Reawakening (39 page)

“Geoffrey,” a low voice rumbled behind her. Or growled. “Take your hands off my mate.”

Oh shit, that was definitely a growl.

Well screw Rom. He should be nicer to Geoffrey. Neither of them would be here had it not been for him.

“I’m trying,” Geoffrey muttered. Sarah finally let go, sensing her mate’s ire rapidly increasing. Spinning around, she latched onto him, burying her head in his firm chest, his strong arms enfolded her possessively. She was about to scold Rom when he spoke words that couldn’t have shocked her more.

“Thank you.” She extracted herself from Rom in time to see him extend his hand, which Geoffrey took, shaking firmly.

“My pleasure, my lord.”

Well, this was quite a contradiction to the last time she’d seen these two together. A couple weeks ago in Dev’s office, Rom looked like he’d sooner Geoffrey be dead than standing in front of him.

Geoffrey inclined his head in respect and strode across the room, toward Taiven.

“I’m proud of you.” She didn’t want to sound condescending, but she knew it was uncomfortable for Rom to express his feelings with anyone else but her, and those two simple words he’d spoken to Geoffrey were full of heartfelt emotion.

For the second time since they walked in the room, she heard her mate laugh. It was such a glorious sound and she’d heard it more in the last two weeks than she ever had. Looking down at her, he smiled gently, the pure love radiating from his eyes enthralling her as always.

“It’s because of you.”

“I know,”
she joked.

“Are you always going to be so cheeky and difficult?”

“You love it.”

“Hmmm … I wouldn’t use the word
love
.”

She stood on her tiptoes, brushing her lips across his. “This is sounding oddly familiar,” she murmured against his mouth, nipping his lower lip, wishing they were alone so she could rip his clothes off and spend hours riding him.

Cupping her cheeks, his intense gaze colliding with hers. Lust and passion engulfed her and his eyes shone bright, full of desire and love. “I love you. So fucking much, Sarah. You’ve brought me back to life.”

Sarah’s heart swelled. She never really understood the true definition of happiness until she’d met Rom. Her cheeks hurt many days because she couldn’t stop smiling. “And you
gave
me mine.”

Uncaring about the PDA, she captured his lips in a heated kiss.

Damian’s loud complaining and everyone’s laughter broke them out of their sensual spell. “Okay, I want to know what the fuck happened that night.
Somebody
tell me
something
, for the love of Christ.”

Hardly able to tear their eyes from each other, she was anxious to get back home to be alone with her mate, but at the same time was content to know that they had many days and nights ahead of them to live and love. She wasn’t naïve enough to think another threat wouldn’t surface, but until it did, she would live each day of her new life to the fullest with her Vampire Lord mate.

And, good or bad, she looked forward to every single one.

Epilogue

Geoffrey

“I think that’s Geoffrey’s story to tell,” Romaric said, after breaking the lip lock with his mate, who was now sitting on his lap on one of the three couches in the room. Jealousy spiked.
He
wanted to sit on the couch with his Moira, happy and relaxed and content, but he pushed that aside for the moment. His immediate objectives had been to make it out of these last two missions alive. So he could be free.

And he had.
Barely
. He was finally at full strength again and his next mission would not involve weapons, unless one counted the relentless emotional pursuit he would yield with expert precision to acquire the one thing he now wanted most in the world.

Elizabeth Armstrong.
Beth
. His Moira.

“Um, that’s kind of you, but I believe it’s your story to tell,” he replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable being in the spotlight in a room of vamps that clearly didn’t welcome him with open arms.

“I would be honored if you would tell it,” Rom said, respectfully.

Geoffrey had developed immense respect for Romaric Dietrich over these past few weeks, not only for saving his life, but because he was fair and honorable. There was a reason he was a lord, beyond his immeasurable power. Romaric was the epitome of a leader. And as such, it didn’t chafe him to call him by the title he’d earned.

“As you wish, my lord.”

Taiven graciously handed him a beer. Over the last two weeks, he’d gotten to know Romaric’s brother quite well and had come to find they’d had a common altruistic mission over the last few decades. Color him surprised to find out that Taiven was the head of the European ring to whom he filtered some of the females he’d saved over the years. It was far safer to get them out of the country than to return them to their homes. For all of them.

Except for Taiven, when his father found out. Which was quite inconvenient timing. He was not going to share this with the group, because he wasn’t sure how much Romaric knew and he wasn’t about to spill any secrets. God knows with his skill, he had plenty of them.

“The original plan was for myself to mimic Taiven. As such, I would expect to be armed. Taiven would hide in the wings and use Xavier’s power of stasis to immobilize his father and I could easily behead him. However, when I arrived, Taiven didn’t show at our rendezvous point. Ainsley arrived instead. Taiven had been detained by his father, labeled as a traitor and beaten severely for the twenty-four hours leading up to Romaric’s arrival.

“So Ainsley and I had to come up with a new plan on the fly. And we had no way to warn Romaric what he was walking into. It was better that we didn’t anyway, because the genuine surprise on his face played perfectly into our ruse.

“I took Sarah’s form and Ainsley pretended that she was able to kidnap me to keep Romaric in line. The guards were also in on the coup. What I didn’t expect was to be stabbed in the heart, but the bigger surprise was Taiven and Romaric’s mother. Had it not been for her, it’s likely none of us would be standing here today. Just as I was stabbed, she stabbed Makare in the back, distracting him, so I was able to execute him.”

Everyone gaped at him. The room eerily quiet. It was really quite an unbelievable story. Had he not been there, he wouldn’t have believed it himself. And had he not seen Sarah that day in Dev’s office little more than two weeks ago, they would have been fucked ten ways to Sunday. Geoffrey couldn’t mimic someone he hadn’t seen before and that’s what she’d walked in on that day. Geoffrey had suggested it and Rom threw a shit fit.

“I have so many questions, I don’t even know where to begin,” Damian groaned. The quiet turned to chaos as everyone started talking at once, volleying questions like rapid gunfire to Romaric and Taiven.

The one that he caught was whether their mother still lived.

Not every story had a happy ending. Because Taiven had been detained by his father, he never had a chance to give her the potion he’d procured from a witch. By distracting her mate, she selflessly gave of her life so her children could live. Taiven and Romaric buried her just a few days ago. Both were pretty broken up about it, but at least Geoffrey made the killing blow. He wasn’t sure either could, or should, have to live with the guilt that bringing down a monster had caused an innocent to perish as well.

Geoffrey wasn’t sure what to expect when he’d walked into the room several hours ago, but to be
welcomed
and
thanked
even
respected
by the great Romaric wasn’t at the top of the list. In fact, he’d fully expected to be met with little more than barely contained disdain by the lords. Granted, Dev and Damian had been much cooler to him when he’d arrived, but by the time he’d left, they each offered a handshake and their thanks as well, although it was a little tougher for Damian, who was rightfully still holding onto a lot of resentment toward him.

That was a bridge that quickly needed repaired, because to get to Beth, he would need to go through Damian and his mate, who he’d come to discover was best friends with his Moira. Beth was still living at the shelter and there was no way in hell he’d be allowed anywhere near her without getting Analise DiStephano on his side.

So he’d been wracking his brain over the last two weeks on how he was going to accomplish that and had come up with a loose plan of sorts. It would require working closely with the lords, and now that he’d spent time with them this evening, it felt more plausible than it did before he’d arrived. The last thing he wanted to do was go to war with the almighty powerful lords because he knew he would never win.

But he would also do absolutely
anything
and
everything
it took to get his Moira. If the roles were reversed, he knew each and every one of the lords would move heaven and earth to get to their Moiras, killing anyone that stood in their way. Hell, Romaric was ready to behead his own brother to save Sarah.

The fact that Beth was here, in this estate, so close, yet so far away, was an agonizing and bitter pill to swallow. She was
his,
goddammit.

It was only a matter of time before he made her so.

“Soon, my sweet. Very soon.”

~
The
End ~

My musical inspiration for this book was simply two songs. The first represents Romaric pre-Sarah. The second is Romaric post-Sarah.

Give them a listen. I think you’ll agree …

“I Am Machine” by Three Days Grace

“Alive” by Adelita’s Way.

Acknowledgements and Thanks!

It’s a little surreal to be writing the acknowledgements for my third novel. When I started this journey, I didn’t even know if I could finish one full-length book, let alone three.

When I created the Regent Vampire Lords and their world in my mind, I envisioned sexy, alpha males who passionately fall in love with their Fated, their world now revolvoing around their beloved. It’s what we all want, right? I mean…that’s why we read romance novels to begin with.

In Surrendering, book 1 of the series, Romaric was a definite enigma. Even to me. But writing Romaric was probably the most rewarding of all the Lords so far. It took him a while to reveal his himself to me throughout this book, but in the end, he may be my favorite lord so far and I don’t think I could have found a better mate for him than Sarah. I’m absolutely in love with their story!

First and foremost, to my readers:
Thank you
for purchasing my book!! The number of people who have reached out to me to offer support and praise for this series is humbling and a little mind-blowing. If you like my book, please tell your friends! Please write a review, please support your favorite authors. The best thing you can do to support an author you love is word of mouth and reviews.

My list of “girls” is expanding and I have met some amazing people throughout this process. Tara, Kaitlyn, Beth, Sherri, Emma, Diane and Sabrina…a million thanks will never be enough for your honesty and your valued opinions. I’m so blessed to have each and every one of you in my life! (Sniffle, sniffle, get the tissue…)

To my husband: Babe, you are my everything, my inspiration, my very heart. I can write about romance because I live it every day with you. Thanks for your undying support when I am literally consumed with my writing, even when I don’t always get dinner on the table or I forgot to call the table guy or I couldn’t tear myself away from the story to order the new sheets we so desperately needed for our bed! You are my rock and I’m so very glad that you’re proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish, because none of it would have been possible without you.

Thanks to my editor, Amanda, for all of your collaboration, support and guidance. I have learned so much about this world thanks to you and I’m lucky to have met you so many months ago. And finally a special thanks to Yocla Designs for the absolutely
A MA Z I N G
job you did on the book cover art once again! You brought my vision of the story to life and a picture really does say a thousand words through your work!

Lastly, I want to shout out to all of the amazing romance authors, of whom there are too many to name, who inspire me daily.

About the Author

Most authors will tell you that writing is all they’ve ever wanted to do. I guess I’m one of the few that don’t fit in that bucket. Writing a book was never on my bucket list until three years ago. On my list was: Climb the Corporate ladder.
Check
. Go to Europe.
Check
. Complete a half marathon.
Check
. Eat chocolate daily.
Double check
.
Isn’t this on everyone’s bucket list?
Catch up on two seasons of Games of Thrones in one day.
Painful, but check.
And finally, devouring romance books at an alarming pace like the unashamed book addict I am…
Over a thousand checks!

Living in Nebraska with my soul-mate hubby, I pen my magic world at night, while paying the bills with an actual paying job in the corporate world during the day. Writing is just an all-consuming passion for now, but boy, if I could dream...

My other loves include my simply amazing, incredible and talented children, a steamy novel, great friends and family, and a warm ocean breeze gliding over my sun drenched skin with a cocktail in hand.