What she’d told Mindy echoed in her head. She wanted so much more than pretty flowers. She wanted to enjoy being with Campbell, not worrying about what couldn’t be or what might happen. She didn’t want to have to choose between her best friend and the man who’d captured her heart.
* * *
By the time they closed the diner and Olivia convinced Mindy to go home and sleep in her own bed, she wasn’t sure if she had enough energy to force herself up the stairs. But a look outside at the deepening darkness sent a shot of fear through her. Sure, her would-be kidnappers were dead, but what if their boss sent more? Clearly there were more human fetchers out there. Was it personal now because she’d eluded capture twice?
With a fear-fueled burst of energy, she grabbed the vase of roses and headed upstairs. After locking the door behind her and shoving a dining chair under the doorknob for good measure, she set the vase in the middle of her table. She lowered her nose to the roses and took a deep breath of their heavenly scent. They reminded her that despite all the pain and suffering and loss in the world, there were still things of remarkable beauty.
She sensed Campbell’s presence before she saw him standing on the balcony. It surprised her that his sudden appearance only feet away hadn’t startled her this time. Maybe a part of her had expected him to return tonight. How was she going to tell him to leave? That he couldn’t come back.
Olivia met his gaze and walked to the door. When she opened it, he took a step away.
“I see you got the flowers,” he said.
“Yes, they’re beautiful. Thank you.”
“They seem so small a gift for all you’ve done.”
“They’re perfect.”
His mouth edged up at one end. “I’m glad you like them.”
“Is that the only reason you came by, to see if the florist did her job?”
“No.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. You had a big scare yesterday.”
“More than one. I was afraid you were going to die in my freezer.” She had to bite her bottom lip when the reality of how bad he’d been burned hit her again.
“That would have been difficult to dispose of, huh?” he said.
“Don’t joke about it. It’s not funny.”
“I’m sorry.” He took a step forward but stopped himself.
A mixture of longing and caution showed itself in his eyes. She saw the decision there. It should make what she had to say easier, but it didn’t.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She lowered her gaze to the floor. “I am... I’m faced with an impossible decision.”
“I just came to say goodbye,” he said.
When she looked up at him, she realized what he was doing—trying to make the decision for her so she didn’t have to. This time it didn’t make her angry. It made her sad, desperate. When he tried to step away, she reached out and took his hand. “Don’t go.”
He turned slowly and looked at her with an expression that told her he wanted this every bit as much as she did. But there was pain there, too.
“Olivia. You don’t want to lose Mindy. Good friends are more valuable now than ever. And she’s right about me. It’s too dangerous for us to be together, for so many reasons I can’t count them all.”
She took a step closer to him. “I love Mindy dearly, but I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
“You’re killing me. How much willpower do you think I have?”
“I want this. You want this. We can fight it all we want, list all the reasons it couldn’t possibly work, but it’s not going away.”
His last ounce of resistance evidently fled, because he closed the distance between them.
Olivia felt as if she were the one going up in flames when Campbell wrapped his strong arms around her and kissed her. A desire more potent than anything she’d ever felt consumed her, made her body hum in places that insisted on finding satisfaction. Somewhere amid all the kissing and caressing, she managed to utter a single word.
“Yes.”
He wasted no time in scooping her up into his arms and making short work of the space between the balcony and her bedroom. It seemed only a solitary breath escaped her from the time he stepped across her home’s threshold to when he placed her gently on her bed. His eyes glowed with a brilliant blue hue that, for the first time, she thought of as beautiful and not frightening.
“I must have lost my mind along with a few layers of skin,” he said.
She sat up and captured his mouth, needing to taste him again. His hands slid under her T-shirt and unclasped her bra. And then his hands found their way unerringly to her breasts. Though he possessed incredible strength, he applied only enough pressure to make her gasp in yearning. Needing to feel him, she tugged off his long-sleeved tee and let her hands move wherever they wanted across his sculpted chest, his strong arms, his muscled back.
He was perfect.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his words reverent.
“So are you.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Don’t ever say that in front of the guys, or I will never hear the end of it.”
Feeling more daring and needy than she ever had, she ran her hand down his chest to the top of his cargo pants. “I don’t plan on talking to anyone for many hours.”
With a growl that was supercharged with sexual promise, he pressed her back against the bed and kissed her nearly into oblivion. They paused for moments in between kisses to remove and toss clothing. And when he stretched his long body along hers, skin to skin, she nearly cried with need.
“I want you,” she whispered against his wet lips.
“You’re sure? Because once we do this, I can tell you I’m never going to want to let you go.”
She knew he meant it as a warning, but she accepted it as a promise. She placed her mouth next to his ear. “Good,” she whispered.
His mouth latched on to her breast, and for a moment the old fear surged into her despite her belief in him. What if his fangs descended? What if he couldn’t help himself?
Campbell looked up at her. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it.” There was such conviction in his words that she believed him totally.
And in the next second she lost the ability to think beyond registering pure sensation. Campbell kissed her all over, making her body tingle in the most delicious way. He drove her to a frenzy just with his mouth and hands.
“I can’t wait anymore,” she said.
When he entered her in one fluid motion, she cried out, not caring if the neighbors heard her.
He slid out, then back in again, exquisite pleasure and torture all at once. She grabbed his hips and pressed down as she surged her own upward. He growled and pulled her hard against his body, then started pumping. Her breath rasped out in ragged gasps, faster and faster, mimicking his strokes within her. She matched his rhythm, getting closer and closer to her pinnacle.
“Faster,” she said, and he complied.
They were beasts of frenetic motion, and with another powerful thrust she came apart. He continued to ride her—and that was what it was, a crazy, beautiful, hammering ride—until he reached his own release and cried out her name.
They collapsed in a tangle of arms and legs, their lungs heaving. Olivia snuggled close to him and marveled at the rise and fall of his chest.
“You’re breathing,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s not essential, but our bodies still remember and react. Running, climbing stairs, making love to a gorgeous woman.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
He held her so carefully that her heart opened up like a blooming flower. As improbable as it might seem, even to her, she loved him. She lifted herself so she could look in his eyes. “Can vampires love?”