Night's Pleasure (Children of The Night 4)

She ran her hands over his body, reveling in the way his skin rippled beneath her fingertips, in the flex and play of his biceps as she kneaded the muscles there. She quivered with anticipation as his hands caressed her, bold hands, strong hands.

Sensations flowed over her and through her—the damp sheets at her back, Rane’s heated flesh, the sweep of his tongue across her lips, the brush of his hair against her shoulders as he nuzzled her neck, the rapid beat of her heart, the husky yearning in his voice as he whispered love words in her ear.

Right or wrong, she wanted him, all of him, the good and the bad. Wanted him with a desperation she had never known before. He was the strength to her weakness, a constant in her ever-changing world. The light to her darkness. No doubt he would find that as amusing as she did.

Grinning inwardly, Savanah wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him close, afraid he would change his mind yet again and leave her yearning for more.

But he had no thought to leave her, not now, not ever again.

Closing her eyes, Savanah gave herself into his keeping, body and soul, and as she did so, her thoughts became his, as his became hers. It was amazing, to feel what he felt, to know he experienced her pleasure as she experienced his. There was no shyness between them, no need for words. She satisfied his every desire as he satisfied hers. Truly, they were two halves made whole, two bodies with one heart, one mind.

The touch of his fangs at her throat sent her world spiraling out of control. Sobbing his name, she writhed beneath him, her body quivering with ecstasy until she lay sated and spent beneath him.

Rane’s climax came quickly on the heels of her own. With a sigh, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his side so that they lay facing each other, their bodies still intimately joined together.

His gaze searched hers. “Still no regrets?”

“Not one. You?”

He shook his head. He had many regrets in life, but making love to Savanah wasn’t one of them. He just wished he was worthy of her love, her trust. He had never intended for their relationship to go this far, never intended to fall in love with her, but now…it was beyond his control. He would love her, cherish her, until the end of time.

“And so,” he said, “where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you see yourself doing after we’ve found the Vampire who killed your father and you and your books are out of danger?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.” She worried her lower lip with her teeth. “Do you have plans?”

“None that don’t include you. Do you feel the same?”

She glanced down at their bodies, still joined together, then looked at him, one brow raised. “What do you think?”

“I think I want to make love to you again.”

“So soon? Can you?”

“I’m not a mortal man, love, have you forgotten?”

“How could I?” She nibbled on his chin, then kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m yours to command.”

His gaze moved over her face. Though she didn’t know it, she was indeed his to command. He had tasted her blood, made her his as no other woman had ever been his. For better or worse, for the rest of her life, they were bound together. Should she choose to leave him sometime in the future, the blood bond between them would remain. No matter where she went, he would always be able to find her. Whether she wished it or not, she would always be his to command.

Cupping the back of her head in his hand, he claimed her lips with his, hunger and desire rising up like a wild-fire in his loins, yet even as he took her, a distant part of his mind hoped she wouldn’t be incinerated by the flames.

Savanah woke with a smile and a groan. Turning onto her side, she glanced at the clock. It was almost four in the afternoon. She supposed it wasn’t really so surprising that she had slept so long since Rane had made love to her all night long, each time more wonderful than the last. Sleep had claimed her sometime in the wee small hours of the morning.

Sitting up, she stretched her arms over her head. Where was he? Was he taking his rest somewhere in the house? If not, where would he go? Rising, she put on her robe, then went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She slipped her mother’s silver chain over her head, her fingers momentarily stroking the crucifix where it rested between her br**sts.

After making her way downstairs, she put the coffee on, and then she wandered through the house, looking for Rane’s resting place. She paused a moment outside her father’s bedroom, her mind filling with unwanted images of the last time she had seen him, lying on the floor the night he died.

Expelling a deep breath, she opened the door. Rane wasn’t in the room. She hadn’t really expected to find him sleeping in her father’s bed, or in any of the other rooms in the house, since none of them was equipped to completely block the sun’s light. On the other hand, she didn’t think he would go off and leave her alone, either, so where could he be? One thing was for certain, if he was in the house, she couldn’t find him.

Returning to the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee, then popped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. When the toast was ready, she buttered it, then sat at the table, reliving the night before. She had always heard that men needed a certain amount of time between bouts of lovemaking, but that wasn’t true of Rane. She had heard some of her friends complain that their husbands always turned over and fell asleep after making love. Savanah grinned, knowing that was one thing she would never have to worry about.

Sobering, she wondered if she would ever have a husband now.

What if Rane didn’t want to get married?

What if he did? It was a topic they had never discussed.

Did she want to marry a Vampire? His parents, his grandparents, his brother and his sister-in-law were all Vampires. What would it be like, to be the only mortal in a family of the Undead? Would they accept her as part of the family, or would they look at her and see only prey?

And why was she even worrying about something that might never happen when her life was still in danger?

Savanah retrieved her other suitcase from the living room and carried it upstairs. She left Rane’s on the sofa. She knew he wouldn’t mind sharing her bed, but she didn’t know if he’d want to share her bedroom, as well. Thus far, he had preferred to take his rest in privacy.

After pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweater, she lifted her mother’s Vampire kit from her suitcase and dropped it on the bed. It took only minutes to put her clothes away and when that was done, she sat in the middle of the bed, her fingertips tracing the runes on the top of the metal box before she opened it. She ran her hands over the various instruments of destruction, smiling faintly as she imagined her mother and father doing the same thing in days past. She couldn’t think of any two people who had looked less like Vampire hunters, she mused. But then, she had never seen a Vampire hunter, so what did she know?