Midnight Sun

by Lyons, Rene

  Chapter Three

  That was one hell of a nice ass.

  Sebastian appreciated the nice view of a shapely behind waving in the air. Of course, said backside happened to be attached to the woman he’d been trying to avoid like the plague. He should have known better since Allie Parker was a person not to be sidestepped. She was, in fact, a force of nature.

  Right then, her storm was cutting a path through his room—or rather under his bed.

  With an ass like that he much preferred her in his bed.

  Standing in the doorway, hip leaning against the frame and arms folded over his chest, Sebastian raised one brow when Allie let out a string of some of the foulest words he’d ever heard—having existed for close to seven centuries, that was saying something.

  Obviously not able to reach what she was searching for under his bed, she cursed some more. He bit back a laugh when she pounded her fist on the floor in frustration.

  Oh, this was priceless. It was exactly what Sebastian needed, though he was loath to admit it since it meant Raphael was right. He needed what Rogue called spice.

  Allie Parker was nothing if not spicy.

  Sebastian could do the gentlemanly thing, quietly back out of the room and wait for the tiny paranormal extraordinaire to finish whatever business she had under his bed. Too bad Sebastian wasn’t a gentleman, not by any stretch of the imagination.

  True to his nature, Sebastian silently walked up to Allie and gave her rear a good, sound smack.

  It took all of his willpower, but Sebastian managed to swallow his laugh when she jumped to her feet shrieking like a demon from Hell. Spinning around, she faced him down with the gall to look offended.

  “How dare you smack my ass!”

  He cocked a brow at her. “How dare you break into my house?”

  The woman didn’t have the good grace to look repentant. “I didn’t break in. I have the key.”

  “Just because a certain troublemaker gave you a key, it doesn’t give you the right to poke into my room.”

  She shrugged indifferently. “I didn’t know it was your room.”

  She was lying “Do you always take it upon yourself to invade a person’s bedroom?”

  “Of course not.” Her chin rose a notch and a defiant gleam lit her amazing green eyes. “And again, I didn’t ‘invade’ your room.”

  “Yes you did.”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “That’s the only way of looking at it.”

  “Whatever.”

  Her flippant response made him smile despite his effort not to. Not only was Allie ballsy, she was also stunning.

  Her deep red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, which showed off the delicate line of her jaw and her long, elegant neck. The longer he stared at the pulsating column of her throat the more he ached to play out the things his devious mind imagined him doing to her.

  A light sprinkling of freckles danced adorably across the bridge of her nose. They were, surprisingly enough for a fair redhead, the only freckles she seemed to have. Her baggy low-rise jeans and white tank top accented her trim, yet curvaceous body. A wide strip of a flat stomach peeked out from between the bottom of her shirt and the waist of her pants. He wanted to trail his tongue along that exposed flesh. His body hardened when he noticed her navel was pierced.

  What he found incredibly frustrating was that she didn’t have the sense to be scared of him.

  “I know you won’t kill me.”

  Sebastian frowned in confusion at her announcement until he realized he’d said that aloud.

  “Did Raphael tell you that?”

  Her smile wiped the smirk from his face.

  “No, Sebastian, a Templar trying to earn redemption wouldn’t sacrifice his soul by killing a human.”

  Sebastian stalked her, forcing her backwards until the wall was at her back. Her breath caught in her throat when he bared his fangs. “You may not have to fear death at my hands, but there are other things I can do that could make your blood run cold.”

  He sensed the fear in her, yet she stood her ground with a courage he found vastly impressive.

  “Fine. You’re right. You made your point, now back off.”

  She shoved at him hard, but he didn’t budge.

  “What where you looking for under my bed?”

  When she didn’t answer, he slapped his hands on the door next to her head. He leaned in close enough to see the brilliant gold flecks in her eyes and repeated the question.

  This time, she wisely answered him.

  “I dropped something and it rolled under the bed.”

  “Obviously.” He slowly backed away and dropped his arms. “Go get it.”

  She went reluctantly, bending down in way so he wouldn’t have another chance to appreciate her lovely posterior. Like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she tried to hide whatever it was behind her back.

  Reaching around her, Sebastian pulled her hand out. They had a brief battle of wills until he finally managed to pry her hand open

  “Here, take it before you break my fingers.”

  She dropped the object into his hand. It was his family ring.

  Absently, he pushed the ring onto his right ring finger and glared down at her. Damn it all, why did she have to come here? She should have stayed the hell away from him instead of coming here, into his home with that fucking gardenia scent. He was drowning in it, the aroma playing havoc on his senses.

  Constantine was right; Allie filled a person with her spirit. Sebastian hadn’t understood what he’d meant until now.

  “Were you nicking my ring?”

  “Of course not! I never stole a damned thing in my life.” She looked genuinely hurt by his accusation. “I was only trying it on. It slipped off and rolled under the bed. I’m sorry.”

  Her apology cut through him. He knew she wasn’t stealing his ring, only wanted to push her to see her get all hot and bothered. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.

  “Then what were you doing poking around my room?”

  “Raphael said I could come here and investigate the manor. With you still home, it’s no wonder I don’t feel anything.” Her voice held an accusatory grouch.

  Sebastian wished he could say the same. Only it wasn’t paranormal activity he felt. It was lust and it was damn hard to control around her.

  “Maybe Randall Manor isn’t haunted, Allie. Did you ever think of that?”

  She snorted right in his face. “Yeah, right. Good one, Sebastian.” She ducked under his arm and gave him a radiant smile. “Anyway, it was nice to see you again.”

  Allie changed gears so fast it made his head spin. Her enchanting smile not only made him forget about her transgression, it also had him forgetting his conviction to ignore his attraction to her.

  His silence killed her smile. “Or not.” She replied flippantly. “I hoped we could finally make nice and be friends.” She shrugged. “I guess that’s not going to happen.”

  Instead of letting her go and being done with her, he did something completely out of character.

  He forced her to stay.

  She stopped dead and spun back to face him, obviously surprised, when his hand clamped down on her arm. Before he could think better of it, he leaned down and kissed her right on her pretty mouth.

  Taking advantage of her gasp, Sebastian swept his tongue in her mouth, tasting the sweetness. He felt no fear in her, only a desire for him that robbed him of reason.

  She inflamed him, making him remember what it was to be alive. Everything about her intoxicated him. Her spirit and her audacity rivaled any Templar’s.

  Sebastian wrapped an arm around her waist and crushed her against his chest. With his other hand, he pulled her hair free from its confines. The fiery waves spilled over his arm and trailed down her back, settling at her waist.

  Cupping the back of her neck, he held her head still as he devoured her mouth in a kiss hot enough to sear them both.

  She placed her ha
nds on his cheeks, her tentative touch reaching down into him, to the place where his soul once resided. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched as tenderly.

  Tearing his mouth away, he cut a path down to her neck and shoulder with his lips, stopping to tease with the sensitive flesh with his tongue and fangs.

  Bloody hell, her flesh tasted too good for him to resist the temptation to sink his fangs into her and drink from her. Open to him, she was ripe for him to not only take in her blood, but her glorious lifeforce as well, infusing him with her very being.

  Traveling down a dangerous path, Sebastian knew he had to end this before he crossed the point of no return. After three hundred years of a self-imposed celibacy, his need for Allie could quickly burn too hot to control. He tightened his hold on her, trailing his tongue down the column of her throat to her collarbone. Her breasts, so close to his mouth beckoned him, yet Sebastian didn’t dare to pull down her tank top and explore them as he longed to. Pulling away from her, Sebastian almost died all over again when he saw Allie’s dreamy expression. She gazed at him with hooded eyes, her cheeks flushed becomingly. No woman ever looked at him in such a way, not in life and certainly not during the relentless centuries of his death, as if no other man but him mattered.

  Reality, as it always did, invaded the serenity of a perfect dreamlike moment. The thought Jude Sommers, her self-absorbed and pompous boyfriend, lifted the veil of lust.

  Suddenly cold again, Sebastian noticed her lips were swollen from the force of his kiss. He also saw the smear of blood on her bottom lip and swore loudly.

  Startling her, he grabbed hold of her chin. “Open your mouth.”

  She slapped at his hand and backed away from him. “Are you nuts? What’s wrong with you?”

  Not about to be waylaid he advanced on her as she stepped back. “There’s blood on your lip.”

  Touching her bottom lip, she inspected the tiny drop of blood on her finger. The tip of her tongue licked away the blood, which had him biting back a groan. At this point he didn’t think his body could get any harder.

  “Your fang must have nipped me, that’s all. No need to go all apoplectic about it.”

  The woman was unreal. How could she not mind the fact that, not only was she good and kissed by a vampire, but said vampire hadn’t been careful with his body parts and cut her lip. Obviously Allie failed to realize how easily he could have lost control and fed from her.

  Given the scars on the right side of her neck, and knowing how close she’d come to death, he doubted she would welcome any more drinking of her blood. Not that he could blame her. From what Constantine and Raphael related to him, Allie was beaten badly before the vamp took a bite out of her. If Constantine and Raphael hadn’t gotten there when they did, she’d be dead.

  Those first few nights after they brought her to Seacrest Castle had been touch and go. To save her, they’d each given her small amounts of their blood to help her body heal.

  Almost from the moment he saw her Sebastian was dangerously attracted to her and knew he had to do everything within his power to avoid her. Somehow, however, his perfect plan of avoidance didn’t always go smoothly. Especially when he had two bored troublemaking Templars constantly trying to get them together.

  What a bloody fool he’d been to think he could go on pretending he wasn’t attracted to her, much less ignore her.

  Allie was a woman a man brought to his bed and kept there until the stars burned out. Only a damn fool would avoid a woman such as her.

  Sebastian was no fool.

  *

  Raphael raised a brow when he saw Allie’s Passport. Though he arranged this, he sensed the tension coming from within the manor and wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake.

  Constantine clearly sensed the tension as well. “I’ll kill him if he ate her.”

  Raphael laughed as he parked his silver Jaguar. “I doubt Sebastian ate Allie, he’s too damn civilized for that.”

  Constantine snorted. “Sage is no more civilized than I am.”

  Knowing the man Sebastian was in life and who he was in death, Raphael agreed with Constantine’s assessment of him. “You got me there. Sebastian just hides it better than you.”

  “I don’t try to hide what I am,” Constantine announced as he got out of the Jag.

  No, he didn’t. Everything about Constantine proclaimed his lethal nature. He may be on the same path to redemption as they rest of them, but he veered off the road too many times to count.

  As was Constantine’s style, he stole into the manor as stealthy as a thief. Raphael followed, slamming the door loudly behind him.

  “Allie better be in one piece, Sebastian.”

  Striding down the hall, he climbed the stairs first. Without a hint of tact, the two Templars peered into Sebastian’s bedroom, spotting Sebastian sitting on the bed. His head in his hands, he looked a mess. He raised his head and pinned them with a tormented glare.

  “I’m going to cut you both up and leave you for the sun.”

  Sebastian put the threat directly into Constantine’s mind, not wanting Allie to hear what he had to say to the two scheming bastards.

  “I dare you to try,” Constantine retorted.

  “Bugger off,” Sebastian said aloud, wanting to strangle them. Needs raged in him, which lay dormant for centuries, threatening to shatter the thin thread of control he had on them. He stood and ran a hand over the short stubble of hair. “I can’t believe you did this to me.”

  “Where is she?”

  Constantine’s demand held a note of accusation Sebastian didn’t care for in the least. If Allie weren’t still here he’d beat the Dragon senseless for the implication in his tone.

  Biting back his indignation, he motioned to the bathroom door. “In there.”

  “In one piece?”

  “Bloody hell!” Sebastian stood and strode over to the fireplace. He slapped his palms again the black granite mantle in a rare burst of emotion. “Of course in one piece, you bloody bastard.”

  *

  Allie’s body might be intact, but her mind was shattered into a million pieces.

  Good God, the man can kiss!

  Needing to clear her head, she splashed cold water on her face. Sebastian’s kiss left her as close to drunk as she’d ever come. He worked her mouth with the expertise of a man who had centuries to perfect his form.

  Pulling down her bottom lip, she saw a nice gash. He caught her good with those razor sharp fangs of his. Amazingly, she hadn’t even felt it happen.

  Letting go of her lip, she dismissed the cut, assuming accidents were bound to happen when you had fangs hanging out of your mouth.

  A wonderful shiver passed through her, as she wished she were still lost in his kiss. His raw masculinity woke everything feminine in her. He was all grace and beauty, with a deadly ferocity simmering under the cool façade he presented to the world.

  After tasting a small sample of Sebastian’s fire, Allie was left shaken and wanting more. Not even Jude, a handsome man in his own way, moved her as Sebastian did.

  What a shame it wasn’t going to go much beyond this kiss.

  Though embroiled in the same nocturnal world, they walked vastly different roads. Allie couldn’t imagine the two of them mixing well together since he was of the dead and she of the living. It might work with just a friendship, as it did with Constantine and Raphael, but anything more could end in a huge mess, leaving her with a broken heart.

  Though if a woman was to have her heart broken, she could do worse than a man as sexy and mysterious as Sebastian.

  Ripped with thick cords of muscle, he oozed strength and sex appeal. Everything about him appealed to her, from his shorn head to the dragon tattoo on his upper arm. He was sexy as hell and it drove her insane how he pointedly ignored her when all she wanted to do was rip his clothes off.

  As someone who was tattooed herself, she was dying to get a good look at the dragon piece that covered his upper arm and some of his nec
k. She doubted she’d ever get the chance unless she tied him down and had her way with him.

  Not a bad idea if I do say so myself.

  Turning off the water, she heard Raphael’s voice coming from the bedroom. Quitting the black marble bathroom, Allie threw open the door that connected to Sebastian’s room and waved at her friends.

  “Hey guys. Here.” Fishing around in her pocket, she pulled out Raphael’s key and handed it to him.

  At the same moment, Constantine’s gaze shot to her bottom lip. He sniffed at the air, a vicious snarl curling back his upper lip. “Why the fuck is she bleeding?”

  Unfazed by Constantine’s furious demand, Sebastian threw him a glare. Before things got out of hand, as it easily could when dealing with vampires, Allie waved a hand through the air dismissively. “It’s nothing. We were making with the nice-nice and Sebastian’s fang accidentally caught my lip.”

  Three male jaws practically hit the floor when she carelessly threw out that tidbit.

  Oblivious to the murderous glares Raphael and Constantine were directing at Sebastian, she turned around and glanced in the mirror hanging over the black lacquer dresser. “See? The bleeding already stopped.”

  Turning back, she finally noted how furious her friends were. Obviously it didn’t seem to matter that he clipped her by accident. By their reaction one would think he tore off a chuck of her lip and was still gnawing on it when they burst in on him.

  She also noticed Sebastian looked like he wanted to wring her neck.

  Raphael was the first to snap out of his stupor at her flippancy. Given that his anger was now directed at her, Allie wished he was still struck dumb.

  “I’ve known you for five months and not once did you ‘make with the nice-nice’ with me. You’re around Sebastian for five minutes and you’re making out with him.”

  Allie rolled her eyes over his argument. “Don’t go getting your panties in a bunch about it. Just because I never swooned at your feet when you tried those ridiculous lines on me doesn’t mean I was immune to you. Jeez, Raphael, look at yourself! You’re gorgeous. How could I not be attracted to you? But you’re my friend. And I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I don’t see you in a sexual way.”