Forever Valentine (7 page)

Jena chuckled and pushed away. “You’re sweet, but I’m a wreck.” She pulled at the sheets, trying to disentangle herself. “Ew, and so is this bed.” Jena stood and pulled the sheets off, tossing them to the floor as she headed toward the attached bathroom. “There are clean sheets on the top shelf of the closet if you want to freshen up the place a bit. If not, I’ll do it when I get out of the shower.” She stopped by the bathroom door, her hand on the knob. “You do want to sleep here with me today, right?”

She looked so lovely, standing there, gloriously rumpled and nude, her body showing every sign of their loving the night before. Her thighs were slippery with their cum, her nipples and other soft spots pink from his attentions.

Ian couldn’t stay away from her.

He moved across the room and swept her into his arms, kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, she was dazed and breathless, just the way he liked her.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you today, my love.” His words were spoken softly into the shell of her ear. “Or any other day.”

“Ian!” She spasmed in his arms as he moved her up against the bathroom door, lifted her legs and wrapped them swiftly around his waist. Sparing only a moment to make certain she was ready, he pushed into her, joining them yet again in a fast and furious fuck up against the bathroom door.

He moved hard against her, unable to take his time now that he had his woman in his arms and his cock where it most wanted to be. His arms supported her light weight as she surrendered to his mastery, crying out as he plunged deeper and deeper into her tight, wet heat.

This wasn’t the torrid, teasing loving of the night before. No, this was even more primal. This was a claiming, a marking, a statement of ownership. And it worked both ways.

Never before had a woman owned a piece of his heart or been part of his soul. Never before had he found himself so lost in a woman, he ceased to be aware of the rising sun. Never before had he needed to come inside his partner so badly, it was a physical ache.

Ian felt he balls tighten the moment before he bit down on her neck, sipping lightly, knowing he’d been rough with his teeth the night before and wanting to at least make that up to her while his cock pummeled her pussy from below. But Jena was with him. She was crying out with every thrust, trying to move with him even though he held all the power in this position. She urged him on with her tightening inner muscles, holding him when he withdrew and clamping down on him when he slid home.

As his teeth pierced her flesh and the amazing taste of her blood blossomed on his tongue, he thrust within her sheath one last time, holding tight as he came in a rush. She climaxed once more, with him, screaming low in her throat like a jungle cat, milking his cock with her spasming walls as he drank of her essence and filled her with his seed.

Ian licked her neck, sealing the small wounds as Jena wound down from that incredibly fast peak. She held him with arms that felt like limp spaghetti, unsure if her legs would even support her after that amazing, continuous orgasm.

“Oh, baby. I think I’m going to like being with you if that’s what I get first thing each morning.” She sent him a lascivious smile and winked as he drew back, rewarded when he chuckled and kissed her playfully on the nose. He needed to laugh more and she was just the woman to see to it.

“I’d give it to you morning, noon and night, if I could.”

“Hmm.” She licked the seam of his lips, sidetracked to his stubbly jaw as she kissed her way to his ear, sucking the lobe into her mouth briefly. “So what time is it now?”

He seemed to still, his muscles tensing a bit though he continued to hold her.

“You know something? I don’t know.” He spoke as if this was some kind of big news and Jena drew back to study his shocked expression. He met her gaze and a smile started in his own. “I’m always aware of the position of the sun somewhere in the back of my mind, but you just blew it all to hell and back. I have no idea what time it is.”

“Well,” she raised up just a tiny bit to look over his shoulder at the bedside table and the alarm clock that rested there, “what would you say if I told you it was almost eight o’clock in the morning?”

“Damn.” The single word was laced with awe. “I’ve never felt this good—this awake—so late in the morning. My body’s usually shutting down by now.”

He let her legs slide down toward the floor, but retained his grip on her so she wouldn’t fall. She was grateful for his support. She’d melted into a puddle after that last orgasm and wasn’t quite recovered enough to stand on her own just yet.

“So my blood packs a punch then?”

He swooped down to give her a smooching kiss. “Undoubtedly. But it’s more than your blood. It’s you, Jena. It’s the love between us that heightens everything when we come together.” He kissed her softly, lovingly. “Let’s take that shower, then spend the rest of the day in bed.”

“Oh, I like that plan.” She pecked him on the cheek, then turned in his arms as he stepped back to allow her to open the bathroom door.

But she’d forgotten the window.

The bathroom window was wide open. And the sunlight was streaming in, dappling the sunny yellow shower curtain and sending shafts across the matching bath mat and towels in the towel rack. She heard a gasp from behind her and moved to shut the door, but Ian stayed her arm.

“Ian?” She turned to look at him. He was frozen in place, his eyes watering, but whether in pain or something else, she wasn’t sure. She felt within to see if she could use their new connection to learn what was going on, but all she could sense was shock and wonder laced with agony. “Ian, let me shut the door.”

“No. It’s okay.”

“But it’s hurting you!”

He pulled her into his arms. “Only a little.” He kissed her cheek. “Only a little. My God!” He squeezed her tight and she felt the wetness of his tears roll over her skin as he held her close. “My love, you’ve given me the greatest gift anyone could ever give. After eight hundred years of darkness, you’ve given me the light.”

Chapter Seven

With some experimentation, they discovered that Jena’s blood gave Ian the ability to withstand some small amounts of sunshine, which was more than he’d ever been able to do before. He was like a child, wanting to see and do everything—testing his limits at every possible moment. Jena had to hold him back, often distracting him with sex as a way to keep him out of danger and safe in her bed. Where he belonged.

It was a good trade off. She knew he was aware of her ploy, but he humored her and pleasured them both in the process. It was a truly win-win situation.

The only difficult part for her was when they visited Kelly and Marc LaTour’s home the night after they’d first joined. Kelly was one of her best friends, of course, but Marc had always been a little frightening to her. He was the Master Vampire of the region and had held that position for quite a long time. The man was so imposing, the only time Jena saw his icy demeanor thaw at all was when Kelly was near.

When his new wife was nearby, it was clear how much he loved her and that made him somewhat more human, though he was still a little scary. Jena knew she was welcome in their home, but in truth, she hadn’t visited too many times since Kelly and Marc’s wedding. Kelly had been turned in a very violent way, but it was clear Marc loved her with every breath in his body.

When Ian and Jena stepped over the LaTour’s threshold that night, their hosts seemed to know right away that something was very different.

“Good Lord.” Marc’s calm voice cut through the tense silence as all four of them faced each other. “And then there were four.” Ian burst out laughing at Marc’s cryptic words while the women shared confused looks.

Ian settled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to his side. “Jena is my One, but that isn’t the end of our news. We’ll require the private room to relay the rest.”

“That serious?” Marc’s aristocratic eyebrow rose. He’d been an English nobleman before being turned to vampirism and he still reverted to his old mannerisms every now and again.

Ian nodded grimly as the four of them moved off toward the back of the house. There was a set of stairs leading downward and Kelly took Jena’s hand for a quick squeeze as Marc led the way downward to a room Jena had never seen before. He flicked a bunch of switches and sealed the heavy door shut before speaking again.

“Okay. We’re secure. Now what’s so earth shattering that we had to come all the way down here?” Marc turned on them, all business, but with just a tiny glint of humor in his dark eyes.

“Jena is demi-vampir and this morning I saw sunlight for the first time in eight hundred years.”

The silence in the room was deafening.

“Good Lord!” Marc collapsed into a chair while Kelly stared, probably receiving information by taking a walk through her mate’s memories, Jena realized.

Jena started to feel very uncomfortable at being the center of such attention, but Kelly reached out, coming over and giving her a big hug. Kelly was a good friend and that hadn’t changed after she’d been turned. Kelly still had a generous heart and probably always would. It was just the way she was wired.

“I’m so glad you’ve found love, sweetie. I wish Ian and you every happiness.”

“Thanks, Kel.” Jena truly loved her friend and was glad she was there. She had so many questions to ask her now that they each had a vampire mate in common. There was so much to learn.

“Now what about your mother?” Kelly pulled back with a friendly smile. “I bet she’s like you, huh?”

“There’s another one?” Marc’s voice sounded behind Kelly.

Ian nodded, filling Marc in on the particulars. Marc’s decisiveness impressed Jena as he immediately made plans with Ian to see to her mother’s safety. It turned out, they both knew a very experienced enforcer named Julian who was near enough to her mother’s home in New York to go and watch over her. Marc made the call from a secure phone and set the wheels in motion, swearing the enforcer to secrecy. Both men vouched for Julian when Jena sought their reassurances, but Ian’s word was good enough for her.

She took a moment to sift through just a few of his memories—a skill she was getting better at as time went on—to get a better idea of what this Julian guy was all about. One thing she was able to learn from Ian’s memories was that Julian was a very handsome man. Her mother would have to watch out with a hunk like that watching over her every move.

Marc asked Jena to call her mother and warn her about Julian’s arrival. Jena didn’t really relish the idea of breaking all her news to her mother in front of witnesses, but she knew the phone line, at least on this end, was secure. There was no real reason to think her mother might be in danger…yet. But if somehow word got out about her demi-vampir state, that could change in a hurry. The idea truly frightened her but Ian reached out and squeezed one of her hands, pouring comfort and confidence through their link and she felt reassured as she dialed her mother’s number.

The call went about as well as could be expected. Jena’s mom, Lillian, had a kind of radar where she was concerned and wanted to hop the next flight out to see her, but Jena convinced her to stay put. She told her about Ian—and Julian’s imminent arrival—and Lillian jumped to all sorts of motherly conclusions that had her laughing out loud. That seemed, perversely, to reassure her mother and they rang off with a promise to call again the next day.

“Well?” Kelly wanted to know as Jena hung up the phone, still smiling and shaking her head. She looked up at her friend and chuckled.

“My mom is now convinced that I’m mixed up with the mafia.”

Chapter Eight

Over the next week or two, Jena managed to convince her mother that Ian was
not
a member of the
Cosa Nostre
. Apparently the handsome Julian had more influence than Jena would have credited. Her mother had always been an eminently sensible woman, but when she mentioned Julian’s name there was a certain wistfulness that communicated itself even over three thousand miles of telephone line.

They’d made plans to get together. Julian was flying her out on his private plane, in fact, which made Jena start to wonder just how rich this band of vampires she was now involved with was. Ian was playful when she broached the subject, teasing her about being a gold-digger, but he knew she wasn’t. She could read that reassuring truth in his thoughts.

She was getting better and better at sifting through his amazing memories, and knew he was reading her life story just as she was doing with him. He smiled indulgently at her when he caught her at it, often hugging her close and distracting her with kisses and nips that turned into bites and very nice orgasms.

They were getting better at that too. They made love everywhere in her little house, then moved to Ian’s more secure home so he could spend the day in complete safety. Sometimes she had to go to work, and she hated the separation as much as she knew he did, but they were joined so fully now, all she had to do was think of him and he was there, in her mind.

The feeling was incredibly comforting. Of course, he played little games too, turning her on with his words and the lascivious images he would send to her, all while she was at work with no way to ease the ache he stirred in her. She teased him back, though, and gave almost as good as she got.

One night, she was working the late shift when Ian started his teasing and she turned the tables. Ten minutes later, he locked her in her small office at the hospital, drew the shades and spread her wide on the edge of her desk. His cock was surging into her before she could even utter a protest. He could move unnaturally fast when the need arose.

Only after he’d seated himself within her tight depths did he allow her to speak.

“Know what happens when you tease the beast, sweetheart?” He forged into her as one hand held her hips, the other plucking hard at her nipples.

Jena shook her head in answer to his teasing question.

“You get bitten.” He licked over her sensitive neck, preparing her.

Jena cried out. “Harder, Ian!” She tried to keep her voice low, but knew she was getting a little carried away. Ian always had that effect on her.