Dying to Love Her (7 page)

“It’s not normal,” she continued, driving her point home.
“Normal people don’t live the kind of life you and Rook are proposing.”

“Who the hell is normal? I’ve lived over a century and the
definition keeps changing. Hell, in fifty years we might be the new normal. The
only people you need to worry about not hurting are the people you love.”

“The people I loved most in the world are all gone, Alec. My
parents, my sister Grace. How would I be honoring their memory by doing
something I’m sure they’d disapprove of? I don’t want to disappoint them.”

The pain in her voice made Alec’s chest ache. Rook had told
him she had no close family members living.

He turned, wrapped his arms around her, determined not to
lose her. “You’re perfect. How could you think you’d ever disappoint anybody?
Families are more forgiving than you think. They loved you and if you believe
there’s a heaven, they still do. Don’t you think they’d want you to be happy?”

“I know they would.” Melanie eased away, wrapping her arms
around her waist. “It’s just not that easy.”

“It can be. Nothing and nobody is stopping you but yourself.
Choose happiness, Melanie.”
Choose us.

She looked up into his face, her cheeks ruddy. “Will I be
happy?”

“I’m betting my life on it.”

“You really are doing that, aren’t you?” She leaned back
against the door and pulled her tank top down around her hips as far as it
would go. Her countenance remained skeptical. “But how can I trust two days of
passion will grow into a lifetime of love?”

“Two days, two months, two years, how much time does someone
need until they can be sure of what the future will hold?” He leaned closer and
straight-armed his palm onto the door by her shoulder. “I can tell you we’ll
disagree and we’ll fight. We’ll also make love until we don’t think we can make
love anymore and then we’ll make love again. The love will grow stronger with time.
It won’t diminish.”

Alec didn’t doubt for a second that he’d love her more every
day. He ran the back of his finger along the soft curve of her cheek and
touching her made his worry ease.

“Lifemates have damn good odds when it comes to forever,
Melanie. Rook and I, we know you’re a sure thing. We’re made to know. So are
you—you just weren’t raised to trust that feeling.”

She wanted to believe him. He could see it in her hopeful
expression, hear it in her sigh. A little push, a little proof would be all
she’d need and then he didn’t doubt she would be theirs. Inspiration struck.
Alec bent down and swiped her pants off the floor.

“Get dressed,” he said, handing them over to her. He
couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought to do this before.

“And here I thought you liked me naked?” She took her
pajamas and stepped one leg at a time back into them.

He smacked the side of her ass before she was able to fully
cover up. “That’s why I want to take you to meet someone who will prove to you
that lifemates are just that, mates for life. So I can enjoy you naked for many
years to come.” Alec yanked his phone from his pocket, skimmed his finger over
the screen and fired off a speedy text.

“Where are we going?”

Alec tucked in the tails of his shirt, keeping his phone at
the ready. “I want you to meet my younger brother and his wife.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to meet family.” Melanie folded
in on herself again, running her hand up and down her other arm.

His phone chimed with the reply he’d hoped for. “Well get
ready—you now have one waiting for you.” Alec gave her a quick peck on the
cheek. If he lingered much longer than that, no telling how quickly they’d be
horizontal. He had no control around her. “We’ll just zip into the city. After
that, it’s your call.”

She hesitated for only a moment and then got dressed. Next,
Melanie opened the front door and pointed outside. “Zip? If that’s your car
we’ll practically fly into the city.” Her eyes gleamed and her dimples came out
to play. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll come with you but only if you let me drive.”

Alec balked and then thought better of it. What was the use?
She was already in the driver’s seat. To make it official, he pulled his keys
from his pocket and forced himself to hand them over. “If this isn’t love, I
don’t know what is.”

Nervous about meeting his family, Melanie inched closer to
Alec while she compulsively flattened out every wrinkle set into her clothes.
Her clingy striped shirt kept riding up—and her pants. Why in the world had she
worn black? Every speck of lint showed.

Alec pounded again on the door of his brother’s Manhattan
apartment and that didn’t exactly help her relax either. His relaxed jeans and
rumpled plaid shirt looked out of place among the ostentatious carpeting and
wainscoted walls of the exclusive building. It didn’t matter. He carried
himself with such confidence he belonged wherever he went.

Now she had to figure out where
she
belonged.

She’d been powerless to deny her desire for Alec earlier.
Even now a constant hum of sexual awareness coursed through her. A
scintillating thought of Rook, an indulgent look at Alec and the hum
intensified. The connection that existed was something so elemental to her
being just the thought of denying herself either of them actually caused pain
to radiate through her body.

Their hands bumped and she slipped her fingers between his
effortlessly, as if they were meant to be there. Clearly, her body knew where
it wanted to be.

Really, she couldn’t take this roller coaster of indecision
anymore. She had to hike up her big-girl panties and decide what she wanted.
Her parents had taught her to think for herself, after all, and Grace only ever
wanted her to be happy. What people would say at this year’s Christmas party if
she showed up with two men didn’t matter.

Okay it mattered—but she wasn’t going to worry about that
right now.

Like Alec had said, she needed to choose her own happiness.

Melanie stole a glance at him. He’d been knocking on and off
for a few minutes and still no one answered. She let her eyes follow the rigid
angles of his face. Looking at him for the rest of her life…there could be
worst fates.

“Are you sure they’re home?” she asked.

“Marc said they would be.” He gave his knuckles a rest and
looked over at her, his eyebrow raised accusingly. “Maybe if you’d taken your
foot off the gas and used the brake more often we wouldn’t have gotten here
earlier than expected.”

Melanie mimicked his playful expression and poked his chest
with her index finger. “You should be thanking me. Stop-and-go traffic is bad
for gas mileage. I was doing you and the environment a favor by eliminating
most of the stopping.”

“Well, you did a good job then because the only thing that
kept stopping was my heart.” He grabbed her hand, pulled it to his lips and
kissed the tip of her finger. “That’s dangerous considering how little it beats
already.”

If he cared so much about heart health, he’d stop looking at
her like that—like he wanted to kiss every inch of her body and never stop. She
licked her lips. Maybe he’d take the hint and start with her mouth. “I assumed
you were made of tougher stuff.”

Alec gazed back into her eyes. “Not when it comes to you.”

The building could have been on fire and she wouldn’t have
noticed. Did he even know how to turn off the sex appeal? She could only resist
so much. If she did step over that cliff—the one her toes were already poised
at the edge of—she wondered if surviving a life with Rook and Alec would be
possible. Her body might not be able to handle the constant bombardment of arousal.

“You really are charming,” she sighed wistfully.

“Didn’t we have this discussion earlier?” He brushed the
back of his fingers across her chest just above the swooping neckline of her
shirt, bringing quick heat to the surface of her skin. “Do I need to remind you
where that led us?”

Oh no, he didn’t have to do that. Melanie swallowed against
the golf-ball-sized lump forming in her throat and pounded on the door before
she ended up naked in the hallway.

The door swung open and Melanie startled as if she’d been
caught making out with him by one of his parents. A man dressed like he’d just
stepped out of a Brooks Brothers ad stood at the door. By the look of him—the
short, conservative haircut with distinguished strands of gray and the same
hypnotic eyes and straight nose as Alec— he could be Alec’s father.

“What’s with all the knocking?” He finished tucking in his
shirt and came at Alec with his arms outstretched. “I told you we would be
here. Can’t a man have a few minutes to help his wife get dressed?”

Alec let go of her hand. He wrapped his arms around him and
returned the boisterous backslaps. “Jennifer’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is.” He looked from Alec to her and flashed a
friendly smile. “Why do you ask?”

“You said she needed help getting dressed,” Alec said. “Why?
What’s wrong?”

“Stop worrying about Jenn, big brother. That’s my job.”

Melanie knew she probably looked like a pair of headlights
had stunned her as she stared between the two of them. This man couldn’t be
Alec’s younger brother Marc. He looked to be in his fifties.

Marc raised his eyebrows and pushed his horn-rimmed glasses
up the bridge of his nose. “And to satisfy your curiosity, I helped her get out
of her clothes this morning so I thought it only right to help her put them
back on.”

The family resemblance included more than just looks. She
fought back her grin. Both men were suggestive flirts.

“Always a gentleman, aren’t you?” Alec chuckled and placed
his arm around her shoulder giving it a squeeze. “Marc, this is Melanie.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Marc leaned in and welcomed
her with kiss on the cheek.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” They parted and she couldn’t
stop looking between the brothers. “So what exactly is the age difference
between you two?”

“I was born in 1879,” Alec said. “Marc in 1885. There’s only
six years between us. He and Jennifer, his lifemate, married about thirty-six
years ago. He’s been aging since then.”

“You said he was your younger brother so I had it in my head
that he’d actually look younger.” She’d forgotten to take into account what
Alec had told her about the aging process beginning again once they found a
lifemate. Melanie rubbed her forehead and let out a tired breath. With so much
happening so fast she couldn’t keep it all straight.

“Any chance you guys come with an owner’s manual?” she
joked.

Alec kissed her jaw just below her ear. “I’m sorry but
you’ll have to purchase the goods before you find out.”

Marc’s husky laugh joined her perturbed sigh. He stepped
back and motioned them into the luxury apartment. “Come in. Jennifer will be
down any minute.”

She walked ahead of Alec into the grand marbled two-story
foyer and the décor reminded her of the finest homes pictured in high-end
architectural magazines, with a large crystal chandelier and rich, textured
wallpaper.

“She’s excited to meet you, Melanie,” Marc continued. “Her
marching orders have kept Ian and me on our toes all morning helping get brunch
ready.”

“Really, you shouldn’t have gone to any trouble. We didn’t
give you much notice.” Melanie racked her brain trying to remember if Alec had
mentioned an Ian. She stabbed at a guess. “And Ian, he’s your son?”

“Um, no,” Marc closed the front door and cleared his throat.
“Ian is Jennifer’s other lifemate.”

“Oh.” Melanie whipped her head in Alec’s direction, her jaw
set. What was with him and Rook leaving out all the important details? “You
might have mentioned that.”

Alec shrugged his shoulders apologetically. “I didn’t?”

“I’m pretty sure you left that out.”

“All the vampires in the world and you’re stuck with my
brother.” Marc threw his arm over Alec’s shoulder, gave him a jostle and smiled
wide. “I completely understand the hesitation.”

Lucky for Alec his brother’s humor diffused her irritation.
She didn’t hesitate to giggle at Alec’s expense.

“Gee thanks, Marc.” Alec’s annoyed tone didn’t match his
smirk. “And here I thought you understood that I wanted you to meet Melanie to
put in a good word for me. I guess next time I shouldn’t use such big words.”

“I’ll always put in a good word for you.” Tall and regal, an
elegant woman with her blonde hair cinched back in a bun peered down at them
from the top of the curved staircase. “Hi, Melanie, I’m Jennifer.”

Dressed simply in black and white, she glided down the
stairs with all the grace of a ballerina. “Don’t listen to my husband. He’s
just jealous of Alec because he got the good looks in the family.”

“Ha.” Marc grabbed Jennifer before she could get by him and
nuzzled his mouth against her neck. “Don’t make me spank you in front of
company, dear.”

Jennifer squealed and made a halfhearted attempt to escape
Alec’s brother’s hold, as if she were a young newlywed and not a mature,
sophisticated woman.

It was sweet and Melanie’s insides went all mushy.

Alec butted up against her and she melted some more. His nearness
flooded her with excitement and his breath on her neck made her shiver.

“I’m afraid if I tell my brother to get a room, he might
actually do just that and then you won’t get a chance to speak with Jennifer.”

“I don’t think he’s going to need you to put that idea into
his head.” Melanie turned and her eyes locked with his before traveling to his
mouth, his neck, that meaty earlobe of his perfect for sucking. “Are they
always like this?”

Will we always be like this?
That’s what she really
wanted to know. After all, that’s why he’d brought her here. To meet another
lifemated couple and see for herself that the passion and loved remained after
so many years.

Decades ago Jennifer had found herself in the same situation
as she now did and from what little Melanie had seen she didn’t seem to regret
her decision at all. Really, she wasn’t flying blind here anymore. Surely
Jennifer would give her an honest perspective.

Alec loomed in front of her and she remembered his
thoughtful words earlier, the sense of ease his and Rook’s arms wrapped around
her could bring. Other than from her family, she hadn’t felt such comfort and
acceptance from anyone before. Having it again she was reluctant to let it go.

She stood on her toes. Gave in to the gravity of need. Soft lips,
rough chin—she loved the contrast of these hard men with soft hearts.

“Always.” Alec held her steady and spoke between gentle
kisses. “We will always be like this.”

So in sync, he’d answered her unspoken question. She swayed
and he curled his fingers around the nape of her neck kissing her more deeply.
Prickling heat shot through her body. Melanie rested her hand on his hip,
skimmed it up his waist. Barely any space separated them but it still felt like
too much.

“Would you two like some privacy?” From across the foyer,
Marc gleefully reminded them that they weren’t alone.

Embarrassment deepened the warmth of her already flushed
skin. Melanie slipped away from Alec but it wasn’t far. He kept her nestled
against him.

“Marc, let them be,” Jennifer sighed. “Don’t you remember
our first days?”

“Of course I do. They were every bit as exciting as the
nights.”

Jennifer tsked, wiggled out of Marc’s grasp and hurried
over. “Melanie, why don’t you come with me so we can talk? I’d love the chance
to show off my new kitchen too.”

“I’d like that.” She looked forward to some girl time and
hopefully some reassurances that this whole lifemate craziness wasn’t so crazy
after all.

“Alec, keep your brother out of the kitchen.” Jennifer
linked her arm through hers and guided Melanie down the hall. “I don’t need him
putting a dent in the brunch before I’ve had a chance to serve it.”

“Consider me a steel wall.”

She looked back over her shoulder and Alec followed after
them sporting a mischievous smile. He leaned against the wall and effectively
blocked Marc’s path down the hallway.

Melanie turned her head back around and her dream kitchen
appeared before her eyes. At least three times larger than her outdated
Formica-and-melamine nightmare, the beautifully crafted cherry cabinets and
professional-grade stainless-steel appliances would even impress Martha
Stewart. And that island—it could seat a small dinner party.

“Wow, this is gorgeous.”

It even smelled good. Whatever Jennifer was cooking,
Melanie’s appetite approved.

“Thanks.” Jennifer slipped her arm from hers and looked over
the kitchen with a proud eye. “Ian did a great job. He designed the new layout
and was in here every day with the crews helping with the installation.”

“And did Marc help too?” Melanie asked, running her hand
along the cool, speckled granite countertop.

“Heavens no. Marc is very handy with the credit card, not
his hands.” She grinned and shared a shy, knowing look with her. “Well, not
unless they’re on me. Then his hands are very useful.”

Melanie couldn’t hold back her smile. She liked Jennifer’s
openness and enjoyed her easy humor even if it was a little strange to hear
such suggestive talk from a woman old enough to be her mother. That they could
be sisters-in-law sunk in. No one would ever replace Grace but it would be nice
to have a sisterly bond with someone again. Her heart actually did that thing
where it skipped a beat with guarded happiness.

“He did seem to like having them all over you.”

A beat of silence passed and they both broke into breathy
giggles.

“Ian’s just as bad and I’ll tell you, it never gets
old…well, except when I’m trying to cook.” She crossed her arms and cocked her
hip. “Those men are responsible for I don’t know how many burnt dinners. When
they were teenagers my sons memorized the number for every pizza and Chinese
place that delivered.”

“Alec didn’t mention you had sons.”
Surprise, surprise.
“How many do you have?”

“Don’t be too hard on him for that. He’s a great uncle to my
three boys. He’s just preoccupied at the moment.” Jennifer smirked and pulled
out a high-backed leather barstool. “Now have a seat and I’ll tell you all
about them while I fix us some mimosas.”