Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

by Danielle James

  No one had ever kissed her like that before. No one had ever professed their undying love for her before either. Not unless she counted that kid in second grade. Antonio was a lot of firsts for her and she was enjoying it. She didn’t want him to stop, but at the same time she wanted more. She raised her hand and tangled her fist in his hair, pulling him down to her harder.

  He didn’t need any more encouragement. Antonio devoured her mouth like a man starved. It became a tangle of lips, teeth and tongue, and Macy loved it.

  His hands traveled along her side until he found the hem of her shirt. He snaked it underneath and caressed the skin of her belly underneath. Macy pulled away from him and he sat back long enough for her to rip it over her head and toss it to the floor. Her bra followed suit and Antonio sat back to look at her. “Beautiful,” he said.

  He leaned forward to capture a tight nipple between his lips. She released a moan that sent shivers down his spine and directly to the erection that was begging to be set free. Her hands tangled in his hair as she held him closer.

  He kissed all around that nipple and the breast surrounding it before moving to the other one to pay it homage as well. It seemed to Macy that her nipples must have a direct connection with her core because every swipe of his talented tongue sent electric waves straight there.

  She tried to raise his head so that she could lay some attention on him as well, but he stopped her. “Let me have this,” he told her. “I have loved you from the first time I saw you. Let me show you now.” How in the hell can a girl say no to that?

  He continued to caress and kiss until he had covered every inch of her exposed skin, and then he reached the barrier of her jeans. With a quick flick of his wrist, he had them unbuttoned and was gently pulling them down her legs.

  Macy lay there, in only her panties, waiting for what Antonio would do next. She knew what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to rip the rest of his clothes off and get inside her right now. He had other ideas. He did yank his shirt off, but he left his pants in place. He curled his body so that he could kiss her ankle. It was strange, Macy thought, to kiss an ankle, but whatever made him happy was good for her as well. He kissed all the way up the inside of her leg until he reached her panties.

  She felt his breath on her clit even through the thin material. Then, in one quick movement, he sliced his teeth through the material and they were gone. She thought she might come right then and there, but he surprised her again. He growled deep in his chest and then dove in. He shoved his tongue into her without preamble, causing her hips to rise off the bed. He snaked his tongue in and out at a greedy pace, lapping up all she had to offer.

  Then his tongue was all over her clit. He alternated between gentle circular motions and quick flicks that had Macy squirming and moaning loudly.

  Macy thought she just might explode from the pleasure Antonio was giving. Her entire body felt charged, like she was coursing with electricity. But she needed more. “Antonio,” she begged, but she really didn’t know what she was begging for.

  “I know, Mi Amor, he said. Macy felt his long fingers probing outside her entrance and she tried to wiggle into him for more stimulation. He continued to tease her, just running his finger along her opening, while toying with her clit with his tongue.

  “Antonio!” she demanded.

  He smiled around his tongue and looked up her body at her. Without warning, he pushed two fingers inside her and sucked on her clit hard. That was what she needed and Macy fell over the edge in an intense orgasm.

  Antonio wouldn’t allow the waves to stop. He continued to suck and move his fingers in and out until Macy was light headed. Then he moved up her body, unfastening his pants as he went.

  Macy saw his erection break free of the confines of his jeans. It was every bit the giant she had thought it was, but couldn’t manage to get scared of it. She reached down to touch him, but he stopped her hand. “I will never last if you touch me,” he said.

  Macy didn’t want him to last. She wanted him as desperate as she was. “I’m sorry,” he said in a whisper. “I cannot wait any more.”

  “Please,” Macy said, pulling her legs up and wrapping them around his waist. Antonio shoved his pants off and settled in the cradle of her thighs.

  “I have waited a lifetime for you,” he said as he positioned his cock at her core. “You are mine.” He entered her with one long thrust, filling her to the brink of pain.

  Macy was as full as she could get. Once he was seated fully inside her, Antonio remained still. The look on his face bordered on agony. “Are you ok?” he asked.

  “Not if you don’t start moving,” Macy said back with a smile. Antonio chuckled and slowly started moving his hips. Macy curled her arms around his neck and held him as close as she could. She felt every inch of him as he moved inside her.

  She felt more than his body though. She felt his pain, his fear, and most of all, she felt his love. Macy was no virgin, but she realized, all that came before were nothing. This is what it felt like to make love. All that time he had spent haunting her, singing to her, harassing her to help him had built the foundation for what she felt was something she was going to always carry with her. She felt a stronger connection to Antonio than she had ever felt with anyone before. No matter the amount of time she had with him, Antonio was always going to have a place in her heart.

  The feeling welled up inside her and forced a single tear to escape her eye.

  “What is it?” Antonio asked, stopping all movement. “Am I hurting you?” he asked, horrified. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

  “No,” she smiled at him.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “Because I just realized,” she said, “That I love you too.”

  Antonio groaned loudly and wrapped his arms around her tighter. Those words went straight to his heart and then to his cock. He began moving faster as the tingling in his lower back got stronger. She was his. He crushed her to his chest and kissed her hard.

  “Mine,” he growled.

  “Make it so,” she said, turning her head and exposing her neck. She knew what she was saying; she had talked to the other mated women in the house. She was prepared to give herself to Antonio for as long as she could have him. For while he was there, she would be his, however long that may be. No other would provide for him and she would do whatever he needed to make him happy. She also knew there would never be another for her, and that was alright, too.

  The vampire instinct to mark his mate was too strong and Antonio didn’t stand a chance of fighting it. He growled deep in his chest and sank his fangs into the soft skin of her neck. He drank greedily, taking what she offered and making her his own.

  Macy screamed out as an orgasm overtook her body. Antonio slammed into her and when her core tightened around him he jumped off that cliff with her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “Well, that was interesting,” Jacque mumbled under his breath. He had just watched Antonio sprint up the stairs with Macy, no doubt to convince her that she was his mate. He sat back in his chair and was content to watch the women clean up the remnants of the spell. They worked on cleaning up the herbs and some of the men took chairs back to where they belonged.

  His attention was centered on Frankie. She was so much more powerful than she believed. In the time they had been separated, she seemed to have lost some of her spark that he adored so much. Ever since they had made love she seemed somewhat distant. He knew that she was struggling with the mating mark she now carried on the side of her neck. He smiled to himself about the scarf that she thought was covering it. Everyone knew it was there, and everyone knew why. He needed to finish it, though, but how to convince her to allow it was eluding his brain.

  Leigh was right. He had been born in the city of love. Surely he could think of something. And then, when he heard Angel talking to Brea in French, ideas began to form in his mind. He sent a mental note to Gage to meet him outside.

  “I broug
ht reinforcements,” Gage said as Jacque took notice that not only he showed up, but brought Sebastian and Jessica as well. “I saw what you had in that head of yours, and trust me, we need all the help we can get.”

  Jacque nodded in agreement. “I have to do something drastic,” he said. “I have to convince Frankie that she is the only woman for me. I’m not sure why she is so distant, but I intend to close that distance. As Leigh said, I am French. I know how to give a woman a romantic date. I just need some help.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Jessica asked with a sly smile.

  “We are going to build a gazebo out here,” Jacque said, waving his arm in the direction of the beach. “I want it close enough that the evening tide will lap just below it, but far enough away that it won’t actually touch it. I want lights and music. I need someone to pick out a few songs that she would love. Sebastian, I need you to hook up some kind of sound system out here, Gage help me build the damned thing and Jessica, I need you to keep her busy while we do it.”

  “Why do you need a sound system?” she asked. “I think she would prefer live music, something you could sing to her.”

  “Hello? I play the drums, Jess. I don’t serenade… and I don’t think me wailing on the drums is exactly romantic,” he argued.

  Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes. “You have an entire band at your fingertips,” she told him. “Both Antonio and Rebel play guitar. Gage can play anything bass, Angel can sing, and don’t pretend that you can’t sing because I have heard you do it.”

  “Singing in the shower isn’t exactly the same,” he said, shaking his head.

  “If you want to impress her, then you need to suck it up. As far as the songs go, I recommend that you do an acoustic version of some of your own.” He opened his mouth to argue, but Jessica shut him down with a wave of her hand. “You asked for help, and now I am helping you. You did what I needed when Sebastian needed a good kick in the head, and now you are gonna let me repay the favor. I know Frankie better than anyone and this is what she needs. Wine her, dine her, sing to her, and when it’s over, fuck her ‘till she can’t see straight.”

  Sebastian laughed. “That’s my wife,” he said. He pushed his hair off his shoulders and began tying it up behind his neck. “I agree and I am ready to get to work.”

  “I will go and talk to the other boys in private,” Jessica said. “I’ll take care of Frankie. We need to go shopping anyway. You’ll let me know when it’s ready?”

  “Of course,” Sebastian answered, already leaning down to kiss her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and yanked her close to his body as he kissed her like it was his last. He always did that though, and Jacque thought once he knew Frankie was his, he would too.

  He watched as Jessica untangled herself from her mate and skipped back into the house. He heard her calling Frankie and Macy’s names as she went up the stairs. Sebastian was a lucky man, he thought. Jessica was an incredible woman and one hell of a sister.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Merrick was wondering around the shopping center aimlessly. He knew he needed to buy more clothes, but he couldn’t seem to pick anything out. Leo was getting irritated, but Merrick couldn’t produce a shit to give at that point. His mind was swimming in all the ways he could exact his revenge on the vampires. In his mind, a scenario would play out, but in each one, he found fault in his logic. No matter what scheme he came up with, he knew the vampires would be able to counter.

  He couldn’t just storm the estate like before; they would have taken measures to prevent that from ever happening again. He couldn’t kidnap Leigh because she was never alone and the bond she shared with Rebel would lead him right to her before Merrick was prepared for him.

  That damned vampire could share her magic and that made him a formidable foe. He could do all the same things Merrick could with the added benefits of being a blood sucker.

  He was steaming inside. He had to get it under control. Merrick was supposed to be dead. That was why Leo had insisted that he wear a stupid hat and tuck his hair inside it. He said the color of his hair was too unique and people would recognize him. Merrick hadn’t cared until Leo pointed out that he didn’t need the public alerting Angel Knight about his new life.

  He was just about as frustrated as he could get without blowing his top when he felt a hand on his arm. “What the fuck,” he started at Leo for touching him, but the smile on the Fae’s uncanny handsome face gave him pause.

  “Keep calm and keep walking,” Leo said. “But listen carefully. Without being obvious, look over at the American Eagle store.”

  Merrick looked in the direction provided with his eyes only. At first, all he saw was a bunch of people milling around in the small store. Then he saw a flash of blonde hair that he recognized. “Is that,” he started to ask but trailed off, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes it is,” Leo said with a mischievous grin. “The blonde is Sebastian’s mate, I don’t know who the brunette belongs to but she wears a mating mark, and the black haired woman does as well. She is with them so she is likely mated to one of them or their guards.”

  “I know her from somewhere,” Merrick said more to himself than to Leo. “I can’t quite remember. It’s on the edge of my memory…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I know in my soul that she is important.”

  “I think we should follow them a while,” Leo said.

  “Finally,” Merrick rolled his eyes, “An idea that I can agree with.”

  ***

  Frankie hadn’t been out shopping for clothes in what seemed like forever, having spent all her money on tickets for the greater part of a year. Jessica dragged her and Macy from one store to another, tossing things on the counter and swiping Sebastian’s credit card without a care in the world.

  No matter how many times Frankie and Macy insisted they couldn’t afford all that stuff, Jessica rebuffed telling them they were part of the family. She accented the remark by pointing out that they both wore their mates’ marks on their necks. She assured them that money wasn’t a problem, and she would know, being the men’s accountant. She knew how and where every dollar they had was spent and why.

  It was in the seventh or eighth store that Frankie got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Guys,” she said, “I got a bad feeling.” That was all she got out before the whisper in her head started.

  Te ad me venire pedes tui non sunt, in silentio. veniat ad me et sicut dixi..

  It sounded like Latin, but Frankie didn’t have time to translate before she and the others began walking out of the store. They exchanged worried looks, but no one seemed to be able to speak. The whisper got louder and louder as they exited the store and walked out of the mall.

  As they walked toward a black van in the back of the parking lot, Frankie’s heart sped up even faster than it had before. She knew this was some kind of magic but she was helpless to fight it. Given that Jessica and Macy were right beside her, she had to assume that they were helpless as well.

  A man walked out from behind the van when they were right beside it and their feet stopped. He was tall with long red hair that brushed his shoulders. Something about his eyes was familiar to Frankie. They were just like Leigh’s.

  “Good evening Ladies,” he spoke. “It is nice to see you again, Jessica.” Frankie moved her eyes as far as she could and saw Jessica’s terrified expression.

  “For you that do not know me, I am Merrick. I have a score to settle and you are just the way I intend to do it.”

  Frankie understood. Her magic that had brought Antonio back from the dead had also brought the dragon responsible for his death. It was then that she realized there was another man present. By the looks of his light hair and beautiful face, she knew he was Fae, and he was softly chanting the spell that had taken over control of their bodies. There was no question about it when he commanded the women to step into the van and their feet obeyed without opposition. They were royally screwed.

  CHAPTER TW
ENTY-EIGHT

  Jacque stood back and looked at the gazebo that he and Sebastian had just finished building. It was just big enough to fit a small bistro table and two chairs inside. That was perfect. Jacque had a delivery on order for a couple of steaks and some fresh vegetables for dinner and a chocolate cake for dessert. He knew chocolate was Frankie’s favorite and he wasn’t above using it.

  Antonio and Gage had helped as well, stringing lights along the roof of the gazebo and setting up their instruments so that they could play while Jacque and Frankie ate. He had decided, albeit reluctantly, that he would sing a song for Frankie. He chose one of their songs, My Beautiful Stranger, to sing to her. He only hoped that she didn’t laugh too hard.

  Jacque was headed back into the house to shower when a vicious roar sounded from the upper level of the house. He knew that Antonio and Gage had gone up already to shower and all his senses went on high alert.

  Something was wrong.

  A blur flew past him, damned near knocking him to the ground before he realized it was Gage. “Run for your life!” he shouted with a laugh.

  Oh no, Jacque thought. What had Gage done now? He got his answer when a naked Antonio came running out of the house as well. He was wet, naked, and blue. Not the kind of blue one turns when he can’t breathe, but electric blue. From head to toe, Antonio looked like he was wearing a smurf!

  Jacque watched, dumbfounded, as his brother ran after Gage. He was running much slower than Gage, and that little tidbit didn’t go unnoticed.

  Antonio stopped a few yards down the beach and bent over with his hands on his thighs. He was winded and desperately trying to catch his breath.

  Angel joined Jacque on the beach and watched the scene unfold. Surely Antonio was making a joke. He was waiting for Gage to get worried and come back to see if he was ok. He had to be, after all, vampires didn’t get winded.

  “I don’t think Gage is stupid enough to fall for that,” Jacque said.