Authors: Dana Lorraine
“I want to lose forty pounds in two months.” She fidgeted on
the seat. Her brain and sluggish metabolism told her it was completely
unattainable, but this place was rumored to perform miracles. “Your
representative was vague, but he suggested it was possible.”
“We are secretive, yes, but I can assure you the rumors we
do allow to circulate about our company are true.” He smiled, his eyes
brightened with confidence. “For most of our clients that’s a very attainable
goal. But are you sure? Some women are built to be curvier.” Rook made no
effort to hide his appraisal of her body. “Some men even prefer it. Forty
pounds in your case seems excessive.”
She crossed her arms over her emerald sweater. His obvious
appreciation of her bountiful breasts didn’t shock her. All men looked at her
boobs. Always wanting to put her best feature forward, Melanie sat up
straighter and pulled her arms tighter for maximum cleavage.
A girl had to work with what she had after all.
“My friend is getting married in two months and I want to
look my best.” Melanie shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve got a chance to grasp
perfection and I’m going for it.” Maybe then she’d meet the man of her dreams
at the wedding and not only would her future be healthier, it’d be happier.
Rook looked at her thoughtfully, pushed out of his chair and
sat down next to her.
She didn’t pull away when he grasped her hand. It felt good
and safe and Melanie sadly realized nobody had held her hand since her sister’s
funeral.
“When we’re finished with you, Melanie, I promise you’ll
never feel like you’re not perfect again.”
Grace would have expressed the same sentiment. She was
always sensitive like that. Melanie’s chest tightened and she fought back the
fresh burn of tears. His heartfelt comment and the genuineness of his touch
broke down her walls and her traitorous skin bloomed hot. She looked away, not
ready to be so vulnerable in front of someone she barely knew.
“Hey,” Rook said. “Look at me.” He smoothed her hair behind
her ear, and then ran the back of his fingers along her jaw.
Melanie’s tears evaporated, the trail of heat he left along
her skin burning away every emotion but desire. Reluctantly she turned to him
and forced a smile on her face. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I haven’t had a
cheerleader in a long time.”
“Don’t be sorry. These next few days, as we begin your
program, your emotions are going to be all over the place. Alec and I will be
here to help you through it.” Rook smiled. “We’ll even break out some pom-poms
if you need us to.”
Her breath cracked with a laugh and she nodded. This must
all be part of their revolutionary approach. Rook was being so nice to her,
obviously trying to make a connection emotionally. It might be easier to
exercise all day instead of breaking down in front of him like this though.
“And this program—I’m curious. I’ve heard crazy rumors that
women have dropped over one hundred pounds in four months with minimal exercise
and dieting, their bodies toned like they were never overweight to begin with.
All without the aid of drugs or weight-loss surgery. That seems impossible. How
does your system work?”
Rook’s slow smile paired with the twinkle in his eyes told
her he was going to enjoy sharing the secret.
“It’s actually a very old method of weight loss, even
ancient.” He stood, grabbed her hand and pulled her from her seat. “Come with
me. I’ll show you.”
He led her across the room and stopped in front of a large
silver-framed mirror hanging on the wall. She watched Rook’s reflection as he
settled in behind her, shivered when he rested his hands on either side of her
arms.
Melanie shifted, feeling exposed. He must be able to see the
yearning in her face as easily as she did.
“When I smile tell me what you see,” Rook instructed. His
lips slowly spread wide and his dazzling smile impressed. He had… She looked
closer. What the…were those
fangs
?
Adrenaline seized her body before her brain could come up
with a rational explanation. Her initial thought was so fantastical she was
embarrassed. Thankfully reason returned. He either had a weird sense of humor
or needed some dental work, because Rook wasn’t a vampire.
She chuckled. “What, are you literally going to suck the fat
out of me?”
Their gazes locked in the mirror and a pulsating energy
passed between them so intense it paralyzed her.
Rook’s smile eased but his gaze didn’t. He swept aside her
hair and gently kissed her neck. “Not just sucking. There will be plenty of
fucking too. It’s the combination of the two that will produce the best results
but don’t tell anyone. Remember, you promised not to tell our secrets.”
Melanie clenched her sweaty palms against her thighs. She
didn’t know what had her reeling more—the insinuation that they’d be having
sex, his non-denial of being something other than human or that kiss.
This
can’t be real. Uh-uh. Vampires aren’t real
.
But her body wouldn’t listen to reason. Her heart pounded
violently and no matter how deep or fast she sucked air down her lungs couldn’t
get enough.
She was seconds away from needing a brown paper bag when a
sweet-savory smell, almost like cloves, enveloped her. With each breath she
became more lightheaded and relaxed. Melanie fell back against the hard wall
that was Rook’s torso and quaked when he wrapped his arms around her chest,
then waist.
Fears slipped away. So did her inhibitions. Only her need
for him remained.
She could stay like this forever. Need like she never felt
before made her throb inside and out. He slipped his hand between her legs and
she pressed her thighs together as she moaned and writhed against him. So good,
this felt so damn good.
I shouldn’t be letting him do this to me.
Melanie
held on to some semblance of her common sense and morals.
It’s
inappropriate, maybe even dangerous.
Her mind raced, giving her so many
reasons to say no. But her body drowned out her doubts with a resounding scream
of pleasure when his hand touched the right spots.
The throbbing in her pussy was tight, intense. Release—she
needed it badly. Rook teased the swollen flesh between her thighs with the
promise of what he’d do if he slipped his hand underneath her skirt. Dear God,
she hoped he would. She’d sort out the moral dilemma of it all later. Right now
she needed him to take care of her physical dilemma.
“Will it hurt?” she whispered, not caring. If losing the
weight and being with Rook meant her path to pleasure had to be paved with pain
so be it. Melanie tensed and braced for the force of his bite, only to melt
with his words and penetrating stare.
“I’d never hurt you, Melanie. You’ll understand that soon
enough.” He left a long line of heated kisses on her neck while his skilled
fingers traveled to her breasts and massaged her nipples until they burned and
puckered.
“This skin, pale and soft.” Rook kissed her again. “Your
body so giving. I can’t wait to feast on every fucking inch of you.” He grazed
her with his fangs and even her toes curled.
“Please.” Her legs buckled with anticipation. It’d been so
long since a man had looked at her with true passion in his eyes like Rook did.
She couldn’t be patient. She needed release now. Melanie’s reflected gaze bored
into his. “Just do it. I can’t—”
“I’ve waited so long for this, wanted to draw your pleasure
out for hours, but how can I deny you anything?” His protective embrace
tightened and like silk slipping through fingers, his fangs glided into her
flesh.
Melanie welcomed the icy-hot invasion with a raw,
body-wrenching groan. His mouth clamped onto her skin and dragged sizzling
currents of excruciating bliss through her body.
Deeper. Harder
. She pushed against him, desperate to
get closer. His erection dug into the swell of her ass and Melanie wanted to be
bent over and taken roughly from behind. To feel him buried in her body from
mouth to cock, taking her, using her. She held back the sordid plea before it
escaped on a breathy moan.
The throaty rumble of Rook’s gratification vibrated against
her neck setting off the tight coil of heat deep within her flesh. She
trembled. Orgasm after orgasm hit her, each one more intense then the next.
The burn and quench of peak then release ripped through her
body relentlessly. Melanie gasped for every breath. “Too much. It’s so good but
I can’t…can’t take it anymore. Stop or…I’m going to die of pleasure,” she
moaned, grasping his arms and digging her nails into his skin, trying to hold
on before the dizzying darkness overtook her.
Rook wrenched her body close one last time and then with a
jagged moan slipped his fangs as effortlessly from her neck as he’d penetrated
her. With a slick swipe of his tongue across the bite, the shudder of her body
eased.
“You’re wrong, Melanie.” Gently, he spun her around and she
fought to keep her eyes from closing. “I’m going to die if I don’t stop and I
couldn’t think of a sweeter way to go.”
He was nothing to her but Rook became everything when she
thought of losing him. Irrational panic constricted her chest. She cried out
and her heavy eyelids flew open.
“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. How could I leave you
now that I’ve found you?” He cradled her in his arms, rubbing her hair with a
light caress. “Not now, not ever. Breathe, baby. Breathe slow and deep.”
The enticing aroma returned stronger than before. Melanie
fought to stay alert, afraid that he would slip away from her, but the darkness
that had threatened to take her before closed in.
Alec Kosta threw open the door to his library seeking some
diversion, anything to keep from getting behind the wheel and speeding into the
city.
Lifetimes of books filled the shelves and rested in piles on
every flat surface. He picked up an old favorite and promptly returned it back
to the table, too keyed up to read. Slowly he breathed in the scent of the
room’s aging pages. The usually comforting smell didn’t do a damn thing to
relax him.
“It’s your own fault, dumbass,” he chided himself as he
collapsed onto his aged-to-perfection leather couch. His eyes went straight for
the chess set with the white ivory pieces still arranged in their losing
configuration. “After all these years you should know Rook’s strategies.”
Alec kicked his bare feet up onto the antique wooden trunk
that served as a table. His poor play had cost him something more valuable than
the terms they usually played for. Rook’s winning move had earned him their
lifemate, Melanie. Not for keeps but for a few precious hours, Rook would be
the one to introduce her to what they were and more importantly, to show her.
He clenched his teeth and swallowed down his jealousy. It
tasted like day-old blood. Neither he nor Rook could afford such petty feelings
if they were going to make a lifetime with Melanie work.
Alec rested his head back against the cushion and shut his
eyes.
Yesterday Melanie had been just another woman having her
blood drawn by an Empriva physician during the required physical exam. The
sample had been sent to a Vampire Blood Bureau testing center known to humans
as VBB Diagnostics. Not only did the facility test blood to evaluate a
patient’s overall health, they also secretly searched for the rare virus some
women carried that made them suitable lifemates for vampires.
Only a lifemate’s blood could make a vampire human again.
Melanie had tested positive as a carrier and the variant of her virus matched
his and Rook’s blood type.
Fate, luck—he didn’t give a fuck what you called it—but
because Melanie had visited an Empriva Fitness doctor he and Rook had been
called first. They’d been able to access her file and picture in seconds. One
look at Melanie and they knew she was the lifemate they’d been waiting for.
The techno-beat of his ringtone jarred him from his
thoughts, but he’d never been so happy to receive a call in his life. He sat
upright and ripped the phone from his pocket. “Is she with you?”
“Well hello to you too,” Rook said in that chipper tone that
always grated on his nerves. “And how are we doing tonight?”
Not as fucking good as you, obviously.
Alec slumped forward and braced his elbows on his knees.
“The only we right now is you and Melanie. I’m all by myself.” His stomach
clenched. He hated feeling like a bystander. “How do you think I am? I’m
anxious.”
“Don’t be. She’s right here in my lap, asleep, and she’s not
going anywhere. We won’t let her. Melanie will be ours soon enough.”
He’d never known Rook to speak so possessively. Of a car
maybe but not a woman. It made this all the more real.
“How can you be so sure she’ll accept us?” Alec countered as
he shot to his feet and paced the room. “She might be a match but that doesn’t
mean she wants to be.” In one swift motion, he ran his hand through his hair,
down his neck and squeezed. “We need her. She doesn’t need us.”
“If she feels half of what I already feel for her, she’ll
need us. Trust me.” Rook’s deep breaths carried over the phone. “You should
smell her. I’ve had my face buried in her neck the entire time. I can’t pull
away.”
Alec licked his lips remembering her photograph. Melanie’s
natural beauty, so suited for him, had tugged on his lust immediately. Her
smell, taste, the touch of her skin that looked so smooth, he’d have to wait to
discover those intoxicating bits until they finally met.
Resigned, he let go of a ragged breath. “What does she smell
like?”
“Like forever.”
He’s a romantic now too
. Alec jammed his hand into
his pocket, shook his head up toward the vaulted ceiling. “That’s not a scent.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” Rook whispered harshly. “Just wait.
You’ll see what I mean.”
“Well hurry up and get here so you can prove me wrong.” He
walked over to the window that gave him a perfect view of his estate’s
tree-lined driveway and rested his head against the cool glass.
This was insane, wanting Melanie so badly before ever having
met her. Like an idiot he actually tried to imagine what forever smelled like.
“It won’t be much longer,” Rook said. “We left the city
thirty minutes ago. My driver should have us there within the hour.”
He turned to look at his mother’s brass carriage clock on
the fireplace mantel. Time had held little sway over him since his genetic
mutation had kicked in and he’d transitioned from a human to a vampire around
his thirtieth birthday. Now he obsessed over minutes. “I’ll be waiting. And
Rook—”
“What?”
“We both know how amorous a woman is after experiencing a
vampire bite.” Lust ignited through his body just thinking about what he had to
look forward to. The beginnings of an erection caused him to adjust his stance.
“Don’t wake her.”
“And if she wakes all on her own?” Rook asked. “What do you
want me to do then?”
“Tell your driver to haul ass.”
Alec tossed his phone onto a nearby chair and stayed by the
window until he saw the set of headlights cut through the dark. His usually
quiet heartbeat thumped. He bolted through his house and steadied himself as he
opened the front door. With as much composure as he could muster he stepped
outside.
Rook’s limo careened around the circular driveway sending
pea gravel dust in every direction.
He flew down the steps and yanked the door open.
Back ramrod straight, his best friend sat motionless against
the seat while Melanie, on the verge of waking, writhed and whimpered in his
lap. “My limits have been tested,” Rook said, in a tone as stressed as his
posture. “Get her off me before I do something you’ll make me regret.”
Melanie’s eyes opened, heavy-lidded with spent passion and
lingering sleepiness. Immediately, they widened when she saw him.
Body-wrenching desire seized Alec. The need to possess, to
protect erupted within him. Rook’s first moments with Melanie didn’t matter
anymore, just this deep connection forged with one lingering look. Undeniable.
Did
she feel it too?
“You’re Mr. Magnificent,” she said dreamily.
Alec stood a little straighter and puffed out his chest. “No
need for formalities. You can call me Alec.” He shot Rook a triumphant smile,
liking the direction of this conversation already.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Rook muttered. “She’s still
coming down.”
Melanie licked her lips and let out a sigh while she
continued to stare at him. “You’re the one from the picture, the one with the
amazing eyes.”
He’d been thinking the very same thing of her. Earthy green
with glints of gold and blue dancing out from the center, her eyes were
surrounded by thick, dark lashes that fluttered innocently. He’d never seen
anything more seductive.
“And you’re Melanie.” Just saying her name sent a shiver
down his spine. “The one.”
Rook lifted her off his lap, easing her toward the door. He
grumbled so low only Alec, with his sensitive hearing, picked it up. “And I’m
Rook, the one with the hard-on.”
Alec ignored him. He held out his hand to guide Melanie,
desperate to have her in his arms.
“The one?” She tilted her head, blinked and grabbed on to
him. “The one what?”
Her touch called to him like the radiant North Star called
to a lost sailor at sea. He’d always know it, seek it out. It would guide him
home to her. Alec grasped tighter. “Just the one. Isn’t that enough?”
Unsteadily she stepped out of the limo. Melanie brushed
against his rigid frame and he nearly shook from the forcefulness of his need
to pull her close and crush every feminine turn of her body against his.
She was curvy, too curvy by today’s standards, but his
tastes didn’t run very modern when it came to women’s physiques. Luminosity
penetrated from the depths of her straight shoulder-length hair, even in the
dark of evening. A strand stuck to the corner of her perfect mouth and he used
it as an excuse to explore. Alec smoothed it away and it slipped through his
fingers like a whisper.
He’d submit himself to the sun just to see the daylight play
off her rich auburn tresses.
“So what happens now?” She looked to Rook, then to him. Her
daze from being bitten seemed to be lifting. Melanie held her head to the side
and timidly brushed her fingertips across the throbbing pulse in her neck. “Are
you going to bite me too, Alec?”
He and Rook groaned in unison and Rook climbed out of the
limo.
The slight bruising where Rook had fed made Alec’s gums
ache. He wanted to begin the claiming just like Rook had. He wanted to know
that he was one step closer to becoming the man Melanie hopefully would agree
to spend the rest of her life with. But that would have to wait.
“He shouldn’t, baby,” Rook said. “Twice in one night might
be too much and I think Alec has other plans for you. Remember what I said?
Suck then fuck, that’s how the program works.”
“Right…the program.” She glanced at Alec but the minute
their gazes collided she averted her eyes. Rosy patches of color awoke under
her skin. “How could I forget?” Her tone suggested otherwise.
He narrowed his eyes and shot Rook a hard look.
“What?” Rook stared back, his forehead wrinkled with
confusion.
Sometimes Rook had no tact. Alec squared his shoulders.
There were countless ways to explain things to Melanie and he went with suck
and fuck. He was buying him a thesaurus for Christmas. “I think Melanie and I
need some time alone to get to know each other better. Melanie will decide what
that entails.”
Without regard to Alec, Rook wrapped his hands in Melanie’s
hair and touched her with the confidence that she was already his. “Don’t take
too long,” he said. “I still need to get better acquainted myself. And I don’t
think Melanie will mind if I decide what that entails.” Rook lowered his mouth
to hers, indulged in one long, lasting kiss.
The only thing that kept Alec’s annoyance in check was the
way Melanie still gripped his hand even as Rook pulled her deeper into his embrace.
It gave him hope that she could make room for both of them in her life.
Rook drew away and settled into the limo. “I’ll have my
driver take me home to get my things and I’ll be back later tonight. You won’t
forget about me while I’m gone, will you?”
“I don’t know about her but I’m going to do my damndest to
try,” Alec said flatly.
Melanie smirked and he wanted to give her a thousand more
reasons to smile.
Rook laughed too but it fell short of his usual gut-busting
enthusiasm. He nodded to Alec, shut the door and left.
Judging by the speed with which the vehicle departed Rook
would return soon. Alec pulled Melanie’s hand to his mouth and kissed each of
her knuckles, determined to leave no part of her untouched before he did.
She shivered with every press of his lips as her gaze roamed
over the façade of his French country home. “Your house is beautiful. Do you
always bring clients here?”
“Never.”
Melanie’s breath hitched and she deprived him of the warmth
of her hand. Protectively she crossed her arms and held herself like Alec
wanted to be holding her. “Is there a reason I’m special?”
He wanted to tell her the truth but being told you were
meant to love somebody was worlds apart from feeling that love. Tonight and
tomorrow he and Rook would show her so much love she’d have to believe.
“Let’s just say Rook and I’ve been ready to change things up
for a long time.” Alec slipped his hands into his pockets to keep from touching
her again so soon. “You’ve provided us with the opportunity to do that.”
“And do you and Rook usually tag team your clients like this
or is that a change-up too?”
He smirked “You make it sound like we’re professional
wrestlers. Does it count that I sometimes want to put Rook in a chokehold?”
Melanie’s shy smile gave him a preview of her dimples.
Alec didn’t want to talk about anybody who had come before
her. He didn’t want her to think she was just another woman in a long line of
many. She was the only one who would matter ever again.
“You have questions, I know, and I’m sure this is overwhelming.”
Alec searched her face, resisting the pull of her lips, still swollen from
Rook’s kisses as he listened to the seductive beat of her heart pounding. “Just
don’t be scared. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
She nodded and he was glad to see her posture relax some.
The last thing he wanted was her to be uncomfortable around him.
“I’m sure this isn’t what you expected when you walked into
Empriva Fitness.”
“Nah.” A fake bravado masked her insecurity. “I totally
expected horny, fat-sucking vampires to be the secret to guaranteed weight
loss.”
Laughter bubbled up from deep within his chest. “That’s
funny. Not completely true but funny.” The horny part, however, she had right.
“When we bite an enzyme is released that speeds up your metabolism and collagen
production. The longer the feeding the more that’s released. I take it Rook
didn’t waste much time with explanations.”
“We didn’t exactly have an informative Q&A. He kind of
just flashed some fang and before I could even get over the shock of it he went
all aromatic on me.” Melanie touched her neck and cleared her throat. “Not that
I didn’t enjoy the experience but I prefer to keep my wits about me.”
She must have been frightened. Rook wouldn’t have used his
scent otherwise. All vampires had the ability to emit an aroma that calmed—for
lack of a better word—their prey. Submitted to the scent long enough, a person
could forget the entire feeding incident. It was one way vampires survived
undetected.