Sacrifice (7 page)

“Give
me a minute to talk to Hallie and I’ll be with you, okay?” Ethan gazed down at
her and Hallie’s heart leapt at the fire sparkling in his eyes. “Can you find
us a hotel room while we go sort this out?”

“Go
with her, Ethan. I can handle this. It’s gonna take more than a couple of hours
to explain what has happened to them anyway. You look about ready to drop.”

*
* * *

Thirty
minutes later, Hallie pulled Ethan into the bedroom of a cheap motel just
outside of town. The shabby bungalow apartments offered nothing much except
privacy…which was all they needed for now.

“Ugh!
I need a shower.” She turned to walk away but a strong arm stopped her, pulling
her back against a hard wall of muscle.

“I’m
sorry, baby, but I just can’t let you out of my sight for a while. Besides, you
smell great to me.”

She
laughed, thrilled at Ethan’s unwavering desire for her but concerned he was
pushing himself too far. “On the way over here you said you were hungry. Let me
order something from room service. How long has it been since you’ve eaten a
meal?”

“Weeks.
God, I’ve almost forgotten what food tastes like.”

Hallie
wriggled out of his arms and flipped through the menu she’d found on the night
stand. “They don’t have much. How about a burger?”

He
nodded in agreement but still reached for her again. Hallie sidestepped with a
giggle and tried to phone through the order. Ethan took the opportunity to
slide his body behind hers, pressing his erection against her ass, nibbling at
her neck as she tried to speak.

She
fought the urge to laugh, her hand covering the mouthpiece of the phone. “Stop
it.” Suddenly, the line went dead and she looked down to find Ethan had put his
thumb into the cradle, cutting the call short.

She
gave up on the food and turned in his arms, allowing Ethan to kiss her the way she
wanted him to. His tongue begged for entrance, sliding between her lips and she
gasped from the desire curling in her belly. Ethan groaned, slipping his hands
down her body and grasped her thighs, roughly lifting her against him. She wrapped
her legs around his waist and clung on to his neck as his hands moved again,
tearing the shirt from her and undoing her bra.

Hallie
pulled his t-shirt over his head and threaded her hands into his hair as he possessed
her with another hot kiss. They worked their way to the bed, desperately
clinging to each other, never wanting to be apart again, and then he placed her
gently on the bed. Soon her jeans and panties joined the pile of clothes on the
floor and she stretched languidly, boldly watching him kick off his pants, her
nerves tingling in greedy anticipation of having his beautiful body dominate
hers.

Ethan
crawled up from the bottom of the bed, kissing every inch of her flesh along
the way. His lips and tongue grazed the arch of her foot to the bend in her
knee and her inner thighs… until finally, he reached her pussy. His tongue delved
between her parted lips and her body went rigid at the first electrifying flick
across her sensitive clit.

His
hands clasped her hips, preventing her from moving away when the exquisite
agony of his mouth became almost too much to bear. Her fingers wound into his
hair and her pelvis ground against his mouth as wave after wave of a
devastating orgasm coursed through her. Ethan groaned, aroused it seemed by her
reaction to him. He slid a thick finger inside, intensifying his efforts,
coaxing another orgasm from her hungry body.

Dazed
and utterly numb with satisfaction, it took a moment before she could think
straight. Hallie reached for him, guiding Ethan up over her body and parted her
legs wide to take him in. Ethan’s mouth locked with hers and she bit gently on
his lip as he penetrated her body. He began to move inside her with skillful
precision, his breath ragged as he buried his head into her neck and drove his
hard cock into her again and again.

Hallie
grabbed his face so she could watch the man she knew and loved take her for
what seemed like the first time. He
was
different. Any thought that being a vampire made him more desirable seemed
almost laughable now. Tears welled in her eyes and he paused for a moment to
stare back at her.

“What’s
wrong, sweetheart?”

She
smiled to show him he had no need to be concerned. “I love you so much. So
very, very much,” she said, her voice breaking at the weight of emotion in her
words.

“I
love you more.” Ethan’s lips met hers and he pushed into her again, deep and
slow as if to savor the perfect moment. His hands drifted to her hips to lift
her from the bed and increase her pleasure, sliding his cock to that sensitive
place that drove her wild.

They
came together—Ethan with his head thrown back as a loud groan tore from his
throat, and Hallie clutching his ass, her legs locked around his waist, the
breath stolen from her.

As
curious as she was about what had happened, Hallie couldn’t begrudge Ethan the
sleep he needed. His gentle snores filled the room mere minutes after he’d
collapsed beside her. She stroked the hair from his brow and placed a kiss on
his head. A shower, her questions, and food could wait until morning. She fell
asleep, excited at the prospect of getting to know Ethan all over again.

*
* * *

When
she woke, he wasn’t beside her. Fear clutched at Hallie’s heart, chasing away
the smile she had when she opened her eyes and turned to look for him.

“Ethan?”

Hallie
sat up and checked around for him but the room was empty and the bathroom door
open. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, painfully bright and hot.
Oh God…maybe he still needed to sleep during
the day?

She
squinted at her watch and leapt from the bed, surprised she’d slept until noon,
and then decided to have a shower. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm her
nerves. Where the hell did Ethan go? She stepped out of the steamy room with a
towel wrapped around her body and went to retrieve her clothes from the floor.

“Damn!
I hoped I would be back in time to take a shower with you,” a voice said from
behind her.

“Ethan!
Oh, thank God!” She threw herself into his embrace, crying with relief.

“Hey,
don’t be upset. I’m here.”

She
punched him in the arm. “Where did you go? When I woke up and found you gone I
didn’t know what to think.” He didn’t answer, his attention no longer on her
face, instead lingering on the rivulets of water running from her hair down
into the gap between her breasts. “Ethan?”

“Sorry…but
damn you look good wet.”

Hallie
smiled through her tears, her anger dissolving. It was going to take time
getting used to the change in him all over again. “Seriously, where were you?”

He
stepped away, excitement lighting up his handsome face. “I had a lot to do. I
got Clive to drive me back to Fairborne so I could pick up the Aston and make
sure the house and store were secure. I grabbed a few of your clothes, too.” He
gestured to the suitcases piled up behind the door.

“Suitcases?
Are we taking a trip?”

He
smiled. “I want to show you my family home where I grew up.”

 
“Where is it?”

“Just
outside of the city limits. I didn’t want to go back until I was sure this was
over…until I was sure that I wasn’t going to wake up this morning and find
nothing had changed and I was still a vampire.”

Hallie
shook her head again, still unable to make any sense out of the events of the
previous night. However it happened, she’d be eternally grateful Ethan survived.
“It wouldn’t have mattered to me, Ethan. I love you, no matter what you are.”

He
pulled her into his arms again, kissing her passionately. “That’s the one thing
I was sure of. God alone knows what I ever did to deserve you, but I know you
love me almost as much as I love you.” Unshed tears made his eyes sparkle and
he blinked them away, seeming embarrassed by the depth of his feelings. He
turned and grabbed her clothes from the floor. “Come on, I can’t wait to take
you home.”

They
drove through winding country lanes, in the haze of a steamy
Louisiana
afternoon, before Ethan announced
they’d arrived. Hallie checked her watch, surprised to find they’d driven for
so long. The miles flew by unnoticed to Hallie, her attention riveted on the
gorgeous man whose hands she longed to feel on her again, anticipation building
with every turn in the road.

The
car glided to a halt at the edge of a copse of live oaks draped in Spanish moss,
nestled at the foot of a hill. Hallie slid out of the passenger seat of the Aston
Martin, mentally berating herself for not insisting earlier that he take her
for a ride in the beautiful machine. Ethan grabbed her hand and gestured to the
crest of the hill rising before them.

“It’s
my favorite view in the world,” he said, tugging her to the plateau. His gaze
never left her face as they reached the top and she saw what he’d been so
excited about. “This is the Butler Estate.”

Hallie
gasped.

Below
her, a lush green valley stretched on for miles, up to a horizon fringed with
cypress trees. In the center of the meadow lay a large, white French Colonial
style plantation house. The two story property had a row of pillars supporting
the veranda running around the top floor, leading to a long sweeping staircase that
descended down to the lawn. Hallie thought it looked like the perfect setting
for a civil war romance.

Ethan
dropped to his knees, fishing in his pocket for something. A faint blush
crawled over his cheeks and Hallie’s breath caught in her throat.
Oh my God – is that a ring?

A
stunning sapphire sparkled in the midday sun, the exact color of Ethan’s eyes. The
princess cut stone had a smaller but no less breathtaking diamond on either
side of the gem and sat on a gallery of warm, yellow gold.

He
cleared his throat. “It’s my mother’s ring. I always take it wherever I go,
along with my father’s watch.” His hands shook as he reached for hers. “I want
you to marry me, Hallie. I know this seems fast but I don’t need to wait any
longer to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I couldn’t
allow myself to love you before and I fought it for months, but now there’s
nothing standing in our way. If our love was strong enough to bring us through
the madness of the last few weeks, I know it’s strong enough to last a
lifetime.” His eyes shone with love, respect and admiration for her and he smiled
shyly, looking self conscious and vulnerable when she didn’t answer him
straight away. “Will you? Will you marry me, Hallie?”

She
couldn’t trust her voice so she simply nodded and the tears welling in her eyes
slipped down her cheeks. His face lit up, mirroring the joy she felt in her
heart, and he slipped the ring onto her finger, kissing the place it now rested.

Hallie
pulled him to his feet and giggled as he chose not to bend to kiss her this
time, instead, lifting her up so her face was level with his. “I love you, Ethan,”
she told him as his lips found hers. His kiss stole her breath and heat crawled
over Hallie’s skin, her love and lust for him combined because the man who held
her heart owned her body too.

Ethan
pulled back, leaving Hallie clinging to his shoulders, weak with longing. He
smiled and raised his eyebrows, as if waiting for her to speak. She laughed
when she remembered that she hadn’t yet given him an answer. “Yes, I want to
marry you…in case I didn’t make it clear.”

He
kissed her again, with a passion matched only by the love burning in her heart
for him, and then put her back on her feet, arms still wrapped around her. “I’ll
make you happy, Hallie, I swear.”

“Just
the knowledge you’re alive and here with me makes me happy already.”

Ethan
laughed, elation making him even more handsome than ever. “If anyone had told
me six months ago that I’d have to die twice to find the love of my life, I
would’ve told them they were crazy.”

Hallie
hugged him as a wave of love for Ethan left her breathless. She’d never be able
to equal a vampire’s sacrifice but she’d spend her life proving he’d been right
to make it.

The
End