hands roamed over his body until one landed behind his neck and the other in his hair.
His body burned from her touch. It came alive under her hands and lips. Each sensation felt like coming home. This bed, this music, this moment, all felt right. And if her reaction to him was any indication, she felt the same way.
He broke the hold on her lips and began feathering kisses down her neck until he got to the soft spot where her neck met her shoulder. His tongue flicked out to lick her pulse as it beat below her creamy skin. He felt her stiffen in his arms. It stilled him when nothing else could and he looked at her questioningly.
She framed his face in her hands, looking deeply into his sapphire eyes. “Stephan,” she breathed, eyes welling with tears.
With that one word he knew. It was the way in which she said his name, with all of the love and passion she used to use when saying those syllables. He gazed at her, his eyes widening as he sat up. His mind raced along with his beating heart.
Did he dare to hope?
“Kat, are your memories back? Do you remember me, Kitten?”
It took Kat a few moments to form her answer to his question. “Give me…a minute.”
Concern had him pushing once more into her mind. Her memories tore across her mind like merciless talons, clawing their way through her mental haze as she struggled to understand them. The memories came out of order, disjointed, a kaleidoscope of colors and images that made her dizzy.
“Yes.” The word gushing from her lips like a hiss from a snake. “Oh my God, yes. I remember…everything.”
The combination of the familiar music along with his passionate love must have awakened the memory of their life together. Stephan gazed at her and smiled. He grabbed her tightly to his chest and he turned them over.
“Do you remember everything, even what I am?” he asked hesitantly, easing his grip.
Kat thought for a moment, as if trying to understand his question. Finally she nodded against his muscular chest. “Yes, I remember that you are a vampire and an Alpha.”
He released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and squeezed her again tightly against his body as relief flooded his every cell.
“I love you so much, mein schatz!” The knowledge that he could finally express his feelings for her without worrying it would push her away eased the tension in his body.
Kat pushed up from his chest, looking at him with eyes that sparkled with her love for him. “Stephan, I love you too. I’ll love you for all eternity, mein Alpha.”
Epilogue
In the last three weeks, Kat had discovered the true bliss of being Stephan’s heartmate. Never in her life had she been so happy, so cared for.
So loved.
It was more than just Stephan’s ministrations, though what woman wouldn’t love having a drop-dead gorgeous hunk of a man indulge her every desire and whim, but it was also being able to share all her happiness with her best friend, Marcus.
She realized she finally understood what it meant to have a family as she came down the stairs and joined Marcus at the kitchen table. “Hi, Kitty Kat,” he greeted her. “Or should I call you Mrs. von Haas?”
“Hey yourself.” Kat gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Marcus raked her with his gaze. “Man, you were beautiful as a mortal, but you are smoking hot as a vampire. The conversion went well I see. It’s good to see you up and about.”
Once Stephan had convinced her he’d only wiped her memory to protect her and vowed to never tamper with her head again, Katrina agreed to be converted. The thought of an eternity with Stephan won out over her phobia of him drinking from her. Well that, and the knowledge that his healing assistance would make the process less painful than what she’d already suffered at Gage’s hands.
“Thanks.” A smile spread across Katrina’s face. “It wasn’t fun, but I’d go through anything to spend eternity with Stephan.”
“Even the wedding?” Marcus teased, knowing darn well she’d loved every minute of their ceremony.
A wedding had been superfluous really because, as it had been explained to Katrina, heartmates stayed together for et
ernity, but she demanded the official commitment, so they went to one of the numerous wedding chapels in the city for a quickie wedding. After escorting Kat down the aisle in her long white gown, Marcus stood as their witness watching Stephan and Kat exchange their vows before the justice of the peace.
“So what should I call you now? Stephan’s like my father since he is my sire so that would make you like my sister because he sired you too, but you are also like my mother since you are his heartmate and wife. So should I call you Mom or Sissy?”
Kat chuckled. “I think Kat will do, thank you very much. But if you keep giving me a hard time, I’ll take on my mommy role and take you out to the preverbial woodshed.”
“I’m still more than two centuries older than you, Kat. You don’t want to get into a contest of powers with me.”
Kat put her hands on her hips. “Oh yeah, how do you know what powers I have?”
“You just went through your transition. Stephan hasn’t had time to teach you anything yet.”
“I have always been able to take you on, Marcus.”
“Only because I’d let you win,” he joked back.
Stephan came up behind Kat and kissed her on the neck. “Now, now children. Let’s play nice.”
“I think I liked her more when she didn’t remember us. It’s too bad she got her memories back,” Marcus quipped, earning a laugh from her heartmate.
“Yeah, yeah.” Kat waved a dismissive hand and noticed the set of luggage sitting by the door. “What’s with the bags? You’re not leaving me are you, Stephan?”
“They’re not mine,” he declared, shrugging his shoulders.
“They’re mine.” Marcus rose. “I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?” inquired Stephan, as he slid an arm around Kat’s shoulders and tucked her against his side.
“To my home in Savannah.”
Alarm crept up her spine. “That’s a lot of bags. When will you be back?” Kat did not bother keeping her distress from her voice.
“Not for a while. I’m moving out.”
Her heart seemed to sink to her toes and Stephan placed a soothing hand on the back of Kat’s neck. He ran the pad of his thumb across her muscles as if to ease the tension gathering there. It will be okay, Kitten, he sent over their private mindlink. Do not fret.
“I said you were welcome in our home as long as you would like to stay. Kat and I wish you to stay as long as you want to be here.”
“I don’t want you to go,” cried Kat. She ran to Marcus, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Marcus returned the hug, but quickly put her away from him when a growl rumbled in Stephan chest. “Look, Kat, you know what they say. Three’s a crowd. I can’t stay here forever. You newlyweds need some privacy.”
Tears fell from Kat’s eyes which Marcus wiped away with the pad of his thumb. “Look Kitty Kat, I’ll be around.” He took his cell out of his pocket and shook it back and forth. “I’m only a phone call away.”
The buzzer rang. Stephan answered it and came back to Marcus. “Your ride is here.”
“Well, I guess it’s time to go.” He gave Kat another quick hug, then gripped Stephan forearms in the grasp of warriors. “I’ll be seeing ya.” He grabbed his bags and left without looking back.
“Bye,” Kat called after him as the door shut behind him. She turned into her lover’s waiting arms and allowed him to surround her with his love.
Stephan held Kat allowing her tears to wet his shirt. “Please don’t cry, Kitten. We’ll see him again.”
“I-I know. I just feel like I lost my best friend. Will you promise me we’ll see Marcus soon?”
“I promise,” Stephan vowed. Kat pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Knowing she could trust her husband to keep his promises, she smiled. “Do you also promise to teach me how to use my new vampire powers, so I can kick his butt the next time we see him?”
Stephan grinned down at her. “I promise,” he repeated. “I have so much to teach you.”
She grabbed his hand and led him toward the stairs.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
Katrina looked at him over her shoulder. “You’re going to teach me…” She gave him a mischievous look that she knew would get his blood boiling. “…about vampire sex.”
A word about the author...
Born in Virginia, Brenda Sparks now resides in the Sunshine State with her incredibly supportive husband and their beloved son.
Balancing her professional commitment to the local school district with her writing is challenging at times, but writing suspenseful paranormal romances is a passion that won’t be denied. Her idea of a perfect day is one spent in front of a computer with a hot cup of coffee, her fingers flying over the keys to send her characters off on their latest adventure.
Brenda loves to connect with readers. Please visit her online or stop by her website to say hi:
www.brenda-sparks.com
Other Books You Might Like
A Midsummer Night's Demon by Brenda Sparks
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
A word about the author...
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Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) Page 30