They slipped into silence as they drank the rest of the pot of coffee.
“Guess we better get to it,” Olivia finally forced herself to say. “Don’t want to scare poor Rusty by being late to open again.”
She beat Rusty to the front door by about thirty seconds. “Morning, Rusty,” she said when he slipped inside. “What’ll it be?”
“Feels like an oatmeal-and-whole-grain-toast morning.”
“Coming right up,” she said as Mindy came out with his coffee.
“You girls need a day off. You work too hard.”
“We were just thinking the same thing this morning,” Mindy said.
“Alas, days off don’t pay the bills,” Olivia said.
Though she was still tired, some of her fatigue receded as she dived into her morning routine.
“Oh, Lord,” Rusty said as he opened his paper.
“What?” Mindy asked from where she was putting the cash in the register.
“Those kidnappers got someone else, a teenage boy on his way to school this time. Poor kid.”
A kid in the hands of vampires. Had he been taken because they’d failed in abducting her? Nausea welled up in Olivia and she had to force it down through pure willpower. She couldn’t imagine the horror his parents were going through.
And the reality that the threat hadn’t gone away simply because Campbell had killed those two guys made her even sicker. How many kidnappers were there? How many people were they after?
As the next several minutes progressed as they usually did, Olivia couldn’t get her mind off the boy and what he must be going through. She tried to focus on something else by looking up at the sound of the front door opening again. But instead of a customer, it was a woman carrying a huge vase of roses, pale pink ones with dark pink at the tips of the petals.
“I have a delivery for Olivia DaCosta.”
Olivia stared at them for several seconds in disbelief. He’d sent her flowers? When a few curious stares and even a couple of appreciative sounds came from the customers, she hurried to the front counter to take the roses.
“I’m Olivia,” she said.
“Lucky girl,” the delivery lady said. “These are the prettiest roses we have in the shop.”
“Thank you.” Olivia tried not to be obvious when she grabbed the card and slipped it into her back pocket.
“Looks as if someone’s been holding out on us,” Rusty said as he gave her a wink. “Do tell.”
“Nothing to tell.”
“That’s not what those roses say.”
“Stop embarrassing her, nosy,” Jane said from her spot next to the window.
When Rusty shifted his attention to Jane, Olivia took the opportunity to grab the flowers and retreat to the kitchen. She set them in the corner so she could look at them as she worked. It was remarkably difficult to keep the wide, silly grin tugging at her mouth from fully forming. No need in feeding the curiosity fire.
She flipped the bacon and sausage before slipping the card out of her pocket, then out of its little envelope. “Olivia, thank you for everything. Sorry I couldn’t stay last night. C.”
Mindy brought some dirty dishes into the kitchen and placed them in the sink. “You shouldn’t have accepted them.”
Olivia bit her tongue. She was tired of the constant Campbell bashing. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she had no idea what it felt like to lose family members to vampires. Mindy didn’t hate without good reason.
“I don’t mean to be such a bitch,” Mindy said.
“I understand. And...I’ll break off contact. It’s just...” She stared at the roses until tears pooled in her eyes.
“You have no idea how much I wish this guy was still human,” Mindy said. “I’d be planning your wedding already.”
The thought of a wedding caused a pang in Olivia’s chest.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think,” Mindy said.
“It’s okay.” She’d never thought she’d even want to think about getting married again after losing Jeremy. Now... She shrugged at the situation in which she found herself, falling for a guy who not only posed a very real threat but was also one she’d never be allowed to marry. No church, no human authority would ever recognize it. She glanced at the flowers. “I’m just going to enjoy the flowers because they’re pretty.”
Mindy surprised her by giving her a big hug before returning to the front of the restaurant.
What she’d told Mindy echoed in her head. She wanted so much more than pretty flowers. She wanted to enjoy being with Campbell, not worrying about what couldn’t be or what might happen. She didn’t want to have to choose between her best friend and the man who’d captured her heart.
* * *
By the time they closed the diner and Olivia convinced Mindy to go home and sleep in her own bed, she wasn’t sure if she had enough energy to force herself up the stairs. But a look outside at the deepening darkness sent a shot of fear through her. Sure, her would-be kidnappers were dead, but what if their boss sent more? Clearly there were more human fetchers out there. Was it personal now because she’d eluded capture twice?
With a fear-fueled burst of energy, she grabbed the vase of roses and headed upstairs. After locking the door behind her and shoving a dining chair under the doorknob for good measure, she set the vase in the middle of her table. She lowered her nose to the roses and took a deep breath of their heavenly scent. They reminded her that despite all the pain and suffering and loss in the world, there were still things of remarkable beauty.
She sensed Campbell’s presence before she saw him standing on the balcony. It surprised her that his sudden appearance only feet away hadn’t startled her this time. Maybe a part of her had expected him to return tonight. How was she going to tell him to leave? That he couldn’t come back.
Olivia met his gaze and walked to the door. When she opened it, he took a step away.
“I see you got the flowers,” he said.
“Yes, they’re beautiful. Thank you.”
“They seem so small a gift for all you’ve done.”
“They’re perfect.”
His mouth edged up at one end. “I’m glad you like them.”
“Is that the only reason you came by, to see if the florist did her job?”
“No.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. You had a big scare yesterday.”
“More than one. I was afraid you were going to die in my freezer.” She had to bite her bottom lip when the reality of how bad he’d been burned hit her again.
“That would have been difficult to dispose of, huh?” he said.
“Don’t joke about it. It’s not funny.”
“I’m sorry.” He took a step forward but stopped himself.
A mixture of longing and caution showed itself in his eyes. She saw the decision there. It should make what she had to say easier, but it didn’t.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She lowered her gaze to the floor. “I am... I’m faced with an impossible decision.”
“I just came to say goodbye,” he said.
When she looked up at him, she realized what he was doing—trying to make the decision for her so she didn’t have to. This time it didn’t make her angry. It made her sad, desperate. When he tried to step away, she reached out and took his hand. “Don’t go.”
He turned slowly and looked at her with an expression that told her he wanted this every bit as much as she did. But there was pain there, too.
“Olivia. You don’t want to lose Mindy. Good friends are more valuable now than ever. And she’s right about me. It’s too dangerous for us to be together, for so many reasons I can’t count them all.”
She took a step closer to him. “I love Mindy dearly, but I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
“You’re killing me. How much willpower do you think I have?”
“I want this. You want this. We
can fight it all we want, list all the reasons it couldn’t possibly work, but it’s not going away.”
His last ounce of resistance evidently fled, because he closed the distance between them.
Olivia felt as if she were the one going up in flames when Campbell wrapped his strong arms around her and kissed her. A desire more potent than anything she’d ever felt consumed her, made her body hum in places that insisted on finding satisfaction. Somewhere amid all the kissing and caressing, she managed to utter a single word.
“Yes.”
He wasted no time in scooping her up into his arms and making short work of the space between the balcony and her bedroom. It seemed only a solitary breath escaped her from the time he stepped across her home’s threshold to when he placed her gently on her bed. His eyes glowed with a brilliant blue hue that, for the first time, she thought of as beautiful and not frightening.
“I must have lost my mind along with a few layers of skin,” he said.
She sat up and captured his mouth, needing to taste him again. His hands slid under her T-shirt and unclasped her bra. And then his hands found their way unerringly to her breasts. Though he possessed incredible strength, he applied only enough pressure to make her gasp in yearning. Needing to feel him, she tugged off his long-sleeved tee and let her hands move wherever they wanted across his sculpted chest, his strong arms, his muscled back.
He was perfect.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his words reverent.
“So are you.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Don’t ever say that in front of the guys, or I will never hear the end of it.”
Feeling more daring and needy than she ever had, she ran her hand down his chest to the top of his cargo pants. “I don’t plan on talking to anyone for many hours.”
With a growl that was supercharged with sexual promise, he pressed her back against the bed and kissed her nearly into oblivion. They paused for moments in between kisses to remove and toss clothing. And when he stretched his long body along hers, skin to skin, she nearly cried with need.
“I want you,” she whispered against his wet lips.
“You’re sure? Because once we do this, I can tell you I’m never going to want to let you go.”
She knew he meant it as a warning, but she accepted it as a promise. She placed her mouth next to his ear. “Good,” she whispered.
His mouth latched on to her breast, and for a moment the old fear surged into her despite her belief in him. What if his fangs descended? What if he couldn’t help himself?
Campbell looked up at her. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it.” There was such conviction in his words that she believed him totally.
And in the next second she lost the ability to think beyond registering pure sensation. Campbell kissed her all over, making her body tingle in the most delicious way. He drove her to a frenzy just with his mouth and hands.
“I can’t wait anymore,” she said.
When he entered her in one fluid motion, she cried out, not caring if the neighbors heard her.
He slid out, then back in again, exquisite pleasure and torture all at once. She grabbed his hips and pressed down as she surged her own upward. He growled and pulled her hard against his body, then started pumping. Her breath rasped out in ragged gasps, faster and faster, mimicking his strokes within her. She matched his rhythm, getting closer and closer to her pinnacle.
“Faster,” she said, and he complied.
They were beasts of frenetic motion, and with another powerful thrust she came apart. He continued to ride her—and that was what it was, a crazy, beautiful, hammering ride—until he reached his own release and cried out her name.
They collapsed in a tangle of arms and legs, their lungs heaving. Olivia snuggled close to him and marveled at the rise and fall of his chest.
“You’re breathing,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s not essential, but our bodies still remember and react. Running, climbing stairs, making love to a gorgeous woman.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
He held her so carefully that her heart opened up like a blooming flower. As improbable as it might seem, even to her, she loved him. She lifted herself so she could look in his eyes. “Can vampires love?”
He smiled. “I think I just answered that question.”
She twirled her finger along his chest. “Not make love. Love.”
His expression changed, growing more serious. “Evidently so.”
He kissed her with such feeling that her body started to hum again. This time they made love so torturously slow that she thought she might start begging for release before he got around to giving it to her.
In the lazy aftermath of their lovemaking, Campbell wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his side. “I’m sorry I have no warmth to offer you.”
“It’s okay. I think I’m warm enough for both of us at the moment.”
He chuckled and she liked the sound of him happy. She knew he had a strong sense of purpose, but she had no idea if this immortal life he was living held happiness. It seemed unreal that she, an everyday diner owner, could possibly be the person who could bring him that. Almost more unbelievable than the fact that the man bringing her happiness was a vampire.
She trailed her fingers over his chest, examining the muscles there.
“Be careful. You might get more than you bargain for,” he teased.
She lifted her head to look at him. “How do you know what I’m bargaining for?”
He lifted an eyebrow.
“Is that another of your vampire powers, to be able to make love all night long?”
A wicked grin stretched his lips. “Oh, no. That’s all me, one hundred percent Campbell Raines the man.”
She smiled back. “Mighty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“With good reason.”
She laughed as he rolled her onto her back and entered her again. Now she was definitely going to hire some help in the diner because she didn’t know if she was ever going to leave this bed again.
Chapter 17
When Olivia fell asleep, Campbell lay next to her for a long time watching the slow rise and fall of her breath, the peaceful look on her face. When the vampire side of him tried to think about her blood, he forced himself out of her bed. He should leave, go to work, but he couldn’t make himself walk out the door. He stood and watched her sleep for several moments, marveling that she could rest so peacefully with a vampire next to her. That she had wanted to make love to him, to have him hold her.
She’d made him feel alive again.
God, he wanted that memory to go away. Hadn’t he had to relive that horrible night enough?
But he could so easily take Olivia’s life before he even thought about it. He’d almost done it before. The image of Bridget Jameson lying bleeding in his arms taunted him, whispering that it was only a matter of time before it was Olivia hanging from his grasp like a rag doll robbed of its stuffing.
He slipped his pants on and wandered into the living room. A check of the exterior out both her front window and the sliding glass door revealed quiet, vampire-free streets. When he turned away from the balcony door and headed back toward her small living area, he spotted a framed photo on a shelf full of books. He picked it up and looked at a beaming Olivia with her arms around a sandy-haired guy. They stood on a pier that jutted into the ocean, the sun bright overhead.
He’d never be able to give her that.
“That’s Jeremy,” she said as she crossed the room from her bedroom doorway.
“I’d assumed. You look happy.”
“We were. We’d gone to Florida on vacation, just a couple of months before the virus hit.”
He lifted the picture and looked at her. “I can’t give you this.”
“No, but you have other things to give.”
“What? I deal with death and crime and the dark underbelly of vampire society. There are no sunsets or sunrises or building
sandcastles on the beach. I can’t even take you outside at night for fear I’d have to fight off other vampires. And I can’t go outside with you in the daylight. What could I possibly give you?” With each word, he felt as if he were ripping himself more raw inside.
“You.” She took the photo from him and placed it back in its spot on the shelf. “I’m going to always love Jeremy. He was my first true love. But even though it felt like it at the time, I didn’t die with him. I still have a life to live, however long it might be. And I want you in it.”
He shook his head. “I still don’t understand why.”
“Because you’re a good man, Campbell Raines. You are honorable, kind, self-sacrificing, caring.”
She wouldn’t think so highly of him if she knew everything. He should tell her, push her away for good, but he couldn’t. She moved closer.
“Not to mention sexy as hell,” she said.
That last part made him smile despite dark thoughts of the past and tug her close. “Sexy, eh?”
“Mouthwateringly so.”
He examined every inch of her face and slowly shook his head. Would he ever get enough of this woman? “I could say the same about you.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“In fact, I think you’ve slept enough.” He lowered his mouth and captured hers in a hungry kiss. When she answered in kind, he’d swear his body heated from one end to the other.
She unzipped his pants. “You have on entirely too many clothes.”
He stood mesmerized as she unbuttoned them and let them drop off his hips. He slid his hands under the long T-shirt she’d put on and lifted it over her head, leaving them both naked. They didn’t make it to the bed this time. He lifted her and sat her bottom on the back of the couch. When she wrapped her legs around him and slid her tongue over his left nipple, he made a sound of painful pleasure and buried himself in her to the hilt.
“I can’t go slow.”
This time she licked his ear. “I don’t want to go slow. In fact, I want to see just how fast you can go.”
And so he showed her, holding her close and pumping so hard and fast that she gasped and let her head fall back, giving him glorious access to her breast. He sucked and pumped until he thought they might both fly apart, and then he did it some more. He felt her interior muscles tighten around him, and that sent him over the edge. She cried out with her release, and the sound of her pleasure caused his to swell as he slid in and out even faster until he too finally found release.
Out of the Night (Harlequin Nocturne) Page 19