Much Ado About Vampires

finger joined by a second as they curled within me, making me squirm as they found sensitive spots that I had no idea existed.

His fingers flexed as I moved against him, driven wild by the combination of his touch and the sensation of him feeding, everything I ever wanted in that small room at the back of a narrow jet.

When a third finger joined the other two, I just about came off the bed with the orgasm that followed, my toes digging into the mattress as I tried desperately to get air into my lungs.

You are so responsive, he marveled, his fingers still inside me as my muscles quivered around them. One touch and you go up like a powder keg. Do you want me to stop, querida?

“No,” I panted, amazed at the fact that my body was still keyed up . . . until I realized that what I was feeling was his arousal, bound so tightly to mine, I knew I would never be able to separate them again.

That thought scared me to my core, but before I could address it, his fingers were gone, the hard length of him thrusting into me, drawing a moan of absolute rapture from deep in my chest.

Alec! I cried, not used to the position, wanting to wrap myself around him, needing to touch him even as he pounded into my body, my muscles welcoming his intrusion with happy little quivers.

Now, love, now, he moaned, his fingers sweeping across flesh that I had assumed would be too sensitive for touch, but his climax triggered another of my own, sending us both flying.

Literally, since a subdued comment from the pilot over the intercom warned we were cleared for takeoff.

He poured his pleasure into both my body and brain as the climax seemed to go on and on, suddenly biting hard on my shoulder, not a feeding bite, but one of possession, a way of marking me to warn all other males that I was taken.

I knew what he was doing, knew it wasn’t what I should allow, but was helpless to stop him. It’s just sex, I quietly told my inner devil. I haven’t had sex in forever, and he’s really, really good at what he does, and it’s confusing things. Besides, now that we’re out of the Akasha, he’ll have other people to feed from. He’ll go off and dine on prettier, younger women, and I won’t feel so guilty about him anymore.

But how, my devil asked as Alec rolled off me, pulling me with him, will he get along without his Beloved?

I shushed her lest he hear the thoughts rolling around in the private part of my mind, guilt riding me hard nonetheless. It was getting harder and harder not to tell him the truth about what had happened in my past-life regression. I had no idea if Beloveds could be reincarnated, but I had a very bad feeling that I was going to have to broach that subject with him sooner rather than later.

The real question was, if I was his Beloved, did I want to spend the rest of my life with a vampire?

Alec murmured something about me getting some rest before we got to Italy, promptly falling asleep, his gentle snore ruffling my hair as he curled up behind me, one arm around me, holding me tight against his chest. The wonderful scent of him mingled with a slightly earthier note of our activities, causing me to relax against his warmth. I felt oddly protected despite the fact that the man holding me could be brutal when driven to it, and I was unwilling to look any closer at the warmer, softer feelings that had suddenly started to take over my mind.

I’d think about it later, when I could put a little distance between us. Then sanity would return to me. Wouldn’t it?

My inner devil laughed until I fell asleep.

“OK, your friend has seriously good taste,” I told Alec some ten hours later as he skirted the sun and stepped into the shade cast by a lemon tree that stood next to the front doorway of a beautiful cream-colored stone villa. The house itself was gorgeous—with a dark tile roof, green shutters, and elegant Gothic archways, not to mention extensively landscaped grounds—but situated on a hill overlooking Florence, it had a view that took my breath away. “Is the rest of the house as pretty as the outside?”

“Yes. Ring the bell, would you?”

I pressed a discreet bell that lay flush against the stone wall, warmed by the morning sun. “You did tell them we were coming, didn’t you?”

Before he could answer, the door opened, and a plump blond woman smiled expectantly and said something in Italian.

“Hi,” I said. “Are you Pia?”

“Yes, I’m Pia. Er . . . have we met?”

“No, but Alec described you as being very pretty and having a lovely smile, so I guessed it must be you.”

“Alec? ” She looked startled. “You’re a friend of Alec’s? ”

“Yes. Um . . .” I slid a glance over to where Alec stood in the shade of the tree, leaning against the trunk, obviously waiting for me to give him the go-ahead to dash through the sunlight. “You’re not still mad about him seducing you, are you? Because if you are, you don’t have to help us. Not that I mean that to sound ungrateful or jealous or anything like that. I mean, what happened in the past is no business of mine, obviously. But he seemed to think that you guys weren’t still angry with him. . . .” A tall man with dark curly hair and brilliant blue eyes loomed up behind her. His eyes narrowed on me, raking me from head to foot. I sighed. “You are still angry, aren’t you?”

“Who is this? ” A second man pushed his way out past Pia. He was shorter than the first, very thin, with a narrow face and pinched expression, as if he smelled something nasty. He gave me a once-over that made me faintly uncomfortable.

“My name is Corazon Ferreira,” I answered, embarrassed as hell. Dammit , Alec, your friends are still pissed at you!

They are?

“She’s a friend of Alec,” Pia told the tall man, who I assumed was her vampire. The two of them gave me a strange look. “This is Brother Ailwin. He’s . . . uh . . . he’s going to help us out with a little problem we have concerning a friend.”

I murmured a polite nothing, feeling horribly in the way.

“Perhaps you wish to conduct this business another time?” the skinny man asked, turning his sour face on Pia.

“No, no, we want it done as soon as possible. Er . . .” She shot me a hesitant look. “I’m sure we can come to some arrangement regarding the terms of your summoning a lich for us.”

“I will, naturally, be obligated to charge more since the lich in question belongs to an Ilargi.” The man gave me a considering look, his eyes filled with speculation.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I’m interrupting. I’ll come back—”

“No, please, don’t leave, we’d love to talk to you about Alec, wouldn’t we?” She turned to the large man behind her.

“Yes, we would. We are finished here. We will expect the ceremony to take place this evening, Brother Ailwin,” Kristoff said.

What is taking so long? Who is that man who keeps looking at you?

Some priest, I think, and we’re in the way. Just so you know.

We are not. And that is no priest.

“That is too short of notice,” the man said, biting off the words as if he was reluctant to let them go. “But assuming you will pay for my time, I will make the arrangements.”

Maybe he’s a monk? I asked as the man, with one last look at me, got into a small car and drove off. He seems kind of ascetic to me. Although he’s wearing jeans and a shirt like anyone else. Do monks still wear robes?

That is no monk, either, querida. I do not like the way he kept looking at you.

Jealous? I asked with a smile.

Not in this case.

The grim tone to his words had my mental smile melting away to nothing. I had to admit that Brother Ailwin was making me more than a little nervous.