Embrace the Night (20 page)
Jude just looked at him, and since he still had his arm tight around her waist, Nathan nodded. Then he grinned. “I have a surprise waiting for you in the bedroom. In the meantime, I hear that all the bars in Kelltah will be open the rest of the night and even into the day for some of us sunlight-friendly realm-folk.” He shrugged into a black leather jacket and smoothed the sides of his hair back. “My ride’s here.”
He winked and turned in the direction of the front door.
“Elena?” Jude asked.
“Yep. Abigail gave her a few days off.”
“I guess we won’t be seeing much of you.”
Nathan, halfway to the front door, called back, “And something tells me that’s the way you’d want it right now. Plenty of provisions in the fridge. See ya in three days.”
Jude laughed.
“So what do you think Nathan left for us, in the bedroom, I mean?” Hannah asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure it will taste incredible.”
Turned out, he left a platter of fruit, whipped cream, and champagne. Maybe a little cliché, but it worked.
Hannah insisted on removing his boots, touching each silver medallion as she did so. He wasn’t sure why she liked them, so he asked.
She sighed. “Don’t ask me why, but they’re sexy as hell. Or maybe it’s the leather, or maybe you. Actually, I think it’s the whole package.”
A kiss almost led to rolling around on the floor then and there, but Jude wanted more. This would be their first time as a bonded couple, and he wanted to do it right.
Besides – and this was no small thing – he needed a shower.
He left Hannah to enjoy his numerous shower heads while he traipsed off to one of the guest room showers. He felt almost dizzy as he entered the first bedroom, which was the one that had been Joy’s room. And something that felt very fae came over him. He saw three children on the floor, two boys with dark, curly hair and the third a girl with straight brown hair and violet eyes. They were playing a U.S. board game called Monopoly.
They all turned and looked at him.
“Hi, Dad,” the girl called out.
He drifted sideways and fell against the doorjamb.
The vision lasted only a few seconds more, but in that time, the world flipped on its axis and tears started to well in his eyes. He blinked hard, then closed them firmly because he was still dizzy.
But when he opened his eyes, another vision came of Naomi and Joy, standing where the children had been playing.
We wish you well, Jude. Our loving best while you finish your years with Hannah and your new family. They both blew kisses, which was something they’d always done when he’d head out to work for the night.
When the second vision ended, he begged the Goddess, “No more. My heart will fail.”
He heard feet running down the corridor and turned to find Hannah racing toward him, wrapped up in a towel.
“Jude, what is it? I felt such grief and joy pouring from you. What happened? What’s the matter?”
And this was why he loved her as much as he did. She was with him, had always been with him, and always would be.
He caught her up in his arms and held her fast. “I love you, Hannah. You have my heart. You are my heart.”
She drew back and met his gaze, nodding her understanding several times. After a moment, she pulled out of his arms and took his hand. “Come join me in your shower. I don’t know what just happened, but you need to be with me right now. We need to be together.”
Because he could still feel the past and future still lingering in the bedroom that had once belonged to his daughter, he agreed and walked her back to his bedroom.
Later, after showering with Hannah, Jude stood at the foot of the bed and worked carefully at popping the champagne cork. Hannah arranged the comforter to create a makeshift table on the bed for the platter of fruit and whip cream.
The loud pop, made Hannah laugh.
With his heart full, he poured out two glasses, then drew close. Handing her one, he said, “To a bond I’ll always treasure.”
And she replied, “To a bond that has already blessed me more than I can say.”
She fed him fruit covered in whipped cream, and he returned the favor, sharing kisses in between, touches, gentle fondling, and a slow build.
With the fruit consumed and the glasses empty, Jude set the platter aside and tossed the comforter on the floor. He stretched out beside Hannah and kissed her, a long, lingering kiss that became more as he pressed his tongue against her lips. She parted for him, sighing as he slid his tongue inside her waiting mouth.
His mating vibration, now attached to hers in the mysterious realm way, hummed and stroked her at the same time. She cooed her pleasure.
That feels so good within me, Jude. I had no idea it would be like this. And I can feel what you’re feeling.
Same here. I love you, Hannah.
I love you, too.
He moved onto her and she spread her legs for him so that what was already hard found her entrance and pushed inside. Her hips rocked as he glided along her wet pathway, feeling her well tug on him, while he moved his tongue slowly in and out of her mouth.
~ ~ ~
Hannah loved the weight of Jude on top of her, the muscular frame that she’d been lusting after for so long. He was inside her now, driving steadily, working her deep. She’d longed for this connection without understanding the why of it.
And now that she’d endured the difficulties of the past two nights with him, she felt deeply changed in a way that had shifted her life forever.
She wrapped both arms around his neck and held him tight, wanting him to feel with every undulation of her body that she loved him, that she always would.
The bonding on Kelltah Bridge had begun a process that making love with him now completed.
With her hands, she stroked his shoulders then the full length of his powerful arms. She savored his strength, valuing that what had been given to him was used nightly to save his people.
She drew back and met his gray eyes. “You’ve changed everything in the best way possible. You are my fire.”
He moaned and kissed her hard, his hips curling deeper into her, moving faster. She swept with him to the point of ecstasy, and with the blood rose bond and the vibrations that they both released, before long she was crying out. At the same time, Jude roared, that guttural animal sound that swept through her body, telling her that she belonged to him, only to him.
Much later, after he’d made love to her repeatedly, pleasuring her body in every possible way, and after he’d fed from her a second time, he fell asleep in her arms.
But for Hannah, sleep didn’t come right away. Instead, she gently rubbed the back of his neck beneath the mass of his hair, as tears streamed down the sides of her face into her pillow. She had lost the Gold Rush, if only for the moment, but gained a treasure of infinite value.
She knew Jude would rebuild her bar, but this time she intended to turn more of the responsibility over to her manager, who’d been begging for the last couple of years to play a bigger role anyway.
Time to let go.
Time to embrace the future.
“You’re my fire, Jude,” she whispered against the soft sounds of his breathing. “You’re my fire.”
Thank you for reading
EMBRACE THE NIGHT
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Also Available: Book #6, Malik and Willow’s story: EMBRACE THE WILD!!!
Also, be sure to check out the Blood Rose Tales – TRAPPED, HUNGER, and SEDUCED -- shorter works set in the world of the Blood Rose, for a quick, satisfying read.
About the Author
Caris Roane is the New York Times Bestselling author of over 70 books. Currently she writes paranormal romance, both as a self-published author and for St. Martin’s Press. She began her career writing Regency romance for Kensington publishing and was awarded the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in Regency Romance in 2005. Caris currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her two cats, Sebastien and Gizzy and she really doesn’t like scorpions!
You can find me at:
Author of:
Guardians of Ascension Series
– Warriors of the Blood crave the breh-hedden
Dawn of Ascension Series
– Militia Warriors battle to save Second Earth
Blood Rose Series
– Only a blood rose can fulfill a mastyr vampire’s deepest needs
Blood Rose Tales
– Mastyr vampires who hunger to be satisfied
Men in Chains Series
– Vampires struggling to get free of their chains and save the world
Other Titles:
VAMPIRE COLLECTION
(Includes BRINK OF ETERNITY):
WICKED NIGHT/DARK NIGHT
(Boxed Set):