Edge of Night

by Crystal Jordan

  Not that it mattered. She’d probably never see these people again. Being Luca’s “girlfriend” had an expiration date. A sigh slipped out of her and she closed her eyes, letting herself drift. This secret little alcove was serene, and she let it soothe her tattered nerves.

  When she opened her eyes, Luca stood over her, an intent expression on his face. He’d loosened his tie and carried his jacket over one arm. She pushed herself upright. “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I—” He shook his head, but his seriousness eased and a little smile played around his mouth. “You look peaceful.”

  “Come here.” She patted the cushion beside her hip.

  Tossing his jacket on a nearby chair, he settled beside her, his thigh pressed to hers, and a shiver of awareness tingled over her skin. “People are starting to head home.”

  “I take it that’s our cue?” She ran a fingertip across his full lower lip. “Did you have a good time?”

  “Not really.” He kissed her finger. “But then, neither did you.”

  “Family. Can’t live with them, illegal to kill them.” She offered a rueful grin. “And we get to do this awkward fun again with my aunt and uncle. Awesome.”

  He chuckled, shook his head. “I love you.”

  Of all the things he could have said, that was the last one she would have expected. Her jaw dropped, and the air rushed out of her lungs as shock punched her square in the stomach. “But—”

  “No.” He cut her off, emotions roiling in his gaze. A pained smile flicked on and off his face. “Don’t say anything. Don’t protest or argue or doubt. Just…don’t. I love you. It’s that simple. I don’t expect you to feel the same. I don’t expect anything from you, but I know how I feel. I wanted you to know.”

  Her throat worked, a million thoughts colliding in her head. Terror and euphoria and disbelief. It was all too much, too unexpected. Even if she’d wanted to say anything, she didn’t think she could have come up with a coherent response. Tears welled in her eyes and her hands shook as she cupped his face. Pulling him down, she kissed him with all the ardor in her soul—all the feelings she couldn’t put into words.

  With a groan, he hauled her into his lap so her legs dangled off the side of the lounger. His hands were everywhere, sliding over every inch of her. Their tongues dueled for control of the kiss. He tasted of warm whiskey and Luca. Of the two, he was the more intoxicating flavor.

  He wrenched her blouse loose from her skirt, unfastened only the top two buttons, and then worked the shirt over her head. When her silky bra was exposed, he feathered his fingers over the upper curves of her breasts. The cool air on her bare skin made her shiver, a rich contrast to the heat tumbling through her. Her nipples thrust against the soft fabric, and she reached behind her to unclip the garment so it dropped to the floor.

  Bending her backward over his arm, his gaze slid over her naked torso before he sucked her nipple into his mouth. He pressed a hand between her knees, working her skirt up and spreading her thighs. Stroking over the cotton of her panties, he teased her slit and continued laving her nipple. Letting her head fall back, she slipped her hands into his hair. Her sex clenched each time he swept his tongue around her areola, and she felt how slick she was, how ready.

  “Touch me,” he growled against her breast. “I want your hands on me.”

  She drifted her fingertips over the muscular slope of his chest, annoyed by the barrier of his shirt. Sitting up, she tugged at his tie until the knot came loose. She slipped the length of silk free and tossed it in the direction of his jacket. It missed the chair, slithering to the ground. Oh well. She went to work on his shirt, sliding the buttons from their holes so she could press her palms to the downy curls that sprinkled his pecs.

  Jolting when she scraped her nails over his nipples, he sucked in a breath. “Now.”

  “Yes, please.” Her body was screaming for more of his possession.

  He stood and set her on her feet. “Take your clothes off.”

  Her breath rushed in and out with her excitement as they watched each other strip. Shoes first, then he bent to take off his socks while she twisted her skirt around her waist so she could unzip it. His pants and underwear slid down in one graceful motion, and her hungry gaze took in his impressive erection. She wanted him inside her, pumping deep until she was out of her mind with pleasure. She let her skirt drop and stepped toward him in just her panties. His fingers hooked in the elastic at her hips, and he eased that final garment off her.

  He adjusted the lounger so it lay flat, then pulled her down so they were on their sides facing each other. Immediately, she curled one leg over his hip to open herself for him. He filled her one slow inch at a time and she wanted to scream it felt so good. But she wanted more.

  She took his hand and pressed his palm over her heart. “Sync us up?”

  “I have to taste you first, tesorina mia.” His fangs flashed in a sexy smile, his accent roughening his voice.

  With a wink, she leaned in to give him access to her throat. “I was counting on that.”

  “Ti amo.” He sank his fangs in before she had a chance to respond and she clenched around his dick in instant orgasm, the tumble over that steep ledge bowing her body into his. Her pussy pulsed on his erection, pleasure ripping through her system.

  “Erin, look at me.”

  It took effort to do as he asked, shudders still wracking her form. His dark gaze caught hers and he tapped two fingertips against her heart, making it skip a beat before falling into the same pounding rhythm as his. She could hear the echo of his pulse roaring in her ears as hot magic flooded her blood. Desire fizzed in her veins, and her body flamed with unstoppable need.

  His smile was tender and smug at the same time. He knew exactly what he had done to her, and she wished she could return the favor—give him the kind of effervescent high he gave her. His palm still covered her heart and he kissed her, sucking her upper lip between his before delving into her mouth.

  The deeper meaning behind vampire’s blood magic suddenly hit her. Not just mutual gratification, but being so in tune with another human being that your hearts beat as one. Sweet, hot emotions tightened her chest, and she hated that things were so complicated in this world of power and magic. She wanted to be free to be with him, wanted to take what he offered and never look back, but it wasn’t that simple.

  They moved together, advance and retreat, a slow climb toward climax. The force of the magic that bound them burned white-hot, redoubling her craving until she sobbed against his lips. She let her fingers slide over the angles and plains of his body, feeling the thrust and recoil of his muscles as he took her. Up his biceps, around his shoulder, down his back, over his ass. Satin skin pulled taut over steely strength. He was perfect and right here, right now, he was hers. She hitched her leg higher, let him press his dick deeper inside her. Her body quivered each time he entered her, the lips of her pussy stretched to admit his thick cock. Any minute now, she would come. Just a little more, and she would soar again, exploding like a firecracker with his sizzling magic pouring through her veins.

  “I love you, Erin,” he groaned. His talons dragged down her hip and she bowled over into orgasm.

  “Luca!” Her low cry blended into the gurgle of running water, and a soft mist brushed her skin, the scent of exotic flowers seeming to intensify as her body turned itself inside out with ecstasy. Her nails scored his backside to pull him tighter against her pussy, and she ground her clit into the coarse hair at his groin. Her sex squeezed around his dick, gooseflesh rippling over her skin as climax crested within her. He continued to plunge into her, racing for his own orgasm. His flesh slapped against hers as his thrusts grew shorter, his movements jerky, his hands almost too rough as he held her in place.

  Then he exploded within her, come filling her in powerful jets. Residual shivers of climax hit her, and she clenched around his dick. He choked, his hips shoving him deep one last time. His mouth took hers, and she sucked his lower lip. He hummed
and she felt him smile against her lips.

  “I love you.” He whispered the words in her mind, and moisture burned the back of her eyes. She relaxed into him, blinking away the tears.

  They lay that way—limbs twined, sweat gluing them together—for a long time. Bliss made her drift, not quite awake, not asleep. Just enjoying. It wouldn’t last, but she pushed that nasty piece of reality away and let a man who loved her cradle her in his strong arms. For a few minutes, she’d pretend there was a chance of something real and good and permanent between them. That love conquered all and happily ever afters happened in more than fairytales. Maybe they did, but not for her or Luca. Not this time. But she hugged him tight and dreamed. Just for a little while.

  Luca’s cell phone went off and they both groaned. He rifled through his clothing until he pulled it free of his jacket. He tapped the screen and pressed it to his ear. “Cavalli.”

  After a few seconds of listening, he swore ripely in about three different languages, then hung up.

  “What?” She reached for her clothes, dread flooding her. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?”

  “Gregor found Asher,” he said, his expression forbidding.

  She pressed her blouse to her chest, wanting to be covered, as though the mere mention of his name left her exposed. “That’s a bad thing?”

  “He found him trying to break into my house.”

  Oh shit.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Asher had escaped, throwing the final dead rose through a window he’d smashed before he’d run from Gregor. The police arrived, alerted to the attempted break-in by Luca’s security company, and Gregor had lost the stalker in the ensuing chaos, where both vampires had to escape being arrested. Erin certainly didn’t want to answer questions about why she’d hired an assassin, and the odds that Selina—and Jack by association—would have heard about it were pretty astronomical. So in this one instance, she was okay with Gregor letting Asher slip through his fingers. Live to hunt him down another day, where her family remained as safely uninvolved as possible. Asher trying to break in to Luca’s house told her more than ever that those close to her could become as much a victim as she was.

  “Damn it,” Gregor growled. His usually affable demeanor was nowhere in sight. He’d been crawling the walls of her café most of the day, and her staff was giving him a wide berth.

  If they wondered why he’d been hanging out with her for the last week or so, they’d never given voice to it. She suspected they didn’t really want an answer.

  Because of the break-in, Luca had had to deal with his security specialists, his insurance company and fill out police reports today, so Gregor watched Erin at work rather than hunt Asher down. Gregor knew her stalker’s scent now, and could track the smell of his blood. It sounded disgusting to Erin, but she wasn’t going to balk if it meant they could find him again and end this stalking shit.

  Erin cut a glance at Gregor, who was pacing in a circle at the end of the kitchen’s prep space. “Why don’t you go check the front and make sure the security systems are set while we finish up here?”

  They’d had a large catering job today, one Erin couldn’t miss. It had been all hands on deck to get the regular business handled, plus the food for the catering gig. She’d let Jordie take care of all the site work. A boon for him that she trusted him to do it, but it also made it easier for Gregor to protect her if she stayed in the confined space of her kitchen, where he knew all the people who were supposed to be there.

  Gregor took the hint, nodded and disappeared to go prowl the dining room and not make anyone uncomfortable.

  “I can stay late and help with clean up,” Jordie volunteered. The cleaning crew gave him a grateful look, since they also had to unload the van, which had had an overturned rack of lasagna trays on the way to the venue. Now it was a disgusting, crusted mess.

  “Me too.” Tina shrugged and picked up a filthy serving tray. “It’s not like I haven’t scrubbed down my fair share of dishes over the years.”

  “That’s great. Thanks, guys.” Erin fell into place beside them, working to get the dishes done while the rest of the crew dealt with the van and ferrying dirty dishes and equipment into the kitchen.

  Erin sighed, her mind only half on what she was doing, as it had been most of the day. Thankfully, she could cook most of the dishes on the menu in her sleep, and if her cooking had been a bit uninspired today, no one had complained.

  He loved her.

  Luca loved her.

  She knew a real relationship was impossible, and in the end it didn’t matter how either of them felt, but she couldn’t get the words to stop playing on a loop in her head. The way he’d looked in that moment would be branded in her memory forever, the lovemaking that had followed would be hard for any other man to beat. She doubted it would ever be that good again with anyone else. Who could live up to Luca’s standard, in or out of bed? No one. A depressing thought, but she’d spent the day in a haze thinking about it, about him, about them.

  No matter how she tried to quash it, there was a tiny, foolish, insane hope that had sprouted. One that imagined what it might be like to have a real, romantic boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with him. Maybe not one that could be truly permanent, since she was a Normal who would age as the years went by, and he’d look like he was in his late thirties for the next several centuries, but for a while…it would be heaven to have him come home to her every night he was in town, and to be able to wake up next to him every morning, and just do all the things regular couples in love got to do.

  Because she did love him. She hadn’t been brave enough to say the words, but it didn’t stop the feeling that had consumed her soul. She loved him.

  And he loved her.

  A smile she couldn’t prevent curled her lips. He would never have said it if he didn’t mean it, especially not to another Normal woman. His past in that area would have made him more than a little wary, but he loved her.

  “Hey.” Tina elbowed her in the ribs. “You’ve been slap-happy and out of it today. Even Jordie noticed.” She grinned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone’s got a man in her life. New boyfriend?”

  Erin blinked, and the last couple of weeks flashed through her mind in rapid succession—the deepening of her relationship with Luca. “Yeah. I guess I do have a new boyfriend.”

  “Ooooh, Mama’s got a brand new bag,” Jordie sang—badly—and they dissolved into laughter.

  “Wait, did I hear this right?” Holly poked her head in. “My cousin is using the b-word?”

  “Good ears,” Tina remarked, the corners of her eyes tilting up when her smile widened. “Then again, that’s the kind of word you notice.”

  Holly ignored her and fluttered her eyelashes at Erin. “When did this status upgrade happen?”

  “Last night, and no I’m not sharing any details with you.” Erin smirked. “But since you’re here, pull up a sponge and start helping.”

  “I can only stay for a little while.” An abashed grin played over Holly’s mouth. “I have a meeting with my…um…boyfriend.”

  “Oh, ho!” Erin did a quick dance in front of the sink, enjoying a bit of teasing over her cousin. “So I’m not the only one using the b-word now. Check that out.”

  “It’s a lovefest,” Jordie deadpanned. “It’s like a virus that every bachelor alive hopes will never infect him.”

  Tina shook her head at him, pity in her gaze. “That is so not the way to get laid on a regular basis, my friend. At least not by nice, non-skeevy, non-diseased girls.”

  He protested, “Hey, the girls I get with are not diseased!”

  The cleaning crew finished with the van and Erin let them go for the night. They were almost done with the dishes, so they should all be out of there soon. The four of them worked quickly, the jokes, teasing and general harassment of people who liked each other flying fast and furious. Holly bailed first, then Tina got a phone call and took it outside, which left Jordie and Erin to ri
nse the last load of pots and pans.

  “Okay, I’m off for a night with a non-nice, but non-diseased friend of mine.” He winked at her. “See you on the flip-side.”

  Erin waved him off as her phone rang, Pour Some Sugar on Me blaring out loudly. She picked up. “Hey, Luca.”

  A flush washed up her cheeks, and she was glad he couldn’t see it.

  “Tesorina mia.” His voice was full of affection, but there was an edge to it that confused her.

  She frowned, her stomach twisting. Had something else happened? Had Asher come back? Something with his family? “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” The line crackled as he sighed. “I just have a twitchy feeling that hasn’t gone away all day.”

  Grinning, she leaned back against the counter. “Ah, so you’re taking on some of Merek’s fortune telling powers, huh?”

  “I’m an agent. We develop instincts,” he groused. “Maybe some of it’s magic, but…I have a bad feeling. Watch your back.”

  A tingle of warning went down her spine, and the prickle of paranoia that had ridden her for weeks came roaring in full blast. She had to force herself to breathe calmly, speak normally when she wanted to become shrill with fear and hyperventilate in a corner somewhere. A little reassurance was in order for both of them. “I will. I’m never alone—you know that. And I have Gregor here.”

  “I know. Be careful anyway.”

  He didn’t need to tell her twice. She’d let two big, gun-toting men move into her condo so she could be a little safer. “Okay. How’s the house stuff going?”

  “Endless.” He groaned. “I’d rather be there with you.”

  A silly smile creased her cheeks. “I missed you today too.”

  She heard him suck in a breath, and she realized it was the first time she’d said anything like that to him. It made her feel small how much she’d held back from him when he’d volunteered so much, but she had to be brutally realistic. As his family had pointed out, she might as well be a werewolf, and the two species were designed to kill each other. Even Luca admitted the world wasn’t ready for a wolf-vamp relationship.