One Late Night (3 page)

 Adin roared and gave one last mighty thrust before
stiffening against me and I lost myself again in a wave of pleasure that took
me completely out of myself.

When I could think again, I found I was lying cuddled up
against Adin’s side. He had one arm around me, tucking me tightly to him, and
was gently running his other hand through my hair. I wasn’t sure if I had
fallen asleep or if I had just been lost in the aftermath of the most
incredible orgasm I’d ever had.

I lay there for a while, content to just let him stroke my
hair. I was warm and happy and after that terrible night, I just wanted to
cuddle up with the gorgeous man in my arms until I fell asleep. All too soon
however, questions began running through my head until finally I couldn’t bear
it.

“Adin,” I asked.

He seemed to stiffen a little. I tilted my head up to look
at him and he nodded at me to go on.

“Are you a vampire?”

He paused for a moment and I wasn’t sure if he was going to
answer before he sighed.

“Yes, I suppose I am at that.”

He peered down at me and when I didn’t pull away from him he
continued as if reassured.

“Not everything you think about vampires is true. We don’t
need to kill, though we do live off blood.”

When he didn’t continue, I poked him lightly in the chest,
and after a further pause he went on.

“Okay, well, I can go out in the day, I’m just very weak if
I do. Like a regular human and a sick one at that. I do need blood, but I am
very old and I don’t need much. What I licked off your leg will last me a week.
Assuming I don’t get hurt, that is.”

“How old are you?”

This time the delay before he replied was so lengthy I
thought he wasn’t going to answer at all.

“I’m two hundred and thirty-three years old. I was born in
what’s now called Ireland. Before my country became part of Britain.”

Wow. Okay. That was an age difference, all right. But, I
mean, after a certain point it became almost irrelevant. And he didn’t look his
age. That was for sure.

“And what were those…things we encountered?” I continued,
filing the age difference away to think about later.

“Those were Urlocks. They were looking for me. I have an
enemy and he’s been searching for me for a long time. Those are his creatures.”

“You laughed when you killed that first one—why?”

Adin looked down at me sharply before smiling.

“I would not have thought you’d notice that, scared as you
were. I was laughing, indeed. My enemy and his creatures are rarely together.
If they came for me, then that means he didn’t think his information was
accurate. He’s a vampire too, like me. Older, although I’m stronger than he is.
I killed his favorite child and he’s never forgiven me. His daughter was a
vicious monster and I’m glad she’s dead, though his persistence is almost
making me regret my actions. He is always looking for me, always collecting
rumors and checking to see if the rumors are true. If he was sure his
information was accurate and knew for certain I would be here, he wouldn’t have
sent the Urlocks after me; he’d have come himself, with stronger allies to support
him. I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of this. Wrong place, wrong time.
What were you doing there, anyway?”

I thought about it for a second. “I’m not sorry, not
anymore. They didn’t hurt me, and I got to meet you. I was walking home from
work, if you must know.”

He smiled down at me. “Well, I’m glad I was able to make up
for putting you through such a scary experience. You shouldn’t walk by yourself
in isolated areas late at night. There are monsters out there.”

“Yes, I get that now.” I didn’t think I’d ever walk anywhere
alone at night again. “So, the monsters found you, didn’t they? What happens
now?”

“Well…” A frown crossed his handsome brow and he sighed.
“They did find me here in Manhattan. Even if I killed them all, he’ll know
where he last sent them. Where they disappeared. And even though I’m not the
only one who could have killed them, by any means, he will come himself to
check and he’ll bring too many for me to defeat. I’ll have to leave now, go
somewhere else. Start over again. It’s a shame, really. I like this old place
and I’m not eager to leave Manhattan. Not right now.”

My heart sank even as I wondered if I was one of the reasons
he didn’t want to leave. Vampire or not, I knew for a certainty I didn’t want
him to go. I hugged him tightly and we were silent for a moment.

“How long has he been hunting you for?”

“Oh…about ninety years or so.”

“That long? Forgive me if this is rude, but surely vampires
kill all the time? He still hasn’t gotten over it?”

He smiled ruefully at me. “We do kill all the time but he
loved her and she left with me. She broke his heart and then before he had a
chance to win her back, she and I fought and I had to kill her. She was totally
insane, as I realized too late, so it had to be done. But since he is also
totally insane, that doesn’t matter to him.”

“Will you be all right?” I asked him hesitantly.

“I’ve made it thus far. He’s strong but he’s not very
smart.”

I shrugged. If Adin wasn’t worried, it seemed foolish for me
to be concerned. It must be nice to be so powerful. To be able to do things
most people couldn’t. Suddenly an idea occurred to me.

“Can you fly?” I asked him in excitement. The idea of flying
had always appealed to me and I thought there were certainly worse ways to fly
than in the arms of a gorgeous man. Especially when you had personal knowledge
that the gorgeous man could deal out orgasms like a pro. A happy shiver ran
through me as I thought of him inside me, and with some difficulty I pulled my
mind away from dirty thoughts and back to the conversation.

“Sadly, no,” he replied, seeming surprised by my change of
topic. “I can run very quickly and I can climb very well, but I can’t fly.”

Pity. I decided I was too tired to ask him more about this
enemy of his at the moment. As long as there was no other girl in the picture
and we weren’t actively in danger, I didn’t care about anything else. And then
I remembered he was leaving anyway and his dating status and future safety were
irrelevant to me. I pushed away sorrow with some difficulty. Since we had such
a limited time together, I’d rather we spent it talking about happier things.
There was a small silence.

“Where will you go?” I asked him eventually.

“I don’t know yet. Where would you go, if you could go
anywhere?”

I thought about it for a moment before replying. “Norway.”

“Norway?” he repeated, sounding surprised.

“Yes, Norway. I’d love to go there. It’s very pretty. Really
and truly. Little fishing villages on the ocean and lovely fjords. Castles and
fortresses all over the place. And I’ve heard the people there are nice and
it’s just quiet and lovely. Oslo is apparently a fun city too, with lots of
artists and different areas with different kinds of people in them.”

He laughed gently. “I guess that’s true. Norway, hey?”

I nodded.

“Well,” he said, “what are you doing for the next couple
years? Want to come to Norway with me?”

My heart leaped and I propped myself up on my elbows and
stared at him in shock. “Are you serious? You’d take me with you?”

He looked at me intently, those blue eyes seeming to stare
right into my soul. “Oh yes, I am serious, my darling. I am not in the habit of
bringing strange girls home with me and having incredible sex for hours. I am
not used to anyone knowing what I am and even less used to people not being
instantly afraid of me if they find out. I can’t tell you how long it’s been
since I’ve met a person I want to be close to. I would see you here and go
slowly, but events have made that impossible. So I have to leave and I want you
with me. If it doesn’t work out, we can go our separate ways. I’d make sure you
were able to come home. What do you say?”

I stared into his eyes and thought about my life. I would
miss my mom and brother but it wasn’t as if I was leaving the planet. I could
visit them; they could come visit me. I’d have to think of a convincing lie to
explain why I was moving halfway around the world with a man I’d just met but I
was sure I could pull that off. Maybe he was an old college friend of mine from
before I’d become bored and left school—a man I’d always secretly loved and now
had the chance to make a life with. That sounded believable enough. I thought
about my crappy job, taken as a last resort when my singing career didn’t pan
out, and I considered how bored I was with everything. I thought about Alex and
how I’d decided to break up with him even before Adin came and found me in that
alley. And I thought about Adin.

Adin and me. In Norway. Walking hand in hand down
snow-covered streets to the winter fish market. Coming home to our lovely
little brightly painted cottage. If he could go out in the day, then surely he
could come swimming with me sometimes, out on the islands and the fjords. And
we could go out! To shows and clubs and dancehalls. For once, I’d be the one in
the club with the gorgeous man everyone was looking at. I looked up at Adin and
stroked my hand gently down his amazing torso and wondered how on earth I’d
gotten so lucky.

A grin burst to my lips and I threw myself on top of him. He
jumped slightly in surprise and then laughed out loud, rolling me over to lie
on top of me.

“I take it that’s a yes?” he asked, bending to plant kisses
all over my face.

“It is, indeed,” I told him before I kissed him deeply,
losing myself in his mouth and the scent of him.

The kiss grew deeper and I felt my breathing speed up. A
hard length pressed against my thigh and I realized I wasn’t the only one
getting excited again.

“So soon?” I asked, pleased and rather proud of myself.

“God yes,” he replied and in one movement parted my thighs
and slid inside me.

I was wet and ready for him and he felt so good. He sighed
and fit himself as deeply inside me as he could before lowering his head to
kiss me again.

This time he went slowly, gently rocking in and out of me as
I moaned his name and clutched him to me. He buried his face in my neck and his
teeth grazed my skin.

“May I?” he whispered, moving one hand down to my breast.
“It will feel better than anything ever has, I promise. I’ll only take a
little—nothing will happen to you.”

“Yes,” I gasped after a moment wherein I considered his
words. I wanted him to take all of me.

He scraped his teeth down my neck and I cried out softly at
the short, sharp burst of pain. Gently he started licking the blood oozing out
of the cut, his tongue keeping pace with his hips as he thrust into me. I felt
my pulse beating in time with his movements and felt myself growing
lightheaded. Little shivers spread down my skin as he moved his mouth over the
cut and sucked. It felt amazing. I whispered at him, urging him to fuck me harder,
and rocked with him, matching his movements and driving him deeper into me.
Cresting tides of pleasure rolled over me and I stiffened beneath him, crying
out his name before collapsing back. He groaned and thrust into me, lifting his
head to call out in a language I didn’t recognize as he came. He held himself
stiff above me, trembling with the force of his orgasm before collapsing on top
of me. With an effort, I raised my arms to hug him to me and we lay there
together as we recovered.

“You’ll really come with me?” he murmured after a bit,
sounding uncertain and surprisingly young for someone so old.

I smiled, feeling as if my heart was about to burst, and
hugged him more tightly to me.

“I really, truly will,” I told him and I heard the joy in my
voice.

This time yesterday, I had been getting ready for my boring
job and a date with my boyfriend—who was also boring and who treated me poorly,
to boot—and now I was getting ready to fly to an exotic country with my
handsome, exciting and mysterious lover. I smiled and shook my head slightly,
still feeling awed disbelief. What a long night.

Ashley was born and raised in Canada. She loves to travel
and enjoys photography. She lives happily with her cats and indulges a rather
dirty mind with her writing. Ashley is a new author and is very excited to be working
with Ellora's Cave.

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A
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One Late Night

ISBN 9781419993893

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

One Late Night Copyright © 2015 Ashley Shayne

Edited by Jill Noelle

Cover design by Allyse Leodra

Cover photography by iStockphoto

Electronic book publication September 2015

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