Sometime afterward, he could feel her teeth retract, slipping free of his skin. Her tongue swept over the wounds, gently laving the punctures, the gesture strangely soothing.
“Wow,” he said, nuzzling her ear as he lay on the bed next to her, turning her to face him without breaking their intimate connection.
“Wow,” she echoed, a smile curving her lips as she lay with her eyelids at half-mast.
“If I’d known making love with a vampire was so great, I’d have done it much sooner.”
Her brow furrowed and she slapped at his arm. “And here I thought you actually liked me for who I am, not what I am.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest. “More than you can imagine. I thought you never wanted to see me again.”
Snuggling closer, she unbuttoned his shirt and pressed her cheek to his naked chest. “I wanted to come to you so badly. But I didn’t know how you’d react to my…er…condition.”
He nipped at her ear. “I can see where your…condition could be an advantage.” He pushed his still stiff cock deeper.
“But what about your job, your life?”
Tugging gently, he inched her dress up and over her head. He loved seeing all of her body and it was even more beautiful with her appetite satiated, her skin pink and healthy. “I definitely have some rethinking to do on this whole vampire thing.” His stomach flipped at what his supervisor would say if he knew TJ had slept with the enemy.
She reached up and traced a finger across his lip. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me anymore.”
Not see her? This was Cassidy, not a mindless, heartless beast. Had he been wrong all along about vampires?
“Not all vampires are bad,” she said, as if reading his thoughts. “Just like not all humans are good.”
“True. As it is, I like working nights, and I can’t imagine spending my life with a mere mortal after having you.” He rocked his hips, his cock swelling within her channel.
“I can never have children,” she said, sliding her arms out of her bra.
He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder and took one rosy-tipped breast between his teeth. “Kids are overrated.”
“I’ll never die. Unless I stand out in the sun too long or someone stakes me.”
“I’ll make sure you stay away from sharp objects. And maybe someday I’ll join you.”
“Would you do that for me?” Her fingers laced around his neck, pulling him down to her lips.
Would he? He stared down at Cassidy, her dark hair fanned across his pillow and couldn’t think of another face he’d rather see there, human or not. “We’ll take it a day at a time and see what tomorrow brings.” Then he kissed her.
Outside, the raging storm spent itself and eased into a gentle, cleansing rain.
MYLA JACKSON is an award-winning, multi-published author of highly sensuous romances. Ever since she and her sister, Delilah Devlin, challenged each other to write romance, neither one has looked back. From kick-ass action/adventure to character-driven stories, she takes her readers on wild and sexy rides, garnering fabulous reviews and rabid fans. Myla atributes her success to her sense of adventure, a love of fast-paced fantasies, and the synergy she and Delilah generate as brainstorming partners.
Tempting Grace by Sasha White
To my Allure Sisters,
for their patience, support, and friendship.
You Rock, Ladies!
One
For the first time in over a year Grace Walters didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to walk up the brick path and look at the pretty flower bed she’d planted just last week. She didn’t want to open the door to the small two-bedroom cottage-style house that she’d bought thirteen months earlier. The one and only place she’d let herself call home since she was fourteen and decided that she was better off on the streets than in a house where no one cared.
She didn’t want to go home, because she knew she’d see that small pile of clothes on the dryer that belonged to Chelsea, and then she’d have to accept that Chelsea hadn’t felt at home there. That no matter what Grace had done, Chelsea had still gone back to the street, and this time, it had killed her.
Grace didn’t want to remember. She didn’t want to think.
“Why don’t you get them both?”
She started when a deep voice broke through the thick fog coating her mind. “What?” She turned and found Lukas Martin behind her, less than a foot away. How had he gotten so close without her even noticing? Her instincts for self-preservation had always served her well before.
“You seem to be having a hard time deciding between ice cream flavors, why not treat yourself and get both?” Lukas said with a smile. A pale eyebrow arched and a playful gleam lit up his chocolate eyes as he leaned even closer. “But if you want a real treat you should let me cook you dinner.”
Grace started to say no, like she had so many times in the past month when he’d asked her out. But this time, the refusal stuck in her throat.
As if he sensed her weakness, he stepped forward, the playful gleam fading as his gaze took on a more intense heat. “Grace?”
Need blossomed from deep within. One she’d thought was long buried. She swept her gaze over his leanly muscled six-foot frame, and the energizing tingle of sensual awareness she always felt whenever Luke entered a room zipped through her. Grace knew intuitively that he could satisfy that need.
It was a bad idea. Her head knew that, but her heart, her aching heart needed to feel something other than the pain of failure, and there was one thing she’d always been good at. One thing she’d always succeeded at…and she was too tired to deny the pull that Lukas’ eager-to-please attentions awoke within her. “One night,” she whispered.
“One night?”
“One night. You and me. No dinner, and no promises.” She met his gaze and let him see the need she felt rising from deep within. “Tonight.”
Shock whipped through Lukas. She’d said yes! Adrenaline filled his veins and he fought the urge to shout out. Finally, after so many rejections, Grace had said yes.
His elation faded as her words sunk in. One night.
No dinner.
She hadn’t said yes to a date. She wanted a one-night stand.
Disappointment flooded him and he started to shake his head-then he took a better look at her.
“Grace, what’s wrong?” Her normally bright green eyes were dark and dull, the skin around them pinched and drawn. “Are you okay?”
She looked at the hand he’d placed on her shoulder, her head turning slowly, as if it took a lot of effort.
“I’m not hurt, Lukas.” She looked up at him from beneath those long sweeping eyelashes and his pulse jumped at the raw need there. She stepped closer and placed a small hand on his chest. “I just need to feel something. I need you tonight.”
There was no way in hell he was going to turn her down.
They left the grocery store quickly and quietly, neither of them buying a thing. Grace was amazingly passive as he led her out to the car and got her settled in the passenger seat. He’d never seen her so…dim before. As if the light from within had gone out.
The drive to her place was silent. Lukas wanted to talk to her, to ask her what had happened. What had made her change her mind about him, finally? But he wasn’t sure that was the smart thing to do.
He’d never been attracted to tough girls before, and when his father had told him Grace’s story it never occurred to him he’d be interested in her. But when he met the ex-stripper, he’d fallen hard and fast. The vibrancy of her personality softened the hard edges he knew she’d developed in her youth, and her love for the troubled kids she worked with was obvious to anyone with eyes.