Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (9 page)

Love
…he’d called her that for days. Why did it send electric tingles through her body? She wondered if that endearment was for her or if he called all women that. The thought had her frowning.

Ren had grabbed her bags and they all headed up the marble staircase to the maple French doors encased in beveled glass. Dev had now set his hand on the small of her back and it turned her insides to mush. Her body was an inferno of lust. Maybe that was the adrenaline rush they always talked about when you were put in a fight or flight situation, but even as she thought that, she knew it wasn’t true. She’d been an inferno of lust for days now.

As they approached the house, the door opened and the next thing she saw made her stop short. Stepping out from behind the door was an exquisitely beautiful and very tall, lithe woman. Goddess was probably a more accurate description. She had to be at least six feet tall, but she had the most striking pixie features, perfect nose, bright blue eyes and creamy skin.
Inferior
popped into Kate’s head. She was definitely inferior compared to this stunning creature.

Who the hell was she and what was she doing in Dev’s house?

Dev introduced them. “Giselle, this is Kate. Kate, Giselle.”
Giselle?
Wow, she even had a killer name.

Kate held out her hand in greeting—and was surprised when Giselle just looked at her hand and back to her face. No change of expression, no greeting. Nothing.

Dev glared at Giselle and it felt like something passed between the two of them. Giselle then smiled tightly and extended her hand toward Kate. “Nice to meet you.” And she didn’t sound
at all
like she meant it.

What the hell?
If anyone shouldn’t like someone here, it was Kate. Giselle was the type of woman that every other woman hated on principle alone. She made all other woman in the immediate vicinity look like a fugly frog.

“Nice to meet you, too, Giselle. What a beautiful name.” Giselle didn’t even acknowledge that Kate had spoken to her; she simply turned and walked back through the entryway, disappearing into the house.

Yikes, what crawled up her ass? Guess she would be avoiding her for the next few days.

“I’m sorry about that. She’s not always the friendliest person. I’ll talk to her.”

Kate burst out laughing. “That’s okay. No need. She’s probably just having a bad day.” Or maybe she didn’t like seeing Dev with a hand on another woman’s body. She knew the green-eyed monster when she saw it and jealousy was oozing from every pore of that ice queen.

“No, it’s not and it will be taken care of. You’ve done nothing to earn that sort of treatment.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dev. Really.” She just knew if he said anything, it would make it worse. Like bullying in fourth grade when her mom tried to intervene. Yes, that earned her some extra pushing, shoving and tripping on the playground. No thank you.

Ren took off down the hallway with her bags, leaving the two of them alone.

As Kate stood in the enormous entryway, she was in complete and utter awe. She had never seen a house so exquisite in all of her life, except on
Cribs
. Her whole house could probably fit into the entryway alone.

“Wow,” she breathed. He afforded this on a police salary? Something wasn’t adding up here, but she’d table the question until tomorrow. She simply wanted to crawl into bed and forget the last hour had happened.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room and get you settled.”

“Okay.”

Kate followed Dev up the grand staircase. She followed him through a maze of hallways, turning left and right. Good grief, she needed exit signs to find her way back out. Finally, they stopped at a bedroom and Dev opened the door. Her bags had been neatly deposited onto her bed already.

“I hope this is to your liking.” Dev stepped aside and motioned her in.

The bedroom was huge, but homey. It was warmly decorated in soft browns and taupes. There was a raised four-poster California king bed in the middle of the room, with a chocolate brown paisley comforter and massive amounts of matching pillows in neutral and red accents.

She walked a bit further into the room and looked back at him flirtatiously over her shoulder, smiling. “Oh, I don’t know. Do you have anything a little nicer? A little bigger, maybe?”

He stared at her for just a second before he burst out laughing. God she loved that sound. It flowed through her body like warmth from a roaring fire.

“Minx.”

Dev walked up to Kate, stopping only inches away from her. The way he walked, one may think it was ego behind his steps, but she knew better. It was confidence. It was power. It was determination. And it was unnerving. He was so close that she had to crane her head back to look in his eyes. Her heart raced and she broke out in a light sweat. Sweet Lord, he was breathtaking.

“We’re going to be attached at the hip for the next few days.” His eyes became darker, hungrier. His voice thickened and lowered, sounding gravelly. “I’m very much looking forward to it.”

Her breath quickened. She felt a rush of moisture between her legs. “So am I,” she whispered. She shouldn’t be encouraging him, but she was done being coy. He dropped his hungry gaze to her lips and she unconsciously licked them.

Kiss me.
God, please just kiss me already.
She’d been dying to taste his lips. Taste his tongue. Taste his skin. Her body was ablaze as Dev took in her every movement.

“Will you be okay alone?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

What she really meant was
stay
, but why couldn’t she say just it?
Her mind had been a jumbled mess for days, but one thing was perfectly clear. She wanted this man before her even if it was just sex and even if it was just for a short period of time.

“Okay then. I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything at all, just yell for me, okay?”

“So…ah…which bedroom are you sleeping in?”
And why isn’t it mine?

“The one next to yours.” Dev watched her lips appreciatively. “To ensure your safety, of course.”

“Yes, of course.” She could hardly breathe. Neither broke eye contact. Neither was willing to say goodnight.

He took several steps toward her, causing her to back up against the bedroom wall. “I’m curious, love. Do you ever have any
good
dreams?”

Not at all what she was expecting him to say. His voice lowered an octave.

“Pleasurable dreams, perhaps?” He had a knowing glint in his eye, like he knew she’d had dreams about him. Heat crept up her neck, into her face. This was a more dominant side of him she’d not seen yet and she loved it. She’d
craved
it.

“No. I mean, not all my dreams are bad, no.” No way would she reveal that she masturbated to him regularly and had for months.

“I’m glad.” His smile was so amazingly beautiful. She could definitely fall head over heels for this man.
Just sex, Kate. Just. Sex.

Kate cleared her throat. “Well, thanks for protecting me.”

His possessive response sent shivers of desire running up her spine.

“I will always protect you, love.”

He closed the small gap between them, their chests almost touching now. He ran his index finger down her cheek, stopping underneath her chin. Their eyes held as he leaned in and did what she’d silently begged him to for days. He kissed her gently on the lips. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Her eyes closed as the gentle kiss turned deeper, his longing for her evident. He coaxed her lips open, teasing her tongue, exploring her mouth. She wound her arms around his neck and tried pulling him closer.

His lips left hers, grazing an erotic path down her jaw. He held her tight as he whispered, “Good night, sweet Kate. Tonight I want you to dream about my cock inside your sweet body.”

Winking, he turned and walked out her bedroom door. She just stood there and watched him walk out, mouth hanging open. She raised her fingers to touch her tingling lips.
Holy hell
.

Before he closed the door, he turned back to look at her, his eyes dark with lust. She knew hers were mirrors. Had he decided to throw her against the wall and take her right there, she would have let him. The word ‘please’ nearly slipped from her stunned lips.

She quickly dropped her hand. “Uh…good night.”

He smiled and quietly shut the door. She stood there, rooted to that spot for several seconds. Or minutes. She wasn’t sure.

Her emotions were a jumbled mess. She was disappointed, confused, relieved, and horny. She wanted him in a way she’d wanted no one else. Every emotion was ten times more intense with him than with any other man. Why did he stop? Why did she let him stop? It was evident he wanted her and she couldn’t have come off any easier if she tried. That kiss—and his erotic words—had her body on fire, the ache she’d fought for days now fueled with a vengeance.

Damn him! Damn him for being so irresistible that she’d thrown all caution to the wind and was seriously considering sleeping with him, a virtual stranger for God’s sake.

She made her way to the bathroom, which was as exquisite as the bedroom, with a dark brown speckled granite countertop and an amazing tiled walk-in shower with multiple showerheads. In the far corner of the room, there was an oversized sunken Jacuzzi tub. Well, at least if Dev wouldn’t make a move on her, she’d have her watery jet friends to keep her company, since she couldn’t leave with anything from her nightstand drawer.

Once again she wondered what on earth Dev did for a living to be able to afford such extravagance, because she was no fool. This didn’t come from a police or detective’s salary. She had twenty questions lined up for tomorrow.

She quickly changed and got ready for bed. Snuggling under the thick covers as soon as her head hit the pillow exhaustion overcame her. The emotional toll of the last few days had reached a crescendo and as she slipped into darkness, despite Dev’s erotic words to dream of his cock, she actually prayed for the opposite.

For the first time in months, she hoped she
didn’t
dream of the one erotic man that, in addition to haunting her dreams, now consumed her every waking hour.

C
hapter 16

Dev

Dev sat in his office with the most painful hard-on he’d ever had in his very long existence. He’d never wanted a woman more than he wanted Kate. Ever. These last several days of being with her without touching her or taking her was hard enough, but walking away from her after kissing her sweet, soft lips was just excruciating. What he wanted to do was rip off her clothes, push his aching cock into her hot, luscious body, and lose himself in her softness right there.

But he knew he had to walk away. He already knew that his sweet Kate was not the type of woman to have casual sex. Oh, he could’ve had her tonight if he’d wanted. Her desire for him was potent. When he left, her honeyed scent was so powerful it was as if his nose was buried directly in her pussy. And it was driving him out of his damned mind. He had to escape to his office to keep from knocking down her door and fucking her senseless.

By the second night they’d spent together, he could have had her, but he already knew how her complex mind worked. She would regret it, and surprisingly he didn’t want her to. He laughed to himself. He hadn’t given a shit about what anyone thought of him in so long, he’d forgotten what it felt like. He was a ruthless son-of-a-bitch, making all decisions swiftly and decisively, without regret, without remorse, without emotion.

Today, though, he was a mess of emotions. Fierce possessiveness. Hot jealousy. Extreme frustration. Unimaginable fear. Unparalleled desire. All feelings he was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. He had known her only a short time, yet she was already changing him in ways she didn’t even realize.

She was his. The fates had already determined that. But damn if he didn’t want more from her than just simply
being his
. With a yearning that took him by complete surprise, he realized what he really wanted from her was…
love
.

He wasn’t expecting to crave her love in return. Need it with every breath in his body. Now it was all he could think of. And he was pulling out all the stops to get it, which is another reason he hadn’t moved their physical relationship faster.

He never thought he’d find her, the one person on this earth made specifically for him and no other. He knew once he found her there would be an undeniable passion between the two of them. There was that, yet there was also so much more. He knew he wasn’t imagining it; she felt as strongly for him already as he did for her. But his sweet Kate was surely playing this off as just lust, nothing more, which was why he couldn’t take her tonight. He longed for her love and affection with a deep ache that was difficult for him to comprehend.

He was falling hard for her. He had no idea his woman would be so intelligent, sexy, passionate, and witty. She was all of those things and so much more. She was compassionate, loyal to her family, and passionate about many things in life, including her academia.

Ren strode through his office doors. “Damian and Romaric will be here tomorrow evening, but we’ve got a video conference with them in ten.”

He’d been completely remiss, putting off his business problems while following Kate all over Milwaukee and keeping a 24/7 protective watch over her and now he was very far behind. Now that Kate was in his life, finding Xavier was paramount. He posed an unacceptable threat to her.