Midnight (14 page)

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He slammed his cock
home, filling her cunt to the hilt. It just didn’t get any better than this.

“Forever, Amara,” he repeated. He didn’t need to. She knew
it as well as he did. She could protest all she wanted, but it all came down to
the fact that she didn’t want to be away from him again. The first time had
been bad enough. She didn’t even want to think about the next time.

His strokes were wild and erratic, pushing her to the edge
quickly. Was there ever anything slow and easy with him? Not that she was
complaining—her sex life had never been so full. But she didn’t think the man
was capable of anything other than ravishment when it came to sex.

He was entirely too strong. It amazed her that he could hold
her up for this long and not collapse under the pressure.

His lips grazed her cheekbones, her hairline, and her jaw
line while he continued to drive her to the point of complete and total
ecstasy. Derek, and all her other lovers for that matter, could take a lesson
or two from Marco on how to make sure a woman was satisfied. She’d never had it
this good. Why would she give it up, just because of the silly little fact that
her lover was a vampire?

Wait a second—so was
she.

She groaned at the thought. That was going to take a long
time to get used to.

He nuzzled her neck. “You should feed again.”

She couldn’t argue with that, not when she was starting to
crave the stuff like it was air. She sunk her teeth into his neck and drank
briefly, but had to let him go when she came. She couldn’t manage bucking,
convulsing, and sucking at the same time.

Marco’s release was right on the heels of her own. He
spurted inside her, groaning against her neck. When she finally floated back to
the real world, he set her down on her feet and kissed the top of her head.

“Is it really going to be that bad, being stuck with me for
the rest of your life?”

She laughed against his chest. “That depends. How long is my
life going to be?”

“Your natural life will be thousands of years.”

She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling,
pretending to think it over.

“Amara.” The tone in his voice was warning.

She sighed. “Well, I guess I can learn to live with it.
Provided I don’t have to run around biting strangers’ necks for kicks.”

“You won’t ever have to feed off of anyone but me. I’ll take
care of you, and do the biting strangers’ necks for both of us.”

Finally, something besides sex to look forward to.

* * * * *

Amara woke up sometime later to the sound of voices. Male
voices, and more than one. Was Royce around again? She hoped not. She didn’t
need to deal with any more of his arrogant attitude. She sat up in bed and
rubbed her face, wondering how she’d gotten upstairs. The last thing she
remembered was collapsing in Marco’s arms after the interlude in the kitchen.

Damn. Even when she’d lived with Derek, she’d never had sex
so many times in one day. No wonder she was so tired lately.

She dressed quickly and wandered down the stairs, as quietly
as she could, to try to hear a little of what they were saying. She jumped when
she rounded the corner and literally bumped right into Marco.

“Yikes!”

He looked amused, but a little worried as well. “That’ll
teach you to sneak up on people.”

She laughed nervously, trying to shrug it all off. “What are
you two doing down here? You were so loud it sounded like you were having a
party at the foot of the bed.”

“Ha.” Marco ran a hand through his hair. “We weren’t that
loud.”

“Wanna bet?”

She went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of
coffee. In the end she dumped half the cup out, filling the mug to the brim
with milk.

“Too strong?”

She nodded at Marco. “Everything seems to be like that
lately. That’s why I haven’t been able to eat anything.”

“Is she feeding?” That came from Royce, who had just stepped
into the room. His long, sandy blond hair was flowing around his shoulders this
time, and his bright floral patterned shirt and khaki pants had been replaced
by a plain black tee shirt and well-worn jeans. He looked different, better. He
looked…like Marco with lighter hair.

Just what she needed—not one, but two hulky, sulky vampires
hounding her every move and reminding her to eat every five seconds.

Amara rolled her eyes. “What do you care?”

He raised an eyebrow at her and for a second she saw him for
the scholar Marco claimed he was. Then the easy-going, carefree mask slipped
back into place and she was left wondering if she’d just witnessed some kind of
illusion.

“I care a great deal. I don’t want to see you kill yourself
over this.”

Oh,
okay
. First she was turning into a vampire and
now she was suicidal?
Not likely
. “Listen, bud. I don’t care who you are
to Marco, or who you are at all. When I’m hungry, I will eat. Not before then,
no sooner, so just get over it already.”

Royce turned to Marco. “Is she always this difficult?”

Marco nodded.

“Has she fed yet?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me, but isn’t that
what got me into this mess in the first place?”

Marco closed his eyes and took a deep, slow breath. When he
opened his eyes, barely contained anger was visible. “Yes, Amara, and yes,
Royce. Now why don’t the two of you try to get along?”

Yeah, and maybe a monkey would be the next president, she
thought.

Royce frowned at her and she realized she must have spoken
the thought out loud. She would have blushed, if she’d cared in the least what
the jerk thought of her.

“Are you sure you want this one?” he asked Marco.

Marco nodded.

“There are so many to choose from. I could help you find a
nice girl. One who isn’t such a pain in the ass?”

Marco flashed her an evil smile. “No. She’s perfect just the
way she is.”

She snorted.

Royce frowned again. “Oh, yeah. That’s so painfully obvious.”

She didn’t like the sarcastic tone in his voice.

“Marco, what happened?” he continued. “You’ve gone nearly
four hundred years without making this mistake. How could you let it happen
again?”

A shard of pain flashed in Marco’s eyes. “Amara isn’t like
Sarah, and what happened with Sarah was no accident. She asked for it. When are
you going to believe that?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand why she would have asked you
to turn her when I should have been able to give her everything she needed.”
Royce shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how it happened, or why. You still
made a mistake.”

She cleared her throat. “Who the hell is Sarah?”

“His wife.” Marco gestured to Royce. “My…mate.”

“Your
what?
” She fumed. “You had better start
explaining yourself pretty quickly, bud, because you’re about to get a dose of
garlic in your eyes.”

Royce laughed. “Garlic?”

Marco gave him a strange look. “You know, those stupid
movies.”

Was he ever going to get over it? “You mean those movies
that made me practically a cult figure? The ones that also made me piles of
money?” She didn’t want to mention how that money had been spent.

Neither of them paid any attention to her until she clapped
her hands together. “Hello? Is
anyone
listening?”

Royce sighed. “Unfortunately, we’re not being given much of
a choice.”

She tried to sock him, but he dodged her fist easily. Now he
looked like he was going to laugh, too.

“Well, boys, I’m glad you’re having a good laugh at my
expense. But I asked you a question and if I don’t get my answer soon someone’s
going to be hurting.”

It would probably be her, and all three of them knew it. She
pressed on anyway. “So, Marco dear, did you forget to mention the fact that you
already have a mate?”

He held his hand up. “Relax for minute and listen to me. You’re
too worked up. It isn’t healthy.”

“Do I look like I care what’s healthy?” She was too pissed
to stop now.

“Amara, please. Sarah’s nothing. Just listen—”

She blinked. “Wait a second, this isn’t some kind of
personal harem deal, is it? Because I don’t want any part of that. I’m open to
new things, but I’m not interested in being one of a thousand women.”

“No, no harems involved,” he said. “There’s only you. Sarah’s
dead.”

Royce was kind enough to make himself scarce while Marco
explained their unusual circumstances to Amara. That was a good thing. He didn’t
want Royce yelling about his mistakes while he tried to deal with Amara’s
tantrum.

He took her back into the living room and sat her down on
the couch. She didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were married more than once?”

He sighed. “I’m not married now. There was only the one
time, four hundred years ago. Sarah was Royce’s wife, not mine.”

“What the hell is going on here?” she demanded. He could see
the anger in her eyes.

He had to give her credit though; she’d been through so much
in the past couple of weeks. He was lucky she hadn’t tried to murder him by
now.

He took a deep breath and began. “From the minute I saw
Sarah, I knew I had to have her. Nothing was going to stop me. I took advantage
of her, and that was wrong. Of course, I was young and stupid then.”

Amara snorted. “So what’s changed?”

He laughed. “I’m not so young anymore. Anyway, there were
only two problems when it came to Sarah. One, I’m not exactly human, and two,
she was married to my brother.”

He let that sink in for a minute.

She blinked. “Wait a second. Royce is your brother?”

He nodded.

“And you didn’t bother to mention that sooner? You guys don’t
seem that close.”

“Stealing your brother’s wife tends to break up the
relationship.” He sighed. “We’re working it out, but it’s taken the better part
of four hundred years.”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“About five years after I turned.”

Amara nodded, then shook her head. “Why would you do that to
your brother?”

“I told you. I’d only been a vampire for five years, and I
hadn’t yet learned to control my urges. As you know firsthand, I still have a
little trouble with that. When I saw her, I had to have her, so I did what I
could to get her.”

“And he just let you pursue his wife without stepping in?
Did he give you permission?”

“He didn’t even know I was alive.” He laughed humorlessly at
the memory. “I didn’t want anyone to know what I’d become. It wasn’t exactly
accepted in those days.”

“It’s not very accepted now, either.”

“Yeah, I can tell that from the popularity of your movies
and hundreds of others. Anyway, Royce was a little pissed when he found out
Sarah was leaving him. Also, he was upset with me for not coming to him when I
was first turned. He was a healer back in those days, and he thought he might
have been able to cure me. The problem was, I wasn’t looking for a cure.”

She nodded. “Go on.”

“He didn’t see what I had to offer her that he didn’t. Now
that I look back on it, I realize he was right.” He ran a hand through his
hair, distraught with the memories. “Sarah asked me to turn her, but she didn’t
handle the change well. She killed herself within the first year. So within six
years, I’d lost two women close to me.”

“You loved Sarah?”

He shook his head. “No. That’s the worst part. I didn’t love
her at all. I wanted to possess her, but love didn’t even enter the equation.”

“Possess? Like you’re doing with me?” Her voice was barely
above a whisper.

“No. No man could ever possess you.” He feathered a touch
across her cheek. “What I feel for you is different than what I’ve felt for any
other woman.”

“Annoyance?”

He laughed. “No. Well, not always.”

She sighed heavily, looking irritated and confused. “Then
what is it you feel for me?”

Love.
But he wasn’t ready to confess that yet. “Protectiveness.
After all, it’s my fault you’re in this situation.”

“
Protectiveness?
Is that all?” She looked doubtful.

He shrugged, uncomfortable with the strength of his feelings
for her.

“How could you feel protective of me? You kidnapped me,
ruined my life, and scared me with all these stories of dead women. That’s kind
of far from protecting me, Marco.”

“I scared you, and I’m sorry. But I just want to take care
of you and see that you don’t get hurt again.”

“
Right.
Sure you do.” She huffed for a few minutes,
but then curiosity got the better of her. “So if Royce is your brother that
makes him four hundred years old, too.”

“Give or take a few years.” He winked at her. “We age pretty
well, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “Did you turn him, too?”

“Uh, no.” He laughed. “After what happened with his wife, he
found someone else to turn him.”

“Why?”

“I suspect either to torture me until the end of eternity,
or in an attempt to get Sarah back. He was too late.”

“Would you have let her go?”

He shrugged. “I already had.”

“You left a new vampire to fend for herself? Why would you
do something like that?” Her eyes widened, as if she’d just remembered something.
“You told me you killed your wife.”

“Did I?” He shook his head, amused with her assumption. “What
I told you was that I was to be put to death for her murder. Not once did I
confess to such a crime, then or now.”

“You didn’t do it?”

“Of course I didn’t do it.” Did she have so little faith in
him? “I would never kill anyone other than in self-defense. Elizabeth was about
as defenseless as you could get, despite her affairs.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You didn’t kill her lover,
either?”

“Which one?”

“She had more than one?”

He nodded. “She had two that I know of. Unfortunately one
turned out to be a demon. When she wouldn’t leave me, or the other man, for
him, Tomaz got a little angry.”

“He killed her?”

Marco nodded. “Yeah. And I took the blame.”

“A demon, huh?”

He could see the disbelief in her eyes, and it almost made
him laugh. “You know, Amara, it wouldn’t hurt for you to open your mind a
little.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m working on it. Talk about a crash
course in all things paranormal. What happened to Tomaz?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. He just disappeared after
Elizabeth’s death.”

“Oh.”

He could see her mentally blocking out most of the story. He’d
have to deal with it later. Right now they had a few things to take care of.

“Amara—”

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. In an impressive
display of speed, Amara jumped up from the couch and rushed to the door. He was
surprised she only knocked over one lamp on the way.

He heard her sharp intake of breath as she swung the door
open. “Derek!”

Derek?
Who the hell was Derek, and what did he want
with
his
woman?

“Baby, I’m so sorry for what I put you through. You’ve got
to take me back.”

Okay, he was going to have to kick this guy’s ass. Nobody
tried to take his woman and lived.

He got up from the couch and walked to the door.

Amara turned to him. “Um, Marco, this is Derek.”

“What the hell do you want?” He recognized Derek right away
as Amara’s costar in those hideous movies. This was her former fiancé. He wasn’t
going to stand for this shit.

Derek pushed his way inside. “I want my fiancée back.”

Marco shook his head. “Not happening. You gave her up. She’s
mine now.”

Derek turned to Amara. “You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s
only been a few months since we broke up.”

“You call what happened a breakup?” Amara poked Derek’s
chest with her finger. “I kicked you out, slime-ball,
after
you berated
me for not wanting my sex life filmed for all the world to see. To make things
worse, I caught you on tape with a whole group of women, and live in our bedroom
with the man next door in the same ten minutes. Do you really think I’m just
going to jump right back into bed with you? Not in this lifetime, buddy.”

“Think about it for a minute, Amara. We could make so much
money together. You would never have to wish for anything again. We’d be set
for life.”

“The only thing I wish for right now is that your dick
shrivels up and falls off and you can’t fuck anyone ever again, on camera or
off. Even
Robby.
”

Derek’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. It was
then that Marco noticed Amara’s fangs.

Shit. No wonder good old Derek looked ready to pee his
pants. Marco grabbed Amara’s arm and pulled her behind him. Then he punched
Derek in the jaw and the man crumpled to the floor.