by Tina Folsom
“Over my dead body,” Charles protested. “Nobody puts Ilaria in a cell.”
Samson braced his hands on his hips. “We don’t have a choice. Grayson may have been able to distract her this once, but nobody knows what will happen next time. I’m not playing fast and loose with my family’s and my employees’ safety.”
Charles was ready to explode with fury. “Then consider yourself fired!” Because he’d never allow Ilaria to be put in what amounted to a dungeon, an underground cell. The skin on his nape began to prickle uncomfortably. The thought alone gave him the creeps.
“Too late! You don’t get to fire us. This is a matter of protecting our own now.”
The prickling grew stronger, and something else did, too, the awareness that he and Ilaria weren’t the only witches in the house anymore. Had one of the enemy witches managed to hide? Were they about to be ambushed?
“Witch!” Charles screamed and whirled around.
Several weapons were instantly leveled at the figure standing in the open front door.
“Don’t shoot!” Charles screamed, throwing himself between the pointed guns and the witch. “I know her.”
But he shouldn’t have bothered, because the witch who he’d spoken to at Golden Gate Park only hours earlier threw her hand up and shielded herself with her own power, the force field protecting her so strong that the air between her and the vampires shimmered with a silvery glow.
The Scanguards men didn’t stand down.
“It’s touching that you want to protect me,” the witch drawled in much the same tone she had employed earlier in the woods. “But I need no protection from vampires.” She stepped past him, motioning to Samson. “You look like you’re their leader.”
Samson nodded.
“I mean you no harm. I’m here for the girl.” She cast a glance toward the back side of the house. “Given what happened here tonight, my coven has voted to take her in immediately. Better for all of us. Don’t you agree?”
“If she agrees to go with you, my men won’t stop you,” Samson said.
On the stairs, Charles heard footsteps. He looked over his shoulder. Ilaria had put on a sweater and jeans and was walking toward them. She, too, had sensed the arrival of the witch of the mark. When Ilaria reached the bottom of the stairs, Charles took her hand.
“Are you ready for this?”
She smiled and glanced at the stranger. “I’ve always been ready.” Then she looked back to the top of the stairs, where Grayson stood, his hands in his pockets, a solemn expression on his face.
“Thank you,” Ilaria whispered, her voice thick with tears.
Charles squeezed her hand and she met his eyes. “I will miss you, sweetheart.”
Ilaria threw her arms around him. “I’ll miss you, too, Uncle Charles.”
In that moment he felt like more than just an uncle, he felt like a father who was losing his daughter. As if Ilaria felt it, she looked up and locked eyes with him. “One day, we’ll meet again. Promise me you won’t worry about me. It’s time you lived your own life now. You’ve sacrificed so much of it already.”
Involuntarily, his gaze drifted away from Ilaria to Roxanne, who stood between her colleagues. She’d lowered her weapon, though her colleagues were still pointing theirs at the witch.
“Come, my child.” The witch of the mark stretched out her hand, and without hesitation or fear Ilaria took it and allowed the stranger to lead her away.
Relieved breaths filled the room, mixing with the muffled clicks of guns being put back on safety and holstered. The threat was finally over.
Charles felt the tension roll off Samson.
“Let’s get the hell out of here, guys,” Samson said to his men. He glanced at Roxanne. “You leaving with us?”
Charles caught the look that Roxanne slanted him, before she answered her boss’s question. “There’s something I need to do first. I’ll see you all at headquarters tomorrow night.”
Samson nodded in agreement.
A few minutes later, all of Roxanne’s colleagues had left and taken all the evidence that a fight had taken place here with them.
He and Roxanne were finally alone.
10
Roxanne watched Charles close the door behind her colleagues and turn the deadbolt. When he turned around, she met his gaze.
She didn’t really know how to start, what to say, what to do, but she knew it was her turn. She felt it.
“When I saw Ilaria’s mark, when I saw it pulse, I finally understood why you did what you did. Why you left me.”
He reached out his hand. “I never wanted to.”
“You had no choice. Without you, Ilaria would have never survived to adulthood. And you did it knowing that any moment she could turn on you and allow the evil inside her to destroy you.”
She saw his eyes grow moist, and he said, “Because I knew that if I could deliver Ilaria to safety, then I would be allowed to return to you. If you could forgive me for what I did.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Forgive you?”
He dropped his head.
“Oh Charles, there’s nothing to forgive.” Roxanne crossed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him, feeling him shudder with relief. “I only wish you would have allowed me to be by your side. We would have been even stronger together.”
His hands were on her face then, tilting it up to him. “I know that now. Having seen how you showed no fear toward her, I realize that I was wrong. But I couldn’t take the risk, not knowing what raising a witch of the mark would entail. I couldn’t risk your life. I loved you too much. I still do.”
“I tried to stop loving you,” Roxanne murmured, tears brimming at her eyes. “But I failed.”
“Nobody’s perfect. Not even you.” Charles chuckled, and the sound pierced her heart, tearing down the wall that she’d built around it. “And that’s exactly the way I love you.”
She laughed through the tears that now rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t have to hide them any longer. “I love you, Charles.”
In the next instant he’d lifted her up and was carrying her toward the stairs.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed, my love.”
“But I’m not tired,” she teased him, feeling warmth bubble up in her.
“Neither am I.”
Upstairs, Charles pushed the door to the bedroom open and flipped the light switch. He froze, and Roxanne took her eyes off him and let her gaze roam.
The room looked as if it had been cut out from a honeymoon magazine. A large bed with a white muslin canopy dominated the room. Soft sheets covered the mattress. The harsh ceiling light had been replaced by two bedside lamps that gave off an orange glow.
And though she knew it was only an illusion, she murmured, “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Charles met her eyes. “Don’t thank me. I have a feeling this is a goodbye present from Ilaria.”
“Then how about we play with our present? I’m sure she would want that.”
Charles winked at her. “I agree.”
He lowered her onto the bed and began to undress. She watched him, growing hungry at the sight of him. First, he revealed a nearly hairless chest with toned muscles. His biceps were pronounced. They flexed as he pulled his Polo-shirt over his head. He tossed it on the floor, then popped the button of his pants open, and lifted his gaze.
He chuckled. “This game is only gonna work if we’re both naked.”
“I was only admiring what’ll become mine soon.” And soon couldn’t come quickly enough. “I’m playing for keeps this time.”
~ ~ ~
Charles’s heart flipped. He’d dreamed of this moment for so many years: to hear Roxanne tell him that she wanted to spend eternity with him.
He wasted no time and undressed until he stood before her naked, his cock already hard, heavy, and impatient. He stood there at the foot of the bed for a moment, looking down at Roxanne and how she licked her lips w
hile feasting her eyes on him.
“The sooner you get undressed, the quicker you’ll get what you crave,” he said, running his eyes over her.
“I didn’t want to miss anything,” she said, then started to undress.
First her top fell to the floor, then her shoes and pants. His mouth was watering when she unhooked her bra and slid it off, but when her thumbs hooked into her G-string, pushing it down over her legs, he felt his cock jerk in anticipation.
They were both bare tonight, not only physically, but emotionally.
Charles slid one knee onto the mattress, bracing himself above her. She reached for him, her hands pulling his head down to hers, her eyes shimmering golden now. He’d always thought her beautiful, but whenever he saw her irises light up with the fire of her vampire side, he felt a primal hunger awaken in him. One only Roxanne could still.
He took her lips, kissing her for the first time without any lies or secrets between them. Roxanne eagerly lapped against him, the forceful pressing of her tongue against his reminding him how strong she was. How powerful. And how different from him. He—a witch loving the light. She—a vampire living in darkness.
Yet as he kissed her passionately and explored her with his hands, reacquainting himself with her luscious curves and her silken skin, he knew they were meant for each other. Meant to bridge the differences between their species by allowing the love and trust between them to flourish.
With every second, the kiss turned more urgent. He felt Roxanne pull him into her center, making his cock slide to the juncture at her thighs, where warmth and moisture had gathered. He rubbed his cockhead along her slit and groaned at the smooth contact. Underneath him, Roxanne twisted, shifting to angle her pelvis.
The tip of his cock pushed between the swollen lips of her sex.
“Fuck!” he cursed, ripping his mouth from hers and throwing his head back. “Too good!”
He had no self-control, no patience. As much as he wanted to slow this down, he couldn’t stop himself and plunged into her hot, wet pussy. Roxanne welcomed him, her legs already wrapping around him so he couldn’t escape, her fingernails digging into his flesh. He’d always loved that, always loved how she let go of all restraints when he was inside her. How she gave herself to him as if he were the stronger of them, when he knew she could kill him with her sharp claws and fangs. Yet, he’d never felt any fear, because love made them equals. Love gave him power over her, just as she had power over him.
But tonight they would even surpass all that, because tonight, they would truly become one.
He rode her hard, thrusting deep and fast, moving in ways he knew drove her wild. She hadn’t changed at all, still released the same sighs she always had, when he rubbed her clit just right. It was thrilling to watch her body erupt in pleasure, but to take part in it, to feel her interior muscles clamp around him, contracting and releasing, was more than any man could ever dream of. He was one lucky son-of-a-bitch to have earned the love of a woman like Roxanne.
“Make me yours,” he demanded, not being able to wait any longer. Patience was overrated. They had all eternity together. Maybe he’d learn patience then, but he’d waited twenty-three years for this, and he didn’t want to wait a moment longer.
Roxanne’s eyes flashed and their golden shimmer turned orange and then red. The tips of her fangs pushed past her lips, descending to their full length. She brought her hand to her shoulder, and he watched in fascination how she sliced into her skin. Blood dripped from the incision.
He met her eyes then and saw the hunger in them. And the love. The trust. Because once they completed the bond, Roxanne would only drink from him. He would become her only source of nourishment. And he wanted this responsibility. Craved it in fact.
“Be mine,” he murmured and pressed his lips to the tiny wound on Roxanne’s shoulder, lapping up the blood that seeped from it, and sucking from it to demand more.
He felt her shudder beneath him, her muscles spasming as her climax rocked her. Then he felt it. She drove her sharp fangs into his neck, piercing his vein. He trembled with pleasure and let go of the last threads of his control. His orgasm slammed into him like a wave crashing against a cliff.
Oh God, how he’d missed her bite. How had he survived without it, without her, for so long? He’d been more dead than alive and he hadn’t even realized it.
I know. It was Roxanne’s voice in his head.
He was prepared for it, had known that this would happen, that he and Roxanne would have a telepathic connection forged by the bond. But he could have never imagined how intense it was, how close he would feel to her, how much of her heart and soul he would feel seeping into him.
I’ll never leave you, my love, he responded in the same way she’d sent her thoughts to him.
I’ll chase you to the end of the earth if you do. And I’m faster than you.
He wanted to chuckle at that and, were he not so busy drinking Roxanne’s blood, while she drank his, he would have. Instead, he gave her the only response he could think of.
He made love to her until neither of them could move another limb.
When they finally stopped moving, he pulled her into the curve of his body, her back to his chest, and used what was left of his energy to cast one spell.
Invisible tendrils like silk ties grew around them, binding them together.
“Oh Charles,” Roxanne murmured sleepily and sighed.
He nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. “I’ve got you now. And I’ll never let go.”
~ ~ ~
To sign up for Tina’s email newsletter please click here
Other Books by Tina
Samson’s Lovely Mortal (Scanguards Vampires #1): Click here to purchase.
Amaury’s Hellion (Scanguards Vampires #2): Click here to purchase.
Gabriel’s Mate (Scanguards Vampires #3): Click here to purchase.
Yvette’s Haven (Scanguards Vampires #4): Click here to purchase.
Zane’s Redemption (Scanguards Vampires #5): Click here to purchase.
Quinn’s Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6): Click here to purchase.
Oliver’s Hunger (Scanguards Vampires #7): Click here to purchase.
Thomas’s Choice (Scanguards Vampires #8) Click here to purchase.
Silent Bite (A Scanguards Wedding) (Scanguards Vampires #8 1/2): Click here to purchase
Cain’s Identity (Scanguards Vampires #9): Click here to purchase
Luther’s Return (Scanguards Vampires #10): Click here to purchase
Mortal Wish (A Scanguards Vampires Novella): Click here to purchase
Blake’s Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires #11): Click here to purchase
Fateful Reunion (Scanguards Vampires #11 1/2): Click here to purchase
A Touch of Greek (Out of Olympus #1): Click here to purchase.
A Scent of Greek (Out of Olympus #2): Click here to purchase.
A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3) Click here to purchase
A Hush of Greek (Out of Olympus #4): Click here to purchase
Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1): Click here to purchase.
Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians #2): Click here to purchase
Venice Vampyr #1: Click here to purchase.
Venice Vampyr #2 Final Affair: Click here to purchase.
Venice Vampyr #3 Sinful Treasure: Click here to purchase.
Venice Vampyr #4 Sensual Danger: Click here to purchase.
Lawful Escort (Eternal Bachelors Club #1) Click here to purchase.
Lawful Lover (Eternal Bachelors Club #2) – Click here to purchase.
Lawful Wife (Eternal Bachelors Club #3) – Click here to purchase.
One Foolish Night (Eternal Bachelors Club #4) – Click here to purchase
One Long Embrace (Eternal Bachelors Club #5) – Click here to purchase
One Sizzling Touch (Eternal Bachelors Club #6) – Click here to purchase
In collaboration with Lara Adrian
Cut a
nd Run (Phoenix Code 1 & 2) Click here to purchase
Hide and Seek (Phoenix Code 3 & 4) – Click here to purchase
Audio Books
Click here to browse through Tina’s audio books and listen to samples.
About the Author
Tina Folsom was born in Germany and has been living in English speaking countries for over 25 years, the last 14 of them in San Francisco, where she’s married to an American.
Tina has always been a bit of a globe trotter: after living in Lausanne, Switzerland, she briefly worked on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, then lived a year in Munich, before moving to London. There, she became an accountant. But after 8 years she decided to move overseas.
In New York she studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then moved to Los Angeles a year later to pursue studies in screenwriting. This is also where she met her husband, who she followed to San Francisco three months after first meeting him.
In San Francisco, Tina worked as a tax accountant and even opened her own firm, then went into real estate, however, she missed writing. In 2008 she wrote her first romance and never looked back.
She’s always loved vampires and decided that vampire and paranormal romance was her calling. She now has 30 novels in English and over three dozens in other languages (Spanish, German, and French).