Embrace the Darkness (Darkness Series) (22 page)

She jerked upright, reaching back to clasp his thighs and hold him against her.

His hands circled her waist, sliding upward to cup her breasts, his fingers skimming over silk, touching her taut nipples through her blouse. She gasped and arched her back, pressing her breasts into his palms and her bottom against his groin.

Palming her breasts, he nudged her inside the room and closed the door with his foot. Then he slipped his hands beneath her shirt, his caressing fingers skimming over her bare skin, igniting a firestorm of need.

“Oh God,” she moaned, groping behind her back for the button on his jeans.

Growling low in his throat, he spun her around and crushed his mouth to hers. The kiss was dark. Erotic. And it nearly engulfed her in flames.

Skin smoldering, she fumbled with his zipper and pushed open the fly. Then she shoved her hand inside his underwear, her fingers curving around silk covered iron as he pulsed in her hand, hot and heavy.

He jerked. “
Mon dieu
, woman!”

Time stood still for a heartbeat. Her breathing hitched. Unable to wait a second longer, she began to move.

Fingers caressing, lips tasting, she told him with actions what she could never put into words.

He moaned low in his chest, pushing his penis into her palm while trailing hot kisses down her neck.

Trust had never been her strong suit. Trusting a vampire this close to her throat should have been a challenge. It wasn’t. She wanted him. It was that simple.

Don’t think the “L” word.

He pulled her blouse from her shoulders and dropped it to the floor. Heat flushed her skin. Cold air pebbled her nipples.

Gerard’s voice was raspy when he said, “Where’s your bra?”

She tossed her head, praying the gesture looked sexy rather than spastic. “In the chair.”

He raised his head, glancing toward the lacy, pink bra lying on the chair cushion. “Sexy. Nice contrast to your manly suits.”

“Manly?” She slipped her hand out of his pants and settled her palm on his hair-roughened stomach. “I’ll have you know—”

“Shush.” Chuckling, he dipped his head and took one taut nipple in his hot mouth. Her thoughts scattered like leaves in the wind. Electricity ran from his body to hers, melding them together. Her back arched.

Then he suddenly pulled his mouth free and kicked off his shoes. He stepped back to drop his pants. By the time he was naked, her panties were lying on the floor at her bare feet.

Without a word, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. As he lowered her to the mattress, his mouth fused to hers, kissing her with a hunger that bordered on starvation. And she was more than eager to feed him.

Feasting on his lips was like a banquet to the senses. The salty taste of his lips. The warmth of his tongue and the rasp of his whisker-roughened cheek against hers. His sexy cologne—and his own earthy scent.

Her body thrummed. Then he straddled her hips and slid a finger deep inside, stroking her heated flesh. Moaning her pleasure, she arched against his palm, pressing closer—writhing—pulsing. After endless moments of exquisite torture, he spread her legs and entered her, plunging deep.

She cried out, closing around him, her muscles clenching. Body aching, she met his demands with fierce urgency, matching his rhythm, meeting the downward thrust of his hips as he pushed her closer to the edge of glory.

Burning, she strained for release. Her muscles coiled tighter and tighter until heaven was within her grasp. She reached for it. Then arching one last time, she shuddered and convulsed around him.

And when he came seconds later, she felt his joy as if it were her own.

****

Amber awoke confused and disoriented in an unfamiliar bed next to a cool body. Fear swamped her. She’d had nightmares about waking up next to the dead, feeling cold flesh pressed against hers.

“Shit!”

She pushed off the covers and jumped from the bed. Gerard lay curled on his side, his lids heavy—his eyes open. The bedside lamp she’d left burning to ward off the darkness reflected in his red-rimmed eyes.

“Good morning,” he said in a gravelly voice thick with sleep.

“Why are you still here?” She’d never spent an entire night with a man. In the past, someone had always gone home.

“Watching over you until sunrise.” His lids drifted shut. He forced them open and tried to smile. “I told you I’d keep you safe.”

She glanced at the window. Heavy brocade drapes and thick canvas shades covered the glass but sunlight brightened the dark colors. It was well-past dawn. “I don’t think you have to worry about vampires again until tonight.”

What time is it?

She turned toward the nightstand. A hand-painted porcelain clock ticked softly. Both hands pointed to twelve.

“It’s noon.” She looked at Gerard.

He strained to see the clock but his lids drifted closed. “Not possible,” he murmured.

Grabbing the clock, she shoved it in his face. His brows shot up to his hairline. His eyes widened.

“Can’t be right,” he mumbled. Then he closed his eyes and didn’t open them again.

Amber scooped up her clothes and slipped into the bathroom. By the time she showered, towel dried her hair, and dressed in yesterday’s clothes, she felt better.

Confused as hell…but clean. Somewhat. She’d kill for fresh panties.

She looked at Gerard sleeping like the dead. Literally. He was pale as death and the tips of his fangs grazed his bottom lip. But only moments ago, he’d been awake. And it was way past dawn.

The anti-vampiric injections allowed him to see the sunrise but should he be able to stay awake until noon?

Megan would know.

She slipped on her shoes and quietly left the room.

****

“Good morning. Or afternoon, rather,” Megan said as Amber entered the kitchen. “I hope you like coffee. I made a whole pot.”

“Can’t start my day without it.”

“There’s cream in the fridge and sugar in the bowl,” Megan said as Amber strolled toward the counter.

“Thanks, but I drink it black.” Amber poured a cup and carried it to the table. She took a sip, sighing with pleasure as the hot, bitter brew slipped down her throat, kick starting her brain.

Megan smiled. “Sleep well?”

The smug look on her face irritated the hell out of Amber. Or maybe she was just feeling self-conscious because she hadn’t slept alone. Keeping her eyes glued to her coffee cup, she grumbled. “Well enough.”

She didn’t want to share her feelings with Megan or compare notes on the differences in sleeping with mortals versus vampires. She needed to get her head on straight and figure out what the hell she was going to do about her feelings for Gerard.

Yet another doomed relationship.
At least Gerard wouldn’t die the way Andrew had. Or find himself in the middle of a drug investigation the way George—one of her other failed relationships—had.

Megan raised her brows and her cup, staring over the rim. “Hmm. I see.”

Amber set her cup on the table and dropped her head in her hands. “Is it that obvious?”

Megan laughed. “Well, I
have
been in your shoes. Knowing vampires exist is one thing. Knowing you’re falling in love with one is something else entirely.”

Amber jolted upright. Her pulse pounded. “It’s not love. It was just…I mean…It’s—it’s none of your business.”

Too much was happening at once. Conflicting emotions weighed her down like a thick, heavy blanket, suffocating her. She couldn’t breathe. And she couldn’t find the words to even explain her feelings. But Megan seemed to understand.

Several minutes of uninterrupted silence passed. Megan didn’t puff up in anger or assume a defensive posture. She sat patiently, sipping her coffee. Waiting.

Guilt warmed Amber’s cheeks. “Look, I’m sorry I snapped. It’s just that…” No words could explain her chaotic emotions.

“It’s okay,” Megan said with an understanding smile. “Loving an immortal will twist you up inside. But rest assured. It has nothing to do with glamour.”

“God, I hope not.” Doubt clouded her mind, further muddying her thoughts. Since meeting Gerard, she wasn’t sure of anything, including her own sanity.

“Gerard really cares about you.”

“He’s a vampire. It’ll never work.” Regret choked her. Not that she was leaning toward a happily ever after. No way. Gerard was immortal. But something in her wanted to understand and find a common bond.

Sorrow shadowed Megan’s face. “It’s not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. Tina understood. I guess that’s what I miss most about her. She knew vampires existed, and she didn’t judge me for falling in love with one.”

Amber held up both hands, palms outward. “Hey, I’m not judging. I just can’t imagine the isolation you must feel.” Learning to share your personal space with a man would be hard. Hiding the fact he’s a mythical creature who lived off the blood of mortals would be impossible.

Megan leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Vampires are nothing like the ones in horror movies.”

“Some are just like the ones in horror movies.” Images of her mother and Andrew’s deaths played in her mind like a slasher film. She fisted her hands on the table, pushing aside the painful memories.

Megan touched her right hand. “Not all vampires are like the one who killed your mother and friend.”

“No. I guess not.” A hesitant smile tugged at her mouth. Her fists loosened. “Some can stay up until noon.”

“Not that late,” Megan said, leaning back enough to rest her palms on the table. “But the antivirus helps.”

“Do they usually inject themselves at night or just before sunrise?” Did changing when he took the injection explain why Gerard had still been awake at noon?

Megan frowned. “At night when they first rise. But Gerard missed his injection yesterday evening so he borrowed some of Vincent’s to keep from missing a dose.”

Leaning forward, Amber gripped Megan’s hands. Excitement quickened her pulse. “Gerard was still awake when I got up. At
noon. He didn’t stay awake long afterward, but he was awake.”

“Oh, God.” Megan paled. She tugged her hands free and leaned back against the chair. “I followed stimulant dosing protocols for
mortal
adults—a single dose in the morning for an immediate effect with extended action into the evening. I just reversed it because vampires are awake at night rather than during the day. I wanted to extend Vincent’s normal waking hours so he could see the sunrise. So, I suggested he take the injection upon rising. It seemed to…work.”

Her voice trailed off. Her shoulders sagged. She looked as if she’d failed him when nothing could be further from the truth.

“Megan, the vaccine worked. He was able to see the sunrise. Injecting him with an experimental drug was risky enough without playing around with the dosing schedule.” But she understood Megan’s disappointment. After every completed mission in Iraq, Amber had had doubts about its success. She always wondered if there had been something she could have done differently—something that might have made a bigger difference or prevented another death.

Megan’s shoulders slumped. A soul-deep sigh escaped. “The antivirus is more than just a stimulant. It’s designed to boost immunity to the vampire virus. Reversing the mortal dosing schedule for stimulants seemed logical. But vampires experience a longer Delta sleep cycle than mortals. That’s the deep stage of sleep where DNA repair occurs. In vampires, it’s a more complex repair that rejuvenates the body on a cellular level. I should have considered its boosting effects on the vaccine and tried giving him the injection at night before he fell into the regenerative sleep.”

“Why would you have thought of it before if the vaccine was working?”

“Because it could have been working better,” Megan said with a note of self-disgust. Something else she and Megan had in common. They were both too hard on themselves.

“You know Megan, necessity is the mother of invention, assumption is the mother of all screw ups, and success is sometimes the result of a simple twist of fate. If Gerard hadn’t been distracted by everything that’s going on, he would have taken the vaccine at the usual time and you might never have known changing the dosing schedule would make such a difference.”

She sighed again. “True.”

“So, Gerard’s being awake at noon wasn’t a fluke.” Excitement unfurled, filling Amber with hope. If a shot could make Gerard more human—

She stifled the budding enthusiasm. She needed Gerard awake at noon to help locate Dr. Weldon’s vampire—not so he’d fit more comfortably into her life.

“I’d need to run some tests, but changing the dosing schedule to correspond with Delta brain waves during sleep seems logical,” she said, her voice strangled. “I should have thought of it before. But I was thinking in terms of mortals—not immortals.”

Emotion seemed to choke her. Amber understood the guilt—the weight of responsibility. Failure might not be an option, but it was always a possibility. “Don’t blame yourself. You had no way of knowing. I mean, it’s not like you could run a double blind study or follow any of those other FDA regulations required for drug testing.”

Seeming to pull herself together, Megan squared her shoulders. “I suppose.”

“Didn’t you use your own blood for the vaccine?” Had mixing her mortal blood with a vampire’s given her dhampir-like abilities?

Megan smiled. “Yes. And Vincent let me run my tests—despite the danger.”

“Did you have any side-effects from injecting yourself with his blood?” Were Megan’s senses heightened? Could she sense vampires?

Do I have more in common with Megan than just a lo—liking for vampires?

“Initially, I got sick. But like smallpox, once I recovered, my blood contained the antibodies needed to create the vampire vaccine.”

Smallpox left scars. What kind of metaphysical deviations did injecting oneself with the vampire virus cause? “You haven’t noticed
any
changes?”