Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

He was captured and forced to fight as a gladiator. I don’t know anything about the Roman Empire, but if Lucas was a citizen of Rome, why would they capture him? Treason? I have no freaking clue.

“The last place of residence I can recall was near where modern-day Barcelona is now.”

“Is it weird to think about being human?” I wrap the blanket tight around my shoulders and look outside, squinting. The sky is covered with light gray clouds, yet the snow reflects the light right back to me.

“Not weird, just…foreign. I have those memories, but I don’t recall much else. It’s like I’m talking about a different person.” He drapes one arm around me. “Things are clearer when you’re a vampire. Memories are sharper. Details are easier to recall.”

“Our puny human brains can’t keep up.”

His lips pull into a half-smile. “Good thing yours is only half-human.”

“Archangels trump vampires, right?”

“I’d think so, though you trump anything, even if you were a measly human.”

“Our daughter is going to be more human than me,” I start, more or less just noting the fact. “But she’ll have magic, I’m sure. I wonder if she’s going to have my green eyes or your blue eyes. I know there’s that whole thing with recessive genes or whatever, but since I’m not fully human, I don’t think it’ll work the same way. It’s kinda funny when you think about it. You’re the least human of the two of us but gave our daughter the most human-ish-ness.”

“I hope I did.”

“Why would you say that?”

Lucas tears his eyes away from the snow to face me. “I’m not a human, Callie. I haven’t been in over a thousand years. Yes, that spell essentially made me start coming back to life, but I was dying as I was becoming more alive.”

“So you’re worried your sperm was defective?”

He cocks an eyebrow. “No.”

I shrug. “I thought that’s what you were alluding to.”

“I want our child to be human. I want her to feel sunlight on her skin. To eat food. To enjoy the little everyday things all children should enjoy. I hope she can go to Grim Gate Academy, and I know I won’t be able to see her off to school, but you should be able to do all of that. You said you’d rather be with me and not have children than not be with me at all, but I hated that I took that away from you. And now...” He cups my face, turning my chin up to his. “Now you can be a mother. You can continue your family line and pass down your Book of Shadows and live with just a bit more normalcy than I ever thought I could give you.”

“Lucas,” I start, unable to say anything more without choking up. My heart swells in my chest, feeling so strongly for him right now. “You were always enough for me.” I blink back tears and stand on my toes, pressing my lips to his. “Always.”

Lucas’s strong arms wrap around me, picking me up and effortlessly carrying me back into bed. He lays me down and moves on top of me, kissing my neck. His fangs grace my skin, pushing against it just hard enough to hurt but not enough to break through the surface. I close my eyes, lips parting as desire floods through me, awakening every nerve in my body.

Goosebumps break out along my flesh, and Lucas pulls our down comforter over both of us. The heated blanket we always sleep with is still on and bunched up beneath me, keeping me warm.

“I love you, Callie,” he growls. “I love that you are mine. That no one but me will ever kiss you. Touch you. Drink from you or fuck you.”

“I don’t want anyone else,” I pant, inhaling sharply as his fangs scrape the surface of my skin, breaking through the top few layers. I curl my legs around him, pressing my core against him so I can feel his cock get hard. He’s impressive in both length and girth, and I remember being afraid he wouldn’t fit inside me the first time we had sex. He’s happily proved me wrong, time and time again.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispers, putting his lips to mine. I wrap my legs tighter around him, rocking my hips. Heat flows through me, and desperation to come takes over. Kissing him back with fervor, I slide my hands along his muscular back, not stopping until my fingers slip under the waistband of his sweatpants.

Lucas sits up just enough to let me strip his pants off and then moves back to me, wet tip of his cock rubbing against the thin fabric of my black panties. I turn my head, offering him my neck. He drives back down, licking up the tiny bit of blood that’s still seeping from the small scratches.