Even with the phantom menace of Falcon lurking about the edges of her consciousness, lying in his big bed, in a set of rooms that seemed impossibly simple for someone like him, she felt safe.
She also felt breathless, and as though she might crawl out of her own skin if he kept licking her like that. She reached down, running her hands through his silky hair, and tried to think of something to say besides “Oh, my God.” Nothing came to her at all. And with Cole’s face buried between her legs, she doubted if anything would. When his fingers joined that talented tongue, she stopped trying to think at all and simply surrendered to riding wave after wave of shattering orgasm.
Three hours later she decided that if it was possible to die from too much sexual bliss, she might very well be the first recorded victim. An hour after that, she decided she didn’t care; it had been worth dying for. An hour after that, she was blissfully unconscious, asleep in Cole’s arms, reliving a night of perfect passion in her dreams.
* * * *
“Cole! Hurry up or we won’t get out of here tonight,” Sam called out. She slid her laptop into the carrier and gathered up the mouse, winding the cord so she could put it away. “Cole!”
Her darling vampire’s need to love the morning hours away had put them seriously behind the schedule he had set himself.
“Cole.” Sam packed away the mouse. “Cole!” She squeaked in surprise as Cole’s arms snaked around her from behind.
“Right here, dearest,” he murmured in her ear. His hands slid underneath her T-shirt to cup her breasts. “Mmm, you feel lovely. I’m hungry.”
Sam closed her eyes and fought the rising desire his touch always brought. It was a hard-won battle, especially since she could feel his arousal pressed hard and pulsing against her backside.
“Cole, you said you wanted to leave at sunset. Well, that was three hours ago,” she chided gently. It was really difficult to keep her mind on packing when he was running his fingers over her nipples and humming against her neck.
“I know.” His breath was warm against her ears and his lips soft as he moved to kiss the nape of her neck. “Maybe I was wrong to be in such a hurry.” He pressed his body tightly to hers, his arousal more than evident. “Maybe just once more before we leave.”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think you know the meaning of once more. With you it’s always way more than once.”
“Are you complaining?” he asked with laughter in his voice. “Are you saying I’m oversexed?”
“No and yes.” She giggled. “But I don’t mind.” If Cole had needed to feed off her body just to control his bloodlust she might have felt a bit differently, but that was only part of what drove his admittedly over-active libido. He needed to know she loved him.
The link which sex and blood opened in their minds lasted longer each time they were together but as it faded, Cole always wanted to reestablish it. He was no longer comfortable without Sam inside his head. He needed the physical expression of their love for each other so he could feel that oneness. For Cole, it had become an addiction as potent as any drug’s. Sam didn’t hide the fact that she was just as addicted to his body and his mental whispers of love and need as he was to hers.
He nipped gently at the base of her skull, his fangs barely felt as he silently asked her permission to do what they both wanted him to. At her whispered assent, he pushed the strap of her tank top aside and bit down. Sam was accustomed to the tiny spurt of pain that preceded the blast of pleasure that always marked Cole’s feedings. She welcomed it, though she normally wasn’t enthused by pain of any sort. But this pain was minimal and what immediately followed was so wonderful that she didn’t mind it. She sighed in happiness as Cole settled contentedly into her thoughts.
Curled on the daybed, comfortable in her lover’s arms, Sam found the energy to remind him that they were supposed to be packing the car. Cole reluctantly agreed but it was another fifteen minutes before either of them moved from the daybed.
Sam finished packing her computer and began the task of putting Cole’s in a separate carrier while he carried the suitcases down to the car. She listened to his descending steps on the stairs with a smile that grew when she heard him returning only a few minutes later. He must have done that vampire thing where he moved faster than she could see. His thoughts said he missed her even though he had gone less than a block from where she was standing.
Knowing his intentions this time, she wasn’t surprised when his arms wrapped around her. She was linked to him again and knew his plans as soon as they formed.
Cole’s embrace was free of any urgency. He just wanted to hold her for a moment. Sam folded her arms over his and closed her eyes as he nuzzled against her neck. It was so easy to fall into each other’s thoughts. It was so peaceful and nearly dreamy to concentrate on the sensations of touch and feeling and their thoughts. The outside world faded until it was barely perceptible.
“I can’t claim I’m sorry for delaying our departure,” Cole said aloud. His voice echoed in her head. “But you are quite correct. I did want to leave some time ago.” He laughed, the sound blending in her mind, a soft background noise like the breeze ruffling the bougainvillea outside the window. “It’s silly, of course. It’s highly unlikely Falcon will ever discover we’re here.”
“And yet the most unlikely things happen all the time.” Falcon’s voice cut through the peacefulness of the room. “Did you really think I’d never find you, Cole?”
* * * *
Cole whirled about, placing himself protectively between Sam and danger. Even in the middle of assuring her physical safety, he was mentally asking Sam to please let him deal with Falcon. She could tell he’d rather he could make his request more in the nature of a command but knew it would be useless to try and order her around. He was adamant that he was better equipped to combat Falcon in whatever ways might be necessary.
Sam wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but the six large and rather threatening bodyguards crowding into their little hotel suite behind Falcon were very much a deciding factor. Reluctantly she agreed to play the weak, inoffensive human and let Cole do the talking.
The guns the intruders wore further convinced Sam now wasn’t the time to mouth off to Cole’s ex-lover even though it was obvious Falcon was exceptionally pleased with herself. Sam’s hand itched to slap the smile of complete satisfaction from the blonde’s face but she knew she’d have to wait. Cole was right.
Sam shifted a bit so she could see Cole’s face. She could feel his fear for her and kept sending what support she could. That included pride when he tilted his aristocratic chin at a perfectly haughty angle and considered Falcon coolly before answering her question.
“I sincerely hoped I’d never set eyes on you again,” he stated flatly. The sheer coldness of his voice caused Sam’s eyes to grow round with surprise. She knew the love he’d once had for Falcon had soured, but she had no idea it had turned to such frigid hatred.
Even as Sam’s eyes widened, Falcon’s narrowed and Sam felt the first stirrings of real fear. The men with the guns were a concern, true, but the weapons weren’t drawn just clearly visible in waistbands and shoulder holsters. But there was clear and present threat in Falcon’s gaze. Her henchmen wouldn’t act without her orders but Falcon would have no problem giving the order to shoot.
Sam was willing to bet the bag of diamonds in her pocket that the guns so easily displayed all had silencers and the guards knew how to hide bodies. Or maybe they’d just leave them lying dead on the floor. There was something in the stance of the men that assured her they were professionals at the art of murder. They knew a couple of head shots were as deadly to a vampire as they were to a normal mortal. Destroy the brain or the heart, and a vampire as just as dead as anyone else. They wouldn’t waste time or ammo on body shots.
She had no trouble believing they’d simply shoot Cole in the head and shoot her wherever was most convenient and quiet, and leave them where they fell. Her stomach contracte
d at the visual. She found it impossible to look away from those half-concealed shoulder holsters.
Sam had been in a few tough situations, but this beat all of them and she found herself wishing she was back in Texas with Cole safe beside her.
At the moment, she wished a lot of things. She wished Cole hadn’t left the door open when he came up for the next batch of luggage to store in the car. She wished they’d left as soon as the sun was down. She wished Cole were controlling his anger as well as he’d controlled it back at the Regent Beverly Wiltshire and that he was right about being able to defuse his ex-lover’s anger. She wished a lot of things that weren’t likely to happen any time soon.
Mostly, she wished God would strike Falcon Matthews dead on the spot.
Falcon’s basilisk glare swung from Cole to Sam. The Texan couldn’t suppress a shiver. There was nothing warm and alive behind that pretty, delicate face. Whatever lived in Falcon’s soul was cold and without feeling for anyone but Falcon.
“What’s this? You don’t actually expect me to believe you left me for this...disaster,” Falcon sneered.
Sam ignored the insult. So did Cole. “I don’t expect you to believe anything, Falcon. I thought it was obvious that our affaire is over and we should each continue our lives,” he answered reasonably. The cold hatred he felt was concealed and no longer evident in his voice.
Sam was glad he had his temper firmly under control. Maybe he was right and he could talk their way out of this. Cole was quite capable of talking his way out of almost everything.
Falcon tilted her head. “No. That’s not all. You just suddenly decide to run away to this dump with that? There’s something far more going on here.”
Sam noticed that Falcon stayed carefully just out of Cole’s reach and kept at least one of her men between them at all times. Maybe Falcon wasn’t as unbeatable as Cole sometimes thought, especially if Falcon was afraid of him. Sam filed that bit of information away for possible future use.
“You know I hate a mystery,” Falcon continued.
Cole shrugged elegantly. “There’s no mystery. You don’t love me. You never have. It took a bit of time for that realization to sink in, but I did finally realize it.”
“Oh, my dear. How can you think such a thing?”
If Sam hadn’t been looking directly into Falcon’s chill blue eyes, she might have believed the woman’s statement. There was such warmth in Falcon’s voice and her body language was perfectly indicative of sincerity. The only indicator of her true sentiment was her eyes. She couldn’t manage to get them to hold the warmth her voice did. It was still an impressive performance. Whatever else she might be, Falcon was a superb actress. She should be able to fool anyone with her talents.
But Falcon’s honeyed words could no longer fool Cole. “Please don’t trouble to lie,” he said softly. “It’s far easier if you simply admit that you don’t care about me and never did. I know I was just the means to an end.”
Falcon’s sweet, innocent facade cracked and fell away, revealing the cynical, hard woman underneath. Ugly lines formed around her mouth as it tightened. Her jaw grew harder and protruded angrily as her body tensed, drawing back ever so slightly. With her soft, yielding veneer gone, Falcon wasn’t nearly as beautiful as she’d been just seconds earlier.
And she was smart enough to know it. Since Cole was no longer susceptible to her lies, Falcon abandoned all attempts at prevarication. “No, you’re right,” she admitted. “That’s all you were. I never did love you.”
The itch Sam had to slap Falcon was growing by the second. It wasn’t helping that Falcon was talking and acting like a bad B-grade movie villain. She was behaving just the way she did in the books, reminding Sam than the other woman was a figment of Marie Desiree’s imagination. It was making it really hard for Sam to remember to be afraid. The knot in Sam’s stomach was growing looser by the second and heat was taking its place.
Feeling Cole’s barely contained anger wasn’t making it any easier for Sam to contain her own building fury either. She could feel the burn of his resentment at the years he’d lost to Falcon’s lies. It fanned the flames of her antagonism, sending red-orange pulses licking at the edges of Sam’s mind.
Falcon’s smile was bright and malicious. “I didn’t need a lover. I just needed someone to do what I wanted. There were other possibilities, but you were the easiest to deal with. I didn’t need to love you. All I needed to do was make you think I did. And once that happened, everything else was so easy. You were gullible enough to believe anything I told you.” She shrugged elegantly. “At least you were attractive enough that it didn’t sicken me to sleep with you.”
Falcon had no idea how close she came to ending up stretched out on the floor, but Cole placed a restraining hand on Sam’s wrist, saving the blonde the ignominy of being on the receiving end of a good old-fashioned Texas-style bitch slap.
“Precisely,” Cole answered coolly while holding Sam’s hand tightly and sending her his reassurances that nothing Falcon said anymore could hurt him. “And I finally regained my senses and realized I don’t love you. So it’s obviously best we go our separate ways. I have no interests in your schemes or in your plans for Wynn’s empire. But I also have no interest in helping him maintain his place in the world.” He bowed sardonically, reminding Sam that he’d been born in a very different century. She half expected to see a sword at his side and hear him challenge Falcon to a duel. She shook her head to banish the image. His next words helped.
“You can take over California with my complete blessings,” he said with a wave of one elegant hand.
His words didn’t placate Falcon. Anger lent sparks to her blue eyes. Cole wasn’t reacting the way she expected and it infuriated her. Sam could tell Falcon expected him to cave in, like he always did, to her demands. She expected her beauty and her guile to place him firmly under her well-manicured thumb with very little effort. His cool, negligent attitude unsettled her.
Falcon had to be in control. She had to dominate any situation and everyone around her. Cole wasn’t bowing to her will, and she couldn’t take it. Sam shivered and her stomach knotted again. She’d known men like Falcon. They were the lowlifes that beat up their wives and kids for no good reason. They were the ones who went postal and ended up killing just because they could.
Falcon’s next words confirmed Sam’s evaluation. With a smile, Falcon pulled a small knife from the pocket of her peach-colored designer pants. “Will I have your blessing when I slit your little lover’s throat so we can all watch her bleed to death?” Her smile never wavered as she waited for Cole’s reaction. Her eyes sparkled with something akin to lust.
With frigid calm, Cole faced her squarely. “Harm her in the least degree and I swear I will rip your head from your shoulders.” The cerulean eyes of the too-Aryan bodyguard beside Falcon widened while one of his darker companion’s hand stole closer to his gun. No one in the room doubted that Cole meant every word of his threat and was perfectly capable of fulfilling his lethal promise.
Her smile dimmed a bit, but Falcon didn’t respond directly to Cole. She did, however, put her knife away. If she didn’t hurry, she didn’t waste any time about it, either.
Defeated in the way she’d least expected, Falcon glared at Cole, but could find no words in response to his implacable stance. In icy fury, she signaled her men to escort Sam and Cole out of the apartment, down the stairs and out to where a group of cars waited. They were prodded into the back of a dark Lexus and driven away before anyone at the hotel had a chance to realize anything was amiss.
Chapter Eleven
Sam was grateful Falcon and half of her men stayed behind, though they probably did so to rifle through what few possessions Sam and Cole had. Sam wasn’t sure she could maintain her temper if Falcon started in on Cole again. She didn’t take well to threats either. Her daddy had often bemoaned Sam’s temper, declaring it likely to be the death of him. Sadly, both his children were the same way. Frank had gotten beat up
more than once for his inability to keep his mouth closed when his temper was up. It didn’t matter how high the odds were stacked against him, he just couldn’t back down if he got riled up enough.
It was maybe the only trait they shared. Sam’s mama admitted they got it from her, as her daddy was in general a rational, peaceful man. Just like Mama, at a certain point they simply stopped caring about consequences and let the mad take over. It didn’t happen often but when it did it could get really ugly. Gilbert Martinez could vouch for that fact.
And right now Sam’s temper was starting to get the better of her good sense. Sam was seriously tempted to kick the guard with them in the head and demand he take her back to the hotel so she could knock the hell out of that yellow-haired piece of trash that thought she was so damned high and mighty.
There was a soft chuckle and Sam glanced over to see Cole smiling at her.
It will be fine. His mental assurance was strong, though it was tinted with cool green fear for Sam. He was amused by Sam’s rage but he was angry, too. His fury was deeper than it had been the night she had stood on the Modesto pier and listen to him admit that he’d been used like a fool by a woman he’d loved.
She sent him her assurances that she would be fine. She was angry and she was frightened, yes; she wasn’t ashamed to admit that. But she wasn’t paralyzed by it. She wasn’t even surprised by it. She also wasn’t shocked by anything that had happened in the last half hour. There was little Falcon could do that would surprise or shock Sam.
Vampire Encounters - Second Chances Page 13