9781936653027BorntobeWildArsuaga (27 page)

“Yeah, Gregori and his
guys have him confined in his office. He said they’re taking care of him,
whatever that means. Dragos said he sent Cat to take care of you. Where is
she?”

“There.” Alex pointed to
the pile of gray ash on the floor. The wooden stake lay next to the powdery
mound.

“Alexandra killed her,”
Stefan said, smiling.

“We did it together.” As
she reached for his hands, the cuffs rubbed on the blistered skin.

“Ouch,” Stefan said,
grimacing.

“Sorry. Does anyone have
a key to get these handcuffs off him?” Alex asked.

Palmer pulled out a key
and removed the manacles.

“Jesus Christ, what is
this place?” Martin blasted, walking into the room.

“Exactly
what it looks like, Chief.
A bondage dungeon, like the
club
Euphoria
.
Except I think
this was Dragos’ private club,” Palmer said.

“What is it with these
vamps and B and D? Jesus they are into freaky shit.” Martin shook his head,
walking toward Alex and Stefan. “I take it that’s the Cat, Dragos referred to.”

“Who did the honors?”

“Alex did, with Stefan’s
help. You ought to recommend her to Washington, Chief. She’s good and would be
an asset on our team,” Johnson said. He winked at Alex.

“Good idea, Johnson. What
do you say, Alex. You interested?” Martin asked.

“I…I don’t know. I’m a
hunter, not government material. Can I think about it?”

“Sure, you can get back
to me later.” He turned and surveyed the room. “Good work boys.
Looks like our job is done here.
And everything else is done
upstairs as well. The vamp club was secured and all the vamp lairs too. I’d say
tonight went down like textbook. Let’s wind this up, process the paper, and get
the bad guys on a bird to Washington before the morning.” He patted Johnson on
the back and walked out of the room.

Gregori and Sorin
appeared at the doorway and motioned to Stefan, smiled and quickly disappeared.

“Do you need to talk with
them?” Alex asked.

“No, we’re good,” Stefan
said.

“And what are your plans
Alex? I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. You want to grab something to
eat?” Jordan asked.

Lovingly glancing up at
Stefan, she said, “No, we have plans, but thanks.” Turning to Jordan, she
grinned.

* * * *

A week later, Alex
pulled into the employee parking lot of the SGM corporate offices before the
sun disappeared over the horizon. Waiting nervously for this moment all day,
she would see Stefan for the first time after six long nights. Taking the
express elevator to the Executive Level, she fidgeted in anticipation the
entire twenty floor ride.
He should be
awake by now.

The elevator came to a
smooth stop, opening its doors to the Executive Level Lobby. Adjusting the top
on the black wrap dress, she took a deep breath, stepped out, and walked toward
the two vamps standing guard at the double doors to the CEO’s office.

She nodded and started to
speak, “I’m Alex…”

“Yes,
ma’am.
Master Stefan is expecting you,” the bodyguard said, opening the
door. He smiled and winked.

Walking through the door,
she stared at him. He seemed familiar. Then it dawned her, he was the guard
near the lab.
Funny.

The smell of orange
blossoms and coconuts permeated throughout the room.
Yummy.
Stefan. All male and all
mine
.

“I heard that.”

“I wanted you to.”

Turning on her heel, she
couldn’t hold back the grin. Standing in front of the desk, he looked handsome
and well-dressed as usual. “When are you going to stop reading my mind?”

“When
you stop telecasting so loud.”

The space between them
narrowed.

“Damn woman, you look
good enough to eat. I’ve missed you.” He brushed back a tendril that had fallen
away from her hairclip.

“You don’t look bad
either in this lavender shirt. It brings out the color in your eyes.”

“Thank you. I have a
stylist now who insisted I add a little color to my drab wardrobe. Too much
black she said.
Something about a wager to make me over in
thirty days.
Do you think I can be converted?”

“It’s only been six days,
but who’s counting.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she rose on tiptoes,
pulling him closer to kiss.

Breaking the embrace, “I
told my parents about us.”

He winced. “How did they
take it? As bad as Jordan described they would?”

“Actually,
pretty good.
As long as I’m happy, they’re happy for me. Mom wanted me
to marry a doctor, but I told her you were running a drug company, so that was
close enough.”

He chuckled.

“Does this mean what I
think it means? You want to be with me and try having a long-term
relationship?”

“I have thought it over.
The offer to work for the FBI is very tempting. Living with you, well…let’s
just say you have totally captured my imagination, Mister Marin. You’ve taken
my desires to an entirely new level. You’ve made me feel beautiful when I
doubted my self-image, and I feel joy like I’ve never experienced before.
You’ve given that to me. When you could have any woman, I didn’t understand why
me, and you showed me why. The second night we saw each other you looked into
my eyes and told me what you saw within me was trouble and pain. I think I’ll
always be trouble and the pain is there to let me know I’m alive. But, what
you’ve shown me is that it’s okay. I’m not afraid. I’m changed because of you
and for that I’ll forever be grateful.”

“Where are you going with
this Alexandra? Are you saying…no?”

Resting her warm,
delicate hands on his face, she teased, “Silly man, no, of course not, at least
not for now. I have to decide if having a career or living out my wildest
desires with the man I love is worth…”

“Worth
what?”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Living
a life of total exhaustion.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want both, a career by
day and you by night.”

He laughed. “I see your
point. I guess we’ll have to figure it out as we go along.”

“I know. Lots of Cheese
Doodles and Cherry Coke, and chocolate, and oh thick juicy steaks with baked
potato and sour cream, and maybe some spaghetti and meatballs thrown in for
good measure…”

“Oh for the love of God,
Alexandra...shut up. You talk too much,” he murmured. He cupped her face and
his mouth captured hers. “I love you,
prinţesa
.”

“I love you too.”

*The End*

About
the Author

Cynthia resides in Orlando, Florida, the land of
magic, surrounded by the treasured gems in her life, a caring, loving husband,
dutiful and loyal daughter, and precious, delightful granddaughter. Oh and not
to forget her mischievous Yorkshire
Terrier
, Thumper.

Cynthia was a “Navy Brat” calling a different port
home every couple of years—from Southern California, to Boston, to Virginia, to
Florida and many other places in-between. She developed wandering feet and
diverse interests which she passionately incorporates those experiences into
her stories, bringing characters to life, and eloquently sharing the vivid
images of her mind with her audience.

Cynthia worked as a real estate broker for over
twenty years before retiring to Florida. Several years ago, she turned to
writing to stretch her creative muscles. Those ideas of faraway places and
quirky characters lay dormant for years and finally demanded their stories be
told.

Cynthia plans on putting some mileage on those
wandering feet and travel to exotic locations in the coming years. So look for
the journeys to be expressed in
Romantic
Words by Cynthia
in the future. She can be found here:

Website:
http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com

Blog:
http://romanticwordsbycynthia.blogspot.com

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/cynthia.arsuaga.5

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#%21/CynthiaArsuaga

Goodreads
:
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4715026-cynthia-arsuaga

Linkedin
:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cynthia-arsuaga/30/101/49b

Other Books by Cynthia:

Born to Play

Born Again in
Dreams

Top Dog (Shifter
Tales 1)

Love and Death in
the Big Easy (Shifter Tales 2)

The Cougar and Her
Vampire

A Vampire in Paris

Texas Heat (Hot
Flash)

A Gift of Love

Nightfall:
Fantasies Fulfilled

Echoes in Eternity

The Misadventures
of Dick Grewcock

Lost in the Sea of
You
, novella as part
of a Valentine’s Anthology titled
Five
Hearts