Shadows in Savannah (7 page)

Authors: Lissa Matthews

“Please, Jorge,” Dane said from the table.

“That is unfair,
meu amor
. You know I cannot resist when you say please.” Jorge stared at Dane for a long, silent moment, but finally nodded his ascent. “I will try, but if you die? I am coming after you.”

Dane smiled. For the first time, he felt what could only be described as elation. “I will be waiting.”

“What do you suggest?” Jorge asked Roberto.

“His neck. Where his pulse beats, near his jugular. The blood that flows there is richer, purer than from his wrist. However, I will hold onto his wrist, if I need to aid you in any way.”

Jorge nodded in agreement and tugged Dane up from the chair, then settled Dane on his lap. Beneath him, Jorge’s cock was rock solid and Dane wiggled, eliciting a moan from his lover. “Don’t get cheeky with me just because you’re getting your way.”

Dane laughed and kissed Jorge softly. “Thank you,” he said with a whisper.

“You’re welcome,” Jorge whispered back. “Please, don’t die,
meu amor
.” He lowered his head to Dane’s throat. “Please, don’t die.”

Those were the last words Dane heard as lips parted and skin broke beneath pointed fangs.

Epilogue

Dane settled onto the park bench in Oglethorpe Square, next to Jorge, who immediately took his hand. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting. It seemed even chillier this year than last at this same time. “It’s been a year and most of the angels still will not talk to me.”

“You chose me over death. You had to know it would upset the balance of things.”

“They could still be cordial.”

“There are other law firms to handle the business of one like you.”

“There are,” Dane agreed.

It was his birthday. His human birthday. His immortal birthday. He had gambled and he had won. Jorge had asked him not to die and Dane hadn’t. Those had been the last words he heard and the last thing he’d felt was the piercing pain of Jorge’s fangs in his neck. He’d woken hours later in his bed in the penthouse, Jorge and Roberto by his side and a different feeling inside his body, his mind, his soul.

He had memories from the time he’d been turned the first time, but within months, they found that memories from his life before began to return.

The first had been the day before he’d been taken and forced into the life of a vampire. It had been for sport, young vampires feeding on and turning others without realizing what they were doing. The memory had come to him in a dream, a nightmare that had left him writhing in a sleep he couldn’t wake up from until it was over.

But the part of the dream that had actually been a dream and a memory, was that he owned a bookshop and lived above it. He was a simple shopkeeper. He had a family he couldn’t remember. Parents, siblings. He’d lived in Bath, not far from where he’d woken up the day after.

Since that first memory, others had begun to form and take shape, filling him with light and serenity. He no longer hated his life as a vampire and he had Jorge to thank for a large part of that.

He —

“At least I am worth something.”

“In my head again, love?” Dane tried for an exasperated tone, but failed completely. He knew when he got too quiet for too long, Jorge slipped into his thoughts to make sure he was all right. Dane knew he couldn’t have asked for a better man in his life had he been able to pick Jorge out of a catalog.

As his memories had returned, they had visited Bath, allowing Dane to retrace steps from his human life. He’d found the graves of his family, finally able to honor them as a son should. They had bought property in Bath, as well. The building where his bookshop had once been and the property where the ruins of the cottage he’d woken in were.

“Are we still going to Portugal?”

“We are. Tomorrow,” Jorge replied. “I want to show you my country, where my home was, where I grew up and roamed.”

“I did not know it was possible to be a vampire and love,” Dane said.

“I know. Neither had I. I would not change a thing.”

“No. If I had to admit anything, I would admit that I would not either. I hated my existence, but it led me to you. I had to be turned and live as I did in order to meet you. You changed my forever, Jorge. You breathed into the shadows of my mind and soul and set me free.”

“You’ve been reading those books of yours again, haven’t you?” Jorge teased, leaning forward to place a kiss on Dane’s lips.

“Yes.”

“
Minha alma e sua! e meu corpo tambem
.” Jorge whispered the words as he dropped his lips to the tender, life giving spot on Dane’s neck. “My soul is yours. And my body, too.”

“You should make your body my birthday present,” Dane said, standing and bringing Jorge up with him.

“I should?”

“Yes.”

“Never let it be said that I left a vampire disappointed on his birthday.”

Dane laughed at the near identical words Jorge had spoken a year ago as they took a near identical path back to the penthouse they now shared.

He had never been disappointed with Jorge and he would never again be discontent with his existence as a vampire. For from the shadows, it had brought him love and peace.

About the Author

Lissa Matthews
has many loves in her life: Family, friends, NASCAR, football, music of all kinds, cooking, BDSM, and last, but not least, coffee. She loves it so much she and those who know her are surprised she hasn’t floated away on a caffeine-induced cloud while giving life to feisty heroines and hunky heroes.

Lissa’s love of romance came from every book she has ever picked up. No matter what she read, she fell in love with the written word. The promise of escape, the deep, intriguing characters, and the winding journey from beginning to end, constantly drew her into bookstores and libraries as she was growing up.

Her first stories were written in junior high and she kept it up through college. She would stay up late at night when her kids were little reading romance and still penning her own stories. In 2007, when she and her family moved to North Carolina from Florida, she began pursuing writing as a profession and she couldn’t imagine doing anything else… Well, except maybe writing in her own cupcake bakery/coffee shop. But that dream is a ways down the road… Lucky for Lissa, she believes in dreams coming true.

Lissa is married with two children and seven, yes, seven cats. She blames her oldest child for the cats.

For more information on other books by Lissa, visit her website:
www.lissamatthews.com

Also By This Author

Self-Published

The Cupcake Cowboy

Forever in Blue Jeans

Grinding Gears

Shifting Currents

Stick Shift

The Sticky Cowgirl

Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc.

Carnal Ecstasy