Authors: Tabitha Conall
Tags: #steamy werewolf shifter paranormal romance novella
“All right.” Darius hugged her. “I’m glad you’re home in one piece.”
“Me too.”
Darius and Killion left and Jennalynn ordered Chinese from her favorite restaurant as soon as the door closed behind them. When she got off the phone, Antonio stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. With a kiss to her neck, he said, “How long until the food gets here?”
“Probably about forty-five minutes. They’re not fast, just good.”
“I can probably finish in forty-five minutes.”
She turned in his arms and slipped hers around his neck. “Finish?”
He kissed her gently. “It’s been at least two days since we made love. We can start with this forty-five minutes to take the edge off.”
“I like the way you think.” She leaned up and kissed him.
Antonio pulled her closer and led her toward the bed. They parted for just long enough to strip off their clothes, then tumbled onto the mattress.
Almost like a fire had been lit, or the ticking clock sounded in the background, they moved quickly. Hands moved over arms, backs, stomachs, kisses pressed against bare skin. In the beginning, Antonio had been on top but after a fury of motion, Jennalynn rose above him. She pulled him into position, touching his cock for the first time.
“Do it,” he breathed.
She lowered herself onto him, the first slow movements since the dance began. As he filled her, she moaned. And then she leaned forward, her braid flopping over her shoulder to hit the bed, and moved.
He settled his hands on her hips and pushed her faster and faster. His face contorted in pleasurable agony, his hair coming out of its neat queue and spreading on the bed cover like a messy halo.
Jennalynn pressed her lips against his. She couldn’t believe that in less than a week her entire life had turned upside down. Worse, it was luck. If Darius had sent someone other than her to find the world-walker, she might never have found Antonio. And now she could finally admit that would have been a damn shame.
Luck. Or fate. “I’m glad you’re my mate,” she said.
He stroked her cheek with one hand. “I’m glad you’re my mate too.”
She kissed him again. He held her hips tighter and moved even faster. He wasn’t up to vampire speed but it gave her ideas. Could a vampire move that fast during sex?
She felt her body tighten, felt him tense up at the same time and then, together, they toppled over the edge into a warm, quick orgasm that nearly rattled her teeth.
Afterward, she curled up next to him for the five minutes they had left before the food arrived. Her mind strayed back to that vampire speed of his.
They had lots of things to explore, lots of life to live together. And love? Love was coming. She knew it. It had already begun.
Epilogue
Robert walked up to the doorway of a small, Colonial-style home that looked like it was a hundred years old if it was a day. Petunias and Impatiens were mixed with Moonflowers and Night-Blooming Jasmine in the flowerbeds, a sign that he was in the right place—the home of a couple where one walked in daylight and the other only in night.
He knocked on the door and waited, hearing stirring and then footsteps within the home. The door opened and Jennalynn Bishop, fourth in the North American werewolf pack, stood in front of him.
“I’m here to see Antonio de Marco,” Robert said.
She didn’t move. “Darius talked to you guys.”
“I mean no harm.”
Antonio de Marco appeared behind her. “Yes?”
“I am Robert Hanson, progeny of Vicenzo Cellini. May I speak with you both?”
They stiffened.
“As I said, I mean you no harm. I’m here to discuss an alliance of sorts.”
Antonio leaned his forearm against the door frame. “I was never on good terms with my sire.”
“I’m well aware of that. That’s precisely why I want to speak with you.” Neither one of them had moved out of the doorway. Clearly he had a lot of work to do to gain their trust. If he could manage it, it would be well worth the effort. “I am not my sire’s man. I do not mourn his death. It has, on the contrary, made things much easier for me. I owe you my thanks.”
Jennalynn stepped closer to Antonio. “We could go sit in the garden.”
Of course they wouldn’t want to invite him into their home. As long as they didn’t, he couldn’t enter and they retained some measure of protection against him.
Antonio stepped out of the house and held his arm out, motioning toward a stone-lined walkway leading toward the back. “After you.”
A few minutes later, they sat down on neat wooden benches in a beautiful day/night garden complete with discrete ground lights shedding soft illumination throughout the area. Yet another sign of the way Jennalynn and Antonio had merged their lives together.
Robert felt a frisson of nerves and quickly stamped them out. He would succeed or he would fail. There was no need to be nervous. “There are many things I cannot tell you but I want you to know there is a faction of vampires who disagree with how the Council runs things. I wouldn’t risk telling you this except it’s clear you’ve broken from the Council.”
He paused for a second. “You know you’ve been consigned to death. There’s a stay on the execution because of your brother-in-law. But as soon as you’re no longer under the wolves’ protection, the vampires intend to carry it out.”
Robert knew he didn’t need to explain. Vampires outlived nearly every other species. All they had to do was wait for Darius Bishop and his children and his children’s children to pass away…eventually someone would decide they no longer cared to extend protection to Antonio de Marco and at that time, Antonio would die.
“I’m allowed to offer you a clear record in the event we are successful, if you help us.”
“You want me to join some sort of rebellion.” The doubt in Antonio’s voice was clear.
“In a sense. For now, we just want you to consider the offer.” Robert shifted. “We assume that you will turn your soulmate. The offer extends to her as well.” He stood. “As you know very well, vampires take a long view. It may be generations before we prevail over the Council. But in the end, we will be victorious.”
“I want to know more before I’ll agree to this,” Antonio said. “How do I know that what you’re offering will be an improvement over what we’ve currently got?”
“You’re curious. That’s good. We’ll meet again and talk about this more. We have plenty of time.” Robert stuck his hand out toward Antonio. “I have wanted to meet you for a long time, ever since Vicenzo told me how much he hated you.”
Antonio started to reach out his hand, then paused. “That’s an odd reason to want to meet someone.”
“You think I cared for Vicenzo, that I looked up to him. I did not. He was a means to an end, a way to become a vampire. Unfortunately, the longer I spent with him the less I respected him. So yes, knowing that he despised you so made you very interesting to me.”
Antonio slipped his hand into Robert’s. “I’m not sure what to think of you, but I look forward to learning more.”
Jennalynn shook his hand as well, and then they followed him out of their little garden to the front of the house. Robert didn’t bother asking for their contact information; he had it already. And he preferred they didn’t have his.
For now, he would wait and see what Antonio did. If he approached the Council with stories of Robert’s faction, they would know they could not trust him. And then they would kill him. The wolves would blame the Council and that could only be good for Robert and his friends.
But if Antonio didn’t go to the Council, they stood to gain much more—not just his considerable skills but also his contacts within the North American Pack. All in all, this entire situation couldn’t have worked out better for Robert.
And that was all that mattered.
Author's Note
I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying writing the Colliding Worlds series. Each book has its own spin, a different look into this world teeming with different species and various animosities. It feels like the possibilities are endless, and I’m so excited to share the stories with you!
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Tabitha Conall
Also From Tabitha Conall
Tabitha Conall
The Colliding Worlds Series #1
Two werewolves, a Scottish castle and the power of fate.
Highly ranked in her werewolf pack in spite of being female, American Mattie Sloane travels to Scotland with her Alpha, never suspecting the trip will turn her life upside down.
A rogue by nature, werewolf Colin MacPherson has to shape up fast when he finds his mate in Mattie.
Just one problem—they both love their countries and don’t want to move. How can they be mates an ocean apart?
This 6,000+ word short story is the first in the Colliding Worlds series. HEA included.
Excerpt
Mattie followed the scent out of the room and into the hallway. The scent trail seemed fresh, and yet her mate wasn’t there. Maybe he had already left before she got there?
She continued to follow the scent. When she got to the second turn, she knew she’d never find her way back without help, so she pulled out her cell phone and took video of each of the twists and turns. Hopefully, she’d find her mate at the end of this journey and he could lead her back to the Great Hall, but if not, she’d need the footage.
Darius would wonder where she’d gone, but he’d understand once she explained. Finding your mate was everything.
Who would he be? A wolf, hopefully. But if he was a wolf, why hadn’t he scented her?
Mattie jogged up some stone stairs, still following the delicious smell. With just the scent in her nose, she already felt like melting. She wanted to find her mate and drag him to the nearest bed where they could wallow in each other until their scents were so mixed no one could tell them apart.
What if he wasn’t a wolf? Other species didn’t necessarily know when they’d found their mates. Sometimes they had to be convinced, and it wasn’t always a fun experience.
The scent trail suddenly dead-ended at a tall wooden door, the fifth such door on that hall. Worse, the door was closed. What should she do? Should she knock? She shifted from one foot to the other, trying to decide what to do.
The door in front of her jerked open and a tall, half-naked male stood in front of her, a towel tied around his waist and his wet hair sticking up. “You came.” He grinned, his blue eyes lighting up.
Before she could say anything, he grabbed her around the waist and yanked her against him, covering her mouth with his.
Oh, mama.
Also by Tabitha Conall
The Colliding Worlds Series
Her Vampire Mate
His Dragon Heart - coming 2015
The Stonewall Pack Alpha Series
The Alpha’s Downfall
: The Complete Stonewall Pack Alpha Boxed Set
The Mad Wolf’s Harem Series
Aurelia and the Three Bodyguards
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to my five wonderful beta readers—Donna Hokanson, Angela Franklin, Sara Gomez, Michelle D. Jackson and Angie B. —who helped with Her Vampire Mate.
About the Author
Tabitha has been in love with love since the first play she wrote at the age of eight. That story involved three princes who fell in love with three princesses. What could be more perfect?