Twilight Desires

by Amanda Ashley

  A thrill of excitement ran through her when the priest pronounced them man and wife. True, they were already husband and wife, but somehow, being married in front of her family made it all the more meaningful.

  Butterflies took wing in the pit of her stomach when he drew her into his arms and kissed her, long and leisurely, as if there weren’t hundreds of people watching. She was breathless when he released her.

  Sofia felt as if she was floating six feet off the ground when they walked down the aisle hand in hand.

  Outside, Ethan pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

  All too soon, they were surrounded by her family, who showered them with good wishes, hugs, and kisses.

  If Sofia had had her way, they would have skipped the reception/dinner altogether, but, of course, that was impossible.

  Ethan handed her into the waiting limo, slid in beside her, and took her into his arms again the minute the driver closed the door. “Let’s sneak away as early as we can,” he murmured, raining kisses along her cheeks, her brow, the tip of her nose.

  “Okay with me.”

  “Maybe we could take the long way to the reception?”

  Sofia laughed softly. “You flatter me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’d think this was our first wedding.”

  “Must be the dress.”

  “You look very nice, too.”

  “Sofie . . .” His tongue stroked the side of her neck, sending frissons of desire racing through her.

  “Ethan . . . you’re not playing fair.”

  “I never do when I see something I want.”

  “But . . . the driver . . .”

  “He can’t see us. The partition is up.” He eased her onto her back, his hand sliding up and down her calf. “All the windows are tinted. No one else can see us either.”

  Reaching for his belt, she said, “Tell him to drive slow.”

  * * *

  Sofia straightened her dress and replaced her veil as the limo pulled up in front of the reception venue, certain everyone inside would take one look at her and know she and Ethan had indulged in a quickie on the way to their reception. Even without looking in a mirror, she knew her hair was mussed, her cheeks flushed, her gown wrinkled.

  Sure enough, as soon as they walked in the door, Micah winked at her, then nudged Ethan. “Couldn’t wait, huh?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Perfectly legal, you know.”

  Before things escalated, Sofia grabbed Ethan’s arm and hurried him across the floor to where the reception line was forming.

  The next half hour passed in a blur of good wishes, handshakes, and more hugs.

  She grinned inwardly as Ethan repeatedly glanced at his watch. Several times she heard his voice in her mind, always asking the same question: Can we go now?

  Finally, all the rituals had been taken care of: their first dance as husband and wife, the throwing of her bouquet, numerous toasts and tears, the cutting of the cake.

  They were dancing again when Ethan guided her toward the exit. “No one’s looking,” he whispered. “Can we go now?”

  “Let’s.”

  They ducked out the back door and ran around the corner of the building.

  Ethan kissed her hungrily, then wrapped his arm around her waist. “Ready to go home, Mrs. Parrish?”

  “More than ready, Mr. Parrish.”

  Grinning, he transported them to their lair in Morgan Creek.

  Sofia’s eyes widened with surprise. Someone had decorated their bedroom. A banner with the words “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Parrish” had been tacked to the wall above the bed. There were vases of sweet-smelling flowers everywhere and perhaps a hundred white rose petals spread across the quilt. A bottle of red wine and two crystal goblets waited for them on the bedside table.

  “Did Kadie tell you she was going to do this?” Sofia asked, stepping out of her heels.

  Ethan shook his head.

  “It had to be her, don’t you think? I don’t know of anyone else who could get in here.”

  “Well, she’s the likely culprit; it doesn’t look like Saintcrow’s handiwork.” He drew his bride into his arms. “We should have taken the limo to your apartment,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

  “I think I’d like to do it in a bed this time, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “In a car, in a bed, on the floor.” Ethan shrugged. “Where doesn’t matter.” He was undressing her as he spoke, his nimble fingers removing her gown and underwear with practiced ease. He whistled softly as she stood beautifully naked in front of him.

  “My turn.” After he’d obligingly removed his shoes and socks, her equally nimble hands divested him of his tuxedo.

  They almost made it to the bed.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Sofia blew out a sigh as she slipped a check into an envelope and sealed it, then filled out a bank deposit slip. Banking online would be so much easier and faster, but Saintcrow insisted on doing things the old-fashioned way. The town had only been open to the public for a short time and they were already turning a nice profit. Ethan had decided to pour concrete pads and rent spaces for motor homes and campers. He was also thinking of adding a section for tents.

  The check she had just written was Ethan’s first payment on the loan Saintcrow had given him. She stamped the envelope and dropped it in the out-box for tomorrow’s mail pickup.

  Pushing her chair away from the desk, she stood. To her surprise, Ethan had gone to spend the day with his parents. He hadn’t told her why, but she couldn’t help wondering if he was finally going to tell them he was a vampire. He had paid the day shift before he left, leaving her to see that the employees who worked nights received their wages. She scooped up the envelopes sitting on the corner of her desk and went outside. Standing on the porch, she could see the faint glow of the town’s lights in the distance.

  Hard to believe she had been married for over a month already. Vampire or mortal, time flew on by.

  She considered willing herself to the hotel, but it was such a lovely evening, she decided to walk. Nearing the residential area, she waved to a middle-aged couple who were also out for a leisurely stroll.

  She was nearing the hotel when Nolan Browning’s scent was carried to her on the breeze.

  Sofia came to an abrupt halt when she realized she had forgotten to set the wards around the town when she’d woken from the dark sleep this evening. Fear coiled in her belly. How could she have forgotten that? Had Browning been lurking on the outskirts of town all this time, just waiting for such an opportunity?

  She took several deep breaths. Maybe she was wrong. But what if she was right? What if he was here?

  Filled with a sudden sense of doom, Sofia followed his scent to the hotel’s back entrance. When she opened the door, the coppery scent of freshly spilled blood was overpowering.

  She tiptoed down the narrow hallway into the kitchen. The cook lay on his stomach, a meat cleaver buried in his back. His assistant lay beside him. In pieces.

  Frozen with horror, Sofia stood in the doorway until a scream pierced the stillness. Galvanized to action, she skirted the pool of blood and peeked into the dining room.

  Several bodies littered the floor. None were moving. Were they all dead? A little girl, perhaps three years old, screamed again. It was a bone-chilling sound, coming from one so young.

  Rage engulfed her when Browning lifted the child, then made as if to throw her against the wall. Heedless of any danger to herself, Sofia grabbed a knife and launched herself at Browning’s back.

  He dropped the little girl, his roar of pained surprise shattering windows as Sofia buried the knife between his shoulder blades.

  It didn’t kill him, of course.

  Cursing, he clawed the knife from his flesh, turned on his heel, and threw it at her.

  She sidestepped easily. The knife embedded itself in the wall behind her with a solid thud.

  Poised on the balls of her feet, Sofia wait
ed for his next move. And all the while, the little girl wailed in terror.

  Ignoring the child, Sofia focused all her attention on Browning. He stared back at her as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do next. Had he been surprised by her attack? She had been a little astonished by it herself. Once, she would have been horrified at the thought of sticking a butcher knife in someone’s back. Now, she was ready to do it again if she got the chance.

  She read Browning’s intention in his eyes before he hurled himself at her, his arms wide-spread. If he thought to catch her, he had another think coming. She waited until the last moment, then ducked under his right arm, jerked the knife from the wall, whirled around, and drove the blade into the side of his neck.

  Blood spurted from his severed jugular. It was a nasty wound but not fatal. Still, it slowed him down for a moment, giving her time to send a mental SOS to Ethan while she grabbed the sobbing child.

  She was gathering her power, intending to transport herself and the little girl home, when Browning grabbed her by the hair and flung her across the room.

  Sofia held tight to the little girl, turning in midair so that when she crashed into a table, the child wasn’t hurt. She couldn’t say the same for herself. Blood leaked from a cut in her head.

  Ignoring the pain, she scrambled to her feet, thrust the child behind her, then braced her feet, ready to defend the little girl to the death.

  Covered in blood, not all of it his own, Browning scowled at her. “I’m going to rip out your heart,” he snarled. “And then I’m going to drain that brat dry.”

  “I don’t think so.” Ethan’s voice, darker, more dangerous, and more welcome than anything Sofia had ever heard.

  There were no preliminaries. Ethan and Browning came together like two wild animals, claws and teeth viciously ripping and slashing, tearing through flesh and muscle. Dark red blood spurted from dozens of wounds. The shallow cuts healed almost instantly.

  Breathing hard and splattered with blood, they parted.

  “Sofie,” Ethan said, “get the child out of here.”

  She didn’t want to leave, but he was her sire, and when he exerted his influence on her, she had no choice but to obey. She didn’t go far, though, just outside, where she could look in the window.

  Eyes narrowed, Ethan glared at Browning. “You’re dead.”

  Browning snorted his disdain. It was the last sound he ever made.

  Drawing on the ancient power that flowed in his veins, Ethan sprang toward the other vampire, the urge to destroy the man who had dared to threaten his woman overwhelming every other thought as he plunged his hand into Browning’s chest and ripped the vampire’s beating heart from his body.

  Browning stared at him a moment, the life fading from his eyes, before he collapsed.

  Ethan glanced over his shoulder when he sensed a familiar presence. “What are you doing here?” he asked when Saintcrow materialized beside him.

  “We had a deal, remember?” the master vampire said cheerfully. “You’d kill him and I’d take his head.”

  Sofia turned away from the window when Saintcrow bent down to fulfill his part of the bargain. Satisfied that Ethan would be all right, she willed herself and the child to the house on the hill.

  “Mama,” the little girl wailed through her tears. “I want my mama.”

  “I know, honey, but she can’t be here now.” Sofia stroked the girl’s hair. “What’s your name?”

  “Jenny. Jenny O’Neal.”

  “I’m Sofie.”

  “Where’s my daddy?”

  “He had to go away with your mama. You’re going to stay with me for a little while, okay?”

  Lower lip quivering, the child stared at her through tear-bright blue eyes. “I want my mama!”

  “I know.” Taking a seat in one of the chairs by the fireplace, Sofia lifted Jenny onto her lap. “I know.” She had expected the girl to pull away; instead, Jenny curled up in her arms. In minutes, she had cried herself to sleep.

  Sofia wasn’t sure how long she sat there before Ethan materialized in the room. She was glad to see he had washed up before coming home. “Where’s Saintcrow?”

  “He’s cleaning up the mess in the hotel.”

  “How are we going to explain all those dead people?”

  “We aren’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There were only three couples in the dining room. That little girl was the only child. The other couples didn’t have kids.”

  “But surely those people have family members who will wonder what happened to them.”

  “Saintcrow said he’d take care of it.” Ethan lifted a hand to silence her next question. “I don’t know what he’s going to do, and I didn’t ask.”

  She had a feeling no one would ever know what had happened to those poor people. They would just disappear, along with their vehicles, more names added to the world’s list of unsolved mysteries.

  “Are you all right?” Ethan asked, his voice thick with concern.

  “I think so.”

  “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

  “I was too busy.”

  “He could have killed you.”

  She shrugged, then glanced at the child sleeping in her arms. “I was more afraid of what he’d do to Jenny.”

  “Uh-huh.” Ethan rocked back on his heels. “You can’t keep her.”

  “I know.”

  “But you want to.”

  Sofia nodded. “Maybe she doesn’t have any other family.”

  “And if she does?”

  Her arm tightened around Jenny.

  “I’ll ask Saintcrow to see what he can find out about her family.”

  Sofia nodded again. As much as she wanted to keep Jenny, she knew it was impossible. Jenny needed someone who could watch her day and night, something Sofia couldn’t do.

  Reading her mind, Ethan said, “You’re forgetting I can be awake during the day,” he remarked. “And there are always nannies.”

  Sofia’s smile was like dawn breaking over the mountains. “Nannies!” she exclaimed. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

  Ethan scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Remember what Saintcrow said about Kadie? He did a blood exchange with her, and now she’s able to be awake for a few hours a day.”

  Sofia nodded. “I forgot about that.” Maybe there was hope after all.

  “Why don’t you go get cleaned up?” he suggested. “There’s blood in your hair and on your shirt.”

  Sofia glanced at Jenny, who was sleeping soundly, her thumb in her mouth.

  Ethan jerked his chin at the little girl. “I’ll hold her while you shower.”

  “All right.” She felt bereft when Ethan lifted Jenny from her arms. How could she feel attached to the child so soon?

  “A strong maternal instinct?” Ethan suggested. “Plus, vampire emotions run stronger and deeper than mortal ones.” He stroked Jenny’s cheek with his finger, only vaguely aware of Sofia leaving the room. He had never given much thought to being a father, but he suddenly found the idea appealing.

  He couldn’t seem to stop looking at the little girl. Her skin was soft and her blood smelled so sweet.... Shit! What kind of a monster was he?

  Afraid of what he might do, he laid the child on the sofa, covered her with the blanket folded over the back of the couch. He had never fed on children. Would he be able to say that if one lived in his house? Would the day come when temptation overcame his resistance? What if he killed her? He would never forgive himself, and neither would Sofia.

  Suddenly, the idea of having a kid in the house lost its appeal.

  He was standing in front of the fireplace, his back to the little girl, his hands tightly clenched, when Sofia emerged from the bathroom wearing a robe, her hair damp and curling around her shoulders.

  Her gaze moved from Ethan to Jenny and back again. Something was wrong. The tension in the room was thick enough to slice. “What is it? What’s happened?”

&nbs
p; “We can’t keep her here,” he said, his voice tight.

  She started to ask why, but it wasn’t necessary. She could sense the bloodlust emanating from him, knew he was fighting the urge to take the little girl’s blood.

  “I’m going out,” he growled, and vanished from the room.

  Sofia stared after him. As much as she wanted to keep Jenny as her own, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. And then she frowned. Ethan had been a vampire longer than she had. Why was he tempted to do something so despicable when the thought had never crossed her mind? Was it because of her innate instinct to mother the helpless child, as he had suggested?

  Lost in thought, she carried Jenny down to their bedroom and tucked her under the covers. She could keep her safe tonight, but what about tomorrow?

  Chapter Forty

  Ethan strolled the dark streets of an unknown city, his stomach in knots, the sweet scent of Jenny’s blood lingering in his nostrils. He told himself he was worrying for nothing. The kid probably had relatives somewhere. Saintcrow had connections everywhere. Surely someone his sire knew could find the girl’s next of kin.

  He swore under his breath when Saintcrow materialized beside him. “Speak of the devil and he appears.”

  “Sounds like the devil is just what you need. I could sense your distress all the way in New Orleans. What’s wrong?” He took a deep breath. “Is that a baby I smell?”

  “Not quite. It’s some little girl from the slaughter in the hotel. Sofie wants to keep her.”

  “Ah.” There was a wealth of understanding in that single word.

  “I can’t have a kid in the house,” Ethan said flatly. “I won’t be responsible for what happens to her. Can you find out if she’s got kin somewhere?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “Are we going to have trouble with the police over that massacre in the dining room?”

  “No. The cook and his assistant were both single. The waitresses and the hostess managed to get away.” Saintcrow held up a hand to stay Ethan’s next question. “They won’t remember anything. I’ve already seen to that. As for the patrons . . .” He shrugged. “No one will ever find the bodies. Their names have gone mysteriously missing from the computer, along with their luggage.”