Be Mine Forever. Rosemary Laurey

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СКАЧАТЬ it always did with these sudden memory flashes, but this time she shuddered with a cold wave of dread. “Tom!” Her voice came thin with fear. “How do I know it was three nights? And why is it so bad?” Remembered terror sent her shuddering, as his arms closed around her. Her tremors intensified before easing. It was the same fear that fueled the nightmares and woke her screaming.

      Tom tightened his hold, pulling her against him as he fought to brush her mind with reassurance. The horrors were stronger than last time. He tried to read what evoked such fears, but all he found was blind emotion.

      He wanted to kill by slow torture the creature who’d done this to her. He held her closer, willing calm into her fright-fuddled mind. Her sobs eased, and he handed her his handkerchief. She wiped her eyes, sniffed a few times, and looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Sorry, Tom.”

      He kissed her forehead, savoring the sweetness off her skin, but now was no time to indulge those appetites, not when she was halfway to falling apart. “Sorry for what? Ruining my shirt? Not to worry, the laundry can take care of that.” He tried for lightness, but missed.

      “Tom!” Her voice threatened to break.

      “Come on, love.” He moved so they stood side by side. “You need to sit down.”

      A few yards along the riverbank he found an empty bench. The day was far too cold for any but the hardiest mortals, but neither he nor Angela noticed.

      “Can you get any handle on the fear?” he asked after he tucked a wet and crumpled hanky back in his pocket.

      She shook her head. “I wish the hell I could. Just now it came stronger than ever.”

      His arm tightened around her shoulders. He wanted to wipe away her nightmare and sweep her up in his arms and carry her away where no one would ever harm her again.

      He remembered Justin’s words the previous evening. “What can I do to help, Angela?”

      That dried up her tears. “What do you mean?”

      He laced his fingers with hers. It wasn’t quite as reassuring as hauling her over his shoulder and taking her home, but under the circumstances it was probably more politic. “You’re hell-bent and determined on digging to the bottom of your past, no matter what. So why not do it together?” As she stared at him with reddened eyes, he added, “Having a vampire alongside might help. We have a few handy tricks up our sleeves.”

      A weak little chuckle curved the corners of her mouth. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

      “The realization you are going to do this and if I want to see you safe, I’d better tag along.”

      The smile widened. “You mean no more ‘me big, strong vampire; you puny, little ghoul’ act?”

      “I can’t promise never, but I’ll do my darndest.”

      She nestled close, her shoulders relaxing as pent-up tension seeped away. “Oh Tom!” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

      “The feeling is mutual, my dear.”

      She seemed, for the moment, to have forgotten her mission. Might as well encourage that.

      He tilted her chin up. Her lips parted. Her eyes widened with expectation. He had no intention of disappointing her. “Angela,” he whispered and lowered his head. Their lips brushed. Twice. The third time, he pressed his lips against hers until she opened for him. She sighed and gave herself to him as his tongue met hers. Then she took him, her mouth working his, her tongue exploring, taking as much as he gave and returning the wild heat of her need. She pressed closer, molding herself against him. Her hips shifted as she nestled into the circle of his arms.

      She said something. It could have been his name, an endearment, or the height of the trees around them. He didn’t give a tinker’s cuss. Nothing mattered but Angela’s warmth in his arms and the passion in her lips. He tried to retake the lead, pressing harder and closing his hand over her breast. He felt pleasure ripple through her, as she pulled his head closer and deepened their kiss. Their need coalesced into a wild frenzy of mutual desire. Her legs parted, one thigh easing over his and…

      Tom’s vampire senses alerted to a mortal nearby. No point in shocking the populace!

      “Angela,” he whispered, “we’d better find somewhere less public.”

      A few yards away, a old woman was walking her spaniel along the river and from the opposite direction came a pair of young mothers complete with baby buggies and toddlers.

      Angela turned as pink as a Bourbon rose. “Tom!” She stood up, smoothing her sweater down. “Let’s walk a bit.” She held out her hand.

      He wasn’t turning down the invitation.

      “I missed you,” Angela said after a few yards. “I’m glad you came down.”

      “That’s a bit of a change from your greeting at breakfast time.”

      “At breakfast I was braced for your big, bossy vampire act.”

      Good thing he’d abandoned that angle. It hadn’t worked anyway. “Was I really a big, bossy vampire when we were together in town?”

      “What else do you call, ‘Don’t look at those books, they’re mine!’ ‘Don’t leave the house without me!’ ‘You don’t need to do that, it’s not safe.’ ‘Why do you want to ferret out all that stuff?’”

      Had it really seemed that bad to her? “I wanted to keep you safe. We don’t know anything about the vampire or vampires who made you and Jane.”

      “Ignorance isn’t synonymous with safety.” She had a point there. “I need to know who I am.”

      Fair enough but…“Aside from the renegade vamp, I have this hideous fear when you do uncover your identity, you’ll discover you have a husband and five children somewhere.”

      She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t speak to the husband, but I don’t feel as if I’ve been married. And I can vouch for no offspring.”

      “How do you know?”

      “Justin told me.”

      “How the hades did he know?” Justin’s centuries of existence meant certain powers but…

      “He gave me a complete physical. I’ve never given birth.”

      The full import of that hit him like a blow in the chest. “You mean you let Justin…!”

      She tugged his hand. His fingers clenched hers. “Lighten up, Tom! Justin is a physician. Remember?”

      He was doing his best, but it wasn’t easy. No one was touching Angela but him. “Of course I do! I just don’t see why you had to…Was it his idea?”

      “Of course not!” Her glare suggested their new-found amity might be very short lived. “I asked him. I wanted to know as much about my ghoul’s body as possible. I could hardly knock on the door of the local National Health doctor, now could I?” He conceded the point with a grudging nod. “Justin was the only choice, and as I СКАЧАТЬ