Authors: T. A. Grey
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Romantic Erotica
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Copyright 2015, Grey Ink Press LLC
All rights reserved
ALSO
BY T. A. GREY
THE MacKELLEN
ALPHAS
The Loneliest Alpha
The Silent Princess
THE KATEGAN ALPHAS
Breeding Cycle
Dark Awakening
Wicked Surrender
Eternal Temptation
Dark Seduction
Tempting Whispers
The Kategan Alphas
Vol. 1 and 2
A Kategan Alphas
Christmas Special
THE BELLUM SISTERS
Chains of Frost
Bonds of Fire
Ties That Bind
The Fallen King
The Bellum Sisters
Bundle
THE UNTOUCHABLES
Take Me
Tempting Gray
Merely Immortal
STANDALONE WORKS
Capturing Jeron
Midnight Sex Shop
Ecstasy Overload
Jace (Bodyguards
for Hire, #1)
Hunted (A Claiming
Novella, #1)
The Vampire’s Mate
Chapter One
Wrapped
in her mate’s embrace, Sarina Kategan allowed her eyes to drift shut as her
climax peaked. Vane was with her every step of the way, as always. With a
gentle growl, he kissed her. She could taste herself from earlier—a heady
mix so early in the morning. Not that she would have Christmas morning any
other way.
Red, green, and gold
lights twinkled from the miniature evergreen in the corner of their bedroom.
The joyous lights created the perfect ambience for the holiday season.
Sarina had been with her
mate Vane for long enough to know he was nearing the finish line. In fact, her
breath caught as his hips jerked and his shaft swelled inside her—the
telltale signs of his impending climax. Smiling, Sarina held tight to her mate.
Fewer things in life could make her feel more warm or safe than being chest to
chest in her husband’s arms.
But apparently Vane had a
surprise for her this Christmas morning. At the last moment, instead of shoving
deep and grunting his release into her, he pulled
out
. Hastily reaching between them, Vane grasped his cock, pumping
it the last few strokes. Warm, wet jets shot onto her stomach reaching as far
as her neck as he came.
The sight of her sexually
satisfied mate in the aftermath of passion did not please Sarina as it usually
did. In fact, she felt positively foul.
“Again?”
she questioned darkly.
Vane arched a thick eyebrow
and his teasing smile clearly demonstrated that he didn’t take her attitude
very seriously. Rolling away, he grabbed a wet cloth to wipe up the heated mess
on her chest. “Consider it my Christmas present from you?” he suggested,
flashing her a smile.
Normally that devilish
smile could do wonders to make her laugh.
But not this
morning.
“I considered last night’s
pull-out a Christmas present. But, again?”
Vane didn’t speak as he
cleaned her up. Then he kissed her in a tender notion that melted her heart.
She actually sighed when he pulled away. “I love you,
lumara
,” he said in that deep voice which never failed to make her
sigh.
Compulsively, she
responded softly. “And I love you,
luma
.”
He took the washcloth back
to the sink,
then
began dressing. For Christmas he
dressed in a pair of baggy jeans that had enough wear and tear to look
delectably sexy across his muscular butt. He paired the ensemble with a red
Christmas sweater that had a family of snowmen sitting inside a snow-globe as
snowflakes drifted around them. His sister Vera had bought the gaudy piece for
him last Christmas, and Vane swore up and down that while it was the ugliest
sweater ever saw, it was also the softest. Sarina had had quite the giggle at
her mate’s enthusiasm to wear the sweater this year. Not that he’d ever admit
to such a sin.
A knock sounded at the
front door and Vane hollered down the stairs, “Come in!”
Guests arriving meant it
was time to get up and moving. Honestly, that was the last thing she wanted to
do. Today was Christmas Day and that meant she had a lot of work ahead of her.
There was cooking, last minute cleaning, and some remaining decorations that
needed to be hung before the family gathered to celebrate. She both loved and
hated the holiday, especially since things were especially uncomfortable between
her and Vane.
He’d pulled out last night
and again tonight. In fact, he’d been doing it more and more as of late. She
could count five times over the last three weeks. Why would he do that
unless
he didn’t want another baby?
Sarina gazed listlessly at
the miniature evergreen in the corner, not really seeing the twinkling lights
as her thoughts turned depressed.
She wanted another baby
with Vane.
She wanted a whole litter
of his babies. But every time she tried to broach the subject, he’d find a way
to dance around it. And that hurt. It really did. Why couldn’t they have a big
family? What was wrong with another precious baby in their lives? He was such a
great father to baby Vince.
Downstairs, Vane’s brother
Roman yelled back in his booming voice. “Time to go caroling, bro!” Rome may be
a ‘tough guy’ but even Sarina could hear the excitement in his voice.
Sarina rolled her eyes. The
men always went caroling around the pack on Christmas Day. Not that any of the men
sang particularly well. More like they enjoyed sucking up all the spiked
egg nog
and hard cider the pack members would offer. Sarina
had joined in their caroling activity once—and only once. That’s all it
took for her to realize she didn’t belong in a group of burly men shouting
Joy to the World
from the tops of their
lungs.
Vane beamed at her as he
slipped on his heavy snow boots. “Be back in time for dinner.”
“Wait!” Sarina sat up, her
stomach twisting with knots. Vane froze in the doorway. She crooked a finger at
him and, slowly, he came towards her, warily. This man knew all of her moods
and was wisely cautious.
“Yeah?” he grunted.
“A kiss, dear husband,
before you go.”
His expression transformed
instantly. The kiss he gave her was heated, loving, and full of promise. She
was completely warm by time he pulled away. But she still had something to say
and this was important.
“We have to talk, Vane.”
His smile wavered but
before he could respond, Rome shouted from down below. “Come on, man! All the
guys are waiting on us!”
“Gotta go,” Vane shrugged.
He jumped off the bed then barreled down the stairs before she could muster a
single protest.
Sarina listened to Vane
kissing their boy
Vince
as she got dressed. “Give
daddy a big hug now,” Vane said to him. “Good boy! I’ll see you soon.”
I
will not let his sweetness sway me
, Sarina thought.
We will talk about this new stomach painting
he wants to do after sex.
If he was pulling out it
meant only one thing. And it was the exact thing she wanted right now.
Vane didn’t want to have a
baby. But Sarina had a fire in her belly for another.
Maybe a
little Kategan girl running around?
She already had a name thought
up—Velvet.
Crap
,
crap, and double crap.
Everything was turning out
all wrong! The turkey looked pale and dry—where was the crisp golden skin
the recipe had promised her? And her pies had cracked and bubbled over causing
the oven to emit an unpleasant burnt odor.
The stuffing tasted bland
and no amount of adjusting the seasoning seemed to do a thing to help. And on
top of that, her kitchen was a disaster! Dirty dishes filled every nook and
cranny. Dinner might be a failure, but at least baby Vince was being good. He
was glued to a cartoon movie about Santa Claus trying to give presents to all
the little boys and girls of the world. Sarina smiled at her baby, the most
precious thing in her life, a miracle that Vane had given her. Her heart never
failed to fill with joy at seeing Vince grow up. Even when he was being a touch
naughty—a trait she believed he inherited from his father—she never
regretted a thing.
The timer beeped and Sarina
raced to turn off the oven. She unloaded the cooked goods before running
upstairs to fix her hair before the guests were to arrive.
“Here we go,” she muttered
to her frazzled reflection. Pulling a comb through her hair only seemed to make
it stick out even further. Tonight wasn’t going to work out like she had
planned, was it?
Pasting on a bright smile,
she picked up Vince who fussed at being taken away from his movie, and opened
the door. Instantly the chattering on the other side of the door halted. Then,
boisterous cheers greeted her.
“Merry Christmas!” The
whole family was there, even the men were back from caroling.
“Something smells good!”
Jackson said, standing on his toes to see over Sarina’s shoulder. He was Vera
Kategan’s mate. Once human, now he was pure vampire.
Sarina winked at him.
“Tastes even better.” At least she hoped!
The family rushed by
hugging and kissing her and baby.
Rome’s mate, Alison, took
Vince from her arms. “Oooh, give me that baby! I love you, little one.” She
snuggled the smiling boy.
Sarina’s heart pitched at
the sight. Oh how badly she wanted another!
While she was
still young and willing.
Now was the time, she just knew it. Why didn’t
Vane want another?
At the end of the line was
her mate. Judging by his stoic expression, Vane knew she was still in a mood. But
he was trying to keep up appearances. “Babe,” he whispered, kissing her cheek
in greeting.
“How was the caroling?”
Sarina asked, all smiles.
Christmas music jingled in
the background with jolly, familiar tunes.
“Caroling was good,”
Jackson answered.
“Dang it smells good,”
Darien muttered, wandering into the kitchen with his mate in tow. Cassie was a
fiery redheaded vampire who’d managed to save Darien’s life in more ways than
one. Without her, Darien likely wouldn’t be sharing any holidays with them.
“I don’t sing,” Dmetri, an
old, Russian vampire who had a long history with the Kategan pack, replied stoutly.
Christine Barrows, his mate and the pack healer, rolled her eyes.
“Dmetri thinks he doesn’t sing
well, but he actually has a beautiful voice,” Christine spoke loud and clear
while watching her mate flush under her compliment.
“I do not,” he bit out.
Christine whispered something in his ear to make the courtly vampire crack a
smile.
Sarina began to warm up to
the conversation and decided not to let her tiff with Vane get in the way of
Christmas. Christmas was Christmas after all, a time for high spirits, cheer, and
love.
In the kitchen, Sarina found
the men hovering around the food like a pack of rabid wolves. Poking and
prodding, sniffing and growling, they scrambled over plates of meats and sweets
with dangerous intentions.
“Back away, gentlemen!”
She felt like a lion tamer cracking a whip. “It’s not time to eat yet.”
Vane rubbed his stomach.
“Smells ready and looks even better, babe.” He rubbed her back in a soothing
circle but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t relax. This morning’s
lovemaking still remained at the forefront of her thoughts.
“Really? Because I thought
I buggered it all up,” she admitted.
Vane looked surprised.
“Smells good and looks even bettor. What more could you want?”
Oh,
I don’t know,
she thought dismally.
How about for everything to be perfect?
Was that too much to ask?
“Agreed,” said Roman. His
mate, Alicia, found a bottle wine and uncorked it.
Baby Vince had been passed
around the family until he ended up in his cousin Vanessa’s arms. Her mate,
Brayden, was another vampire. A commander for the Justicars, he was quite
famous among vampires and lykaens.
Brayden stood by Vanessa
with a strained expression on his face. Likely because Vanessa was goading him,
trying to get him to hold the baby—to which he outright refused as politely
as possible.
“I do not hold babies,” he
said matter of factly. Vanessa burst out laughing. Then, she practically shoved
Vince into his arms, all but forcing the old vampire commander to hold the
baby. Vince at once opened his arms and stared up at the big vampire with wide,
innocent eyes.
“
Gaaa ooooh blab
,” baby Vince sputtered.
Brayden cringed but
huddled the baby to his chest.
Well it looked like the
whole family was here. All the Kategans and their respected loved ones. Sabrina
couldn’t help but feel like things were a touch less warm than they should be,
but she knew that was nothing more than her own mood.
All she kept thinking about
was how much nicer this house would be with
another
Kategan filling it.
A little baby girl, to be precise.
Of course, if it
was
a boy she wouldn’t complain. As
these thoughts trickled through her mind, Sarina met her mate’s heavy gaze. His
expression was guarded. Just what was going through his mind? And why didn’t he
want another child?
“
Alright
everyone,” Sarina announced with false cheer. “Time to eat. Take a seat around
the table. Sit wherever you please. Afterward we’ll open presents and eat
dessert.” Sadly, she couldn’t wait for this night to be over.
Vanessa performed a fist
pump. “Presents!”
“Wait until you see what I
got you all,” Vera said with an evil grin.
Knowing Vera’s penchant
for Christmas sweaters and other ridiculous gift ideas, Sarina could only
wonder.