Jack could practically hear his father's mocking laughter as he led her toward the piazza. And like a true Casanova, his thoughts kept returning to her lack of panties. It was as if the gauntlet had been tossed. The castle walls had been breached. The inner sanctum was his for the taking. Before the night was over, he would touch paradise.
He couldn't force her, though. He needed to be smooth, like his father. Of course! He pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call to Mario with new instructions for Lorenzo. Mario assured him that everything was going according to plan. He rang off just as they reached the entrance to the piazza.
"Wow. It's bigger than I thought it would be." Lara squinted as she surveyed their surroundings. "I wish I could see better. Shouldn't we come back during the day?" She gave him a wry look. "Fully dressed?"
"There are too many tourists then."
A breeze swept past them, billowing the cape around Lara's legs. She shivered.
"Are you cold?" Jack wrapped an arm around her.
She gave him an annoyed look. "I'm feeling a slight draft."
He smiled. "Don't worry. The place is deserted. No one will see you but a few pigeons. And a priest. Come, I want to introduce you to Father Giuseppe." He spotted the old man across the piazza on the church steps.
Lara strolled beside him. "Isn't the church closed?"
"Father Giuseppe will let us in. He's an old friend."
"You get special favors from the Church?"
He shrugged. "I told you, I'm practically a saint."
"I'm practically naked," she muttered.
"Miracles do happen." Jack ascended the steps. "Thank you, Father, for meeting us."
The old priest embraced Jack, then spoke in Italian. "Have you been behaving yourself, Giacomo?"
"Of course, Father. May I introduce Lara Boucher from America?"
"Signorina." The priest bowed to Lara and switched to English. "It is a pleasure. You wish to see the Basilica San Marco?"
"Yes, I'd love to. Thank you."
"This way." Father Giuseppe fumbled through a large ring of keys as he led them toward a side door. He unlocked it, then flipped on some lights. "Come in, please."
Jack and Lara followed the priest into the nave of the cathedral. Their footsteps echoed through the large building, and statues stared down at them. Jack slipped some euros into a collection box.
"I just realized I don't have my handbag," Lara whispered. "I can't give a donation."
"It's all right. We left it at Romatech. We'll get it later."
Father Giuseppe gave them a tour, but his yawns grew longer and more pronounced as time slipped by.
"You're tired, Father," Jack finally told him in Italian. "And I have interrupted your sleep. We can continue on our own, if you like."
"Very well. I'll take you to the campanile."
Father Giuseppe gave him a worried look as they left the church. "She's a nice girl. You must treat her well, my son."
"I will." Jack ushered Lara down the steps.
A cool breeze fluttered her cape, and she pulled it close to her.
The priest stopped in front of the campanile and fumbled through his keys. "Does she know who you are?"
Jack sighed. "She knows my personality and character."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Father Giuseppe unlocked the door, then turned on the lights. He regarded Jack sadly. "You will have to tell her."
Jack swallowed hard. He knew from past experience that telling a woman the truth meant losing her. He couldn't risk going through that kind of pain. "I don't want to lose her."
The priest rested a hand on his shoulder. "You must have faith, Giacomo. Love does not judge, nor will it be unkind." He turned to Lara and made the sign of the cross in front of her. "May God bless you," he spoke in English.
"Thank you, Father," she whispered.
"Grazie." Jack hugged his old friend, then escorted Lara inside the bell tower.
The priest closed the door behind them, and the loud click echoed through the tower.
"He's not locking us in, is he?" Lara whispered.
Jack shrugged. "If he does, I can always teleport us out."
Her eyes narrowed. "You could have just teleported us to the top, right?"
"I could have, but I wanted you to have the full tourist experience." He led her inside the elevator and punched the button for the top floor.
With a lurch, the elevator began its ascent.
She shook her head. "I can't believe I've been talking to a priest with no underwear."
Jack smiled at her. "I'm fairly certain he was wearing underwear."
She scoffed. "So how do you manage to get preferential treatment around here?"
"I told you, I'm practically a saint." He pressed a hand against his heart.
She made a face at him. "You didn't answer my question."
"Very well. The original campanile fell down in 1902. There was no money to rebuild it till 1912 when… my family gave them a very large donation."
The elevator doors opened, and they exited onto the observation floor of the bell tower.
"Come see the view." He motioned toward the open window.
Lara remained in front of the elevator. "Your family gave them a donation in 1912?"
"Yes." Merda. Was she onto him? He lifted a hand toward her. "Come have a look."
"It wasn't your family, was it?" she whispered. "It was you."
His hand dropped by his side. Nine circles of hell He should have known she'd start figuring things out.
Her face grew pale. "I'm right, aren't I? It would be so easy for you to say that I'm wrong, but you can't bring yourself to say it."
His hands balled into fists. "Lara—"
"Just tell me the truth. How old are you?"
He turned to look out the window. Stars twinkled over a sea of red-tiled roofs. His heart raced. How much should he say? "I have come here so many times over the years, but I was always alone." He looked at her. "Till I met you."
She moved toward him. "Can you be honest with me?"
"Lara, I am falling in love with you."
She inhaled sharply. "Oh God." She pressed a hand to her mouth. "But how can we—is there any hope for us?"
"I've been told that when there is love, there is hope." You must have faith, the old man had told him.
Lara's eyes glistened with tears. "I'm afraid you're so much older than me, and so different from me."
"Inside, we are the same."
A cool breeze swept around them and fluttered her hair. She shivered and wrapped the cape around herself. Music drifted up from the piazza. An accordion played, then a baritone voice began to sing.
Jack glanced down. Lorenzo was playing the accordion, and he'd brought one of Venezia's finest singers to the piazza to perform for Lara.
"Oh my God." She peered down from the window. "He's singing Bella Notte. " She looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. "You arranged that for me?"
"Yes." He took her hand. "Will you be my lady, Lara?"
"I want to be."
"Then no power on this earth can stop us." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the passion he'd kept locked up for so many nights.
This was the night—the bella notte when she would become his. He'd wanted to share Venezia with her. There was so little he could share, so little information he could tell her, that this had felt like the only way to get close to her. And the way she was responding gave him more hope than he'd had for almost two hundred years.
She was clinging to him, opening to him, melting against him. He invaded her mouth, and she sucked on his tongue. He smoothed his hands down her back and cupped her rear. When he pulled her against his swollen groin, she moaned.
"Lara." He kissed a path across her cheek and down her neck. She swayed her hips from side to side, rubbing against him.
Santo cielo. She wanted him. His passion escalated into a frantic need. He swept the edges of the velvet cape over her sh
oulders, then he undid the buttons down the front of her dress, stopping at her belt. He pushed the bodice and sweater back only to discover some sort of modern, strapless contraption barring him from heaven.
"It's not glued to you, is it?" He didn't want to rip something off her delicate skin.
Lara smiled and caressed his cheek. "It unhooks in the front. Shall I show you?"
"I can manage." He wrestled with the strange plastic hook, then suddenly, the clasp popped open. He sucked in a breath at the lovely sight. "Paradiso."
She shook her head, smiling and blushing at the same time. "They're just breasts."
"No, love." His eyes met hers, and he smiled. "They're your breasts."
Her blush deepened, and the scent of her sweet, rushing blood ignited his frantic need once more.
"I want you." He unfastened her belt and with vampire speed, he undid the rest of her buttons before the belt hit the floor. He pushed her dress wide open, then gripped her around the waist. Her creamy skin was shaded pink from the red glow of his eyes. He slid his hands up over her ribs, then he cupped her breasts.
"Yes." She arched her back, leaning into him so the pink-tinted mounds filled his hands.
With his thumbs, he circled the plump, rosy nipples. They pebbled before his eyes, and his groin seized up tight. He rubbed the tips of her breasts and felt them harden beneath the pads of his thumbs. His erection grew hard. With a tortured moan, he pinched the tips of her breasts and tugged slightly.
"Oh God." Lara grabbed his shoulders as her knees buckled.
"I've got you." He grasped her bottom and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist.
He pressed her back against the wall and raised her higher so he could feast on her breasts. He shoved her dress aside with his face and latched onto a nipple.
She shuddered in his arms. "Jack." She held his head tight.
He suckled her and nibbled on the hardened tip of her breast. Then a slight dizziness swept over him, making him freeze for a second. The sun. It was approaching the horizon. Merda.
"Jack, please," Lara breathed as she gripped his hair in her fists.
He nuzzled his cheek against her breasts as he fought to remain strong. He had maybe five minutes left before his energy would completely seep away. If he fell into his death-sleep here, the sun would kill him.
He inhaled deeply, and the scent of Lara's arousal stirred him. So rich and heady. Santo cielo, he would make her scream before leaving.
He adjusted his hold on her so he was supporting her with one arm. With his free hand, he burrowed under her skirt.
"Look at me," he whispered as he slid his hand up her bare thigh.
She did. "Your eyes are so red."
"Yours are so blue." He reached the slippery folds, and she gasped.
"Oh God." Her eyes flickered shut.
He stroked her till she was quivering in his arms. He teased her clitoris with feathery strokes, then suddenly tweaked it.
She cried out. Her heels dug into his back. More moisture drenched his fingers, and he moaned. She was so sweet, so responsive.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Cara mia, I love you."
"Oh Jack." She panted, her breath erratic against his cheek.
His death-sleep tugged at him once again. He'd have to teleport very soon. He slipped a finger into Lara's wet vagina, and her inner muscles gripped him greedily. She was so close. His erection pushed painfully against his jeans.
The sun crept closer to the horizon. Sweat broke out on his brow. He inserted two fingers and stroked her slippery inner walls.
"Jack!" Her muscles clenched and she stopped breathing.
All was deathly silent for a moment. Even the serenade from below had stopped. Jack pulled his fingers out and tugged at her clitoris.
With a scream, she shattered. Her body convulsed. Pigeons, scared from their roosts, circled the bell tower with a flurry of beating wings. Jack leaned against the wall, dizzy with weakness as the sky lightened, announcing the imminent arrival of the sun.
With the last of his strength, he teleported them to his room at the townhouse in New York City. He collapsed on the bed with Lara landing beside him.
The alarm blared, set off by them teleporting in. Fortunately, no one was around to hear it, other than him. Phineas would be at Romatech, working. Jack fumbled in his jeans pocket for his keypad, then punched the button to turn off the alarm.
"What… what happened?" Lara whispered.
He breathed deeply as super vampire strength poured back into his body. The night was still young in New York. He had hours now that he could spend making love to Lara.
And that was exactly what he planned to do.
CHAPTER 15
Lara pressed a hand to her brow as she waited for the room to stop spinning. Everything had happened so quickly. She'd had such a huge orgasm, she thought she'd passed out. But now, she realized they'd teleported.
Jack shifted position beside her, causing the bed to jiggle slightly. Bed? She was on her back in a bed. On a black-and-red-striped bedspread.
Jack propped himself up on an elbow and peered down at her. "Are you all right?"
She caught her breath. He'd said that he loved her. "Jack." She touched his cheek.
"Cara mia." With a smile, he skimmed his fingers down her neck, then down between her breasts. "Where were we?"
"Where are we?" She glanced around the room. The black furniture and plain, cream-colored walls looked awfully modern for a palazzo.
He cupped her breast. "My bedroom."
"We…" She shuddered when he teased her nipple. An aftershock from her orgasm shot through her. "Oh God." He was so good. And he'd said that he loved her.
He removed his leather jacket and tossed it on the floor.
"We—we teleported, right?"
"Yes." He stretched out beside her.
"To your bedroom at the palazzo?"
He hesitated, then kissed her brow. "It doesn't matter. We're together, and we have all night."
"I…" She had trouble concentrating when he was nibbling down her neck. "Are we still in Venice?" She felt his sigh against her skin.
"We're in New York."
She frowned. "But I was having a great time in Venice."
"I noticed." He untied the ribbons that fastened the cape around her neck. "You were shuddering in my arms, drenching my hand, and nearly ripping my hair out."
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and another aftershock hummed between her legs. She'd never had an orgasm like that before. She'd screamed so loud, she'd probably afflicted permanent trauma on all the pigeons. But it had been so incredibly romantic. And Jack had said that he loved her. "I loved it there. Why did we leave?"
"We only planned to go for a few hours, remember? We wanted to do more work on the Apollo case."
"We're not exactly working here."
He smiled as he circled a finger around one of her breasts. "I was distracted by the lure of heaven."
She took a deep breath. "Venice was very romantic."
"We can be romantic here." He gave her a hopeful look.
He wanted to make love to her. Lara swallowed hard. It was one thing to get blindsided with his declaration of love in Venice. She'd gotten swept into a whirlwind of passion, and it had been glorious. Unfortunately, another teleportation trip had knocked her back to reality.
She still didn't know jack about Jack.
She'd asked him flat out how old he was, and he had evaded the question. She'd hoped to find out more about him on the date, but he'd managed to tell her nothing—except that he loved her. "I'm feeling a little frustrated."
He glanced at his jeans. "You're not the only one."
"Do you really love me?"
"Yes." He met her gaze, his eyes intense and sincere. "I do love you."
Her eyes blurred with tears. "Why did you take me to Venice?"
"I wanted to share my home with you. I wanted to know if you could love it the way I do."
"Jack." She touched his cheek. "I did love it. I didn't want to leave."
"Then could you see yourself living there? With me?"
She gulped. "That—that's kinda sudden." How could she live with a man she knew so little about? She knew he was sweet and loveable. She knew he had to be human. He felt emotions like a human. He said he loved her. And right now, he looked genuinely worried. She sat up and located her bra squished inside her dress. She refastened it.
Jack sat beside her. "You don't have to go."
"I think I do." She buttoned up her dress. "I seem to have lost my belt."
"I'll call Mario, and he'll have someone collect it. I can return it to you tomorrow night."
"You could teleport back tomorrow night?" When he nodded, she continued, "But you can't go now?"
He looked away. "No."
"That's not making any sense to me."
He remained silent.
Her shoulders drooped. "You're not going to explain, are you?" She blinked back tears. How could he say he loved her, if he didn't trust her? She slid off the bed and retrieved her underwear from his jacket pocket. His ring was still stuck to it.
"Lara, you don't have to go."
He looked so sad, it was breaking her heart. "I–I don't have my handbag."
"I'll bring it to your apartment later."
"I need it now, so I can take a cab home."
Jack sighed. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."
"Okay." Lara perched on the edge of his bed. He vanished in front of her eyes.
"Oh, shit." She collapsed onto his bed and gazed at the ceiling. She was falling in love with him. He had all the wonderful qualities she'd ever wanted in a man. But those additional qualities, those supernatural powers, gave her pause.
She'd been forced to the conclusion that somehow he was genetically different from the average human. Some sort of strange mutation had occurred in the human species that gave some people super powers and incredibly long life spans. And he wasn't alone. There were others like him, and they wanted their existence kept secret. Maybe they were afraid of being misunderstood or exploited. They had a point. If others thought they had discovered the fountain of youth, they would be hunted down for the secret.
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