Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (25 page)

I took a frightened glance at Matt, who smiled and nodded.  “I do,” I
whispered.

“And do you, Carlos Hector Delgado, take Sarah Marie Pearl, to be your
wife?  To have and to hold, without interfering with her other marriage.  In
sickness and in health.  To be there for each other as best friends and
confidants.  And to love each other as long as you both shall live?”

Surprisingly, the hesitation that I thought would be there, wasn’t.  “I
do,” he eagerly whispered. 

“Then, by the power vested in me by the United Vampire Nation, I now
pronounce you second husband and wife.  You may kiss the bride,” he said. 
Carlos’ hands came up to my face and there was no one else in the room as he
brought his lips to mine. 

Finally, Cindy said, “Okay, enough of that,” and she flicked on the
stereo.  We all started laughing and dancing around the room with the kids. 

Hours later, and way past the kid’s bedtime, Aduviri, Kevin, Cindy, Juan
and Sophia were finally asleep upstairs.  Matt, Carlos and I sat at the kitchen
table and fed.  “Well, this is kind of awkward, but I need to ask you two to do
me a huge favor,” I said.

Both of them looked at me and said, “Yes, Sarah.  We’ll do it.”

“Wait.  I haven’t even asked you yet.  You don’t even know what it is.” I
said.

Carlos shook his head.  “It doesn’t matter.  Whatever it is, you know
we’ll say yes,” he said as he grinned his goofy Carlos grin.

I rolled my eyes.  “Would you at least let me ask it and tell you why?” 
They both nodded and waited.  “I need to be upstairs with both of you tonight,
which means no sex.  And Carlos, I know that’s not fair to you because it’s our
wedding night, but it’s Matt’s last night here too so I need to be with him. 
And Matt, it’s our last night together for a few days, so I know it’s not fair
to you, but I can’t very well have Carlos sleep alone on his wedding night, can
I?”

“Like we said before, of course, Sarah,” Matt said.

“You’re sure?” I said.

“Yes, Sarah.  We’re sure,” Carlos said then he popped into my head.  
‘Is
this the last of the buildup, Sarah?  Or have you got more for me tomorrow?’

‘Carlos, darlin’, by this time tomorrow you’re going to be
begging me to stop,’
I
thought then I smiled at the shiver that rocked his body. 

The three of us headed up the stairs and were soon sound asleep, my arms
under both of their heads, and a smile on my face.

The next morning, I snuggled into Matt once more on the dock.  “Sarah, I
really have to get on the plane, sweetheart. It’s only for a few days, honey. 
Then you’re all mine for a while.  I love you, baby.”

“I love you too,” I whispered as we pulled our arms tight and gave each
other one of those kisses.

“Till Corpus Christi,” he whispered when he could finally speak again.

“Till Corpus Christi,” I whispered.  He climbed onto the plane and I
waved goodbye to everyone as it turned around and took off into the air.  I
wasn’t alone on that dock though.  I could feel Carlos waiting for me at the
other end.  Patiently waiting, like he always has.  Waiting for Mrs. Pearl to
stop being sad.  And for Mrs. Delgado to start being horny.  I smiled as I
thought of the name Mrs. Delgado.  “Really?  Mrs. Delgado?  How huge is that?”
I said as I moved toward him.

“Right now, until you get yourself into my arms, it’s really huge.  Until
you help me get rid of this buildup, it’s very huge,” he grinned.

Aduviri cleared his throat from the porch behind Carlos.  “Oh, crap,” I
groaned.  “We have to do the linking first.”

Carlos smiled.  “Of course we do.  You know, men have died under similar
circumstances, Sarah.  Died while waiting for the women they love.”

“Yeah, but the ones who survived were oh so happy afterward, baby,” I
said as I held tight to his hand and we walked up the porch steps and into the
house. 

An hour later we were out cold on the floor of the family room – Aduviri
had performed the linking ceremony – after which Carlos and I had passed out as
always happens – and then he had headed back home to the Bahamas.  But
apparently not everything on Carlos was asleep.  Something was poking into my
hip, and it was very hard.  I smiled as I realized what it was.  I quietly slid
off my dress and unbuttoned his pants.  He groaned as he began to wake up and
realize what was happening.  “Sarah, wait, not yet.  I’ll be too fast.  Please,
wait.” he groaned.

I smiled into his neck as I kissed it.  “Yesterday you were begging me to
do this.  Now you’re begging me to stop?  You really need to figure out what
you need.”

“What I need,” he growled as he pushed me onto my back and placed his
hand between my legs, “what I need is to not be first.  I refuse to be first,”
he said as his fingers worked their magic.  I groaned and pulled his mouth to
mine as every nerve in me awakened.  My fingers weaved into his hair and gently
pulled as I arched my back and cried out.

An hour later he was still saying, “Not my turn yet, Sarah.  It’s still
yours.”

“No, husband,” I growled and he smiled.  “It’s both of us now.”  I pushed
him onto his back and we both gasped as I touched my scar to his.  How had he
held back?  How could he have possibly waited when he felt like this?  I
marveled.   “You are the strongest man I’ve ever known,” I whispered as I
climbed on and took him inside me.  He sat up and wrapped me tight in his
arms.  He dragged his fingernails down my back as he tried to hold back and I
tried to race forward.  My entire body was shaking with anticipation.  “Jesus,
Carlos, now, honey, now,” I groaned.

His teeth were clenched, “But, but, you’re not, you’re not there yet.”

I smiled as the first spasm began to rock me, “I will be, hun.  The
second you are, I will be.”  He growled and cried out, as the spasms began
rocking through both of us. 

Several hours later.  “Again, Sarah?  I don’t know, you’re kind of boring
me.  Oh who am I kidding?  I can’t even
try
to say that with a straight
face,” he said as he pulled me into his arms.

The next day.  “Carlos.  We were supposed to leave yesterday.  Now it’s
getting close to sunset.  Are we pushing this back another day or are we
driving all night?”  He leaned up on one elbow and traced his finger down the
middle of my chest, down my stomach and then my pelvis, causing me to gasp and
shiver, and finally came to a stop between my legs.  As I reached for the back
of his neck, I moaned.  “First thing in the morning.  We leave first thing in
the morning,” then I brought his mouth down to mine.

As dawn broke, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed the back
of his neck as we flew through the water with the boat.  We’d already made
several stops to go below, and even some where we didn’t even bother to go
downstairs, but we had still managed to make up most of our lost time.  I could
see the shoreline about five miles ahead and that’s when I first noticed the
other boat.  It was about one hundred yards behind us, but, to me, it looked
like it was following our exact path.  I leaned down to Carlos’ ear.  “Veer
left for a minute,” I said.

He grinned.  “Why?  You need me one more time?” he said as he reached for
the ignition key. 

I kissed his cheek.  “No, well yes, but that’s not why I said that.  I
think we’re being followed.”

That got his attention.  He tensed and straightened up in his seat. 
“Come sit on my lap, Sarah.  Pretend like you’re kissing me, but watch them. 
I’ll link with you so I can see them too.”

He slowed down a bit as I climbed on.  I brought my mouth to his but kept
my eyes on the boat behind us.  Sure enough, it made a slight left just like us
then slowed down a bit when we did.  Carlos veered back to his original course,
and the other boat did the same.  Whoever was driving either was lousy at
trying to follow unnoticed or they didn’t care if we saw them.  Both scenarios
told me that they weren’t cops or any other kind of law enforcement.  Carlos
killed the motor and we came to a stop in the water.  “Find out where Matt is. 
Ask him if he’s heard of anything going on,” Carlos said.  Just before I closed
my eyes to find Matt, I saw it.  The large camera with the huge telephoto lens
on it. 

I ducked my head and covered my face with my hands.  “Camera!  They’ve
got a camera.  Reporters?  Private investigators?” I asked.

“Could be either one,” he said as he restarted the motor.

I reached out to Matt. 
‘Honey?
 
You there?’

‘Of course I’m here, sweetheart.  It’s good to hear your
voice, so to speak.  Are you on your way?’

‘We’re about four miles out.  But is there anything going on
that we should be aware of?  Any developments or anything?’

‘Well, not really.  There’s a new website that’s popped up
that we’re monitoring closely, but that’s about it.’

‘Let me guess, it’s a site devoted to exposing vampires and
it posts pictures of supposed vampires.’

‘Yeah, but how did you know that?’

‘Because we’re being followed, and they have a camera.’

‘Oh shit.  Okay, I’m going to call for a limo with dark
windows.  I’ll meet you on the dock.’

‘
Okay, but bring your stuff with you and say goodbye to Cindy and the
kids first.  I don’t want to lead any reporters back to her house.  We can
either catch an earlier flight out or get a hotel room.’

‘A hotel room?  Okay, sounds like a plan, Sarah.  An
interesting plan, but a plan none the less.  I’ll see you in a little while
sweetheart.  I love you and I can’t wait to show you how much I’ve missed you.’

‘I love you and miss you so much too.  And Matt?  Thank you
for being so understanding and for being so good to me.  I couldn’t ask for
anyone better.’

I moved around behind Carlos again as we moved faster through the water. 
“He’ll be on the dock with a limo.  We’ll go straight to the airport or to a
hotel until we can get a flight out.”

“But I was looking forward to seeing Cindy and the kids again for a bit.”

“I know.  I was too.  But whoever this is, I don’t want to lead them back
to Cindy’s house.  We’ll see her as soon as we can.  I’m going to go below and
get things closed up on the boat.  I already gave Cindy the spare key for it.”

“Did Matt have any idea who this is?”

“He said there’s a new website that’s popped up that they’re monitoring. 
One that posts photos of supposed vampires.”

“That must be them.  But how would they know we’re coming in on the
boat?  Who else besides the three of us knew that?”

“I don’t know, Carlos.  Maybe Matt mentioned it to Troy back home.  And
maybe he mentioned it to someone else.  It’s not like it’s a big secret or
anything.  Nothing’s a secret anymore as far as we are concerned.”

“Yeah, but that’s my point.  The only ones who knew were vampires,
Sarah.  That means whoever is following us has a contact on the inside.  They
have a vampire who’s feeding them information.  Do you know how dangerous that
is?  Not only to us, but to humans too?”

“I know,” I said as he slowed down.  We were nearing the no wake zone. 

“Which slip did he say is ours?” he said.

“Thirty-six.  Over there,” I said as I pointed over his shoulder.  I ran
my fingers through his hair to comb it out. 

He leaned his head back on my chest. “I love you, part-time Mrs.
Delgado,” he whispered. 

I smiled and leaned around to kiss him one last time.  “I love you too,
Carlos.”  When I finally pulled away, he was breathing heavy. 

“Buildup?” he groaned.  I smiled and nodded. 

“Day one of the buildup,” I said.

“And how many days do I have to wait?”

“Until we can’t wait anymore, Carlos.  You know that.”

“But what if that’s tomorrow, Sarah?  Right now I want you just as much
as I did on the day we got married.”

“What are you saying, Carlos?  Are you saying you can’t share anymore?” I
asked as my heart pounded.  I was worried that this day might come, but didn’t
think it would come so soon.

“No, I’m not saying that.  I’m just asking you to please not make me wait
months, Sarah.  Please let it be a little more frequent than that.”

I smiled and kissed him again.  “Sweetheart, I seriously doubt I could
ever make you wait months ever again.  It won’t be months, Carlos.  I promise.”

“Weeks then?  How about days?” he teased as he grinned his goofy Carlos
grin.

I laughed.  “Weeks, yes.  Days, maybe.”

“Okay, I can live with that,” he said then he slowed to a crawl and
expertly brought the boat into the slip.  I jumped off and secured the lines,
then looked up the dock toward the parking area.  Matt was climbing out of the
limo and started walking towards us.  Just then, the boat that had been
following us came to a stop directly behind ours and a black van stopped in the
parking lot next to the limo.  The back door slid open and a young woman
climbed out, followed by a cameraman.  Carlos took a step onto the dock, but I
stopped him.