“Yes, you do.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “You just have to decide if you’ve got the courage to take the next step.”
He was right. She wanted him. But was she brave enough to tie her life to his? Could she live with the knowledge that he had a past with Mara, however long or short or passionate it might have been? How was she ever going to face Mara and Logan again, knowing what she knew now?
Mara and Logan. They had been unusually quiet up at the house earlier. Abbey remembered the tension in the room before Nick arrived and she suddenly understood the reason for it. Logan was jealous of Nick, and understandably so. She hadn’t missed the veiled look that passed between Mara and Nick.
“Abbey?”
Filled with uncertainty, she looked at him, all her doubts fading when her gaze met his. She wanted him. He wanted her, and nothing else mattered.
Closing her eyes, she murmured, “Just kiss me.”
“Don’t ask me twice, darlin’.” Grateful for the booth’s high back, which shielded them from the other diners, Nick cupped her face in his hands and kissed her gently; then, wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her more deeply. Kissed her until she was breathless, trembling with desire.
“Nick . . .”
He heard the yearning in her voice, knew he could have whisked her to his place and made love to her all night long. It was tempting, oh, so tempting. But she wasn’t a woman to be pleasured for a night, but a lifetime. He had told Mara he meant to have Abbey, and have her he would.
But, like it or not, he was afraid that meant winning her parents’ approval.
Chapter Fourteen
“He seemed nice,” Savanah remarked. “Polite.”
Rane sat back on the sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him, one arm draped around his wife’s shoulders. “You think so?”
“Don’t you?”
“I don’t know. There’s something about him . . .” Rane shook his head. “I can’t help thinking he’s up to no good. And then there’s his history with Mara.”
“It was a long time ago,” Savanah said.
“Maybe so, but did you see Logan’s face when Nick showed up? He’s not so sure it’s over.”
“That’s ridiculous. Mara’s crazy about Logan. She always has been. Everybody knows that.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“I didn’t notice any sparks between Mara and Nick. Quite the opposite.”
“I guess. But we were talking about Nick and Abbey. He’s too old for her. Too worldly wise. It’s like pairing a pit bull with a kitten.”
Savanah smiled faintly. “I can’t argue with that. It bothers me that he has centuries more experience than she does, but . . .” She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. “The more we object, the more determined Abbey’s going to be to prove us wrong. You know how she is. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll be good for her.”
“The way you’re good for me?” Rane asked, nuzzling her neck.
“Could be.”
“Could be? What do you mean by that?”
“I’m just teasing you. Honestly, Rane, I think you’ve lost your sense of humor.”
“Maybe I have. I’ve got a lot on my mind just now, what with Nick and . . .”
She drew back, her gaze searching his face. “And what?”
“I overheard your conversation with Abbey.”
Savanah went very still. “What conversation?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Why didn’t you tell me you’re unhappy?”
“I’m not unhappy!”
He lifted one brow. “No?”
“Rane . . .”
“You didn’t have to become one of us,” he said, his voice tight.
“Of course I did! How else were we going to have a life together? What would I have done, how would I have felt, when I grew old and you didn’t?”
“I wouldn’t have stopped loving you.”
“I know that. But I couldn’t have stood it, getting older, having people think I was your mother, your grandmother, and all the while you’d still be young and virile while I just shriveled away!”
“Savanah, honey . . .” He shook his head, at a loss for words. “I had no idea you felt this way all these years.” Rising, he paced away from the sofa to stare out the window. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. It was my choice, not yours. I knew what I was doing.”
“Did you?”
“Well, not entirely, of course. How could I?” She moved up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I admit, there are still days when I miss being human, but I wouldn’t give up what we have, or all the years ahead for anything in the world. I love you, Rane Cordova. I loved you when I was human. I love you now.”
He turned to face her, his gaze searching hers. “You mean it? You’re not just saying all that to make me feel better?”
“Of course not.”
Relieved, he drew her into his arms and held her close. “Why don’t you go on up to bed?”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’ll be along in a minute. I just want to make sure Abbey’s home safe.”
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going over to the cottage just the same.”
“It wasn’t much of a date,” Nick remarked as they strolled along the path to the cottage. “I’ll try and do better tomorrow night.”
“That’s not necessary. I mean, I’d love to go out with you again. But I’m glad everything’s out in the open.”
“Are you?”
She nodded. “I was thinking about it on the way home and you’re right. You and Mara, it was a long time ago. If you say it doesn’t matter, then I believe you.”
When they reached the front door, Nick wrapped her in his arms and drew her close, one hand tenderly stroking her cheek. “That’s my girl,” he murmured.
“Actually,” said a familiar voice from the shadows. “She’s my girl.”
“Dad! You’re spying on us? Really?” Stepping out of Nick’s embrace, Abbey peered into the darkness.
“I wasn’t spying,” Rane said, materializing at the bottom of the porch stairs. “Just making sure you got safely home.”
“Okay, now you’re sure. Good night.”
“Good night, Abbey. Nick.”
“Good night, sir.”
“Is he gone?” Abbey asked, grateful for the darkness that hid her flushed cheeks.
Nick pulled her into his embrace. “We’re quite alone.”
“I can’t believe he was waiting for me. I’m not a child anymore. I wish he’d let me grow up!”
Nick laughed softly. “He’s your father. He loves you.”
“Are you defending him?”
“It’s natural for him to worry about you. Would you rather he didn’t care?”
“Of course not.” Shaking off her annoyance, she smiled at him. “Aren’t you going to kiss me good . . . ?”
Nick’s mouth covered hers in a searing kiss that made Abbey forget everything else. She gasped when his hands cupped her buttocks, drawing her body tight against his while he ravaged her mouth.
Moaning softly, she locked her hands around his neck, holding on for dear life as the world she knew disappeared and there was only Nick’s mouth on hers, his hands caressing her.
When he let her come up for air, she leaned into him, her knees weak, her breathing erratic.
“Are you okay?” he asked, amusement evident in his tone.
“Who, me?” She blinked up at him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be all right again.”
Nick laughed softly. Abbey was delightful, he thought. Innocent and wanton at the same time, like Eve in the Garden before the fall.
And she was his.
Chapter Fifteen
Abbey sat in the kitchen, sipping a cup of hot chocolate, and thinking about her date with Nick the night before. They hadn’t done much, bu
t she had learned a lot. More than she had ever wanted to know, she mused glumly. Mara had turned Nick against his will. Someday, she wanted to hear the whole story of Mara, Nick, and Logan. No doubt their history would play out like a vampire soap opera.
She had to laugh when she recalled her father popping out of the shadows. Who’s the stalker now, Dad? She had to hand it to Nick, though. He had been polite and respectful, even calling her father—who was centuries younger—sir. She admired that.
After drinking the last of her cocoa, she rinsed the cup, then headed out the back door. It was time to look after the stock.
Abbey stretched her arms out to the side and then over her head. She had been working steadily for the last three hours and she was developing a whopper of a backache. It was time to take a break before she began exercising the horses.
She glanced at the sky as she took off her gloves and tucked them in the waistband of her jeans. Gray clouds were building in the east; there was a promise of rain in the air.
Deciding to skip lunch in favor of a short ride before she worked the other horses, she led Freckles out of the barn.
She was lifting the heavy saddle onto the mare’s back when Nick appeared beside her. Taking the saddle from her hands, he set it in place and fastened the cinch.
“What are you doing here?” Abbey asked. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“I rest during the day by choice. It’s not a necessity.”
“Oh. Do you ride?”
“Of course. Cars are a relatively recent invention, you know. In my day, it was ride or walk.” He glanced at the barn. “You got a horse for me?”
“One of my Mom’s horses is a remarkably stubborn, high-strung mare mistakenly named Serenity. I haven’t exercised her today. Do you think you can handle her?”
“Are you kidding? I can handle you, can’t I?”
Abbey punched him in the shoulder before returning to the barn for the troublesome mare.
Nick watched the horse with interest as Abbey led her out. Serenity was a true black, with one white stocking, and stood a good seventeen hands. The mare eyed him warily as he saddled her, pinned her ears when he took up the reins, tried to bite him when he stepped into the leather.
He gave a sharp tug on the reins to bring her head around, then jabbed his heels into her flanks. With a toss of her head, the mare took the bit between her teeth and lined out in a dead run.
Muttering, “Holy cow!” Abbey leapt onto the Appy’s back and gave chase, all the while admiring Nick. He rode with the grace of a born horseman, his body moving in perfect rhythm with that of his mount. Once, he threw back his head and loosed a wild cry filled with the joy of the moment. And she loved him all the more because of it.
He let the mare run flat out until she broke a light sweat, then he eased her down to a slow lope, then into a trot before reining her to a halt on a grassy knoll.
Dismounting, he patted the horse’s neck, then looped the reins over a low-hanging branch.
He was grinning when Abbey drew rein beside him.
Dismounting, she exclaimed, “I guess you can ride!”
“I’d forgotten how much I loved it.”
“If it had been anybody else on her back, I’d have been worried sick,” Abbey remarked as she ground-tied Freckles. “But I knew if Serenity stepped in a hole and broke her fool neck, or yours, you’d walk away from the fall.”
Laughing, Nick pulled Abbey into his arms. “Indestructible,” he remarked, nibbling her earlobe. “That’s me.”
“Irresistible, too.”
“You are.” Gazing deep into her eyes, he murmured, “How did I live so long without you? I look back at all those empty years . . .” He shook his head. “But now you’re here and it’s like I’ve been reborn.”
Abbey looked up at him, her throat thick with unshed tears. “Was it really so awful?”
He drew her down on the grass beside him, then pulled her close to his side. “You have no idea. After Mara left me, I wandered aimlessly from place to place. I hated what I’d become and yet—I probably shouldn’t be telling you this—I loved the blood. The taste of it on my tongue, the power of it! I loved the hunt, and yet, at the same time, I hated it. For years, I was wracked with guilt for what I was, what I did to survive. After a while, I vowed never to kill again and that’s when I learned I could take what I needed from a few instead of taking it all from one.
“I met other vampires as I traveled the earth. A few knew Mara personally. It seemed I wasn’t the only one she’d seduced and abandoned. Like me, they all hated her for it. Others, those who didn’t know her, were awed by the fact that she was my sire. She had a reputation, even then.” He paused, his thoughts obviously turned inward. And then he said, “Not long ago, I was determined to end my existence . . .”
“No!” Abbey couldn’t imagine why anyone, even a vampire as ancient as Nick, would seek death. Life in any form was sacred.
“Ironically, I was hoping to find Mara and ask her to destroy me. And then I met you.”
Tilting her face up, he kissed her, a gentle kiss that was little more than the whisper of his lips against hers, and yet she felt it burn deep into her soul.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I would never have believed I could fall in love with anyone so quickly, but I love you, Abbey. I’ll love you until the end of time.”
With a sigh, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. It humbled her to think that he loved her so deeply. He had seen everything, been everywhere. He was a gorgeous, sexy, supernatural being who could have any woman he desired.
And he wanted her.
The thought that she also wanted him frightened her in ways she didn’t understand. She told herself he would never hurt her, and yet . . . what if she decided she didn’t want to spend her life with a vampire?
What if he refused to let her go?
What if he turned her against her will? She would hate him if that happened.
He had said he loved her. That he had intended to end his life before he met her. That was a heavy burden to bear.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Nick remarked as they rode back toward home. “Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“You’re troubled by what I said earlier.”
“No. Well, yes, a little. I mean, we’ve only known each other a short time and yet, all of a sudden, things are kind of intense, what with you declaring your undying . . .” She grimaced, thinking undying was a poor choice of words. “Declaring that you’ll love me forever.”
“I’m sorry I upset you. Vampires tend to be over zealous when they see something—or someone—they want.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t the most intelligent reply she’d ever made, but she was at a loss for words. Had all the men in her family compelled the women they loved to marry them? She had heard their courtship stories. No long engagements for any of them.
Thunder rumbled in the distance as they drew closer to the cottage. Not wanting to be caught in the rain, Abbey urged Freckles into a trot. They reached the barn a short time later.
Dismounting, Abbey led the mare into the barn.
Nick followed her.
Side by side, they unsaddled the horses. Abbey passed Nick a brush and they spent several minutes grooming the mares. Abbey was acutely aware of Nick beside her. She loved watching the play of muscles in his back and shoulders as he ran the dandy brush over the mare’s sleek coat, the way a lock of hair fell over his brow as he stroked the brush down the mare’s legs, the way his jeans stretched over his taut buttocks. Oh, yeah, she had it bad.
Her cheeks felt like they were on fire when he caught her staring. His lips curved in a knowing smile.
He tossed the brush into the box at his feet, then reached for her. Eyes wide, Abbey looked up at him, her heart pounding like a wild thing as his arms enfolded her. She released a deep, shuddering breath as his gaze searched hers.
“Abbey?”
With a sigh, she leaned into
him, closed her eyes as he lowered his head to press kisses to her cheeks, her brow, the curve of her throat.
“It’s been a long time since I made love in a hayloft,” he murmured, nibbling her earlobe.
“I guess you’ll have to wait a while longer,” she retorted, although the thought of climbing into the loft and making love to Nick was tempting indeed.
“I guess you want to be courted first.”
“Courted?” Taking a deep breath, she smiled up at him. “That’s an old-fashioned concept.”
“Well, I’m an old-fashioned guy.”
“Very old.”
He laughed softly as he put her away from him. “I can wait until you’re ready.” Untying the mare, he led her into a stall and closed the door.
“Nick . . .”
“It’s all right, love.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Abbey stared after him as he left the barn, wondering how much longer she would be able to resist the blatant desire in his eyes, the yearning of her own body. She reminded herself that they were still strangers in many ways, but it didn’t help. Right or wrong, whether she had known him for a week or a year, she would always want him.
A thought took Nick home. Though he would miss being close to Abbey while at rest, staying in the shack no longer seemed wise now that her father knew he’d been there. He couldn’t hide from Mara, of course, but she had no reason to come looking for him. And even if she did, the threshold would, hopefully, prevent her from entering uninvited. Of course, she might be able to compel him to go to her. But it seemed unlikely.
After taking a shower, he changed into a pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt, pulled on a pair of boots, and went into the city. Dark clouds covered the sun, turning the day to night. The rain fell in a steady drizzle.
He hadn’t hunted in several days. The hunger grew inside him, an aching need that burned like fire in his veins. He hadn’t lost control in centuries, but with Abbey in his life, it wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
Oblivious to the weather, he strolled the downtown streets in search of prey, bypassing the elderly, the sick, the very young. His prey of choice had always been women in their late twenties or early thirties.