First Love: A Superbundle Boxed Set of Seven New Adult Romances (71 page)

Robb burst out into laughter. The relief on his face and his hearty laugh were so contagious that Liz was laughing along with him before she knew it. She breathed more easily now. It was alright. The danger was over.

"Of all the times to come back into my apartment!" he said, shaking his head.

"I think you might need to give your butler a raise," Liz said.

"He does deserve it, doesn't he?" Robb said, laughing. “I need to tell you about everything he’s done for me. And how I got here. And why there was a dead body in my lab.”

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” Liz said. A flash of fear struck through her suddenly, but when Robb spoke next she knew that she could trust him.

“No,” Robb said. “Let me tell you the story.”

“I would like that,” Liz said.

It took the better part of an hour. Robb sat on the couch and explained his history to her. About Eliza, and the vampires, and how he had been Robert Chatham for over a hundred years. Liz stopped him only a few times to ask him questions, and it seemed that he knew as little as she did about how to stop his disease. When he was finally done, she had tears in her eyes. To have lived for so long, and never to have loved...

“Liz.”

Liz looked up into a face stricken with grief and love. Robb caught Liz by the hand and knelt in front of her.

"Liz," he said. "I have to ask you something."

Liz jerked back against the kitchen counter.

"I—we can't— No! I can't
marry
you!" she cried out, standing up. Robb's face turned to confusion and he frowned in sudden realization.

"What? Oh! Damned social customs! They change so fast!" Robb said, standing up and taking both her hands in his. "Sorry, Liz, that wasn't what I meant at all. I shouldn't have knelt. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Liz said. As relieved as she was, there was a part of her that found herself oddly disappointed that he hadn't meant to propose.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. The pressure of his hands over hers comforted her disappointment. Somewhat, at least. Her body responded automatically to his touch, and she let herself indulge in the sensation.

"Then what were you going to ask?" Liz said, shaking herself back to her senses.

"I want you to stay."

The room seemed to spin a little bit. Liz was glad that she had the couch behind her. If her only balancing point was Robb's hand, she would have fallen over. Swooned, even. Then she remembered what she'd come here to do.

"Robb—"

"Stay here. Stay with me."

It was hard to protest. Harder still with Robb's dark eyes searching her face. The sharp dark line of his jaw, his lips, oh god, his lips—

"I can't," she said. She remembered her note. What was she thinking? She should have left a long time ago.

"Please," Robb said.

"Don't ask me to do this," Liz said softly.

Robb leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She let him, God save her. The hot press of his lips made her faint with desire. Robb let out a sigh.

"I've lived four hundred years as a vampire," he said, "and I've never fallen in love once until you came along."

Liz's eyes flashed up to Robb's.

"Are you surprised that I'm four hundred years old?" His dark, intelligent eyes crinkled a bit in amusement.

"You love me?" she said. She couldn't speak very well. Her tongue seemed too heavy for her mouth.

"That?
That's
what surprises you? Liz, come now."

Robb bent down and kissed her, and she did not protest as his lips caught hers in a fierce embrace. The warmth that spread through her instantly as her body met his shocked her with its intensity. He deepened the kiss, and she kissed him back, losing any sense of balance as he took her in his arms wholly and completely. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the darkness of the universe that was only shared between the two of them.

When he finally pulled away, she gasped with how much she wanted him to continue. Her heart raced, her pulse beating through her entire body.

"Robb..." She could not finish the sentence.

"All I have is my work. It's not enough. Not anymore. Not after you."

Liz couldn't speak. All of the reasons she had for leaving had vanished, and the desire to throw caution to the wind scared her more than anything else she'd ever known.

"Tell me you don't feel the connection between us," Robb said.

"I did!" Liz cried, before she could stop herself. "I...I thought I did. I don't know."

"Because of this?" Robb brushed a thumb against his gum and the points of his fangs slid out, then back. She looked on in fascination.

"Your blood..." Liz frowned, thinking back to her initial line of inquiry. "Your blood looked cancerous. Is that always how it is?"

"It heals my body more quickly," Robb said in agreement. "Cancerous in its growth to a certain point. And then it stops."

"Do you know why it stops?" Liz said, her heart pounding. "The mechanism behind it?"

"When I figure that out, I'll have cured cancer." Robb said. "And I won't be a monster anymore."

Liz cringed at the word, and Robb mistook her expression for distaste. He pressed his lips together.

"Tell me that you want to leave and I'll let you go," he said. "But I would die completely inside if I didn't at least try to stop you."

"I'll stay." Liz didn't know what tempted her more—the man in front of her, or the mystery behind his disease. She only had a second to think about it before Robb had lifted her up in another hug, kissing her so hard that it took her breath away. He held her in front of him, beaming. She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Robb asked.

"You look like you're so proud to have caught me," Liz said, laughing happily. "And here you're the most handsome, wealthy man in London. And you can live forever."

Robb smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness behind it.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I can't promise you much, Liz," Robb said. "I don't have a family. I don't know if we would ever be able to have a family. Lord, I don't even have friends—"

"It's okay," Liz said, laughing again. His worries were misplaced.

"I don't want to have caught you. You're always free to go, Liz. Always. I mean, I don't
want
you to go—"

"Hush." Liz touched his lips with her finger and his words melted away into silence. "I'm not caught. I'm...curious."

She smiled, and he smiled back.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Robb said.

"But satisfaction brought her back," Liz said.

"I'll get right on that," Robb said, clapping his hands together once before sweeping her into his arms. Liz squealed as he carried her easily towards the bedroom. He paused at the doorway to the bathroom. "Want to take a hot shower before?"

"Before, during, and after," Liz said, flinging her arms around his neck and hugging herself close to his chest. "Robb?"

"Yes?" Robb put her down on her feet in the bathroom and turned on the shower before turning back to her.

"You're not a monster," Liz said. "Not one bit."

"I'm trying not to be," Robb said, a crooked smile on his face. "You tell me if I growl too much, okay?"

"Okay," Liz said. Her heart swelled at his grin, and warmth flooded her body as his fingers moved to undress her.

“Gentle,” she said. “Not too fast. I don’t know if I can...tonight....”

“We don’t need to do anything tonight,” Robb said. “Only let me kiss you and hold you. Let me know that you’ll stay.”

“I’ll stay.”

A tightness in her chest unclenched. He wouldn’t rush her. He would wait. Her nervousness evaporated as he kissed her softly once, then again.

"We'll figure this out," Robb said, kissing her down the line of her cheek. "Together."

Liz trembled as his lips touched her neck. He put his arms around her, and she leaned into his body.

"Yes," she whispered. To her surprise, she felt
safe
, safer than she’d felt around any other guy before. She still had questions for him, but they could wait. She took Robb’s hand. He stepped backwards into the shower and, a smile on his face, led her into the billowing white clouds of steam.

The water flowed over them both, and she could not help but look at his hard, muscular body as he took up the soap. Rather than washing himself, though, he reached out and turned her around so that she was facing the showerhead. He began to caress her body with the bar of soap, sliding his fingers over her skin. She gasped at the first touch, but then she closed her eyes and lost herself in darkness.

His hands moved over her back, kneading, caressing. Every muscle in her melted under the pressure and the stream of the hot water. God, it felt so good.

He moved his fingers to her front, cupping her breasts. His fingers were slick and soapy, sliding over her nipples. She gasped as he pinched one slightly, the way he’d done before.

A monster. No. Not a monster. Something different. Something strange, yes, but not monstrous. Nothing that felt this good could be monstrous.

“Relax,” Robb said. “Relax. I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

“How will you know?” she murmured, a slow smile on her lips.

“I can feel your pulse,” Robb said. “Also, I have no doubt you’ll tell me if you want me to stop.” He chuckled.

“Don’t stop,” she said. She leaned her head back against his shoulder. His chest pressed against her back, hard and unyielding. He was beginning to stir, and it scared her just a little to think of how big he was.

Then his hands were moving down, down, between her thighs. Touching her
there
.

A cry escaped her lips. Hot water ran down her chest, streams of it, but all she could feel was the touch of his fingertips sliding in slow hot circles around her down there.

His lips moved and touched her ear, then just below, on her neck. She could feel the tension in his grasp, the restraint, how he was holding back. The ache inside of her was close to bursting.

“You can bite me,” she whispered. As soon as she said it, it scared her. “Just a little.”

Robb paused, his lips still soft against her skin.

“We don’t have to—”

“I want to see how it feels. Please.” She leaned her head to one side, opening herself up to his touch. “Just a little.”

“Just a little, then,” he said. His fingers moved and slipped into her, continuing to stroke her slick, vulnerable skin. Her hips began to move forward and back slightly with the rhythm of his hand. He nuzzled her neck and the hard edge of his teeth dragged across the surface of her skin, testing her. She moaned, her hips pressing back against him. He was beginning to grow hard. She wished she would do it already. Oh, lord, she wanted to know what it was like, now that she knew what it was. She was on a roller coaster that was climbing slowly, oh so slowly, to the top, and she felt the dizzying sensation of being about to drop down into the empty air.

“Now?” he asked, so softly that the dripping water on the tile was louder, and so was his heartbeat. She nodded, gasping a yes that she wasn’t sure he would hear.

He heard.

His teeth bit down and her world exploded in brightness. One of his arms was wrapped around her chest and she held onto it for dear life. Everything was spinning and dizzy and then she found herself swept away into hot bright sensation. Her fingers clutched his arm.

Robb leaned back and lifted her up slightly from the ground. Then she was rocking on his hand, her toes dragging lightly on the shower tile, almost all of her weight concentrated in that one spot that radiated desire through her body. Rocking in a rhythm, back and forth, back and forth. The pressure was indescribably delicious and she couldn’t keep herself from groaning. Oh, the ache. Oh, the wonderful ache of desire!

He was hard against her back and she pressed backwards against him, wanting him so badly. He slid over the crease just below her lower back.

“Not yet,” Robb said. “Not just yet. We’ll get to that soon. Not tonight.”

“More,” she gasped. “Please. Oh god, Robb, I need it, please, oh please—”

He bit down harder and she felt the ground fall away from her feet. Steam billowed around them, and she was in a cloud and then she closed her eyes. Everything went red and dark and wonderful and she rocked into his hand and he met her and there was only the pressure of him and his fingers inside of her and against her and oh god, oh god,
oh god
—

Something inside of her shattered in ecstasy and she was shaking, shaking and crying against him for something she’d never knew existed. He held her tight against his chest and she shuddered and shuddered again in ecstasy. She could barely hear his sigh but then he joined her and she felt his hot seed explode against her back, his hard length shivering and his voice moaning her name in her ear. The moan sent her shuddering again in another wave of climax, again and again until she was breathless and panting.

He set her back on her feet but she could not stand by herself. He turned her and she held onto his arms gratefully as he helped her regain her balance. He had her pressed against his chest and he kissed the top of her head and held her until she found her senses again.

“What did I tell you?” Robb said, his voice teasing, admonishing. “You’ll swoon if you stand so close to me.”

“Then let’s go lie down,” Liz said, a smile twisting on her face as she tugged Robb out of the shower. “And we’ll see if it happens again.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Robb lay in bed, watching the sun come up. In the dimness of the morning he could still see Liz, her curves silhouetted against the lights of London. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to him, resting his lips on her skin.

Her pulse beat tenderly against his body. Her blood ran hot and sweet just under her skin. Against his own chest he felt her lungs expand and contract, her breaths entering and leaving in turn. All of her body working unconsciously to keep her alive.

Alive. He was holding a precious gift, he knew. There was something so fragile about the girl he held in his arms, so perfect and beautiful and fragile that he nearly wept with the agony of it. He would lose her. She would go, as all the others had gone, leaving him to survive alone. He pressed his forehead against her back and choked back a sob.