Night's Mistress

by Amanda Ashley

  “Is that a good idea? I don’t know much about childbirth, but shouldn’t he let the baby come when it’s ready?”

  She shrugged. “He said first babies often come early and he doesn’t want to take a chance on my going into labor during the day, when he can’t be there.”

  “I still think you should wait and see if you can’t have it on the thirty-first.”

  Mara stuck her tongue out at him. “Sorry, you won’t be getting a Halloween baby.”

  Logan made a clucking sound. “It would have been perfect.”

  “I guess so,” Mara said.

  “I can see the headlines now: EX-VAMPIRE GIVES BIRTH AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT ON ALL-HALLOWS’ EVE.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m glad I don’t have to wait that extra two weeks.”

  Logan punched the button for the elevator, held the door for her while she stepped inside. She loved it that he was so polite, so protective of her. She admired his profile as they rode down to the first floor, curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching up to run her fingers through the hair at his nape, to stroke the firm line of his jaw, to run her thumb over his sultry lower lip. Lordy, the man seemed to get better looking every day.

  Logan glanced at her. Quirking one brow, he smiled that insufferable knowing smile. And then he winked at her. “We’ll be home soon.”

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re not supposed to make love anymore until after the baby’s born.” She grinned at his look of mock horror. The doctor had told her that, normally, he wouldn’t have advised her to stop having sexual relations so soon, but, in this instance, he thought it would be a wise precaution, since her case was extremely unusual.

  Logan grunted softly. “I guess it’s a good thing we went parking when we did,” he said with a wry grin.

  The elevator doors slid open when they reached the main lobby. As Mara stepped outside, she said, “You know, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Ramsden is hiding something from me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s been asking me an awful lot of questions about my past and about the baby’s father . . .”

  “What’s the matter with that? Makes sense to me that he’d want to know everything he can.”

  “So, it doesn’t seem strange to you? I mean, what possible difference can my past make? He’s not asking about my health or my ancestors, but personal stuff, and . . .”

  Her words trailed off as she reached the curb. Coming to an abrupt halt, she stared at the man standing a few feet away, unable to believe her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Logan glanced around, wondering what had put that stricken expression on her face.

  “Kyle,” she whispered. “It’s Kyle.”

  Logan quickly stepped in front of her, ready to defend her, if necessary.

  She couldn’t stop staring at Kyle. He looked old and tired and endearingly familiar. She moved up beside Logan as Kyle closed the distance between them. “What are you doing here, Kyle?” she asked, keeping her tone deliberately cool.

  He paid no attention to the man standing beside her. “Looking for you.”

  She couldn’t stifle the rush of hope that filled her heart. “Why?”

  “I should think that would be obvious. You’re having my baby.”

  Mara lifted her chin, her heart pounding with trepidation. How had he found her? How did he know about the baby? She would have denied her pregnancy if it hadn’t been so blatantly obvious. “What makes you think it’s yours?”

  Kyle glanced at Logan. “Are you going to tell me it’s his?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you believe.”

  “Dammit, Mara, I know it’s mine. Can we talk for a few minutes?” Kyle glanced at Logan again. “Alone.”

  A muscle throbbed in Logan’s jaw. “She’s not going anywhere with you, alone or otherwise.”

  “It’s all right, Logan,” Mara said, laying her hand on his arm. “I’ll meet you at the house.”

  Logan glared at Kyle. “I want her home in thirty minutes. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

  “I’ll bring her home when she’s ready, and not one second before,” Kyle retorted.

  “Logan, I’ll be all right.” Standing on her tiptoes, Mara kissed his cheek. “I won’t be long.”

  With a last warning look at Kyle, Logan got into his car and pulled away from the curb.

  Kyle rubbed a hand over his jaw. “He’s a vampire, isn’t he?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “A very old one.”

  “Why don’t we go to the coffee shop across the street?” Kyle suggested. “We can talk there.”

  “All right.”

  Mara was as nervous as a cat in a thunderstorm as she sat in the booth facing Kyle. She couldn’t stop staring at him, couldn’t keep her heart from beating double-time whenever his gaze met hers. She had never been happier than when they were together, never been more miserable than when they were apart. And now he was here. She took a deep, calming breath. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I’m sorry for the way I behaved when you told me you were a . . .” He glanced around, lowering his voice. “When you told me what you are, but, dammit, you sprang it on me without any warning.” He ran a hand through his hair, making her think he was as nervous as she. “I never told you, but my father was killed by a vampire. I know that doesn’t excuse my behavior, but, maybe . . . maybe it explains why I reacted the way I did.”

  “I’m sorry about your father.”

  Kyle nodded. “If you’d just given me a little time to get used to the idea instead of taking off . . .”

  “It’s all water under the bridge now,” she said, pleased that she sounded so cool and aloof.

  “Is that what you think? I came to tell you . . .” He paused when a waitress approached their table. “A cup of coffee, please,” he said.

  With a nod, the waitress moved away.

  “What did you come to tell me?” Mara asked.

  “I want you to . . .” He took a deep breath, then said it all in a rush. “I want you to make me what you are.”

  Mara stared at him. “Are you saying that you want to be a vampire?”

  “Hell, no,” he exclaimed. “Who wants to be a vampire?”

  “But you just said . . .”

  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to be together.” He scrubbed his hands over his jaw. “The baby’s mine, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” She glanced up in irritation when the waitress arrived with Kyle’s order.

  “Congratulations!” the waitress said, smiling expansively. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “Just the check,” Mara said.

  The waitress knew how to take a hint. With a muttered “Yes, ma’am,” she dropped the check on the table and hurried away.

  Kyle stirred cream into his coffee, his expression thoughtful. “How can you be pregnant? Everybody knows that vampires can’t reproduce.”

  Mara took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. “I’m not a vampire anymore.”

  Kyle stared at her as though she had suddenly grown two heads and a tail. “What?”

  She made a vague gesture with her hand. “It’s true. I don’t know how. I don’t know why, but I’ve lost my powers.”

  “Are you telling me that you’re mortal again?”

  Nodding, she pulled his cup toward her, added sugar, and took a drink. “Now do you believe me?” she asked, pushing the cup away.

  Kyle stared at her a moment longer, and then he grinned from ear to ear. “That’s great!”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  “Don’t you? Mara, think what it means. You’re human again. We can be together now, as equals. I never stopped loving you. Even when I thought I hated you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind.” He reached across the table and took one of her hands in both of his. “Or my heart.” He pause
d, his brow creasing in a frown. “That guy you were with, you’re not . . . he’s not . . .”

  “He’s just a good friend,” she said, and wondered why it sounded like a lie. “I don’t know what I would have done without him these last few months.”

  “You could have come to me.”

  “Do you really think I would have come back after what you said? The way you looked at me, as if I was some kind of monster?” She wasn’t being entirely fair, and she knew it. To most humans, she had been a monster. There had been times when she had thought of herself that way. But she had expected more from the man who had vowed to love her as long as he lived.

  “No, I guess not.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “But that’s all in the past. We’re together now and that’s the only thing that matters.” He smiled at her. “We’re together and we’re going to have a baby. Call me old-fashioned, but I think we should get married.”

  “Married!” Now it was her turn to stare.

  “Is that such a terrible idea?”

  “No, but . . . married?”

  “Don’t you think our baby deserves a mother and a father?”

  “Yes, but . . .” In all her years of existence, Mara had never once contemplated being a wife. Or a mother. Now both were there, within her grasp.

  “I love you,” Kyle said quietly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, grow old with you.”

  Mara frowned at him. What was so great about growing old, together or otherwise? Lovers in movies were always talking about growing old together, as if it was something wonderful, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand their reasoning. Why would anyone want to grow old, get sick, and die?

  “Whether you’re human or vampire,” Kyle was saying, “it doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re together.”

  “Kyle, I don’t like being human. When this baby is grown, I’m going to ask Logan to bring me over.”

  “Why the hell would you want to do that?”

  “Because I liked being a vampire. Until this happened, I could scarcely remember what it was like to be mortal.”

  Mindful of others in the café, Kyle lowered his voice again. “You liked drinking blood?”

  “Yes,” she said, wanting to shock him without knowing why. “I liked that part, too.”

  Kyle looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “I just can’t believe this. I’d think you’d be thrilled to be human again. Grateful for the chance to have children and live an ordinary life.”

  “What’s so great about being ordinary?”

  With a sigh, Kyle drew his hands away from hers. “Nothing, I guess. I just thought . . .” He shook his head.

  “Never mind.”

  “What did you think?”

  “I thought you loved me.”

  The hurt in his voice, the pain in his eyes, made her heart ache. “Kyle, I don’t know how to be human anymore.” Even that wasn’t entirely true. She had finally mastered the art of cooking simple meals, she enjoyed working outside in the yard. She had even applied for a credit card using Logan’s last name and address. She didn’t like being human, but she was determined to make the best of it for as long as she had to, for the baby’s sake.

  “I’ll help you,” Kyle said. “I know we could be happy together if you’d just give us a chance.”

  Maybe he was right. If she sent him away now, she might never see him again. She had thought herself in love with him once. Perhaps she still was. Confused, she shook her head. She had been happy with Kyle in the past. When he’d left, she had been brokenhearted, certain she would never be happy again, and then Logan had entered her life again . . . Logan who loved her unconditionally. He would never turn his back on her. No matter what she did or what she said, she knew he would be there for her. In spite of Kyle’s declaration of love, she wasn’t sure she could depend on him.

  She ran her finger around the rim of his coffee cup. Life would be so much easier if she wasn’t pregnant. But she was, and Kyle was right—her baby deserved a mother and a father. So why was she hesitating? Being human wasn’t all that bad. She might even grow to like it. She enjoyed mortal food. She liked being able to see her reflection in a mirror; in fact, she had spent far too much time admiring herself from every angle until she gained so much weight that she started avoiding anything that reflected her image.

  She smiled inwardly. Fat or not, she was still a pretty woman; some said she was beautiful. Kyle was a strikingly handsome man. No doubt their baby would be adorable. But marriage . . . she just wasn’t ready for that, not yet. She might never be ready.

  “I’m sorry,” Kyle said, “I don’t mean to pressure you. Will you at least think about what I said?”

  How could she refuse him when he had been willing to become a vampire—something he abhorred—just to be with her?

  “Maybe we could move in together,” Kyle suggested. “You know, sort of a trial marriage.”

  She had lived with Logan for several months. It seemed only fair to give Kyle equal time, and it would give her time to sort out her jumbled feelings.

  Logan was less than thrilled with her decision. “So, you’re going to move in with him, just like that?”

  “Yes. He’s waiting for me outside.” She had decided to give Kyle another chance. He seemed sincere; otherwise, why would he have come looking for her? He had even been willing to join the ranks of the Undead. That couldn’t have been an easy decision for him, especially in view of the fact that a vampire had killed his father. But, more than anything, she needed time away from Logan, time to figure out what—and who—she really wanted. Were all mortals this confused, or was it just her pregnancy that was causing her to change her mind every five minutes?

  Logan crossed the floor in three long strides. He stopped in front of her, his face only inches from her own. “I love you,” he declared. “I’ve loved you for centuries. I’ve taken care of you, given you shelter, and now you’re turning your back on me for that . . . that mortal?”

  Mara met Logan’s angry gaze, unblinking. “I’m mortal, too, remember?” The fact that Kyle was also human had been the final, deciding factor in her decision to go with him.

  “I can change that,” Logan said flatly.

  “No.” Not liking the dark undercurrent in his voice or the ominous look in his eyes, Mara folded her arms protectively over her stomach. No matter how she felt about Logan, she had a baby to think of. And Kyle was right. Her baby needed a father. A mortal father. And no matter how she felt about Logan—and at the moment, she wasn’t sure how she felt—her life and that of her child would be centered in the mortal world.

  Logan’s eyes narrowed. “What if I refuse to let you go?”

  She lifted her chin defiantly. “You won’t.”

  “No? What makes you so sure?”

  “Because you love me,” she said quietly, “and because you know I’ll hate you forever if you keep me here against my will.”

  “Maybe I’ll just kill him, then.”

  “Logan . . .” Mara cupped his cheek with her hand.

  “Please don’t make this any harder than it is. I’m grateful for all of your help, and I do love you, but I’m mortal now. I can’t stay with you.” Tears stung her eyes and she blinked them back. “I can’t bear the constant reminder of what I was, what I’ve lost.” And that, at least, was true.

  Logan blew out a breath, his anger routed by the unhappiness in her voice, the resignation in her eyes. “All right, have it your way.” Like always, he thought.

  “Will you help me pack?”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not sure, but we can’t very well stay here, with you.” What a nightmare that would be! She could just imagine Logan and Kyle under the same roof, glaring at each other like two hungry wolves after the same prey.

  “No need for you to move out,” Logan said gruffly. “I’ll go.”

  “That’s sweet of you, but . . . I think Kyle and I are going back to California.”


  “Are you sure that’s wise? I thought Ramsden wanted you close by.”

  “I know, but”—she bit down on the corner of her lip—“you remember I told you I thought he was acting suspicious? Well, it was even worse this last time. I can’t put my finger on it, exactly, but . . . I don’t know. I just don’t trust him.”

  “Are you sure it’s not because he’s a vampire and you’re not?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe that’s it. But whatever the reason, I have a bad feeling about having the baby here, so I’m going back to California. Please don’t tell Ramsden or anyone else where I’ve gone.”

  “Whatever you want,” he said, his voice cool.

  “Logan, I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay . . .”

  He held up his hand. “Don’t even go there! You don’t owe me a damn thing,” he said curtly. “Come on, I’ll help you pack. The sooner you get out of here, the better.”

  “Logan . . .”

  “You know where I live if it doesn’t work out.”

  Without waiting to see if she followed or not, he turned on his heel and headed for the bedroom. He didn’t want her to go, but he’d be damned if he would beg her to stay.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Kyle shook his head as he stared at Mara’s house. House! It was more like a mansion. Located in the Hollywood Hills, it rose up from the ground like a giant bird of prey about to take flight.

  “This is yours?” he asked incredulously.

  “Yes,” Mara said, unlocking the front door. “Do you like it?”

  “What’s not to like? You didn’t tell me you were rich.”

  She shrugged as she stepped over the threshold and switched on the lights. “It didn’t occur to me.”

  Kyle followed her inside, pausing under the high arch that led into the spacious living room. The first thing he noticed was one of the paintings he had done of her hanging over the fireplace. He studied it for several moments. It was the best thing he had ever done. He glanced at Mara, then back at the painting. She looked the same as she had when he’d painted her portrait, and yet she didn’t. Her skin was a little less translucent, her hair a little less lustrous. But it was more than that. He studied the painting a moment longer before he realized what it was. The vampire glamour she had once exuded was missing.