His Dark Embrace

Tank wasn’t the only one who came and went on schedule. Olivia stopped by to visit with Sam every night at midnight, like clockwork.

Skylynn wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It seemed so decadent somehow, her vampire brother being nourished by an older woman. But she kept her thoughts to herself. It was her fault that Sam was a vampire, after all, and apparently new vampires needed to feed every night.

Sky didn’t mind letting Kaiden drink from her now and then. It was, in fact, quite pleasurable. But she was in love with Kaiden. She couldn’t help thinking that letting a stranger feed from you would be like making love to someone you didn’t know. Of course, some women got a thrill from that. She couldn’t help wondering about Olivia. Did the woman let strangers feed from her, or only vampires she knew?

To pass the hours of daylight, Skylynn went on a cleaning spree. She washed all the dishes in the kitchen cupboards, wiped down the refrigerator, inside and out, arranged all her CDs and DVDs in alphabetical order, and sorted the books on the shelf by the author’s last name.

She watched TV until the screen went blurry.

She mopped and vacuumed and dusted until there wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere.

She reread a dozen of her favorite books.

At the end of a week, she took Kaiden aside and told him, as patiently as she could, that if she didn’t get outside soon, she was going to go insane.

“All right, Sky Blue,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

“I’m sick of cooking. I want to go out to dinner. And then to the mall. And then to the movies.”

So it was, on a Friday night, that the three of them piled into Kaiden’s car and drove downtown.

Sky was in the mood for Italian, so they went to Luigi’s, where she ordered chicken alfredo. Kaiden ordered a bottle of wine for the three of them.

“We can drink wine?” Sam asked when Kaiden filled his glass.

“A little, from time to time.”

With a small grunt of surprise, Sam lifted his glass, took a sip, and smiled.

“Too bad you two can’t have a bite of this,” Sky said. “It’s delicious.”

Sam looked at Kaiden, who shook his head. “I don’t advise it.”

“What happens if we eat mortal food?”

“Try some and see.”

Head cocked to one side, Sam looked at Kaiden for several moments, then shook his head. “I think I’ll stick to the wine.”

“It’s a smart man who can learn from the mistakes of others,” Thorne said, grinning.

Sam and Kaiden finished the last of the Chardonnay while Sky lingered over a large bowl of spumoni.

Kaiden smiled as he watched her savor the rich dessert, which consisted of layers of ice cream, whipped cream, candied fruit, and nuts, deciding there and then that if he ever had the opportunity to indulge in mortal food again, spumoni would be the first thing on the menu.

After leaving the restaurant, they went to the mall.

Inside, Skylynn took a deep breath. “I didn’t realize how much I missed shopping!” she exclaimed.

Sam groaned. “She’s gonna want to visit every store in the place,” he muttered.

And he was right.

She tried on clothes and shoes, sampled perfume and powder, stopped in the candy shop to buy a pound of honeycomb. Moving on, she bought several bars of scented bath soap and a bottle of lavender bubble bath.

“You’d better wind this up if you still want to catch a movie,” Sam said as they came out of yet another store.

“One more stop,” Skylynn said, and made a beeline for the fast food court where she ordered a hot dog and a Coke.

Sam shook his head. “How can you be hungry again so soon?”

“I don’t know, but I am.”

She carried her order to a small table, grinned at Sam and Kaiden as she took a bite of the hot dog. “Bet you wish you could have some,” she teased as she took another bite.

“Think again,” Sam said, grimacing. “The smell is making me sick.”

Muttering, “Sorry,” she took another bite of the hot dog, and then frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Kaiden asked. “Isn’t it any good?”

She shrugged. “Yes, but ...” She pushed the plate away. “It’s making me nauseous.”

“You probably just ate it too fast,” Kaiden said.

“Yeah, I guess so. Are you two ready to leave?”

“Ready?” Sam exclaimed irritably. “Ready? I’ve been ready for over two hours.”

“Just let me stop in here for a minute,” she said as they approached the bookstore.

Sam looked at Kaiden for help. “If we let her go in there, we’ll never get her out.”

“Well, this is her night,” Thorne said with a shrug. “Whatever she wants to do is fine with me.”

With a resigned shake of his head, Sam followed the two of them into the bookstore.

Skylynn smiled at Kaiden as he slid under the covers beside her. “Thank you for tonight. It was great to get out of the house.”

“No problem.”

“Of course, this is nice, too,” she murmured, snuggling up against him.

“Nice, huh? Maybe I can do better than nice.”

She laughed softly as his hand slid over her thigh. “Very nice?”

He rose up on one elbow, his eyes hot.

A thrill of excitement raced through Skylynn. She knew that look. It made her heart beat faster, caused her whole body to tingle with anticipation. She closed her eyes as his hand curled around her nape to draw her head toward his. He claimed her lips in a searing kiss, his hand sliding seductively over her thigh, the curve of her breast. She surrendered readily to his touch, her own hands busily exploring her husband’s hard, muscular body.

She moaned low in her throat when he rose over her, his tongue sliding along the length of her throat. “Now, Kaiden,” she murmured. “Now, now, now!”

The sweet sting of his fangs at her throat made their joining all the more satisfying, magnifying every touch, enhancing every caress. Floating in a sensual sea of pleasure, she writhed beneath him, wanting to be closer, closer, murmuring for him to take more, to take it all.

She was breathless, sated, when he rolled onto his side, carrying her with him, his arms wrapped around her waist, his face only inches from hers.

Kaiden put his mouth to her ear. “Still nice?”

Sky placed her arms over his and squeezed. “Beyond nice. Beyond seismic.” She sighed when he nuzzled her shoulder. “It was phenomenal, positively cataclysmic.” She grinned. “Have I stroked your ego enough, or should I go on?”