Everything that comes with it…like her newfound powers. But that would be a worry for another time. Here and now there was nothing but the two of them.
Jasper laced his fingers beneath her head, cushioning the base of her skull. He began to move inside her again, slow, sensual rocks of his hips. When her breathing again became irregular, and her pulse again spiked, he slid his fangs into the tender skin below her ear.
Anastasia’s world went Technicolor. Rainbows danced behind her closed lids, twined tightly with the dark grey of pleasure-pain. The two sensations blended together, and as Jasper pulled her life’s energy into his body, Anastasia came, flying higher than she ever had in her life.
As one pleasure ended, another began. Her skin began to tingle, her flesh to swell as if absorbing some substance that filled her every cell. Sparkles of white light danced in the air above her head as she felt magic fill her being. She crested again, Jasper moving inside of her, staring down at her with awe.
Her release this time was buffered by magic, and as it screamed through her she was certain that she left her body for a moment, floating for seconds on end, suspended in pure bliss.
When she came to, Jasper had his head propped on one hand and was watching her with that same look of awe. She felt awe herself, felt the magic of both sides of her heritage in her flesh.
She also felt the magic of love. Her love, Jasper’s love.
She couldn’t ask for more than that.
The golden light of day had faded into night once again, far too soon for Anastasia’s liking. She wanted to stay there, in that small room—that little world that she and Jasper had created together.
They couldn’t.
Rain drizzled down from the gray clouds overhead, dampening Anastasia’s hair as they stepped out of the room, hand in hand. Across the parking lot she immediately picked out the two figures that were standing still, watching them.
Only the day before she would have had to squint, to see if what she thought she saw was real, or simply shadows. Now she could see the couple in high definition without any effort at all…the amethyst veins running beneath Aubrey Hart’s skin, the droplets of water in Gavin Thibodeau’s spiked hair.
The day before, too, she would have felt nerves. Jasper had contacted the couple through Esme, had communicated enough that they all understood that change had to begin with them.
Was she ready to buck the Council, to initiate change to the supernatural order of things?
Turning, she looked up at her very own Darkling. His jaw was set in the stoic expression that she knew now was just his way. The shadows of early evening made the planes of his face stand out in sharp relief, and the rain dampened his hair to dark gold. Her insides melted a bit as she looked at him, and she couldn’t help but feel giddy.
She had always been strong, and that hadn’t changed. But whatever lay ahead, whatever had to be done, they would face it together.
* * * * *
Read Aubrey Hart and Gavin Thibodeau’s story in The Darkling’s Surrender by Lauren Hawkeye,
available now from Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.
Two weeks ago, Dr. Aubrey Hart had still been alive. Now she’s a vampire, undead and starving, with a maker who shows no interest in helping her adjust to her new abilities.
Forced to either feed or die, Aubrey is drawn to her former supervisor Dr. Gavin Thibodeau—a man who arouses both hunger and desire. Her irresistible cravings lead them to an explosive erotic encounter and her first feeding. But when her attempt to erase the memory of their night together from Gavin’s mind fails, it becomes clear that their passion may have unleashed a force she never could have ever predicted….
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ISBN: 9781408981856
The Darkling's Desire
© 2012 by Lauren Hawkeye
First Published in Great Britain in 2012
Harlequin (UK) Limited
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