His Captive Mortal (A Vampire Romance)

“Iceland.”

She peeps out of the cleft in the rock where we’re tucked in, hiding against the wind. We’re on another cliff, but this one overlooks a vast snowy plain.

I tuck her against me, making sure the robe is tight around her.

“Look up,” I whisper into her ear.

She does and gasps. Overhead, swirls of bright green and blue shimmer in the air. The entire sky is lit up with the eerie glow.

“The Northern Lights,” she cries. “Charlie, this is incredible.” She tries to turn, but I won’t let her. “Keep looking. We won’t stay long.” The fur won’t warm her feet.

I keep my cheek against hers, my body pressed around hers to help ward off the chill.

“I can’t believe this,” she whispers like she’s in church. I understand. The lights are achingly lovely. Stained glass windows in a cathedral look like a child’s clumsy paint-by-number effort compared to this living masterpiece dancing on the canvas of the night. “It’s so beautiful.”

“The second most beautiful sight in the world.”

“Second?”

“The first is you and your magic.”

She shakes her head, but I’m not lying.

We watch the lights fare for another minute, then Aurelia starts to shift on her feet, trying to stay warm.

“Ten more seconds,” I warn her.

She stills her fidgeting. “I’m okay,” she says, but her teeth chatter.

“Enough. It’s too cold.” In a blink, we’re back in my bedroom.

“Worth it.”

I lay her out on my bed, unwrapping her from the heavy fur. I undo her shoes and rub her freezing toes, checking her over.

Her cheeks are flushed, but her eyes sparkle. “That was amazing. A night to die for.”

Her feet are fine. I can’t stay away from her any longer. I climb over her body, letting my weight settle on her. She’ll warm up faster.

“There are perks to serving a vampire.”

“I’m not sure the perks outweigh the annoying work conditions,” she says, but she’s laughing.

“I’ll show you annoying,” I retort. Not a stunning display of wit, but the fluttering pulse in her neck has me distracted. I lick and suck the skin of her neck until she’s restless under me. Then I start kissing my way down her body. I slip her breasts out of the corset, the better to kiss and torment them.

“Charlie,” she moans and tugs me up to face her. At first, I think she wants me to kiss her again, but she turns her head and bares her neck. “Do it.”

“No.” But I’m panting, my fangs aching.

“Charlie, please. I want this.”

With a shudder, I succumb. I scrape my fangs over her pulse, and she stills for the bite. What she doesn’t expect are my hands wrenching at her jeans and my trousers. I set my cock at her wet entrance and thrust inside. Then and only then, I sink my fangs into her skin.

Her cries fill my ears. I draw her hot, rich blood into my body as I pump my cock into her.

And I experience something more beautiful than the Northern Lights or Aurelia’s smile when she blows a heart shaped bubble my way.

Aurelia, opening her body to mine. Giving me her blood. Climaxing on my cock. It’s everything. It’s all I want and all I’ll ever need.

She’s all I’ll ever need.

“Aurelia,” I whisper against her neck. “My own.”

“Charlie.”

My fangs throb, and I pierce her skin again, but not before I tell her, “You belong to me.”

She thinks I’m dangerous. But she’s the one who could so easily destroy me. Because tonight we gave ourselves fully to each other, and now I want forever.

Chapter 13

Aurelia

I continue working on pulling out the spell every time Charlie sleeps. I try dreaming as Anka again, but the Parisian madame doesn’t surface. By the end of a week of effort, I resolve to try the one thing I’ve been avoiding—attempting to be Anka.

I sit cross-legged at the foot of her bed, watching Charlie sleep. His dark hair stands out as if he ran his fingers through it, tousled in that sexy casual look he embodies so well.

I close my eyes and try to place myself in the dream again, experiencing the emotions of lost love, of fury.

I will never take pleasure with another woman, so long as you live.

My eyes fly open. Perhaps that’s the loophole. Perhaps, to break the spell, he needed to have sex with her. With Anka.

The thought terrifies me. Could I somehow become Anka while making love to Charlie? And if so, would he notice?

I look over and start.

Charlie’s eyes are open, and he lies watching me. “What are you doing, love?” he asks softly.

I draw a breath. The closer I stick to the truth, the better, especially considering the way he reads my feelings. “I want to try something.”

He waits for me to go on.

“I want to try to pull the curse while we’re making love.”

He nods. “Okay.”