by Lynsay Sands
“We. . I like that,” she murmured, as her back hit the bed, and he came down on top of her. And then her eyes widened, and she squawked, “Ten?”
“One at a time,” Harper assured her, pulling her upright with him so that he could remove her T-shirt. “Every hundred years or so as law insists.”
He had removed her T-shirt and bra as he spoke and now pushed her back on the bed and shifted down between her ankles to tug her joggers and panties off.
“So you’re going to have me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen every hundred years, are you?” Drina asked with amusement, as he tossed the last of her clothes aside and turned back to survey what he’d revealed.
“Oh no,” Harper assured her. “Barefoot and pregnant in every room but the kitchen. I am the cook in this household.”
“Hmmm.” She raised one foot and caught the hem of his T-shirt with her toes and began to lift it up his chest. “I don’t know. I enjoyed what we did in the kitchen the last time we were here.”
“Well, I am willing to make exceptions,” Harper assured her, helping her to remove his T-shirt, and then pausing as she lowered her foot to his lap and hooked her toes in the waist of his joggers to begin tugging at them. She couldn’t remove them with him sitting, but enjoyed the way he grew under her foot as she rubbed against him with the effort.
“Did I mention you have talented feet?” he asked, his voice a growl.
Drina grinned. “I have many talents.”
“I don’t doubt that for a minute,” he assured her, catching her foot and lifting it to his lips to press a kiss to her toes. Harper set her foot down to one side so that he was between her ankles, and then shifted to his hands and knees to climb forward.
“Not going to take your pants off?” she asked, arching an eyebrow when he settled on top of her.
Harper kissed her until they were both breathless. He then broke the kiss and shifted lower to nuzzle her breasts, murmuring, “If I take them off, I’ll want to plunge myself into you, and I’m determined to make slow love to you this time.”
“Good luck with that,” Drina teased, and then gasped as his mouth closed over a nipple.
Harper swirled his tongue across the nub as he suckled, and then let it slip from his mouth and raised his head to ask, “Do you really love me?”
Drina nodded solemnly. “With all my heart,” she assured him.
He smiled, and finally said it. “I love you too.”
Drina slid her arms around him as he pressed up to kiss her again. When his tongue plunged into her mouth, she moaned and wrapped her legs around him again, pressing her heels into his behind to press him against her. She shifted her pelvis at the same time so that they ground together, his hardness against her soft moist center. Harper groaned and broke their kiss.
“Next time we’ll go slow,” he muttered, pushing his joggers down just enough for his erection to break free.
“Next time,” Drina agreed, and then gasped and clawed at his back as he filled her. They had a long life of next times ahead and she planned to enjoy every one.
For an early Christmas present,
turn the page for a sneak peek
at “The Gift”-
the next delectable vampire romance
from LYNSAY SANDS
Available November 2011
Katricia took her time closing bedroom doors, peering curiously into each room as she went. It was partially out of curiosity and partially to give Teddy some breathing room. She didn’t need to read his mind to know that he wasn’t comfortable with her. She supposed she’d come on too strong too fast, but hadn’t been able to help herself. The very fact that he might be her life mate made her want to test it. She wasn’t hungry yet, but then the only food around was in cans and boxes. There was nothing really to tempt her palate. Which meant the easiest way to know for sure was to kiss Teddy and see if she experienced the shared pleasure she’d heard so much about.
Unfortunately, it was looking like that might be a hard objective to achieve. Teddy didn’t appear to be comfortable with what he thought was their age difference. That seemed obvious to her from the way he’d quickly removed his hat and scarf and then turned, as if presenting some monstrosity to her. This was going to take some patience, which had never been Katricia’s strong suit. She was already struggling with the urge to simply walk out into the kitchen and jump the man’s bones. The only thing stopping her was the worry that she might give the poor guy a heart attack or something. That would be just her luck-kill her life mate with a heart attack before she could woo and turn him.
Grimacing at the thought, Katricia continued checking out the rooms. She found the one with Teddy’s suitcase and smiled faintly, thinking it was the room she would have picked too. It was the last on the left with the window overlooking the driveway, where he could easily look out to see who was approaching should anyone come up the driveway.
It was a good defensive position and his cop instincts were showing in the choice, she thought with a smile, before pulling the door closed and moving back up the hall. Her eyes widened slightly when she found Teddy kneeling by the fireplace, situating a couple of pots at the edge of the fire.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously, moving up behind him to peer over his shoulder, but inching back a bit when she sensed him stiffening.
“Experimenting,” he said gruffly, straightening and stepping around her to get back into the kitchen. “Boiling water to make drip coffee and heating chicken soup. It’s not the usual breakfast fare, I know, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Clever,” Katricia murmured, watching from the fireplace as he walked into the kitchen and began to measure coffee into a filter.
“Hardly clever,” Teddy said with amusement, setting his coffee fixings aside and rifling through the box. “More like desperate. I’m useless without my java.”
“Java?” Katricia asked, warming her hands at the fire.
“Coffee,” he explained, and then said, “Since you’re over there, keep an eye on the soup for me, will you?”
“Sure,” Katricia said, watching him cross to the table to put on his hat and scarf.
“I’m going to go see if I can get my truck door open and the engine started so I can charge my phone,” he explained as he moved to the door. “If I can get the phone hooked up, I can call Marguerite and see if we can’t get the power back on.”
“Marguerite?”
Teddy paused to glance her way in surprise. Probably because she’d barked the word in her surprise, she thought, and grimaced to herself. Clearing her throat, she asked more calmly, “Who’s Marguerite?”
“Marguerite Argeneau, a friend. She arranged for me to rent this cottage. I want to call and find out who I should report the power problem to,” he said slowly, still eyeing her a little oddly. But then he shook his head and turned to walk out into the vestibule to put on his boots. He pulled the door closed behind him and Katricia stared at it, biting her lip.
She had a cell phone. It was in her pocket and had been since she awoke, and yet she hadn’t once thought of using it. . not even to check on her blood delivery. That more than anything told her just how upset she’d been since finding she couldn’t read Teddy.
Muttering under her breath, she pulled out the phone, but then paused and simply stood there listening until Teddy finished donning his boots and stomped out of the cottage.
Katricia then turned to give the soup a quick stir before moving into the kitchen to peer out the window. Spotting Teddy by the door of his pickup fiddling with the lock, she quickly pulled up contacts on her phone and found her aunt’s listing. Marguerite answered on the second ring, her voice cheerful and happy as she said, “Hello Tricia, dear, how is your vacation going?”
“I can’t read Teddy,” Katricia blurted, not bothering with niceties.
“Oh, how lovely!” Marguerite didn’t sound at all surprised. “I hoped the two of you would meet. Isn’t he a handsome man?”
“Yes,” Katricia breathed. Teddy Brunswick was the most beautiful man she’d ever met. Of course she might be biased since she couldn’t read him and suspected he was her life mate. It tended to color things. Still, he was handsome.
“He’s so dignified-looking and such a gentleman. I’ve seen pictures of him when he was younger and I promise you he’ll be even more gorgeous after he’s turned. He-”
“Does he know about us?” Katricia interrupted, zeroing in on what was most important to her. If he knew about them, she could just tell him she couldn’t read him, then jump his bones and find out for sure whether he was her life mate or not.
“Yes, he does, dear. He’s the police chief in Port Henry, a nice little town where your Uncle Victor now lives with his Elvi. Many people know about us there. You can let him know what you are. He won’t be horrified.”
“How much does he know exactly?” Katricia asked. “I mean, does he know about life mates and such?”
Marguerite hesitated briefly, and Katricia was sure she was about to say no, but instead, her aunt said, “Well. . yes, he does know about that, dear. However, it might be a good idea if you don’t blurt out that you can’t read him until he’s gotten a chance to get to know you a little better.”
“What?” Katricia asked with alarm and then almost whined, “But why?”
Marguerite chuckled softly, “I know it’s tempting to just tell him that he’s your life mate and so on right away, but-”
“Is he?” Katricia interrupted eagerly.
“Is he what? Your life mate?” Marguerite asked with surprise. “I thought you said you couldn’t read him?”
“Well, I can’t, but sometimes mortals can’t be read because- ”
“Teddy is very readable,” Marguerite interrupted soothingly. “In fact, you’re the first immortal I’ve heard of who can’t read him. Even Elvi and Mabel are beginning to be able to read him, and they’re still quite new to this business.”
“Oh,” Katricia breathed and bit her lip. “But then why shouldn’t I tell him-”
“He’s mortal, dear,” Marguerite interjected gently. “It might be a little much for him to handle so soon. Maybe just let him get to know you a little better first. You don’t want him jumping in his truck and heading back to Port Henry in a panic.”
“He can’t,” Katricia assured her, and then quickly told her about the tree blocking the road and the power outage.
“Oh dear,” Marguerite breathed when she finished. “I’ll call Lucian and have him send some men to clear the road and-”
“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Katricia said at once, and then explained, “If the road’s cleared he might leave. Besides, right now I’m staying at his cottage and sharing Decker’s food with him. If you clear the road-”
“There won’t be any need for you to both be at his cottage,” Marguerite finished for her with understanding, and then paused briefly before asking, “So you have heat and food?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose there’s no real urgency to clear the road and get the power back on then,” Marguerite murmured. “But call at once if the situation changes and you need things fixed quickly.”
“I will.”
“I’ll call Bastien about the blood delivery though,” Marguerite went on. “They can bring it in by snowmobile. Perhaps they can even arrange for a snowmobile to be brought for the two of you to use. That way you can still share the cottage but also leave to get provisions if you need them, or even just get out for a meal so you don’t get cabin fever.”
“That would be nice,” Katricia said, a smile curving her lips as she imagined Teddy sitting behind her on a snowmobile, his arms wrapped around her as they roared off into town for groceries or dinner. Or even herself on the back holding onto him as he drove them back. In her experience, men tended to prefer to drive and she was willing to share. . especially if it meant getting to ride with her arms around him and her chest pressed to his back and-
Dear God, I’m pathetic, Katricia thought with a shake of the head. “Are you sure I can’t just tell him? He might be all right with it if he knew.”
“He might,” Marguerite agreed uncertainly. “I just think it’s better to err on the side of caution. This life-mate business is such a delicate thing. I’m just suggesting you maybe wait a day or two. Right now you’re a stranger to him, dear.”
“Yeah,” she agreed on a sigh, her gaze moving to Teddy out by the truck.
“I’ll suggest Bastien have the blood courier bring food too,” Marguerite said suddenly. “And more blankets and- It might take a while to get everything together, Katricia. Are you okay for blood if it doesn’t show until tomorrow morning or later?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Katricia said on a sigh. “I can go two or three days without if I have to. Twenty-four hours is nothing.”
“All right then, leave it to me. I’ll take care of everything.”
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