by Virna DePaul
But as exciting as it had been to don her white teddy and handcuff Jake to the bed and drive him crazy with her mouth, she’d quickly grown tired of the game. When he’d talked of forcing her to accept what she really wanted, she’d realized that what she really wanted was quite simple. What she wanted most wasn’t about bondage or kink or games. Sure, that could be fun every once in awhile. But since their future together was uncertain and a mad man was stalking her, what she wanted most was pure, honest emotion and a true connection with a man she desired and cared for.
She wanted to be made love to, and she wanted to make love to Jake.
And he seemed honestly willing and capable of giving her that.
Although the email had scared her, and although the knowledge that he’d chased someone down last night scared her as well, she wasn’t going to dwell on either fact. She was going to take this opportunity to be with Jake while she could, because who knew? When they were done, he might vanish again, this time for good.
The thought of him vanishing again scared her so much that she shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, as if she could keep him from leaving through sheer desire. He laughed and hugged her back. Eased away and tilted her chin up. “Hey. Easy there. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me, Frankie. You’re trembling.”
“I’m just…I’m just looking forward to all the slowness. And tenderness.” She couldn’t help looking away at the last second and she felt his gaze on her. He knew she was still lying. He was going to push. Question her about—
She gasped when he bent and placed a gentle kiss behind her ear.
“I haven’t forgotten. Tenderly,” he said as he pushed her breasts together. “And slowly,” he chanted as he moved from one nipple to the other, alternately kissing them with closed lips and sucking them with a firm, steady pressure.
Sighing, she buried her fingers in his hair, stroking the silky strands.
Slowly and tenderly, he moved down her body, kissing each of her ribs, then languidly licking her belly button until she grew ticklish and laughed.
Slowly and tenderly, he planted a kiss on her inner thighs, and then on each of her knees, before settling himself between them and placing her legs over his shoulders.
Slowly and tenderly, he licked her, spearing his tongue against her clit and inside her hot core while he looked up at her. Occasionally, he paused to call her “beautiful” or “sweet” or “darling.” But she discovered “precious” was her favorite endearment.
“You’re precious,” he crooned. “So precious to me, darling.”
He made her feel precious.
And even though he never said he loved her, she realized that’s what he was doing—he was making love to her, just like she’d asked. She felt it in the way he held and kissed her. She saw it in the way he looked at her. And she heard it in the ragged groan that escaped him when he buried his shaft deep and snugly inside her.
She responded in kind. She loved him with her body, her mouth, and her eyes. She willed him to read her thoughts and feel the love inside her.
But she couldn’t say the words. Because he hadn’t said them and because it was far too early for such declarations and because he was a vampire who was going to live forever and had probably loved so, so many different women during his lifetime.
But she loved him nonetheless.
When her body found release, shaking from the force and intensity of the pleasure he’d given her, he slowly and tenderly told her that he wasn’t done.
And then he started all over again.
***
They made it back to the ballroom just as the initial VIP guests were arriving.
“Stay close to the governor,” Jake said. “I have to see to some things and I need to know you’re safe.”
“I will,” she promised.
With a quick nod, he turned and took several steps away from her. Abruptly, he stopped, turned, strode back to her, then pulled her up for a quick kiss. It left her stunned and breathless, but she was smiling when he walked away, heading to the area where security was checking people in.
Smoothing her hair back and trying to calm her thudding heart, Frankie scanned the room. She groaned at seeing the governor talking to Thad Morris.
The last thing she wanted was to chit-chat with Morris again, but she didn’t want Jake to worry, either. Taking a deep breath, she headed across the room. She froze when she heard shouts behind her.
“Stop him!”
“Bitch! Wasting taxpayers’ money on crap like green fuel!”
“Restrain the other one—“
“Sir, get back here—”
“Frankie, move!”
That last shout sounded like Jake. Frankie whirled around just in time to see a linebacker of a man rushing toward her. He was huge, almost as wide as he was tall—or at least that’s what he looked like to her panicking mind—with a shaved head, wrinkled clothes, and a maniacal gleam in his eyes.
He was almost on her, his hands reaching out, so close she could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Jake!”
Turning slightly as if that would prevent the man from barreling into her, she waited for an impact that never came. The floor beneath her feet shook, and she glanced down. The bald man was lying face-first on the ground, his arms wrenched behind his back. He groaned when Jake yanked them up even higher and pressed his knee into the man’s back, but his gaze was on Frankie.
“Are you okay?” he barked. “Did he hurt you? Touch you?”
Frankie shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
Dylan reached Jake’s side and, obviously having acquired another set of cuffs, restrained her would-be attacker. “Take him in,” Jake said, then immediately rose and rushed to Frankie. He took her in his arms.
“I think I lost a hundred years of life when I saw him going for you.”
“Who is he? How did he get past security?”
“There were two of them. Said they were part of the governor’s ‘ordinary citizens’ table. Dylan questioned his friend’s background check, and this one made a run for it.”
“Are they…”
He nodded, his expression turning even grimmer. “They’re vampires, but neither are part of the group I fought last night. Plus, they’re both wasted, which slowed them down. I need to question him. Find out if he was hired by the same person who hired the others.”
“You need to leave? Now?” She tried to keep the tremor of fear from her voice but didn’t quite succeed. She wanted to stay with him. She didn’t think she’d ever feel safe outside his arms again. But he had a job to do.
He rubbed her arms and stared at her. Then he frowned. Then he turned to Dylan. “Dylan, I want you to take the lead on the interrogation. I’ll check in with you by phone in the morning.”
Dylan nodded. “Got it. I’ll talk to you then.” After roughly jerking the bald man to his feet, Dylan led him away. Over his shoulder, the man yelled, “He’s not through with you. If it’s not me, he’ll send someone else after you, Frankie. You owe him. You owe him!”
Frankie took a step toward him. “Who? Who do I owe?”
But the man was gone and Jake’s hand on her shoulder kept her from going after him. She chewed her lip, torn between vulnerability and practicality. “It’s okay,” she told him. “If you need to go right now and talk to him, I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head. “No. You need me and, when you need me Frankie, I’ll always be here for you. Dylan’s a good cop. He figured out something was fishy with the background checks. He’ll start the investigation and then I can jump in. Right now, let’s get you out of here.”
“But the gala—“
The governor, surrounded by his bodyguards, walked up to them. “It’s okay. You two get out of here. Take the day off tomorrow, Frankie. We’ll be fine here.”
Jake shook his hand. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll talk to my men, but Tony will be in charge. I’ll make sure Frankie gets
home safe and stays that way.”
The governor smiled. “Yes. You do that, Jake. And take as much time as you need.”
CHAPTER 10
Jake drove Frankie home, stripped them both, then held her in his arms while he smoothed her hair and showered her with kisses. Although she tried to initiate more, he shushed her and said, “Just let me take care of you. Rest, baby. I’ll tire you out later, I promise.”
Feeling so safe and warm, Frankie immediately started to drift to sleep, but she forced her eyes open to ask, “Do you—do you think it was a vampire who saved me from Ryan and the others?”
He caressed her face with his knuckles. This time, she didn’t even flinch when he touched her scar. “Yes, I do. It makes sense, especially because two sets of vampires have come after you in such a short time period. Whoever he is, though, he must know who I am, and as such he knows you’re going to be well protected. If he tries something again, we’ll be ready.”
“But why would he save me, only to try and hurt me now?”
“I don’t know, baby. I’m not entirely sure he’s trying to hurt you. His message didn’t threaten you with physical harm, remember? And the vampire who came after you tonight? He was drunk. Vampires don’t have a high tolerance for alcohol. Who knows if he even knew what he was saying or doing.”
“Do you—do you think Ryan was a vampire?”
It was a question she’d been dreading asking, but she could see he wasn’t surprised by it. “I don’t know. There’s a chance if he wasn’t before he kidnapped you, that he was afterwards. Now hush. Sleep. We’ll figure things out. I promise.”
His promise was all the assurance she needed.
When she woke, she was still wrapped in his arms, but he was on the phone with Dylan. She listened to him finish his conversation while stroking her palms across his chest. When he hung up, he kissed her mouth, then both of her palms.
“How about we put these hands to better use?” he teased, trying to draw her hands down toward his straining erection.
She shook her head and pulled away. “Tell me what Dylan said first.”
Jake groaned and rolled her underneath him so quickly she laughed. “I need more kissing first,” he demanded.
Lowering his head, he ate at her mouth, using his tongue and teeth and lips until she’d almost forgotten why he wasn’t trying to get inside her. Almost. “Hey, not fair.” She moved her mouth from side to side, evading his kisses. “Tell me what Dylan said.”
In a cunning move, he swooped in for one last smacking kiss, then he sat up and faced her. “Okay, so here’s what we know so far. Nothing. The vampires who tried to get into the governor’s gala are Michael Bishop and Andy Stall. They don’t have a criminal record and they’ve denied trying to kidnap or hurt you. Since they were intoxicated and unable to fight off another vampire’s probings the way they normally would, my men tried mind control on them. They couldn’t access their thoughts or control their actions, which means there’s a very powerful vampire who’s put a lock on their minds.”
“But the one man…he said I owed someone something. That proves he’s working for the same person who sent me that email.”
“I believe so, but he says it was just drunken blathering and that he doesn’t remember even saying it anyway.”
“So that’s it?”
“For now. Dylan’s called in someone who’s particularly good at unlocking minds. She’ll arrive in a couple of hours.”
“She? So there are female vampires?”
“A few. But no one as intoxicatingly beautiful as you.”
She snorted. “Right.”
He faked a wounded look. “You don’t believe me? Then I obviously haven’t done my job. So…”
Slowly, he lowered his face and placed a gentle kiss on each of her eyebrows, her nose, and then her chin.
“So…” she urged as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“So how about I give slow and tender another try? I’m not sure I got it quite right the first time. Or the second… Or the third…”
She laughed and pulled him into her arms, forcing away her worries about IOUs and who might or might not want to hurt her. When she pulled back to look at him, she gasped. His eyes were blazing with emotion.
“I love you, Francesca Marie Stewart.”
Her lips trembled and she smiled, amazed at how her entire world had changed in such a short amount of time. “I—I love you, too,” she said.
“Enough to be mine forever?”
She blinked, immediately understanding his choice of words was deliberate. “Is that possible? Eternity? Can you make me…”
“Yes, I can. You’ll turn once we bond. If you—if you grant me that honor.”
Bond. It sounded perfect. “Will it hurt?”
He smiled. “Not at all. In fact, I’ve heard if you take what we’ve experienced in bed together and double it, that just might equal a portion of the pleasure we’ll taste during the bonding ceremony.”
“No way,” she breathed.
“Way.” His smile dimmed. “But being a vampire isn’t always easy. Right now, we have to stay hidden. There are those who try to destroy us. Vampires have been persecuted for centuries. I’m trying hard to change that, but…”
She tucked her knees under herself and bounced on the bed. “That’s what your request is, isn’t it? Why you approached the governor in the first place? You’re trying to find an advocate who’ll help?”
“That’s right.”
“I have connections as well, you know. Powerful connections. And my father left me lots of money. If it’ll help…”
“Thank you, Francesca, but no. This isn’t about money or what you can do to advance my cause. I want you because my heart and soul need you. You’re my true mate. The one I’ll love for eternity. The one who’ll keep me strong so I can do what I need to do, and be happy doing it.”
“Sounds like the best job I’ll ever have. Because I love you so much, Jake, and I always will.”
“You’ve saved me, Frankie. You’ve made life worth living. Whatever we face in the future, we’ll face together.”
“So long as we spend lots of time together—in bed and out—I’ll be happy.”
EPILOGUE
Francesca Marie Stewart and Jacob La Costa Rios formally bonded together in a ceremony that vamps across the nation lauded as one-of-a-kind. Although Jake refused to let anyone witness their physical bonding, he and Frankie opened up their spacious new home the next day to vampires Jake loved and trusted.
The rumor was that Frankie had worn a form fitting, red silk, vintage Chanel suit that made her fiery tresses shine like flames and that, even though she’d worn her hair down, she’d secured one side with a ruby encrusted comb so that her scar, as well as the bite marks on her neck, were displayed for all to see. Female vampires everywhere sighed, recounting the way Jake had often paused whatever he was doing to kiss his bride on the lips, as well as on her marred cheek and marked throat.
Regretting the need to leave out others, Jake circulated an announcement to the rest of the vampire community. In it, he apologized for having to limit the affair, but explained that threats had been made against Frankie and that, of course, his top priority was keeping her safe. In the circulation, he vowed to continue his efforts to advocate for vampire integration and challenged any individual, vampire or human, to try and stop him.
“Challenge accepted, Mr. Rios,” Ronald Lassiter murmured.
He’d held back, when clearly he needed to be more aggressive. For now, he’d let Frankie and Jake bask in their recently wedded bliss. Instead, he’d concentrate on the female who was attempting to break the minds of the two buffoons he’d hired to scope out the governor’s gala.
He knew Jake had to suspect a vampire had helped Frankie escape her kidnappers so long ago.
Would he figure out that Chelsea Morgan, the female vampire brought in to help him with his investigation, was none other than that very same vampire�
��s daughter?
Time would tell.
THE END
To read more about whether Jake’s hopes for vampire integration come to fruition, read the next installment in the Beyond Human Novellas, coming soon.
To Pre-Order Virna DePaul’s debut single-title, Chosen By Blood, go to www.Amazon.com or http://www.barnesandnoble.com. Please read an excerpt below.
If you like sexy contemporary romance, check out This Magic Moment by Virna DePaul. Thank you for your support!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Virna DePaul was an English major in college and—despite a passion for Shakespeare, Broadway musicals, and romance novels—somehow ended up with a law degree. For ten years, she was a criminal prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office. Now, she’s thrilled to be writing stories about complex individuals (fully human or not) who are willing to overcome incredible odds for love. She lives with her family in Northern California. She loves to hear from readers. Visit her at http://www.virnadepaul.com.