Julie wrapped her arms around the thick forearms holding her and settled against Nicholai. “I don’t know where you came from, but I don’t care. You’re here.”
“You needed me,” Nicholai replied simply and squeezed a little tighter. “Am I holding you too tight?”
“Never.” She breathed. “It’s hard to breathe, but it makes me feel alive, cared for.”
Penny’s steps faltered when she emerged from the bathroom and discovered Nicholai behind Julie.
“How did you get here?” Penny crossed the room and handed Julie a glass of water.
Nicholai had been fortunate that no one had seen him materialize in the room. He didn’t wish to explain how he had gotten there to Penny.
“What happened here? Are either of you hurt?”
He moved beside Julie, so he could assess her for injuries. His gaze raked her body with a demanding intensity until he felt satisfied she was uninjured.
“We’re fine,” she offered in a small voice.
“What happened?” he repeated, turning his attention to Penny. “Who did this?”
Penny knelt down on the other side of Julie. “That’s what we’d like to know. We came back from shopping and found this mess.”
Nicholai stabbed her with a glare. Concern for his heartmate furrowed his dark brows. “So someone did this while you were out?”
“Yes,” answered Julie.
“And when you got back, you didn’t see anyone?”
“That’s right,” confirmed Penny.
Nicholai pulled his heartmate to his chest in a desperate hug as he realized he might have lost her. The thought of what might have happened if the women had walked in on the person who had done this to Julie’s room sickened him. His heart threatened to beat out of his chest.
He put Julie away from him to look down onto her sweet face. “You will come and stay with me now.” The decisive tone in Nicholai’s voice brooked no argument.
Julie nodded her head insistently, despite it had been a statement rather than a question.
“I’ll pack our things,” offered Penny, standing.
“No,” Nicholai said a little more forcefully than he had intended. “I will send someone for your things. I want to get you to my home now. I don’t want to wait a second longer in case the person decides to come back.”
With the statement, Juliette’s face took on the pallor of fresh snow and contorted in anguish. Nicholai’s heart broke at the sight. He scooped her into his arms. His bulging biceps barely registered the weight. Julie wrapped her arms about his neck and looked over his broad shoulder, saying good riddance to the room as they strolled to the stairs.
Following them, Penny asked, “What about the police? We need to make a report.”
Nicholai nodded. “I will see to that and take care of things with the innkeeper as well before we leave. For now, I want Julie away from this mess.”
As the trio exited the room, Nicholai realized he didn’t have his car. “After we wrap things up with the police and inn, I’ll arrange for a cab to take us to my house.”
Penny cast a questioning glance his way. “Didn’t you drive here?”
Coming up with no plausible way to deflect the question, Nicholai turned the power of his gaze on both women, then said, “You find it reasonable that I did not drive here. You will not question the need to take a taxi to my home.”
Nicholai released them. Guilt pushed in for manipulating their minds, but this wasn’t the first time he’d resorted to mind control to keep the existence of vampires a secret, and it wouldn’t be the last.
****
Julie sat before the beveled mirror on the Queen Anne style vanity in her bedroom. The room was a winter wonderland of cream, white, and celadon. The colors were used interchangeably in the romantic bedroom, anchored by a custom sleigh bed. Julie had been surprised to find freshly cut white roses placed beside the bed and her toiletries settled comfortably in the bath. Like everything else Nicholai did, he’d thoughtfully arranged to have her things brought to his home and placed in her room.
It felt strange to have someone make her comfort a priority, to have someone who considered her needs and met them before she even considered them herself. She wasn’t used to being cared for. Truth be told, she found it a relief after such a stressful night. She brushed her fingers through her hair as she pondered the evening.
When the three of them had arrived at Nicholai’s home, he insisted on them staying together so the trio retired to his drawing room. After he lit a fire in the ornately carved stone fireplace, Nicholai poured them all a stiff drink from the bar and told them how he’d contacted an acquaintance at the police station after talking things over with the innkeeper. While he assured them that the matter would be investigated and the police would let them know if they found anything, Penny had chosen one of the wingback chairs for herself while Julie rested on the adjoining couch. After handing the ladies their drinks, Nicholai had, of course, joined her on the couch. Julie rubbed over the spot on her leg where the warmth of his thigh pressing against hers still lingered.
After a few drinks, Julie had relaxed enough to notice the way the fire cast dancing shadows around the room, causing the gold inlay that graced the moldings and wall sconces to gleam. The room, painted a salmon color, matched the upholstery on the chairs. Only someone as confident in his manliness as Nicholai could pull off such decor. In his home, it did not appear girly but, instead, regal and courtly.
Nicholai had kept the women engaged throughout the evening, obviously trying to keep their thoughts in the present and away from the terrifying scene at the inn. It worked. Julie gave her reflection a smile, remembering how relaxed she’d felt sitting there tucked securely under Nicholai’s arm. Yes, Nicholai had done his best to keep them occupied all evening, which was probably how he had had time to arrange for her things to be brought to her room unbeknownst to her.
After they’d seen Penny to her room upstairs, Nicholai had escorted her to this beautiful boudoir. As they approached the winter wonderland, he mentioned that his room was next door. He had wanted to be sure she knew he’d be near in case she needed him. Clearly, Nicholai cared a great deal for her.
Julie took the brush from the table and ran it gently through her hair. She had always found the bristles of the brush pulling through the strands soothing. It gave her a sense of normalcy.
A knock on the door drew her attention. “Come in,” she called.
Nicholai stepped through the door, leaving it open behind him. He still wore blue jeans and a gray sweater. The gray brought out the amber in his whiskey eyes, making them glow like the flames that had reflected in her bourbon earlier.
“Before you retired, I wanted to be sure you were finding everything okay.”
Julie placed the brush on the vanity. “Everything’s perfect. I have no idea how you got all my stuff here.”
Nicholai’s sexy smile took his face, and a rush of heat surged through her body.
“What can I say, I am full of surprises.”
Nicholai took the brush and glided it with care through her silken strands. A contented sigh slipped from between her parted lips. He placed the brush back on the table and massaged her scalp. She melted under his ministrations. Each time his firm fingers pushed against her skin, desire coursed through her body. She leaned on the tiny stool upon which she sat until her back rested against Nicholai’s stomach.
His hands traveled down to her neck. The pads of his fingers worked the knots from her nape, easing the tension from her body with each knead until her head lolled on her shoulders and her eyes drooped heavily.
Nicholai met her gaze in the beveled mirror and reluctantly pulled his hands from her shoulders. “You look tired. You should get some rest.”
“You don’t have to go.” Julie straightened. “I’m not that tired.”
She tried to hide the yawn that took her face behind her hand.
“Your body is betraying you, lastochka. You bet
ter get some rest.”
“But I don’t want to sleep. I’m afraid I’ll have nightmares.”
Nicholai squeezed both her shoulders. “It will be all right. I will be right next door should you need me. Call to me, and I’ll come running.”
By the serious tone of his voice she believed he meant every word. It made her feel safe and protected. “Well, all right then. Good night, Nicholai.”
Nicholai gave her a lingering kiss. “Good night, my Juliette. Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
****
As still as the night itself, Nicholai listened to the sweet sounds coming from the room next door. The whisper of silk brushing skin indicated Juliette donned her nightgown. The images in his mind made him want to rush through her door and take her into his arms.
While he brushed her hair, she’d looked so sinful, like a sensual goddess waiting for her lover. Her lips half opened, her honey eyes barely visible from under her long, dark lashes. And when he’d scented her arousal, well…only her fatigue had given the protective male within the fortitude to leave for the night.
With a heavy sigh, he crossed the room and laid his hand against the wall. His heartmate lay beyond that wall, the heartmate he’d waited centuries for. Unfortunately, she would need time to accept all that being a heartmate entailed. But what was time to one such as him?
Touching her created a need in him, a longing for both her body and the life-giving essence within. Her heartbeat pounded in his ears, drawing him. Julie’s unique lilac scent perfumed the air. He stood motionless, dared not move for the siren call of her blood begged him to take what belonged to him. Nicholai summoned all his self-control and laid his forehead against the wall beside the hand that longed to touch the creamy soft skin of the woman next door.
The time will come soon when she will be entirely mine, he reassured himself. Body, mind, and soul. The thought brought a smile to his lips and gave him the courage he needed to move. Pushing away from the wall, he realized he would be able to wait for her, give her as long as she needed. He could allow her to be so close without being in the same room, holding her as she slept, for soon she would be his, forever.
In the meantime, I can always visit her dreams. In sleep, he could hold her, love her as he longed to do. In dreams, she didn’t hide from her feelings, did not hold back from him. In the dream world, she was his, eager for his kiss, his touch. Though it might be a little deceitful, he could no more resist diving into her dreams than he could resist the need to quench his bestial thirst. If he could not have her in the flesh, he would settle for having her in the world where all sorts of interesting things were possible.
The thought brought a wicked grin to his face.
Chapter 29
Juliette looked down at the pretty curly-haired brunette who reached her small arms up toward her mother with a sweet smile on her face. She scooped the two-year-old into her arms and placed the girl squarely on her hip. The pair twirled around the living room to the soft music that played on the stereo. They danced to the little girl’s giggles, the sound bringing her identical twin into the room to see what caused such pleasure.
“Mommy, Mommy, me, too,” the little girl said, holding her arms out to the twirling pair.
Julie put her bundle of joy down beside her sister. The trio joined hands and formed a circle of delight. As they spun in time to the music, the sound of childish giggles rang out in stereo, warming her heart. Her face was not nearly large enough to accommodate the broad smile that spread across her lips at the sight of her girls. The trio twirled around the room again and again until dizziness overtook them and they collapsed, laughing when they fell to the carpeted floor.
The girls crawled on top of their mommy, putting their heads on her belly. Each laugh from their mother sent a ripple through their tiny bodies. They giggled harder. Hearing them laugh made Julie chuckle, and her laugh made the girls chortle. A continuous cycle of blissful amusement flowed as the trio lay together on the plush carpeting. The contented mother closed her eyes and savored the moment.
Suddenly the merry scene morphed in a swirl of colors and sounds until Julie found herself alone. Moisture soaked through her clothes. Cold, damp wetness on her back snapped her eyes open. She patted her stomach, searching for the soft locks of hair. Finding only her own clothing, she patted the floor in search of her lost children. But instead of thick carpet her hands found dew-covered grass.
Her babies were gone! Julie’s stomach twisted. The knot brought bile to her throat. She pushed herself onto her hands and knees and turned to discover a double tombstone. Tears burned her eyes and blurred the names. She didn’t have to read the names to know who lay buried beneath the double hearts and carved angels.
She knelt on the graves of her daughters.
No, she didn’t need to read the tombstone to know what was written there. The etched carvings were forever imprinted into her mind. It contained the names, birth dates, and date of death for each girl. Written across both hearts, a quote from Thomas Campbell read, “To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
Juliette took the quote to heart. The only way she had been able to drag herself out of bed after the death of her family was to believe that they weren’t truly gone as long as she held love for them in her heart.
Sobs wrenched from her body, the grief of losing her children taking her as keenly as the day it happened. Her despair weakened her, and she collapsed onto the moist ground. Julie pulled the grass out by its roots with the violence of her grief and anger. The pain still fresh, sorrow closed in, ripped her heart in two.
They had been taken from her at far too young an age. It wasn’t fair. Her girls had not had a chance to live their lives. There would be no proms, no weddings for them. They were wonderful children, so well-behaved and loving. They deserved to know the happiness of having their own daughters one day. But fate had had other plans. No, not fate…evil.
A feral scream escaped her throat.
Pure evil had taken her daughters from her. Evil ripped her precious children from her loving arms. That hideous evil had destroyed all their lives in an instant.
She pounded at the ground. The dampness permeated her clothes, soaked into her skin. It was so cold, deathly cold, and it sent a shiver down her spine, but in her anguish she didn’t care. She fisted the grass and tore it from the ground in a vain attempt to get to her children buried beneath.
Julie awoke, sobbing in an empty bed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and soaked the linens. She rolled onto her side and hugged the wet pillow to her body, wishing it was her children.
****
As Nicholai paced his room, Julie’s grief called him. He materialized instantly in her bed and gathered her into his strong arms.
The realization that he had suddenly appeared did not seem to penetrate Julie’s intense misery. Lost in her sorrow, she did not spare a second to consider how he appeared abruptly there with her. Her arms flew around his waist and her fingers grabbed onto him tight.
He stroked one hand down the back of her brunette mane. The soft strands wove between his fingers. A dreadful keening sound of hurt and despair unlike anything he had ever heard burst through her lips. It tore into him like a hundred knives, disemboweling his soul. He clasped her tighter to his chest, cradling her head in his hand. Hot tears rolled down his bare chest while he gently rocked them back and forth on the bed.
“It’s okay, Juliette. Shhhh. I’ve got you,” he whispered against the top of her head.
Julie did not respond.
“Please don’t cry, lastochka. My heart cannot take it. Please tell me what is wrong,” he pleaded softly.
When she tried, grief constricted her throat and took her voice from her. She mustered a weak, hitching sound as she lay boneless in his arms, allowing him to take her weight when sobs continued to rack her body.
The need to protect and sooth overwhelmed Nicholai. He must ease her pain. The Alpha, used to being in control on the field of b
attle, felt incompetent with his heartmate weeping in his arms. It broke his heart to see her crying. In that moment, he would do anything to ease her torment.
He pushed into her mind and discovered what she could not voice. He easily found her memory of the dream and watched it from beginning to end. Nicholai closed his own eyes against the tears that threatened to spill.
His Juliette had been through so much, and her grief was still as painful this night as it had been that dreadful night so many years ago. The power of it threatened to consume her, consume them both. Being in her mind, connected as they were, her grief was his own. But he’d willingly bear the full force of the anguish if it would ease her suffering.
He fought down the tears that burned his eyes, knowing his strength would see her through this. He must be strong enough for both of them.
Nicholai took her chin in his hand and lifted her face toward his. He waited for her to look into his eyes from under her wet lashes before he spoke. “Shhh. It will be okay, my love. Please do not cry. You are breaking my heart.”
In an attempt to kiss away her pain, he gently kissed her tears as they fell on one cheek, then the other. Julie’s body responded to its mate instantaneously. Her mind reached for his of its own volition, demanding a distraction, a respite from the grief.
In the next minute, it didn’t matter who or where they were. This moment was about chemistry, wanting, spellbinding, ravenous needs that had yearned for this connection for far too long. The moment in which fate insisted they fulfill their destiny.
Chapter 30
Juliette’s fingers slid around his neck and into the soft, obsidian hair that framed Nicholai’s face. She couldn’t help herself. In her dreams, he satisfied her sensual hunger like no other, and that was exactly what she needed tonight. She needed a connection to the real man. She craved him, needed the reality of their bodies joining.
She needed the reality of him.
Julie closed her eyes, savored the touch of his soft lips on her face. She lost herself in the sensation, became only feeling, freeing herself. Her body overtook her mind. The sensuous feel of Nicholai pressed against her blissfully pushed away all thoughts.
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