Love at Stake (19 page)

How did she walk away from that?

It all came down to one last chance. Maybe she’d jump and he’d fail to catch her. Maybe this was a mistake that would maim her heart forever, but what was her alternative?

Life without him. Which was no choice at all.

Abbey dropped to her knees. She cupped his strong jaw and brought his face to hers. Lucian said nothing as she studied him, giving her the time she needed to make her decision.

Christian had offered her forever and all she’d felt was a wistful desire to claim the life of safety and security he represented.

Nothing about Lucian was safe. Not his job, not his life, nothing. Who knew if he’d wake up one morning and wish his mate was more than she was? Loving him was a risk.

But no relationship came with guarantees. A human man could leave her as easily as an immortal one could.

Her fingers stroked his face as she reveled in the ability to touch him once more. At the end of the day, it all came down to one thing. Did she have the courage to leap? Could she take the gamble and survive if it didn’t pay off?

Could she look at herself in the mirror if she let him walk away without fighting for him?

“If you ever disparage my race or my abilities again, I’m gone,” she whispered.

Hope lit his eyes and she wondered if she’d ever seen anything so beautiful. “Never,” he promised.

“You will talk to me. No running from your hang-ups. If we’re in this, then we’re a team.”

“Are we in this, Abbey? Are you?”

She swallowed hard before saying, “Yes.”

His lips claimed hers without another word. One brush of his skin on hers and Christian was expelled from her mind. No one kissed her as Lucian did, touched her as he did.

He pulled her against him so she straddled one strong thigh even as he claimed her mouth. One hand twisted in her hair and angled her head to deepen the kiss. She moaned against his mouth. This was what she’d been missing for days. His hands on her body, this fire in her heart. Suddenly she could breathe again.

His lips played over hers, tasting her as if he was savoring the contact as much as she. Abbey stroked his tongue with hers and grinned as the hands on her waist tightened. Gripping his shoulders, she undulated against him, pressing her breasts to his chest. His eyes dilated and she saw the small red rim start to form. Lust pooled low in her abdomen at the sight. Her body came back to life when he touched her. Pleasure ran along every nerve ending; excitement filled her heart. When she looked into his red eyes it was hard to wonder if she’d made a mistake. When he kissed her, she believed in forever.

“I love you,” he whispered against her mouth.

The words were electric, raising every hair on her arms. The hope racing through her was almost painful. He’d claimed the emotion before but never had he said those three little words. Three words that had the power to change her life and reorder her world.

But when she drew back to meet his gaze there was nothing but honesty in his eyes.

“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’ll say it every day for the rest of our lives.”

Her heart thundered in her ears until it was hard to hear him over the pounding. Butterflies filled her stomach. He was offering everything she wanted if she just dared to believe he meant his words.

“And if I don’t want to become a vampire?” she asked, testing him as she had Christian.

Unlike the werewolf, however, there was no surprise in his expression, only acceptance. “Then I will tell you every day for the rest of your life, and after you die in my arms, I’ll follow you.”

She gasped. “You will not.”

“Darling, you know my kind don’t last long after our mates die. I’d take fifty years with you over an eternity without you.”

Abbey hit his shoulder. “You can’t joke about this. If something happens to me, you can’t just walk into the sun or whatever.”

“Shh,” he said, brushing a hand over her hair in an attempt to soothe her. “You are my life, Abbey. Nothing you can say will change that.” There was no regret on his features. He didn’t look like a man upset over the prospect of having only one more lifetime. If anything, he looked more at peace than she’d ever seen him.

He means it,
she realized with both horror and awe. If she died, he’d follow her.

“I’m not okay with that,” she said.

“We’ll figure it out.” He caressed her cheek. “All I need is you.”

She closed her eyes, feeling overwhelmed. She’d told Christian she’d only consider the transformation if it was for a good reason. Lucian qualified. If he couldn’t live without her, then she couldn’t die a human death.

“To turn or not…I can’t make a choice like that right now,” she whispered. “But I can think about it.”

A heartbreakingly tender look filled his eyes. He touched a gossamer kiss to her lips that was so gentle it almost brought tears to her eyes. “I can’t deny that having more than a single lifetime with you is something I desire greatly, but it is too soon for you to make such a decision.”

“Lucian—”

“You like being human,” he said. “And as long as that’s the case, you will remain so. We have time, love. Time to face those sorts of decisions.”

“What if something happens to me?” She didn’t want to lose her humanity yet, but what if she was hit by a car walking to work?

“I could get staked by a rival or caught by the sun tomorrow. I don’t want to lock you into an immortality you do not want if I’m not there to help you through it.”

She sighed. “I’ll think about it,” she promised. “But we’re not waiting too long.”

He stroked her cheek. “As you wish.”

“I’m glad you came back,” she confessed, her gaze on his lips.

“I should have been here sooner.”

“What made you come now?”

His smile was rueful. “Melissa. You have quite a champion in her.”

“I like her, too.”

Without warning, his hands tightened on her waist. “And when I did arrive, what exactly did I see?”

She remembered Christian’s good-bye kiss and lifted her chin. “You should have knocked.”

“You shouldn’t have been embracing another man days after our parting.”

“What did it matter? I broke up with you. You were gone.”

“I was coming back!”

“And how did I know that? I thought we were finished.”

He scowled. “And so you turned to the wolf?”

Abbey shook her head, sitting back on her heels. “Christian came to me with a similar proposal to yours.”

A low growl escaped Lucian.

“I turned him down. What you saw was a good-bye, nothing more. How could I even think about Christian when my heart was filled with you?”

The tension in his shoulders eased. “In that case, he can live.”

She rolled her eyes. “You supernatural men. Such drama queens.”

Lucian tumbled her back onto the carpet without warning. “Mocking a vampire?” he purred. “Such a slight cannot go unpunished.”

“Mmm.” Abbey twined her arms around his neck. “Promises, promises.”

His mouth covered hers as she gripped him tighter. An hour ago, she’d thought she’d never hold him again, and yet here they were. He was hers. Permanently.

“You hurt me,” she said. She might forgive but she wouldn’t easily forget. “When I thought you could never love me. That I’d never be enough for you.”

His head dropped against her breast. “I know. And I will regret it for the rest of my life.” Lucian raised his head to meet her eyes. “All I can do is promise never to leave your side. Marry me, mate me, be with me for eternity. Any way you wish to tie us, I will do. Any test you put to me, I will pass. I swear to you, Abbey, I will never hurt you again. Not if I can help it.”

Tears prickled her eyes. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you.” He kissed the skin between her breasts. “I’ll spend an eternity loving you.”

The honesty in his words was a balm on her heart. He wanted her. Not just for now but for always.

A vampire’s mate.

It was a daunting future but looking up at him, she’d never regret it. As his thigh wedged between her legs, she knew this wasn’t a man she’d ever grow tired of.

“Hard floor,” she murmured.

“Want to switch?” A wicked spark lit his eyes.

She thought of casting her thighs astride him and shivered. “Next time,” she whispered, heat flooding her cheeks.

He grinned even as he dragged the fluffy blanket from the sofa.

“I have a bed,” she said as he rolled her onto it.

“Next, next time.”

“In that case, I also have a kitchen table, a shower, an oddly spacious closet, a—”

His lips cut off her words.

Abbey arched against the soft blanket and rubbed her breasts against his chest. She’d never thought she’d touch him like this again and the relief made her dizzy. With his mouth on hers, the world made sense. In his arms, she had somewhere to belong. Her heart clenched at the thought of their future together. Her wildest dreams had just become her reality and it was a lot to take in.

But she knew one thing that was easy. One thing that would still the racing thoughts in her mind.

One thing that would be a lot easier with fewer clothes.

“Off,” she said, dragging her nails lightly over his shirt.

Lucian rose to his knees, straddling her. He looked down at her with molten eyes as he removed the black pullover.

She grinned at the sight of him. Would she ever get tired of seeing it? She couldn’t imagine a day when Lucian’s stripping for her didn’t rob her of breath.

Abbey ran her hands up his chest. Her perfect, wicked man.

He caught one of her questing hands and brought it to his lips. Lucian kissed her palm with searing heat before placing it against his chest and sliding it lower.

Her breath caught as her fingers drifted over his abdomen. Muscles tightened beneath her hand as she drew closer to the clasp of his black jeans.

“Want something?” she whispered, stroking his hard cock through the denim.

“Christ,” he rasped.

Feeling powerful, she repeated the action and watched the look of pained pleasure flash over his face. Slowly, taking her time, she popped the button of his jeans, then reached for the zipper. Lucian held still as she worked, letting her do as she wished. With a tug, he sprang free from the confining denim.

Abbey grinned at his muffled curse. Poor man must have been uncomfortable.

She drew her fingers along the velvety soft skin of his cock, taking her time to explore him. When she drew her thumb over the head he bucked against her hand. Abbey wanted to play but his jeans cut off her access.

“Off,” she murmured, touching the pants.

Lucian had the material stripped from his skin in seconds, moving faster than her human eyes could see. He crouched over her, utterly exposed to her gaze, and smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. All hers. Forever.

Not a single article of her clothing had been removed but Abbey’s breath was shallow; her pulse thundered in her ears. This felt different from the other times they had been together. His confession had changed the game. There was a weight to their embrace that hadn’t been there before. This wasn’t just her attempt to take whatever piece of him she could touch. Now he was the man she’d spend the rest of her life with. The man she’d go to bed with and wake up beside.

A joy unlike anything she’d ever felt before filled her. There might be hurdles in their future, but it was nothing they couldn’t overcome together.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered, crawling over her body. “There is a smile on your face I’ve never seen before.”

“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered. “Right now we’re in the middle of something important.”

“Mmm,” he agreed, hooking his fingers around her sweatpants. He tugged them lower, kissing her navel as he slid her panties down with the pants. When they were low enough Abbey eagerly kicked them off.

“This too,” Lucian said, tugging her shirt over her head.

She hadn’t bothered with a bra as she’d expected to spend the night as a couch potato eating leftovers, and right now she was glad of the oversight. Especially when Lucian kissed the skin above her heart reverently.

“I love you,” he whispered again.

She closed her eyes, a shudder raking her, as she absorbed the words she’d never thought she’d hear.

Abbey opened her mouth to reply when Lucian drew his tongue over one hardened nipple. A gasp replaced the confession she’d been about to voice.

“Please,” she begged, her legs falling open. “I need you. Right now.” She didn’t want to wait anymore. Not when this was the first time they’d be together as lovers who truly loved.

“So wet for me,” he murmured, tracing her folds with a finger.

“Always.”

“Look at me, love.”

Abbey looked up into his blue eyes. She felt his cock nudge against her slit but kept her eyes on the man above her.

Slowly, he sank into her.

Abbey gasped as he filled her. She’d never get tired of the feeling. He completed her in a way no other ever had. Meeting his gaze, she saw love shining there and felt her heart melt at the sight.

“Mine,” he growled.

She understood the urge. She wanted to yell from the roof that this man was hers alone.

“Hurry,” she said instead.

He gripped her hips and withdrew. Abbey bit her lip at the sense of loss, only to throw her head back in ecstasy when he surged back into her.

Locking her ankles against his lower back, she urged him on. The position allowed him to drive even deeper into her and she pressed her lips against his shoulder to keep from screaming.

They rocked together, straining for that elusive pleasure. Again and again he thrust, sending intense waves of pleasure through her. The pressure built as they moved together. She tightened her thighs and used her heels to push him on.

Her teeth scraped against his shoulder when the pressure built to its crucial point and she felt him return the favor. Fangs dragged across her skin, hard enough to hint at his need but not yet piercing her skin.

Her inner muscles tightened, forcing a rough groan from him.

“Let me,” he begged. “I swear it won’t be like before.”