by C. L. Quinn
She felt one of his hands around each of her ankles as he slid her down to the ground, splayed like a snow angel in the sand.
“I always meet a challenge,” he whispered, and came up along Mal’s side to pull back the loose fitting top of her nightgown to expose a breast.
“Now, I think this is a good place to start. One must be methodical in proving a theory.”
Mal did not move a muscle as he leaned in and pulled the exposed nipple into his mouth, kept it there, and used his vampire skills to excite it to hardness. Still, she didn’t move.
“You need more convincing, I see. In the second part of my exploration, I think I must move deeper into my subject.”
When he heard Mal’s moan and felt her move her legs apart, just slightly, he knew he had her, he knew she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.
“You won’t have to worry about losing your baby…you’re coming home with me,” Ahmose whispered.
“No,” Mal whispered back, but her hands curled into his hair before he lowered himself out of reach and lifted her buttocks. She’d been wearing panties, but they were gone. “Ahmose, it’s too soon, I just gave birth.”
“You’re completely healed, baby. Shoazan’s heal even quicker than vampires. Let me prove it.”
The first touch of his tongue moving back and forth quickly between her legs, the sensual buildup when he licked along the thighs and just short of reaching where she wanted him to be, was beyond her ability to accept. She’d been sexually aroused almost as soon as she saw him tonight, and she thought part of that was because her body recognized the father of the child she’d carried for months. It was the simplest thing on earth, she wanted him, on her, in her, under her, every way she could get him.
Mal stilled his movement with one hand on the top of his head, and he looked up.
Even in the darkness, Ahmose’s eyes held a glow typical of arousal for a first blood, and Mal’s eyes still glowed as Shoazan, so they locked onto each other, his questioningly, hers demanding.
“Stop. If we’re going to do this, if we’re going to be together, I want to feel you inside of me again. The last few days, since our child was born, I’ve felt an emptiness. You are what I need to fill it, I knew that the first night.”
He’d thought to woo her back to him slowly, with patience and skill.
This would do!
Up on her elbows, Mal watched as Ahmose stood, and moving too slowly, like humans, he pulled his tee shirt over his head. Her eyes roamed the massive chest and tight, well-defined muscles of his shoulders, chest, and carved abdominals. He undressed slowly, and while she wanted him inside of her worse than anything, she knew that would come shortly. But this, unveiling his body to her appreciative eyes, painstakingly revealing his perfection, she immersed herself in the experience. Her eyes moved across thick, curved biceps to powerful forearms, and from there to his fingers as they unsnapped his jeans and slid them down.
He sprung free of the tight fabric, his cock long, hard, precisely what she wanted right at this moment she had never believed would come.
Mal pulled her gown over her head and discarded it carelessly. “Now.”
It was a demand. Anyone who knew Ahmose would have expected him to be the last person to accept a demand gracefully.
“At your pleasure,” he said as he lowered the body that she’d just watched, revealed to hungry eyes, drop down to cover hers. He stretched his full length alongside her, skin to skin, everywhere they touched, a spark of energy sizzled. Ahmose threaded the fingers of each hand through each of hers, and lowered his head to nip at her neck, just blunt nips, followed by his tongue to tease and taste.
“Can you feel that? The electricity? Our bodies know each other and know we were meant to be together.”
Mal wanted to tell him that was bullshit. Destiny? Meant to be? Hardly. Fairy-tale fantasies to charm little girls, it didn’t exist.
Yet, as her body reached for his, as something indefinable came over her, she knew this was something more than physical. She knew she wanted to fuck him, that he wanted to fuck her. As much as she tried to tell herself that, her body responded to the touch of his as if it knew where it was going, needed to be there, and would not be denied this connection. This was not a fuck.
Ahmose lifted up and slid inside of Mal with no foreplay, no warning, he just went where he needed to be, and she lifted her legs to let them ride on his back so that he could thrust deeper. Her eyes closed, Mal saw him anyway, in her mind’s eye, where she realized that she was inextricably linked to his life force. They did belong together. He was home, her home and that of the little girl they had made together six months ago.
He moved quickly at first, a crescendo of sensations building fast for both of them, but then he slowed and began to play, took time to nip at her breasts, which drove her to lift up into him, reaching for him. Even though Ahmose was deep inside of her, Mal needed more. An explosion of feelings rocked her as he suddenly stiffened and came, driving her over the edge too. They rode the orgasm, the first for either since the last time they were together, emotionally and physically connected as neither had ever been with anyone else in their lives.
When they dropped back, spent, still, on the sand afterward, Ahmose reached for Mal, but she rolled away and began to walk down the beach, away from the house, away from him, towards the surf. Water curled around her bare ankles and licked up her legs. She moaned, because she was still fired up and the roaming water felt sensual to her heated skin.
She knew he’d followed her, and glanced behind to see him hovering.
“You’re all right?” he asked quietly.
Mal didn’t know how to answer. She was breathless and excited, and she was frightened. Having this man here, ready to take her to his home, to his life, to give her daughter a true family, she couldn’t process it all. It was too sudden, too bizarre, too inexplicable. She would have to leave everything she’d ever known, a job that she loved, any chance at a normal life.
And he wasn’t human. How would she fit in his world? She needed to talk to Erin.
And she needed her father.
“Ahmose, I understand what you’re feeling. I’m feeling it too, but I’m overwhelmed. Do you have somewhere safe to stay on the island?”
He nodded. “It’s the first thing vampires do when they travel. I’ve engaged a house on the other side of the island with a windowless lower level.”
“Okay. The sun will be here soon and I’m spent. Will you go now and let me get some rest?”
“I will comply with anything you ask. See, you can control the vampire. All you need to do is ask.”
Mal shook her head and smiled. “Quit being so charming or I’ll come with you to that house now and wear you out.”
Now, he grinned. “Please try.”
Mal gave him a light push. “Get your clothes on and get out of here.”
Ahmose bowed and slid his hands up her arms until he reached her face. The kiss was soft, then deeper, but gentle, and as he stepped back, he sighed. “I am so grateful that you are alive, Mal. May I come tomorrow night when I rise?”
“I wish you would.”
“It is done. Sleep well, little detective.”
Ahmose had no reason to hide his nature, he was dressed and gone in seconds. The speed at which he moved made her head hurt.
“Damn!” she whispered.
As she picked up her nightgown and dropped it into place, she walked slowly back to the deck and reached for her cell phone lying on the tabletop in the center of the lounge chairs.
Dialing, she waited, and when the call connected, a sleepy voice said, “Hello?”
It was a new cell and he wouldn’t know who she was.
“Pop? Can you come to me? I need you and so does your granddaughter.”
Erin had the baby settled in. Her cell chimed and she glanced at it. Kai? She’d told him months ago she hadn’t seen his daughter, at her request, and after the first two months, he’d s
topped checking.
“Yes?” she answered.
“Erin, you owe me, lady. You’ve had my girl all this time and you didn’t tell me.”
“I have? I didn’t notice that. Well, I’ll have to look around then, won’t I?”
“Cheeky woman, but you always were. I know it’s because she demanded you to keep it from me.”
Erin spoke softer this time. “My loyalty belonged to her, Kai. I promised to help her disappear, but also to protect you. You were all she had left.”
“How’s my granddaughter?”
“Kai, come here right away. She’s incredibly beautiful. For all of her first blood features, I see you in her face.”
“I’m on my way.”
Chapter 19
Jack waited on the deck, the sun was just beginning to rise, his head turned when he heard the door open to the house, and sighed with relief when Mal came down the stairs with a steaming mug.
“Where’s our baby?” he asked.
“I left her with Erin. Good morning, Jack.” Mal waited for him to ask about Ahmose, but he didn’t. She realized that Erin must have compelled him to forget about Ahmose’s arrival. Thank God. The last thing she needed to deal with this morning was a jealous man.
“Beautiful sunrise, Bridget,” Jack commented and followed her to the cushioned couch to watch the sun’s colors spread across the sky and bleed into the sea.
Bridget. There wasn’t any reason for the alias now that Ahmose had found her. But she didn’t want to explain anything to him. Jack had been a rock through all of this, he deserved the truth, and he would get it. Just not today.
“It is. That is one of the things I love the most here.”
“Do you feel up to a picnic on the beach today? I brought my small grill and we can make hot dogs, grill some veggies, and I can have some of that expensive wine Erin keeps around.”
“I look forward to the day. I guess it will be a while.”
“Yeah. How about that picnic?”
Mal scanned Jack’s face. He looked calm, casual as he asked her to join him for a picnic that he knew Erin couldn’t be present for. But she knew he was nervous, and that he held his breath as he waited for her to answer. He wanted to change their relationship. With Ahmose here, that wasn’t even on the grid now. Jack was a darling, gorgeous, sexy, kind, the perfect mate. Ahmose wasn’t.
It was Ahmose she wanted. But that wasn’t going to work out either. He was an important man in his village, and Erin had told her that he was looking for his queen.
That was not her. She was a cop who wasn’t a cop anymore, a new mother that had a lot to learn, a displaced American, and a confused human in the middle of a vampire’s world. Something had to calm down. Here, with Erin, she was comfortable, and Mal was pretty certain that Erin was happy with her and Brigitte staying with her, so for the foreseeable future, this is where she would remain. Of course, Ahmose could visit. She hoped he would!
“Bridget?”
Mal shook her head. Oh, Jack, shit!
“I’m sorry, I zoned out. Sure, sure we can. I’ll see if the baby is awake.”
Jack touched Mal suddenly, his fingers curling around her forearm. “Just you and me, okay?”
So he was going to make his move. She might as well let him and then make her position clear.
“Sure, yeah, that sounds nice. What time did you have in mind?”
“Later, late dinner? Just before sunset?”
That was getting too close to dark. It might not be wise. “How about a late lunch instead? Four?”
Jack nodded. “How about eight? I have to go to Parrot Bay this afternoon. Please say yes. I’ll bring everything, you just bring your lovely self.”
Drawing a deep breath, Mal smiled. She needed to get this over with, let him know. “It’s a deal. I’m going for a swim. Did you want to come?” That way she didn’t have to converse with him before she had to let him down this afternoon.
“No. I actually have to be on the other side of the island this morning. I’m building a storage room for a new arrival. I’ll see you at four.”
Mal hated conflict, especially emotional conflict, and especially when she was the one inflicting it. But Jack couldn’t hang around here if Ahmose was going to be here. One thing that Erin had made clear was that vampires were very possessive when it came to the women in their life. She would not have Jack get hurt.
Since she had told him she was going for a swim, she decided to go ahead and do so. The air was warming up nicely with the rising sun and she could use the exercise. Although, she had to agree, even though she was just a few days past delivery, her figure was already back, and maybe even tighter than before…with no exercise! Having a vampire baby did seem to have its perks.
On the beach, a hundred yards away, hidden behind a bank of rock and shrubs, Ballgame squatted. He had his cell out again, and as the call connected, he looked around at the beauty of this tropical island and saw nothing but sand and water. Miserable nothingness. A click later, he mustered himself to sound thrilled to be here.
“Yes, sir. She’s taking a swim. It’s a pretty day here.”
“Keep an eye on her. I’m going to take it from here. In fact, I’m flying in, so book me the best suite you can, I’ll be there by tonight.”
Ballgame nearly jumped in joy. Canzone was coming here? Maybe he could finally get back to fucking civilization!
Back in L.A., Canzone let his new right hand man make arrangements for a flight to Florida. He would make his own clandestine arrangements to North Caicos Island. He didn’t want to lose track of his sister’s kid. Yeah, he’d admit that he wasn’t the nicest guy in the world, but he was really just trying to survive, like everybody else. He had no wife, no kids, no family. Except her. In his own way, he’d done everything he could to protect her. That’s what he wanted to do now. But Kai wouldn’t have let him have anything to do with her.
He was through with that now. In spite of his history with his niece, Canzone was going to do it, he was going to tell her that he was her uncle.
“I just want to make sure that you’re okay, little one,” he whispered to himself, aware that he was being too sentimental and that it could get him in trouble with his stockholders.
He’d been ordered to eliminate her, and even if they had known her connection to him, it wouldn’t have mattered. They weren’t sentimental.
So, he’d talk with her, come clean, tell her who he was, what she meant to him, and make sure that she never came back to L.A. He’d tell his people that he’d killed her, then leave her to live her life.
“See, Kai, I am not the monster you think I am,” he said out loud as he left his office and closed the door behind him. The only key to the very secure office, he slipped into his pocket.
There would be no security on this journey, no one could know where he was going because no one could know where she was. Picking up the small pack he’d prepared, he had everything he needed. A garrote lay curled up in the bottom of the pack and looked like a necklace. Ballgame was the only one who knew where his niece was, so he would not be returning from the island.
With the sun down, Ahmose hurried to Erin’s little beach house, frustrated with the slow speed of the little car he’d borrowed. Once he parked it quickly and walked up to the house, Erin walked out, holding the baby.
He stopped in his tracks. He still couldn’t believe that he had another daughter. The baby was just a few days old, but she was already holding her head up, blue eyes sparkling in the light from a dozen Tiki torches burning all around the deck. She looked right at him as soon as she saw him.
“May I hold her?” he asked Erin, as he approached.
“You’re the baby-daddy. Sure.” She sounded irreverent, but he could feel her respect of him and his position. He recognized her and knew that she had been in his village once a long time ago.
“She’s so…” Ahmose found he couldn’t think of a word that fit. Beautiful, lovely, perfect…all seemed too s
mall.
“I know,” Erin said, because she understood.
Holding Brigitte, her head in his left hand, her body cradled in his right, he looked down at this little person he’d made with Mal. He loved his son and daughter back home in Africa with their mother, as much as anything in his life, but this child, this miracle, was such a surprise, he still couldn’t process it. But she was reaching for him, tentatively, now that he was here, as if she was uncertain of him. He knew, though, already, that he loved her as much as any other in his life, as much as the two children he had been raising back home, this baby’s siblings.
Lifting his head, he asked. “She and Mal are doing okay?”
“Beautifully. They’re both healthy, happy, and safe, and you can’t ask for more than that.”
Ahmose felt the tension now, and knew the statement for what it was. Erin was warning him that he could not just take them from this place. He understood completely.
It didn’t matter, they would be going home with him. He would have his daughter at home in his village, protected by dozens of first bloods, by her birthright and a father who loved her more than the world itself. The beautiful L.A. detective? He knew now, after six months of grieving, after seeing her again, he wanted her just as much.
He hadn’t known. Destiny seemed to have toyed with him over the past few years, tugging at his heart and mind, ripping into him, then lavishing the gifts of the universe on him. But he knew now, he had no doubt. This sharp-tongued, stunning woman was meant to be his. As much as he’d thought that Starla was destined to be his mate for the days after he’d seen her at the waterfalls, as much as he’d loved his moments with Mal in California, and then returned home to miss her desperately, he knew this was eternal. She was his, even if she didn’t know it yet. He would just have to win her, because the universe had spoken to him. They were to love and travel this path through the years together now.