"Yes. Yes, I"ll marry you." Her throat tightened with tears. She was always going to love Andrei, but she"d be d.a.m.ned if she"d ever hurt Evan again by succ.u.mbing to a base hunger for a male who thought as little of her as Andrei did. Evan loved her and that"s where her future and best chance for happiness lay-with him.
"I love you," she told him and gasped as he stopped making love to her and began to f.u.c.k her hard. She closed her eyes and came all over his hard, sweet d.i.c.k. "I love you."
Later, after they"d both come and taken a shower together, they cuddled in her bed. He kissed the back of her neck. "I want the world to know you"re mine. Let"s not wait to get married. Let"s do it as soon as possible."
By the world, she suspected he meant Andrei. She doubted a marriage license would matter to Andrei, but she found she was eager to become Evan"s wife. She pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest. "Yes. Let"s."
He tipped up her chin and kissed her lips. "I"ll do my best to make you happy, honey."
"I am happy, Evan." She settled against him, aware that although a part of her would always regret losing Andrei, she had accepted that her future happiness lay with Evan. "I"ll do my best to ensure you never regret loving me."
He hugged her. "I won"t, my love."
His love. It was wonderful to know how deeply he cared about her.
Andrei lifted his head from his mother"s lap and sat up.
She smiled at him. "You are feeling better? Yes, my handsome little Andrei?"
His heart still felt as if it had been shattered. Still, the endless hurt which he"d kept buried deep inside for so long had abated. He recalled that night in Virginia when he"d awakened and found a stone-faced Aleksei holding him in his arms. Half-lying in Aleksei"s arm on the banks of the river where they"d all been drowned, his world had ended. It had begun again now because the mother he"d never stopped loving was there when he needed her.
"Yes, Mother."
Holding his face in one hand, as she"d done when he was a little boy, she used the fingers of her other hand to wipe at his damp cheeks. "And yet I see sadness in your beautiful eyes. You will tell me what is troubling you and I will do my best to fix the problem. Yes?"
He averted his gaze. "It"s all right, Mother. I can handle it. I-"
She turned his face back toward her. "No, my son, it is not all right. And there is no need to bear the burden of your grief and pain alone. What troubles you, Andrei?"
When he parted his lips to speak, she pressed her fingers against his mouth. "Before you speak, I will not tolerate lies, half-truths or lies by omission. You understand that? I will have the truth, Andrei. Give it to me-now!"
He hesitated. "I... "
"What made you flee from a woman who means enough to you to bring you to tears?"
"I... I was afraid for her and now I"ve lost her to another man."
Her dark eyes glittered. "As to that, we will have to see. Tell me of your fear for her." He raked a hand through his hair and told her. "It"s Carollina or Lina or Veelee or whoever she wants to call herself."
She stiffened. "What of the nocturene? What has she to do with this?"
"She"s not... I don"t think she"s dead."
She bared her incisors. "You say that because of what?"
"Her body wasn"t where it should have been. Lately I"ve felt as if I were being watched and followed. When I turn, there"s no one there-that I can detect. Veelee"s mean, vindictive and hard to kill. I don"t dare allow her to see how I feel about Dacoda or she"ll start haunting her. That"s what she did with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Timbersmith and Makefield. You know what she drove Timbersmith to do. I can"t be around Dacoda all the time and I can"t enter her dreams without her permission."
"Of course you can."
"I know I can, but she would consider it a violation and not something she would welcome."
"And that would stop you from protecting your bloodl.u.s.t?"
"I never said she was my bloodl.u.s.t."
She smiled and stroked his cheek. "Do not forget you are speaking to the one who carried you in her body for nine months. You are a part of me and I am a part of you. I know she is the one." She sighed. "I had hoped at least one of my children would bloodl.u.s.t with someone with at least a modic.u.m of vampire blood."
His lips twisted. Aleksei was right. Palea"s one area of sn.o.bbery was rooted in her desire to see her children bloodl.u.s.t with those of the right blood-meaning a vampire latent at minimum. And this from a woman who had bloodl.u.s.ted with two human males.
"Well, there"s Tat and her almost baby vamp," he reminded her. "She tells me he"s on his way to becoming a full-blood vampire."
"That is negated by what he is and what he has done." She sighed. "And what he will do." Her lips tightened. "That a child of mine would bloodl.u.s.t with one who... " She shook her head. "I must accept what I cannot change." She gave a deep sigh before taking his hand. "But of immediate need is the tracking down of this Veelee so that you may pursue your bloodl.u.s.t in peace."
"I"ve lost her. She"s pregnant and engaged to-"
She waved her hand in dismissal. "An engagement is not marriage...and even that is not inviolate where bloodl.u.s.t is concerned. You concentrate on winning your woman" s attention and heart and I will deal with this...Veelee. Yes, my handsome Andrei?"
Anyone looking at his tiny mother would think him a fool for thrusting such a burden upon her narrow shoulders. But she was a full-blood vampire who had always been fierce and strong in defense of those she loved.
He nodded, feeling as if a weight of immeasurable proportion had been lifted off his shoulders.
She cupped his face between her hands and kissed his forehead. "Go win your woman back, Andrei. I will handle this... Veelee."
He hugged her, burying his head briefly against her body before rising. "Thank you, Mother."
She shook her head. "Do not thank me for doing what mothers do. I would gladly surrender my life for you, my little one. Removing this nocturene from your life will be a pleasure. Now go to your woman."
He kissed her cheek. "I will, but before I do, have to go see Tat first. The last time we saw each other, I said and did things that-"
"For which she freely forgives you."
He swung around. Tat stood against the closed door, an uncertain smile on her face, her arms extended and open.
"Oh honey, I"m so sorry for how I behaved." He stumbled forward. She pushed away from the door and they embraced each other.
She kissed his hair, her hands stroking his back. "There is no need for apologies, Andrei. I should have been more cognizant of what you were going through. I don"t want to waste time on apologies. I"m just so pleased to have you back."
Her voice broke and she trembled against him.
He tightened his arm around her. "Don"t cry."
She lifted her head and looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "Do you know how much I"ve missed you? How important you are in my life? Without you around, Andrei, a vital part of me was missing. I love the others very much, but you and I... you are so important to me. No matter who else I have in my life, without you I"m incomplete. Please don"t ever hide from me again."
He pressed her cheek against his shoulder, his eyes filling with tears. "I"m sorry," he whispered. "I was out of my mind. I"m so sorry."
He wanted to rush back to Dacoda, but Tat"s distress was so intense, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the loveseat, where he held her on his lap, rocking her.
Palea kissed both their cheeks and quietly left.
When her tears had subsided, Tat slipped off his lap and sat on the loveseat beside him, clutching his hand. "Why didn"t you tell me the truth about Veelee, Drei?"
"I didn"t want you to worry. I thought I could find and kill her."
She sighed. "Is that why you pushed Coda away?"
"If Veelee thought I cared about Dacoda, she"d...who knows what she"d do to her?" He raked a hand through his hair. "She"s pregnant."
She nodded. "I know."
"Her big, dumb blond is the father."
She touched his cheek. "Drei-"
"And she says she"s going to marry him. I"ve lost her, Tat."
She sighed. "She cares about him and she believes he"s the father, but-"
"But?"
She tossed her head, sending her hair cascading around her shoulders. "She loves you."
"She told me she loves him too."
"Maybe she does, but Drei, there"s love-what she feels for him-and then there"s love-what she feels for you. The two are worlds apart."
"Then why is he the one she"s going to marry?"
"I like Evan and I wouldn"t want him hurt, but if you win her back...we can take measures to make him forget her so that he wouldn"t be hurt."
He stared at her. "Would that be fair to either one of them?"
"Probably not." She stroked his cheek. "She does love you, and if her only fear in accepting you back is her reluctance to hurt Evan, we can take care of that. What"s the point of being a full-blood if you can"t occasionally use your abilities to your advantage? No one would be hurt if we made him forget her."
"If I did that, she"d probably slap me silly and toss me out on my a.s.s."
"So you won"t do it. I will. It"s the least I can do, considering I got you into this me- "
He shook his head. "No. You didn"t get me into any mess. I didn"t mean those things I said."
She arched a brow.
He laughed. "Okay, I meant them at the time, but that doesn"t mean they were true. They weren"t. She"s too important to me to wish you hadn"t connived and manipulated us into meeting."
She balled a hand into a fist and hit his shoulder. "I do not connive or manipulate!" she protested, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
"Of course you don"t."
They laughed and hugged each other. He spent another hour with her before he left to go see Dacoda.
An hour later, he stood outside her apartment door, listening to her soft cries and Evan"s groans. They were f.u.c.king and both about to come. He closed his eyes and slid down the wall to sit to the side of her apartment door.
He was still there sometime later when the apartment door opened.
He rose and faced her.
She stood in the doorway, naked. He could smell Evan"s c.u.m in her p.u.s.s.y. He swallowed hard and struggled to hold onto his temper.
She cast a quick glance over her shoulder. "What are you doing back here, Andrei? Evan knows what happened between us last night and he"s forgiven me. Don"t ruin things between us. If you care about me at all, please go away, Andrei. Please."
He stroked her cheek. "I need you."
She nodded. "I know and I want you, but he meets my needs. I won"t risk my relationship with him again to sleep with you. I do love you, but I love him too and I"m happy with him and I"m sure of him. I know he loves me."
"I...".
"What? You love me too?"
He compressed his lips. "Love? Love is a mortal emotion. I haven"t been mortal for a very long time."
"Really? Well, I happen to be mortal, Andrei, and I need and want to be loved-by Evan. So please, leave me alone."
He shook his head. "I"ll go for now, but I can"t give you up." He sighed. "If I were a better man and even remotely worthy of you, I"d leave you in peace with your Evan." He caught her hand in his and held it against his chest. "But I am who I am and I need and want you like I"ve never needed anyone else. I"m going now, but I intend to pursue you until I win you back from him."
She shook her head. "We"re getting married as soon as possible." She touched his cheek. "Give us a chance to be happy. Please, my honey boy."
"I can"t let him have you. I know I should, but I just can"t. I"ll give you a little while with him, but when you least expect it, I"ll come to claim what"s mine-you."
"I won"t betray him with you ever again-no matter how much I might want to."
"Yes, you will. You"ll either do that or I"ll be forced to kill him. The choice will be yours." He kissed her on her lips and then turned and flashed down the hall.
Dacoda watched him leave through a mist of tears. She closed the apartment door and returned to her bedroom. She stiffened when she saw Evan sitting up in bed, his gaze trained on the door.
"I thought you were asleep."
"You answered the door naked. It was him. Wasn"t it?"
She nodded. "Yes." She crossed the room and climbed into bed with him. "But I told him I loved you and I sent him away."
He turned off the bedside lamp and pulled her down into bed with him. He pushed her on her back and slipped his c.o.c.k inside her. "I need you."
"Take me, Evan. I"m yours. All yours." She closed her eyes in an effort to force thoughts of Andrei from her mind. "All yours," she whispered and welcomed his c.o.c.k back into her p.u.s.s.y. His p.u.s.s.y. Evan"s p.u.s.s.y. Not Andrei"s. He was history. Evan was her future.