“I’ve grown rather fond of it.”
“The bed or the fella?”
“I’ll just say yes and hope that clarifies things.”
“Mmm.” He mused. “Pity. You’ll have to give it up, I’m afraid. The bed, that is. The fella’s here to stay.” Gabriel smirked and raised his arm, and then she was lying against his chest, his hand wrapped around her waist. The world felt open and new then. A thousand possibilities unfolded as soon as their feet touched the floor.
Jael wouldn’t pretend she hadn’t entertained this particular fantasy, but she had never expected it to become reality. On occasion, she would visit the vamp forums online, though most of the active participants were nothing more than human Goths who didn’t know the creatures they idolized existed outside their own strange fetishes. Every now and then, however, Jael stumbled across a posted topic that held actual substance, but none of them inspired confidence.
The one thing she knew for certain was they would have to stay on the move. The Order had ways of locating those vampires who dared dissent. How was anyone’s guess.
“What happens now?”
Gabriel met her eyes, his fingers stroking her skin. “I’m not sure,” he said. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“No,” she replied honestly. “God no.”
“I’d understand if you did. I just… I meant what I said, Jael. I couldn’t face an eternity of being miserable, even if it means our time together is cut short.” He pressed his lips to her brow, trembling. “Living like this has all but broken me.”
The notion startled her so much she nearly laughed. Everything about the night, starting with Gabriel’s urgency at the pub to the desperate frenzy of their lovemaking to the wonder of lying in his arms, felt surreal, almost impossible. She’d spent three centuries living and thinking something he’d effectively proven wasn’t true, and the effect had her bubbling with nervous energy that kept wanting to manifest in hysterical giggles.
But Jael didn’t giggle. Instead, she smiled and dropped a soft kiss across his lips. “I’m only living for one night as it is.”
“There hasn’t been anyone else, then?”
“No.” She swallowed. “I tried once. It was such a long time ago, I don’t remember when. You and I had parted ways that December, and you’d gotten angry with me—”
Gabriel’s eyes fluttered shut. “I remember this.”
“Because I spent most of the night crying.”
“It killed me watching you cry.”
“Well, that hadn’t been a very good year, if memory serves.” She pursed her lips. “None of them were.”
Gabriel reached up and brushed a lock of hair from her face. “I screamed at you,” he said softly, his voice distorted with shame. “You kept crying and I didn’t know what to do… I just needed you to stop.”
She nodded. “I tried after that. To be with someone else. The thought of facing you again, even with a year between us… I couldn’t stomach it. But when I tried to get close to another man, my gut ached, and I saw you and I couldn’t do it.” She released a trembling sigh and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s always been you, Gabe. Ever since I can remember.”
“Fuck me if I know why.”
“Like you have to ask.”
“If I’d been a little braver over the years, I mighta—”
“Claimed me sooner?”
Gabriel trembled. “I was convinced living was better than dying, no matter the condition. As long as I could see the finish line, with you at the end of the tunnel, I believed anything was worth it.”
Jael licked her lips. “What changed? You were different tonight.”
“I was?”
“You usually like to…I don’t know, pretend you’re picking up a stranger. Pretend I’m someone else.”
He looked horrified. “No, sweetling. God, no. I can’t pretend you’re someone else. I could never.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” she replied sincerely. “I know it’s just—”
“No, you have it wrong. You always have to be you. Always.” Gabriel sighed raggedly. “I’m the one I see as someone else.”
“You?”
“Anyone else. Someone who could stay with you through the night and kiss you when we wake up. Tonight, I couldn’t do that.” He looked away. “I don’t know why. I just couldn’t. And when I thought about what was supposed to happen tomorrow—”
“I understand.”
Gabriel nodded. “You were always meant to be mine. Always. From the moment I saw you. And I couldn’t go through eternity pretending otherwise anymore.”
“Do you think we have a chance? Do you think we really can—”
“Yes.”
Jael smiled softly, though she didn’t know whether he was speaking truthfully or doing his best to placate her concerns. She didn’t care either way. While dread for the morning remained, while she knew that they would have little time to rest, the monotony of every day had split with the words they shared. At last, after living so long, she finally felt alive.
“Where do you want to go?” Gabriel murmured.
“I don’t care so long as we’re together.”
“We’ll have to run every few days, understand.”
“I know.”
“You’ll get tired of it.”
Jael shook her head. “I’ve stood still too long.”
“Yes, but this’ll be every other day.”
“That’s fine. I don’t care.” And she really didn’t. For what lay ahead was worth the joy of knowing her future wouldn’t be walked alone. “I do think we should establish a few rules.”
Gabriel arched a brow. “Rules?”
“Like…not staying at the same place twice in one year.”
“Seems fair.”
“And not staying at the same place within a place. If we’re in New Orleans, we can’t stay at the same B&B or whatever next time we decide to go.”
He nodded.
“If we hear something fishy, we run. If we feel something’s off, we run.”
“Even if we’re approaching a particularly crucial moment?”
Jael looked at him askance and he just smiled devilishly.
“We’ve got a lot of time to make up for, you and I,” Gabriel continued. “I want to explore you like I never have before.”
She warmed all over. “This might’ve been a mistake. We could realize we were all wrong for each other.”
“Somehow, I doubt it.”
He shot her a grin, his hand slipping over her thigh, a look she knew well—one she had memorized over three hundred years ago—darkening his eyes. At once, her nipples ached and her pussy throbbed, a fresh surge of arousal tingling through her body.
“We, uh, better get moving now,” Jael said.
“Now?”
“Yes. As much of a head start as we can manage.”
Gabriel nodded. “So we’re enacting the rules now?”
“Yes.”
“This is really happening, isn’t it?”
A rush of ecstasy bubbled her insides. “Yes. It’s happening.”
“Tell me again. Just once more before we leave. Tell me you love me.”
“I love you.” The words fell effortlessly off her lips. She’d held them in so long. She’d ached at their truth every day until now, and though tomorrow loomed with uncertainty, she had the moment, and the moment was what mattered.
Gabriel smiled as though she’d given him the world, and before she could stop him, his lips were on hers. And God, she melted on the spot. She moaned and whimpered and threw her arms around his neck. This was a bad start. This was a very bad start. Gabriel was kissing her. She lived for his kisses but she knew where they led, and the result would get them nowhere near the door.
“Unh…”
Before she could blink, he’d rolled her beneath him, his cock teasing her sopping flesh as his mouth worshipped hers.
“You’re breaking the rules,” s
he complained halfheartedly once their lips parted. Gabriel showered her face with kisses, sliding his hand between them to caress her clit. “This is breaking the rules.”
“Rules don’t begin until tomorrow,” he replied. “Lemme have you one more time before we run?”
“Oh…”
“Just once more before it’s against the rules.”
She knew she should say no. She knew it. She knew she should push him off her and send him packing for being so presumptuous. But he was dotting kisses onto her skin, his fingers were massaging her clit, and the head of his cock was pressing into her slit. And damned if she didn’t want one more time.
“Please, Jael.” Gabriel’s head dipped and he licked sensually at her neck. “One more time?”
“Yes,” she agreed breathlessly, a moan tearing through her lips as he sank inside her. “Oh yes.”
Just once more. Once more.
Daylight would keep the Order away. Until then, they had the night.
~The End~
About Rosalie Stanton
A lifelong enthusiast of larger-than-life characters, Rosalie Stanton’s muse is fueled by alpha males, from badass bikers to scruffy-looking Nerf herders, and the intelligent, strong and independent women who actually do the driving. She loves interweaving the lives of people who appear to be polar opposites and delving beneath the surface to see how well one actually complements the other.
Rosalie lives in Missouri with her husband. Writing is her first creative love, but she also enjoys working with other authors and has a variety of critique partners, and likewise works as an editor. At an early age, she discovered a talent for creating worlds into which she could escape. Over the years, her vivid imagination evolved into a love of words and storytelling. Rosalie graduated with a degree in English and is now a multi-published author. Neither writing nor editing pays the bills, but thankfully her day-job employers understand where her true passion lies. When her attention is not engaged by writing or editing, she enjoys spending time with close friends and family.
Rosalie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Midnight Solace
ISBN 9781419938252
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Midnight Solace Copyright © 2013 Rosalie Stanton
Edited by Jillian Bell
Cover design by Syneca
Cover photography by GerMan1/istockphoto.com
Electronic book publication December 2013
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