Praise for Bonnie Vanak

“Wolf shapeshifter Damian Marcel races against time to save Jamie Walsh, the woman destined to be his mate, from a curse that is slowly turning her to stone…. Bonnie Vanak’s Enemy Lover offers nonstop excitement and great sexual tension.”

—RT Book Reviews

BONNIE VANAK

fell in love with romance novels during childhood. After years of newspaper reporting, Bonnie joined an international charity and tours destitute countries to write about issues affecting the poor. She turned to writing romance novels as a diversion from her job’s emotional strain. Bonnie lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs. Visit her Web site at www.bonnievanak.com or e-mail her at bonnievanak@aol.com.

UNWRAPPED

BONNIE VANAK

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Dear Reader,

Have you ever received a gift you never anticipated—one that fulfilled your wildest dreams?

That’s what happens to the vampire hero of “Unwrapped.” Banished to his isolated Maine estate, Adrian is given a suspicious Christmas package by six green gremlins dressed as Santa Claus. The gift is Sarah—a lonely Draicon werewolf on the run from enemies wanting her dead, the same enemies Adrian must kill to regain his clan’s acceptance.

It will take everything these two have to destroy the killers after Sarah without surrendering to the feelings they both deny. But it’s Christmas and magick is in the air. What better magick than the power of love?

I’ve always believed the best gifts are expressions of the heart. When Adrian and Sarah learn to share their hearts, they receive a gift they will forever cherish.

I hope you enjoy Adrian and Sarah’s story in “Unwrapped.” I wish all the best for you this holiday season, and a lifetime of love and romance.

Happy reading,

Bonnie

For my mother, who taught me to believe in Christmas
magic and miracles. Miss you, Mom. Love you always.

Chapter 1

F or the sake of a werewolf, he was risking his life.

Adrian was a vampire. Powerful and fearless, he could move swifter than the eye could blink. But not now. Peeking over the gray ocean’s horizon, the rising sun began to sap his enormous energy.

He was doing all this for Sarah. She was a Draicon, werewolves who once used their magick to learn of the earth, who were now hunted by the more powerful Morphs—former Draicon who embraced evil by killing one of their own.

The Morphs shuffled forward on the beach, saliva dripping from their yellowed fangs. Adrian tensed, waiting to see if they would shift to attack. Sarah’s enemies could turn into any animal or insect.

A cluster of hooded vampires suddenly glided onto the nearby dunes. Clad in thick robes to protect them against the encroaching dawn, elders from his clan had come to rescue him. But they would not help until Adrian begged. Those were the rules. This was not their war, and he had broken with his clan to fight in it.

Vampires and werewolves can never be allies, his father always warned.

Sarah rushed past him, kicking up eddies of sand. She stabbed the Morphs in the heart with a steel dagger, killing them instantly. The Draicon was a tough little fighter, but he knew she couldn’t face her enemies alone. She’d asked Adrian to join her. No one else stood with her—not her pack, her sister or even her own father.

Only two Morphs remained, but where the hell had they gone? Adrian turned around. His heart jumped into his throat as he spied the pair shifting from seagulls, assuming their true shapes behind Sarah. Their dark, soulless eyes glowed red. With the last bit of his strength, Adrian sped to Sarah. He pushed her to safety and turned to take her enemy’s blows upon his weakening body.

Sensing his weakness, a Morph slashed his cheek with its razor-sharp talons. The creature howled in triumph as Adrian collapsed.

A collective hiss of disapproving anger echoed over the dunes. The Morphs turned and saw the vampires. Their shrieks of outraged fear turned into the cries of seagulls as they shifted and flew off.

He’d failed to defeat the enemy. The price would be banishment, if he lived long enough. Through a dazed fog of pain, he struggled to stand. Adrian held out a hand to Sarah. “Help me,” he told her.

Her terrified gaze whirled to the vampires. Iridescent sparks filled the air as she shifted. In wolf form, she raced off. Blood trickling down his face blurred his vision as he stared in grief-stricken disbelief. Sarah, the Draicon he secretly adored. Sarah, now leaving him to die.

The ocean’s tumultuous waves crashed over his trembling body, saltwater sealing the deep gouges on his face. The sun’s cruel rays touched his skin. A scream tore from his throat as he smelled his flesh scorching. Adrian finally pleaded with the vampires for aid. But instead of rescuing him, his family began mocking him in a chorus of singing laughter…

Singing?

Adrian Thorne struggled out of the throes of the dream that had haunted him for the past decade. In the darkness, he opened his eyes and then snatched up a thick burgundy robe and belted it on, marching toward the window. After depressing the button that opened the heavy metal shutters, he swung open the glass panes. Twilight glimmered on the waves crashing against the sweeping, pink granite bluffs below, reflecting the deep rose and crimson hues of a spectacular Maine sunset. Cold wind whistled inside, whipping back his shaggy black hair.

Adrian stared down at the scene on the deck of his two-story mansion. A chorus of green, grinning faces greeted him. Six gremlins dressed in Santa Claus outfits warbled an off-key rendition of “Jingle Bells.” Adrian winced and shouted down.

“Are you trying to raise the undead? Do them a favor, let them rest.”

“Adrian!” one squealed at him. “Come down and get your Christmas gift.”

“Dare I hope it’s peace on earth, or at least peace in my house?” he suggested.

As he shut the window, the gremlins belted out a rap song about “peas on earth.” Adrian shook his head and scrubbed the day stubble on his jaw. In a few days, elders from his clan would arrive for the winter solstice convocation. Ten years ago, his father, the clan’s leader, had banished him until Adrian restored his honor by killing the Morphs that nearly killed him. But Morphs feared a vampire’s power and though Adrian had funded numerous efforts to find them, he had failed to do so.

Only Sarah could lead him to her enemy. And she had vanished without a trace.

Downstairs, he went outside onto the wood deck, relishing the harsh winter wind stinging his cheeks. Squealing, the gremlins rushed over, the pom-pom balls on their Santa hats bouncing. The tallest, only four feet, had tinsel dangling from his pointed ears. Six faces beamed at him, showing rows of serrated teeth.

Snark, oldest of the six brothers, thrust a wrapped package at him. “Merry Christmas!”

Adrian felt a small tug of pleasure as he examined the shoebox-size package, his first gift in years. It was wrapped in gold-and-red striped paper that bore faint stains, and the red ribbon smelled like oranges and sour chicken. He raised a dark brow.

“Have you been rooting through the garbage again?”

A chorus of innocent nos with equally innocent looks confirmed his suspicions.

“Open it, open it,” they began to chant.

“We got you exactly what you wanted. Just add water and read the note,” Snark added.

Curiosity consumed him. He headed for the nearby pool house, the gremlins skipping in his wake. Inside, he switched on the soft overhead lights and sat at the wrought-iron table. Slowly he began to unwrap the present, wanting to make it last. The gremlins squealed with impatience.

Oh, very well. Adrian ripped the paper and tore off the box lid. He lifted a thin layer of tissue paper.

Beneath it lay the ugliest doll he’d ever seen. The smile died on his face. A black, Frankenstein-like scar snaked down the doll’s right cheek. Tufts of hair grew from a balding scalp. She was dressed in a lime-green polyester pants suit. A silver bracelet was included in the box, along with a small white card. He read the card. Congratulations, You are now the proud owner of a Sally Ugly Bunch doll. There was an 800 number and a Web site address at the bottom.

“Have fun playing with your gift!” Snark chortled, and they scampered off.

A hollow ache filled his chest as he lifted the doll. His fingers stroked the deep gouges on his left cheek. The doll stared sightlessly back at him, its own scar mocking him. Adrian glanced in the direction the gremlins took.

“I thought you were my friends,” he whispered.

Grief twisted and writhed like hissing snakes in his belly. Primitive rage exploded, making his fangs descend. Adrian shook the doll, his voice a strong roar that echoed through the pool house’s open glass doors and over the five acres of his cliffside estate.

“Damn you!” He threw the doll against the wall.

“Ouch.”

He froze. Were the gremlins playing another trick? Snark said to add water. Adrian picked up his Christmas gift and marched outside. The pool was heated, and remained uncovered for the gremlins’ nightly swim. Wind billowed his robe, fluttering it open and exposing his strong, muscled legs. He flung the toy into the water.

Shock filled him as the doll began to thrash. Stiff limbs became arms and legs beating the water. The doll grew to life-size, dark hair sprouting from its balding head. No longer a doll, but a woman.

She sank, only to surface again. “Help me,” she choked out, before she went under.

This time she did not surface.

He was no hero. The last time he’d played the part, he’d been left to die. But he was no ogre, either. Shrugging out of his robe, Adrian dove into the pool. He swam underwater, grabbed the woman and dragged her upward. Swiftly towing his gift to the pool’s edge, he then climbed out and hoisted the woman up into his arms.

Inside the warm pool house, he gently laid her down on the tiled floor. He inhaled, taking her scent into his lungs. Fangs exploded in his mouth as a familiar hunger seized him.

Only one woman could cause this kind of volatile reaction. Stunned, Adrian took a closer look. The repulsive scar was gone, replaced by smooth flesh. Instead of a chubby moon face, bulbous nose and thin mouth, she had full lips, a pert nose, high cheeks and long lashes.

Shocked, he sat back on his haunches. Adrian bent closer. “My beautiful Sarah,” he whispered. “Just as lovely as when you left me. Traitor.”

She lay still as cold marble. Very gently, he turned her head to one side. Adrian straddled her hips. Decades ago, he’d given CPR to a little boy who’d nearly drowned. Now he avoided everyone and was dead inside. But maybe he could give life again.

He compressed her chest. She coughed, and a stream of water spilled out of her lips. Satisfaction filled him as color returned to her cheeks. He did another compression and she coughed again.

The delicate blue vein in her throat throbbed with life. Just as he’d always done in the past, he fought the ferocious urge to take her blood. Instead, he stroked her throat, marveling at the feel of satin skin beneath his caressing fingertips.

Blood pulsed just beneath smooth flesh, calling to him in a siren song. He hadn’t been near a woman in years, not even to feed. Adrian didn’t trust the darkness inside him. His private blood bank took care of his needs.

Clenching his fists, he stared at her lying beneath him. He envisioned Sarah naked, her long legs open, her body sultry and inviting. Flat on her back, the perfect position to sink his fangs, and his body, into her. The strong sexual pull he’d always experienced around her, and never fulfilled, roared to unwelcome life.

Sarah was forbidden. He’d hungered for her, would have given her the world, but destiny promised her to another of her kind. Adrian had honored her chastity, guarding it from all, even himself. He had never even kissed her.

He could not help himself now. His fangs lengthened, echoing the raw desire pooling much lower. Adrian leaned down, and brushed his mouth against hers. Warm, wet lips moved beneath his. She tasted as delicious as he’d imagined.

Enchanted, he deepened the kiss, moaning at the honey of her mouth. Adrian reluctantly drew away. How the hell had she gotten here? He fetched the note from the doll’s box.

“Dear Adreean,” (the gremlins had never learned to spell, despite his best efforts to teach them). “Puleze accept with thankz thiz fer letting uz stay on yur guezt houze without pay. We finds her after we smells wolfie when letting air out of car tyers in town. Put thee bracelet on her and she cant do magickz. Meerry Chrismes.”

He crushed the note beneath his fingers. Adrian smiled darkly as he retrieved the silver bracelet. He had a pretty Christmas present. And he wasn’t about to let her go.

Not until she lured her enemies to his house so he could destroy them and gain admittance back to his clan. Take his rightful role as his father’s heir and future ruler of the powerful clan of vampires.

As he snapped the bracelet on her wrist, feeling the chilled, but soft skin beneath his fingertips, he only hoped the old feelings he harbored for her would not destroy him first.

Chapter 2

A naked man had kissed her. The warmth of his wet mouth had spread through her icy body like lava. Making her blood sing, filling her with life.

I’m hallucinating.

Shivering and coughing, Sarah Roberts tried to clear the thick haze in her mind. Her eyes fluttered open. She tried to get a bearing on her surroundings. Her powerful senses picked up distant waves crashing against rocks, the mournful howl of a bitter wind skirting over the cliffs, smelled chlorinated water.

She was wet.

Remembering her pursuers, Sarah bolted upright. She raised her hands to ward off the enemy. A curious draining sensation made her limbs lethargic. Her gaze fell to the circle of silver encasing her right wrist.

Trapped by silver, she couldn’t shift or perform magick. Terror and confusion collided together. Sarah fisted her badly shaking hands. They wanted her afraid. The Morphs would feed on her fear as she lay dying. Let them try. She’d go down fighting. A growl rumbled deep in her throat.

“Feisty little thing, aren’t you?”

The deep timbre of the sensual voice sounded both familiar and dangerous. She inhaled and a delicious, spicy scent filled her senses, tugging at her memories. This was no Morph. She smelled vampire.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Ho, ho, ho.”

She knew that voice. From where? Sarah turned. A man sat on a chair, a damp robe clinging to his powerful body. His face was hidden, his body silhouetted by the outdoor lights ringing the pool. The scent of chlorine covered him, as well.

He’d briefly, sweetly, kissed her. No, not a man, but something much more powerful and deadly, someone she knew. Her fingers grasped her wet clothing with growing dismay.

Yuck. Polyester. How did she wind up wearing this?

Then she remembered.

She’d been driving home after visiting distant relatives in Maine in hopes of finding a mate and had been in such a rush that she’d failed to wear the perfume that usually masked her scent. The Morphs picked up her trail. And sensing a vampire nearby, and knowing how Morphs feared them, Sarah detoured through the tiny seaside town of Anderson. But in town, the aging Ford’s transmission finally bought it. A band of gangly Santas cheerfully bearing tools offered help. But instead of Mr. Goodwrench, she got…

Gremlins.

They had been in human form, then shifted into little green headaches. They took the watch from her wrist, chanted something, and she found herself trapped inside a plastic body.

She gingerly touched her temple, recalling the man’s warm mouth moving over hers.

“Why did you kiss me?” she accused the silent figure.

“I saved you from drowning.” The man stood and hovered over her, his face in shadow. “It’s called CPR,” he drawled.

He bent over, grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. Surprised by his strength, she studied her rescuer. The gap in his robe revealed an intriguing triangle of muscled chest. Fascinated, Sarah reached out to run her hand over it.

He stepped back. “Get out of those clothes. I have towels and a warm robe.”

Panic raced through her. “I’ll just dry off like this.” Sarah shook her body, flinging water droplets.

“I would expect as much. You always were very much the wolf.” Stray moonbeams glinted off two gleaming fangs as he flashed a humorless smile.

She shivered. But an odd, poignant yearning collided with instinctive caution. The vampire turned his face to the light. Sarah recoiled in startled recognition. Once she’d thought he was the world, then her world changed and everything spun around like a crazy carnival ride.

“Oh, Adrian.” Joy filled her as she stepped forward to hug her old friend. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

He swept her a courtly bow, his gaze mocking as he straightened. “A valid assumption, Sarah, since the last sight I had of you was of your lovely ass racing away as I was dying. I believe we have a score to settle.”

He hadn’t forgotten or forgiven. Sarah dropped her arms. “How did you find me?”

“My little green friends are quite adept at flushing out scents, especially wolf, since few Draicon invade my territory.” His white teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

“Adrian, you’ve got to take the bracelet off. The two Morphs that escaped are after me and if they come here, you’ll be caught in a very personal, ugly war.” Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “I don’t want to do that to you again.”

Adrian raised a dark brow. “You’re not leaving. Not until you help me settle old business.”

He flicked a switch and light flooded the room. Two deep gouges demarcated his cheek.

Sarah smothered a gasp with the back of her hand. “You can’t get hurt, you’re a vampire.” Contrary to human myth, vampires were living, breathing creatures born to their extraordinary powers. Their beauty, swiftness and grace made them deadly enemies.

The sneer on Adrian’s mouth became more pronounced. “Do you like the artwork? The sunlight weakened my ability to heal.”

Her hand automatically went to her bad leg. “Adrian, I didn’t want to leave you, but your family had arrived. I knew they would rescue you.”

A shadow chased across his face. Was it regret? “Did you assume as much? They would not. My clan’s code forbade rescuing me after I broke the rules unless I humbled myself by begging for help. So I begged, they saved me and then banished me for a decade. I’ve been alone, except for the gremlins, my daylight guardians.”

“I don’t understand your people. Why should you have to beg for help?”

“Because I’m the next in line to lead our clan, and when I break a rule, it holds more consequences than if the others do it. My punishment is greater. The rules were meant for a reason, to keep me safe and separate me from all except our people.” Adrian looked as if the confession pained him.

Shock slapped her like a wet towel. “You’re Marcus’s heir? You never said anything.”

“Because I didn’t want you to feel intimidated or treat me differently. When you asked for my help, I gave it to you, despite my father’s angry objections.” Ice coated his voice as he stepped closer. “I never imagined you’d run away when I needed you most.”

His warm breath feathered over her chilled skin. “Do you know what it’s like for a future leader of the most powerful vampire clan to be defeated by the enemies of another species? To admit a weakness to his family? To cast aside all he is and condemn himself to years of solitude? It’s not half as agonizing as feeling your flesh burn until you’ll say anything, do anything, to escape the sun.”

She could feel the heat of his barely banked rage as if emanating from that very sun, but this heat held an icy blast. Sarah wrapped her arms about herself.

“I didn’t realize…”

“I abandoned my family and took the side of a werewolf. I did it all for you, because you asked me.”

His voice dropped to a bare whisper. “Once I would have done anything for you.”

Her heart stilled. “I called you a couple of days after the battle to see how you were recovering, but the phone was disconnected. And I couldn’t risk more than that phone call, much as I wanted to go back to you. It was too dangerous for us.”

“I was already gone, banished to Maine, and shunned by all other vampires.”

“I’m sorry, Adrian. I never thought it would come to this.”

“It has.” Icy-blue eyes met hers. “And now you’re mine.”

A slight shiver skated up her spine at the possessive note in his voice. She had to put distance between them. The Morphs were dangerous, but the feelings she still harbored for this vampire were also lethal.

“Revenge is an asinine motivation,” she told him.

“Not revenge, Sarah. Something much more important.” His expression hardened. “You’re very necessary to me right now. If I can’t find and defeat the Morphs who escaped me, I’ll be banished for good and never rule the clan after my father steps down.”

She closed her eyes against the coolness in his gaze. Once she had basked in the warmth of his presence, cherished their time together as they met in secret. Ignoring stern warnings from their families, they’d formed a close friendship eleven years ago, linked by a common love of old movies, books and engaging discussions about world affairs. Sarah’s pack was wary of vampires, and his clan disdained all Draicon.

And then she asked Adrian to fight with her against her enemies because she could not face them alone. Never had she imagined he would pay such a terrible price.

Little could be done about the past. She must focus on the present. Her father was safe for now, entrenched among the human world after she’d phoned him last night. But he’d worry, and track her down if she didn’t get home to Connecticut by Christmas. James was blind. Without her, he couldn’t go anywhere without resorting to magick. And magick would leave a bright spectral trail for the Morphs to follow, as shiny as gold coins winking in the sunshine.

“If I could have changed things, I’d never ask you to stand with me. But you can’t keep me here now.”

“You’re my Christmas gift. I never return gifts.” He circled around her with a vampire’s deadly grace and lethal quiet.

Her chest felt hollow as she realized her friend was gone for good. In his place was a dangerous vampire who wanted to use her as he wished. With the bracelet on her wrist stripping her powers, she was helpless against him.

I’ll find a way out. She must. Her father depended solely on her.

In the moonlight Adrian’s blue eyes gleamed like lasers. He caught her in one hand beneath her chin. Breath caught in her throat as he studied her face as an artist would study a sculpture in progress. His gaze dropped to the slender curve of her neck.

“Like what you see?” she snapped.

“You’ll do nicely.” He dropped his hand.

“For what? I warn you, I bite.”

A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. “So do I.” He leaned closer. “My bite is better than yours. You wouldn’t feel anything, except a slight sting, and then…ecstasy. I make women cry out, even scream before they faint from the pleasure.”

Sarah’s insides tightened at the thought of his warm mouth pressed against her chilled skin. Kissing his way up her throat, those white fangs sinking into her neck as she clutched him, moaning as he suckled her.

Hunger flared on his face. She waited in breathless anticipation to see if he would finally capitulate to the need driving him each time they were near. But he only snagged a thick terry-cloth robe from a clothes-peg and draped it over her shoulders. “You’ll find out soon enough what I want. In the meantime, let’s get you into the house and warm.”

Chapter 3

S itting at the kitchen table, Sarah kept her face expressionless. Once his friend, now Adrian’s captive. Though she had to admit, it was a beautiful prison.

The mansion was tasteful and welcoming. Brown leather sofas and overstuffed fabric chairs sat before a river rock fireplace in the living room. French doors that opened to the pool deck held a stunning view of the jagged cliffs and moonlit ocean beyond. A recessed bar featured gleaming crystal stemware and a wine rack. Inside a locked glass cabinet was Adrian’s rare collection of Revolutionary War muskets and cannonballs. Books were strewn about the coffee table. Seeing the wine and books had given her a pang of nostalgia, remembering the times they’d spent talking about books while sipping the fine vintages Adrian liked to collect.

He’d shown her to a lavish bedroom. Adrian allowed her to shower. Sarah had sighed with pleasure at the luxury of all the hot water she needed. By the time she’d emerged from a bathroom the size of her apartment, she’d seen that her battered suitcase now sat on the plush blue rug. She’d dressed in a cranberry sweater, her one pair of good black corduroy trousers and boots, and went downstairs. The designer jeans, the ones she’d sweated and saved for, were in shreds. Adrian actually looked slightly abashed when she told him.

“I apologize. The gremlins’ taste usually runs to Dolce & Gabbana, not Guess.”

He offered to purchase another pair. Sarah demurred. Adrian could afford to buy a yacht filled with Guess jeans, but she didn’t take handouts.

Sarah now studied her captor. Adrian stood well over six feet, with wide shoulders and a hint of muscle beneath his clothing. In black wool trousers, a black silk shirt and designer loafers, he had an air of elegance and sophistication.

He was breathtakingly handsome. Heavy, dark brows sat over sharp blue eyes. His chin was strong and square, his lips sensual and full. Dark brown hair fell almost to his collar, clipped shorter than when she’d last seen him. The two deep gouges on his left cheek stood out in stark relief. Even the scars did not mar his beauty, but gave him a dangerous look.

Arms folded, Adrian leaned against the Sub-Zero stainless refrigerator.

“Release me, Adrian. I have to get back home, where it’s safe.”

“Back to your mate? He can’t protect you as much as I can.”

Arrogant, confident vampire. “I have no pack anymore, and no mate.”

His expression remained hooded. “He’s out there. You’ll find him eventually, as all Draicon do with their destined mates.”

“If they’re still alive. Mine isn’t. My destined mate died long ago.”

Was that surprise flaring in his keen gaze? “You were waiting to find him when we were friends. I honored your commitment to mate with him. I never even…”

His voice trailed off, but she knew what he meant. Never even kissed you.

She bit her trembling lip, remembering his soft kiss after he’d rescued her from the pool. “He was killed when I was just a child, years before you and I ever met.”

Adrian’s mouth thinned. “Your father told me he was alive.”

“James was afraid of you becoming too friendly with me. Draicon males can scent when another male has been…intimate with a female. And a vampire, well, a vampire is to the Draicon, you know.”

“No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? Lay it out, Sarah. What are we? Enemies?”

Bitterness lashed his voice. He looked as remote as the Arctic.

“You know your clan and my father would never approve of us,” she whispered. “Your own clan punished you for taking my side. My father warned that vampires and werewolves can’t be friends. Our passions run too high. Family loyalty must come first or we lose everyone close to us. You and I…”

Words hung unspoken in the air. We were never meant to be.

“I already lost my clan for ten years and high passions can also make for very pleasant pastimes, Sarah,” he said in a dangerously soft voice.

“Why did you bring me here, Adrian?”

“I’ve never taken a werewolf before. I hear they are quite wild in bed.”

Tendrils of heat curled through her at the image of his muscular body naked as he turned to take her into his arms. Adrian’s gaze burned into hers.

“What do you really want?” she asked again, her heart racing.

“You.”

He glided toward her with inborn grace and bracketed his arms on the chair, caging her. She breathed in his masculine scent. Even among all the males of her kind, none had ever compared to Adrian.

Ice filled his gaze once more. “My clan won’t take me back until I restore my lost honor by defeating the Morphs I failed to kill. Any efforts I’ve made to find them have failed. My clan arrives in a few days for the convocation at midnight on Christmas Eve when I must prove I’ve killed the enemy. I need you to lure the Morphs here for me.”

Real fear replaced rising desire. “I’ve hidden from these Morphs for ten years and now you want me to be bait? You must hate me, Adrian.”

His gaze softened. “I would never allow them to touch one hair on your pretty head. I’ll protect you, Sarah.”

“And during the day?” She tried to push away, but he kept a firm grip on her chair.

“The gremlins will watch over you. Their magick is very powerful.”

“Oh, sure. They managed to convince me that they could fix my car. That’s magick.”

His mouth crooked up in a charming grin. “They did fix your car instead of eating the engine. I’d say that was very good magick.”

The grin stilled her. She saw the old Adrian, full of mischief and fun. For a moment, time slid back. How she wished she could have told him the full truth when she pleaded for his help that night on the shore.

Regrets were a waste of time. “You don’t seem to understand. These Morphs will stop at nothing until I’m dead.”

“Why do they want you so much, Sarah? There’s a host of other Draicon out there to feed off. What is it about you they crave?”

Raising her chin, she met his hard look with a brave one. “James and I are on our own. We’re packless, and more vulnerable because we have no one to stand with us against an attack.”

“What happened to your mother and sister?”

Tears burned in her throat. “Dead, that day you and I fought on the beach. My father and I ended up running for our lives.”

He looked stunned. “I’m sorry, Sarah. How did it happen?”

“An unexpected enemy killed them.”

Adrian pulled out a chair, sat beside her. His gaze sharpened even as he held her hand in a comforting gesture. “That day we fought on the beach, you said you needed my help because your pack was protecting your mother. She was pregnant with the heir, and your sister and father stayed behind to guard her, as well. So what happened? Where’s your pack?”

She said nothing.

“Tell me.”

His voice carried a hint of command, layered with a vampire’s natural enthrallment. Sarah fought against it.

“They scattered. It’s a moot point, okay? What’s important is the Morphs after me will destroy anything and everything that stands in their way.”

He leaned closer, so close she could count the bristles shadowing his hard jaw. “Bring them on. I’ll defeat them for you, win back my clan’s approval. No Morph can best me.”

Power shimmered in the air. She didn’t doubt he could take on a legion of them without breaking a sweat. The ones he’d battled would never have scratched him, if not for the rising sun.

The Morphs could take her life. But Adrian could take her heart, and then shatter it like glass. She’d spent the past decade picking up the shards of her former life. Hadn’t she already endured enough?

Sarah pushed away from the table. He blocked her way. Adrian’s long fingers gently caught her wrist. “You will stay here.” His thumb stroked over her skin, creating a flare of pulsing desire. “I’ll keep you safe, Sarah.”

His touch soothed her. For a moment she wanted to stop running, and fall into his arms. Sarah pulled away from the temptation. Never would she allow anyone to draw close. There was no one she could trust, especially not Adrian.

His eyes grew brilliant as he watched her. White ringed the blue irises, as if they shimmered with light.

“The Morphs who are after me have learned a few tricks. I can’t stay here.”

Adrian released her wrist. “I’ve learned a few tricks, as well. And so have you, to evade them, and me, all these years. Why did you run away from me, Sarah? Such a mystery. I will find out why.”

She hid a wince as cramps tightened her left leg. Sarah drew in a deep breath, working past the pain. Shoulders squared, she studied her captor.

“If you’re done with the inquisition, I’d like to go to bed.”

A slow smile touched his mouth. “Do you?”

Her heart gave a funny little jerk. “Maybe I’ll settle for a walk on the beach,” she muttered.

Adrian raised a dark brow. “It’s cold on the shore.”

Not as cold as it is in here. “I’ll survive.” She gestured to carving knives on the counter. “Those steel?”

Adrian nodded.

Gritting her teeth against the pain of her bad leg, she tried to walk normally to examine the blades. But it proved impossible. Her left leg pulled like a lead weight.

A frown touched his face. “Did I hurt you when I threw you into the pool?”

“You can’t hurt me,” she shot back. “I’m tougher than that silly doll.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She selected two knives, slid both through her belt. Adrian watched.

“Since when do you arm yourself to walk on the beach?”

Her chest felt compressed. “Since my old life went to hell. But you wouldn’t know anything about what that’s like.”

“Hell isn’t reserved exclusively for Draicon,” he said quietly.

Arms folded, he looked down at her, power surrounding him like a dark cloak. Sarah’s heart gave a little lurch. She dared to place her hand on his arm, feeling the tensile muscles tighten.

His eyes darkened. Then Adrian jerked free of her touch and walked away. Just as she had walked away from him years ago. At the doorway, he paused and spoke over his shoulder.

“Take my coat from the hall closet.”

Warmth surrounded her as she shrugged into Adrian’s fur-lined black cashmere coat. She almost moaned in delight from the toasty feeling, the delicious scent that was uniquely his.

A cold ocean breeze whipped at her hair as she went outside. Pebbles crunched beneath her boots as she followed the pathway down the cliff to the sandy beach. Craggy cliffs, laced with outcroppings of pink granite, stood as a silent sentinel over the horseshoe-shaped bay.

Sarah watched the white froth of angry ocean waves. Salty spray stung her cheeks, but the briny air rejuvenated her. She and James had lived in urban centers, avoiding the pricier areas they couldn’t afford.

After years of hiding, she and her father had finally settled, found jobs and had a little money. Their savings wouldn’t even cover one month of Adrian’s electric bill, but it was theirs. Now, thanks to her expedition to find a mate for herself and a pack for her father, they’d been discovered by the enemy. All for nothing. Her distant cousin Cameron hadn’t wanted her any more than the other males she’d sought out.

Oh, the pack had been friendly and Terrence and Elaine, the alpha couple, couldn’t have been nicer. Cameron even liked her. But then her cousin had “accidentally” caught sight of her as she emerged from the shower. The towel had covered all essential parts, except her legs. The shock on Cameron’s face had quickly turned to revulsion. He’d left the house, leaving his parents puzzled and asking questions she didn’t want to answer. Filled with shame, she’d given polite excuses and left.

Relishing the stinging spray on her face, Sarah began to hunt for sea glass. The simple pleasure washed away the hurt of Cameron’s rejection, the uncertainty about being Adrian’s captive. Something in the water caught her eye. Fish, jumping and leaping in the water, grayish moonlight glinting off their silvery scales. Suddenly the water began to churn.

Sarah backed off instinctively, drawing closer to the cliffs. The boiling mass in the ocean swam closer. Her blood ran cold as an explosion of white, sightless crabs spilled onto the shore.

Morphs.

Don’t panic. She forced concentration, dragged in their scent. Morphs could mask their scent, but a skilled Draicon could detect a faint trace of their original packs. These were clones. Not as powerful, but still deadly. Oh, sweet mercy, they were coming after her.

Do something!

Sarah ran. She could hear them closing up behind her, their claws eager to snap at her flesh. Panic squeezed her throat. She forced it down, whirled. Both knives came out with practiced ease. See them as they really are, they’re evil, they’re killers.

Thoughts of Adrian loaned her strength as she remembered how he’d fearlessly engaged them. Shoulders thrown back, she screamed, “You can’t do this to me anymore. Come on and fight me, bastards.”

The mass of Morphs shape-shifted. Nausea boiled in her stomach.

“Oh, rats,” she muttered.

A mass of dark rodents streamed toward her. Holding out the knives, she stood ready to pounce. They ground to a halt a few feet away. Dark power shimmered in the air as a rat shifted to a human form. A sob wrenched her throat.

It was a clone, an exact imitation of someone who’d loved her. The one person she’d sworn to never, ever forsake.

“Sarah,” it whispered into the night wind.

It shifted again, the face contorting, body twisting. Sarah lowered her weapons.

“Why?” she asked brokenly.

Something rushed past her like a spinning tornado. She caught Adrian’s tangy scent. In helpless anguish, she stood as if her feet were nailed to the pebbled sand. Movement blurred the air as the vampire killed the Morphs. One shifted into its true form, a hunched creature with yellow fangs, a red, wet twist of a mouth yawning wide-open.

In the blink of an eye, Adrian stabbed it in the heart. The Morph gave a dying shriek and dissolved into thick, gray ash.

Wind spun the dust of her dead enemies into a cloud. Something was clattering violently. Her teeth.

Adrian glided over, clasped her wrists, making her drop the knives. He gently rubbed her arms. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head.

“Sarah, why didn’t you defend yourself?”

Wordlessly, she stared downward. Shame covered her like a wet blanket of fog. She could not voice her darkest fear. Not to him.

He pulled her against his muscular chest.

She collapsed against him, cherishing the feel of his arms drawing tightly around her. For the first time in years, she felt safe. He stroked her hair, each caress a soothing rhythm that settled her raging nerves.

Adrian rested his forehead against hers. “I told you I could handle them,” he murmured. “You have nothing to fear.”

Letting him this close was dangerous. He could break her heart and it would hurt worse than a thousand lacerations from a legion of Morphs. Sarah jerked away. “Yes, I do.” You.

Wearily, she pushed back the hair from her face. “These were scouts, flushing out my scent. The original is hiding in the shadows, waiting to amass any weaknesses in your territory before it attacks.”

Damn, she was tired. No sustenance since she’d left Terrence’s pack. Combined with the silver bracelet draining her energy, she felt ready to drop.

As she turned to leave, her bad leg seized up. Stifling a cry, she pitched forward as her vision went gray.

Chapter 4

A drian swore a low oath. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her into the living room. Her soft body felt good cradled against him. He laid her on one of the leather couches.

Her complexion was too pale, her cheeks looked slightly sunken. She needed food.

Covering her with a forest-green throw, he returned to the kitchen. Adrian opened the refrigerator. Nothing. There was a thick steak in the freezer. He placed it in the microwave.

While waiting for the beef to defrost, he perched on the sofa. Long, dark eyelashes brushed against the pale hollows of her cheeks. Her rosebud mouth was slightly open. Adrian stroked hair away from her face. When had she grown so thin and pale? The Sarah he knew was healthy, curvy and filled with laughter.

Pulled irresistibly by desire, he leaned close. He, the vampire who could have any female in his bed, had not taken a lover since the day Sarah walked into his life. She had waltzed in and stolen his heart as easily as she’d captured his friendship. Eleven years ago Sarah had boldly ignored the dividing lines between vampire and Draicon. She’d knocked on the door of his North Carolina beach home, asking for permission to hunt on his private lands during the full moon. Deeply curious about the lovely Draicon, Adrian had granted it, and had spent the night watching Sarah chase prey and then frolic in the churning, silver-splashed surf. When she’d shape-shifted back into her human form and thanked him, they’d started joking together about old, campy Hollywood vampire and werewolf films.

The microwave dinged, interrupting his thoughts. A few minutes later he carried a plate of rare roast beef to the living room. He waved it beneath her nose.

“Wake up, Sarah. You need food.”

Slowly she opened her eyes and sat. Her nostrils flared as she saw the fresh meat.

Adrian sensed her deep pride fighting with the ravenous hunger. He set the plate down on the coffee table and walked to the window.

Soon as he did, he heard her quietly gulp down the meal. His heart ached. When had she last eaten? What the hell had become of her?

Why should he care? He hated to admit he still did.

He could not afford to care. After dispatching her enemy, he must send her on her way. Arms folded, he stared into the darkness. Any desire he had for Sarah must be controlled. Adrian was his father’s heir, and no one would stand between him and his clan ever again.

Adrian studied the shadows. He spoke over his shoulder. “I’ll place safeguards around the property to protect you.”

“They’ll find a way inside. Even your powers can’t stop them.”

His temper flared at the insinuation he was weak, but he held his anger. “I doubt it. You have no idea of the full extent of my powers,” he murmured. “But it’s obvious they’ve grown stronger. The new tricks they learned include cloning themselves and shifting faster.”

“They prefer attacking as wolves, the original Draicon form. Takes less energy. They shift into their true Morph form to feed.”

“I remember that. What else should I expect?”

The plate clanked down. “Everything. Everything beyond your darkest dreams, your worst nightmares.” She added quietly, “Or mine.”

Something inside him twisted at her pain. He wanted to pull her into his sheltering embrace, let her rest there. Eradicate everything she’d felt the past years, and restore the wide smile she’d once always worn. Fisting his hands, he steeled himself against the temptation. But he must know why she abandoned him.

Adrian sat beside her on the sofa. “Why did you leave me, Sarah? Was it to save your own skin? Tell me.”

Damn, he hated to use his enthrallment, the command in his voice no one, not even a stubborn Draicon, could resist. But he must find out, so they both could move on.

“Never. I would have died with you. I had to get home, save her.”

“Save who, Sarah?” he demanded.

“I knew what was happening, I was stupid, ignored the danger signals, I didn’t want to believe it…my mother, screaming…”

The sob wrenched from her throat stabbed his heart. He waved a hand before her face. “Hush,” he soothed. “You will sleep tonight, sleep well and remember only pleasant memories.”

She blinked. Her hand slid over his, the warmth of her skin flooding him with the need to touch her further. Adrian stared down at her fingers encircling his. He lifted her work-scarred knuckles and kissed each one.

Contact sizzled between them. A fierce longing seized him. Couldn’t help the wanting, the deep need to bury his body and his fangs deep inside her, so deep she could never get rid of him, would always carry his scent, the imprint of his passion. He wanted all of her, the Sarah who had laughed with him, bravely faced her enemies, the woman whose laughter sounded like the pealing of tiny silver Christmas bells.

He could not have her. Adrian dropped her hand.

“Go to bed,” he said, retreating back to the window.

“I never like to be in debt to anyone,” she told him. “If I’m to stay here, then I insist on paying my way.”

Adrian turned and studied her clean but threadbare clothing, her slender shoulders stiff with dignity. Sarah could not pay him. But he knew well the importance of maintaining one’s pride.

“Take charge of the delivery of fresh blood tomorrow from my private blood bank and stock the refrigerator. When I rise, have a bottle warmed and ready. That will suffice for payment.”

As he heard her murmur good-night, he did not voice the other payment his heart longed for with all his might.

And kiss me, Sarah. Kiss me and let me hold you in my arms, and shut away the weary world.

Chapter 5

S arah snapped awake in the darkness. The digital clock on the nightstand read 3:00 p.m. She switched on a lamp. Adrian had shuttered the windows against the glaring sunlight.

Last night, she’d called her father, trying to reassure him all was well and she’d experienced a slight delay. But he didn’t buy it. If she weren’t home two days before Christmas, he would fetch her himself.

A shower cleared her muzzy head. Afterward, she sorted through her battered suitcase for fresh clothing, selecting a powder-blue turtleneck and faded jeans.

Except she couldn’t find her good bra.

A loud thud sounded. Outside, someone was having target practice.

She went downstairs.

Sunlight beamed through the mansion’s lower floor. Adrian had thoughtfully left all the shutters open, either for her or his gremlin friends. She peered through the French doors.

Her heart went still, then anger raced through her. Sarah grabbed her worn sheepskin jacket and raced outside. Her breath fogged the crisp winter air. Ice crystals formed on overhanging tree limbs. New snow blanketed the grounds, the brightness of the day nearly hurting her eyes.

“Hey, stop it!”

With military precision, the six green gremlins had lined up Adrian’s antique cannonballs. In the distance was a dummy. Two gremlins stretched out her white garment on either side, as a third placed two cannonballs inside. A fourth pulled it back like a slingshot.

“Incoming!” the gremlin bellowed, sending the balls flying toward the dummy.

They were using her bra as a launcher. Her one good bra she’d bought in a half-price sale at Macy’s.

Sarah raced forward, snatched it from their startled grasp. “That’s mine,” she snapped.

“We’s need it for target practice,” the shortest protested. “It was the only thing that fit the ammo.”

“Get your own,” she grated out, staring in dismay at the stretched garment. Rust smeared the pretty white satin.

“In any war, there’s sacrifices,” the tallest stated. He peered up at her. “Adrian said there was a battle, and we’s should prepare to remove the heads of the enemy.”

Sarah wished she could take off their heads. “By fighting with my bra. Oh, that’s rich. Adrian said your magick was powerful. I’d be better off guarded by the Three Stooges.”

White sparks of power filled the air, nearly knocking her off her feet. Her gaze swiveled to the target. She stared at the smashed dummy, blown to bits by the burst of energy zinging from the gremlin’s fingertips.

“Then again,” she murmured.

The tallest gremlin blew at his index finger as if it were a smoking pistol. He extended a green palm toward her. “Introductions are necessary. Our mother always said we’s shouldn’t act as if we’s was raised in a barn…”

“Even though we’s were,” another chimed in.

She shook the proffered hands. Snark was the tallest, followed by his brothers, Trip, Grimace, Wedgie, Short and the smallest was 404.

“Named after the computer error message,” 404 told her.

Wedgie grinned, showing rows of pointed teeth. “Adrian said last night you had a bad case of crabs.”

Laughter bubbled up in her chest. She tossed the bra back at them. “Here. I have another. Besides, it’s ruined now. One question. Why did you dress me in polyester when you turned me into a doll?”

Grimace looked surprised. “We’s thought it would drain your magick. We’s used gloves, because it drains our magick. We’s terrified of it.”

“Makes sense,” she murmured. “It scares me, too.”

She glanced at the gray shingled home, sitting on the cliffs in aloof splendor as it overlooked a gray sea. Soon it would be turned into a battle zone. Her chest felt hollow with regret as she thought of Adrian dying on the beach, his clan silently waiting for him to call for help.

If I had only known….

Sarah turned her face to the sun. Light was her friend, for Morphs couldn’t use the shadows to hide. It was Adrian’s enemy, and had burned his flesh. If only she could take back that day.

When she went inside, the gremlins followed. She looked at them. “What are you doing?”

Trip looked surprised. “We keep Adrian’s home safe during the day and Adrian told us to make sure to guard you, as well.”

His edict touched her. No one had seen to her needs in a long time.

No one would again, after Adrian released her. As Sarah shrugged out of her jacket, a soft chime at the front door reminded her of the promise she’d made. After signing for the collection of blood, she unpacked the cold case and stocked the bottles in Adrian’s glass wine refrigerator.

The gremlins watched in silence. She turned to them. “How did you know it was me when you were in town?”

Snark looked impish. “Come with us.”

They led her to a dark study upstairs, switched on an overhead light. A massive mahogany desk and matching credenza dominated the room. On the desk sat an LCD computer screen.

“Adrian’s computer. He keeps tabs on all his businesses from here,” Short told her.

Grimace slid into the black leather chair, pushed a button on a slim tower sitting beneath the desk. The gremlin shot his brother an accusing look. “404, have you been playing games on the computer again?” He pointed to the blue screen.

“Oops,” came the reply.

Snark sniffed. “Short, nothing more.”

Short went beneath the desk, fiddled with cables. “This may take a few minutes.”

The clock indicated it was nearly sunset. Adrian would soon rise and be hungry. While the gremlins worked on the computer, Sarah fetched a bottle of blood. She warmed it in the kitchen and placed it on the counter for Adrian.

When she returned to the study, the computer was finally powering up. Grimace tapped a few keys. “This is how we knew who you were,” he told her as the computer kicked into screen-saver mode.

Breath fled her lungs.

A face stared at her from the screen. A face she barely recognized, molded into a laugh, eyes sparkling with life, the dark hair shining in the sun’s setting rays. Beneath the photo was a caption: Sarah Roberts, sunset on the beach.

Adrian put her photo on the computer.

Sarah’s finger traced the digitized cheek. Had she been that happy? She’d forgotten.

Adrian had not.

404 peered at the screen. “Where is this?”

“North Carolina. We were walking on the shore. Adrian insisted on testing his new camera. He said I was more photogenic than…”

“The prettiest sunset.”

The deep velvet voice came from the doorway. She turned. Fascination stole over her as she realized Adrian wore only black silk pajama bottoms. Never before had he exposed to her so much luscious, tanned skin. Broad, sculpted shoulders rippled with muscles. Muscles ridged his flat abdomen. She stared in fascination at his smooth chest, wondering what it would feel like beneath her exploring fingertips.

Her gaze flicked up, saw him studying her with dark intensity. She turned away, feeling heat flare on her cheeks.

“Your dinner, or breakfast, is in the kitchen,” she mumbled.

But he went to her, gently snagged her wrist. “Come with me. I hate to eat alone.”

She followed him to the kitchen. Adrian grabbed the bottle of blood, poured a glass and drank. Sarah watched in fascination as his throat muscles worked.

Suddenly he spewed out the contents. “Warm, unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid!” He gagged.

“I filled the bottle with blood just as you asked!” Sarah tensed, expecting him to yell.

Stunned, she watched him wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, throw back his head and laugh. Her appreciative gaze hungrily drank in his powerfully muscled body, the smooth firmness of his chest, the black satin pajama bottoms clinging to his long, athletic limbs.

Filled with amusement, those sunny blue eyes glanced at her. “The gremlins. I should have known. They’ve done this before, and I told them they would never pull this one on me again. They can’t resist a challenge.”

“Put a lock on the refrigerator,” she suggested.

“Tried that. They ate the lock. Said it was delicious.”

Together they burst into laughter. When they finally ceased, Sarah felt wistful for the emotional connection they’d shared—the vampire and the werewolf who liked to watch old movies and discuss books and theater.

When she asked if he worried about the gremlins, he grew serious.

“I took their blood, so I could track them. If one of them were dying, I’d instantly know it. I do it for everyone I care for, including my father, except I was required to take his blood. If my father dies, I instantly sense it and know I must assume leadership to keep the order.”

“Why didn’t you ever take my blood?” she asked.

He gave her an intent look. “I honored you too much, Sarah. If I took your blood, it would lead…to other things.”

He’d never touched her. Adrian’s sense of honor had guarded her chasteness.

To hell with honor, she thought suddenly. Does he want me?

The same funny flip of her heart happened again, this time combined with a powerful erotic tingling. Her gaze roved over the firm muscle and sinew of his body, the carved planes of his face, the sensuality of his full mouth. His dark brown hair was rumpled. Sarah started to lift her hands to run them through the soft strands.

Clenching her fists, she gritted her teeth. Survival and desire were not good companions.

But she wanted to push him downward, climb over him, run her tongue over that firm, smooth skin, taste him…

An intent look replaced his amused one. Adrian closed the distance between them. His long, tapered fingers slid around her neck, caressing the bare skin beneath the fall of her hair. Sarah’s body tightened with each slow stroke.

He pulled her toward him, his mouth lowering on hers. Sarah slid her arms around his neck, closing her eyes. Feelings surged through her at the languid way he kissed her. He deepened the kiss, coaxing her mouth to open beneath the insistent pressure of his.

His hand went to her breast, cupping the heavy weight, his thumb stroking over her hardening nipple. Sarah whispered encouragement as he touched her, each flick of his thumb making her blood run hotter, her body ache with ceaseless yearning.

When she reached behind him and cupped his taut buttocks, he shuddered with pleasure and broke the kiss.

Adrian nuzzled her neck, his hot breath feathering over her skin. He cupped her bottom, lifted her up against the cold steel of the refrigerator. He nudged her legs open, and stepped between them as she wrapped her thighs around his hips. Sarah arched against him, feeling the steely length in his groin. He lifted her so the opened juncture between her legs was centered against his hardness. Sarah dug her nails into his shoulders, tasted the tangy saltiness of his collarbone as she licked his flesh. She rubbed herself against him, gasping with pleasure, hearing him softly encouraging her to let go, surrender to it….

The feelings built to a crescendo, and with a tiny cry she let go. Her head hung back limply, sweat dampening her temples as she gasped for air.

Slowly he lowered her trembling body to the floor, his gaze burning into hers. Sarah ran a hand down his front, gliding over his flat abdomen, down to the silkiness of his pajama bottoms and his thick erection. She stroked through the thin covering, watching his heavy-lidded gaze darken.

Adrian growled deep in his throat, lowering his head to the vulnerable curve of her neck. She felt the erotic brush of his lips nuzzling her tender flesh, then the intriguing, sharp rasp of his fangs gently scraping her skin.

Ready to pierce, take her blood, marking her as his exclusively.

Reason returned like a hard slap to her cheek. Sarah jerked away, startling him. The dark intent in his eyes flared again as he regarded her.

“This is crazy,” she muttered, holding her hands out as if to stop him. As if she could stop him, this powerful vampire accustomed to getting anything he wanted. In her weakened state, he could topple her with the flick of a finger. He could take her blood, those long fangs sliding into her flesh and she couldn’t stop him, wouldn’t have the strength.

Or the will.

“I can’t do this. I’m still untouched, understand, Adrian? I’m a virgin because I need a mate of my own kind willing to take me in and that’s all I have to offer. I can’t go to another male marked by the scent of a vampire who took me and my blood.”

“Sarah, look at me,” he said quietly.

She didn’t want the enthrallment in his eyes to spellbind her. But the command in his tone made her lift her helpless gaze.

Hands clenched into trembling fists at his sides, he studied her. The haunted look on his face twisted her heart. She wanted to wrap her arms about him and never let go and give in to the passion they both shared.

It wasn’t possible.

“I will never, ever, do anything to hurt you. Do you understand? Even to the extent that it might hurt me. I will never do anything you don’t want me to.”

Slowly she relaxed, but his body tensed even more. He jammed a hand through his mussed hair. Something she couldn’t read flickered in his eyes.

“Have dinner with me. Tomorrow night.” His mouth twisted up in a mocking smile. “I promise I won’t bite. Please.”

Sarah nodded, leaving the room. Won’t bite. She could trust he wouldn’t.

But never trust herself not to want it.

♥ Uploaded by Coral ♥

Chapter 6

T he gremlins were having trouble with the Christmas tree.

All six struggled to straighten the seven-foot balsam pine delivered that afternoon. Fresh pine tickled her senses. Sarah smiled as she unpacked the boxes of decorations. She’d seen little of Adrian last night, as he had a meeting in town. Now she enjoyed watching the little green monsters try to best the tree. The tree was winning.

“It’s crooked,” she teased them.

“We’s know that,” Wedgie said. “We’s just trying to decide what to use to anchor it to the wall so it’s straight.”

“Sometimes whatever you have on hand works best,” she replied, and went upstairs to change for dinner.

An elegant, floor-length red dress was laid out on the bed. Sarah picked up the garment, stroking the red velvet designer dress. Two diamond clasps were at the shoulders, the bodice was a deep V. She spotted a note in Adrian’s firm, bold handwriting.

“Please indulge me and wear this tonight. The shoes are in the closet.”

Clutching the treasure, Sarah padded over to the room-size closet.

On the floor were red Jimmy Choo shoes. They fit perfectly. A smile touched her mouth as she headed into the shower.

Her cell chirped softly. Sarah’s heart sank when she saw the number. Terrence. Probably questioning her hasty departure. She answered it.

The startling conversation that followed filled her with joy and hope. When she closed the phone, she studied the bracelet holding her captive.

“Distant cousins or not, you and your father are family,” the alpha male had told her. “Cameron admitted what happened. He’s ashamed and wants to apologize. My mate and I would be honored if you and your father would join our pack. We’ll help you defeat your enemies, honey. Draicon must stick together.”

Draicon needed to stick together. Not Draicon and vampires. She could finally bring her father to a pack that wanted them.

Sarah fiddled with the silver binding on her left wrist. It was looser. The gremlins had made one mistake in fashioning the magick handcuff. They’d failed to take into account that the metal shrank in the cold outdoors, but would expand inside the warm house.

She tugged harder, succeeding in inching it a quarter of the way down her hand. Sarah stared at the bracelet. She was strong enough to yank it off now, if she risked the pain. Escape was in her grasp.

With trembling hands, she stroked the soft red velvet. One dinner with Adrian surely could not hurt. She had tonight. Tonight must be enough.

Even though in her heart she knew it could never be enough.

Sarah dressed carefully, pulling white silk stockings over her long legs, enjoying the swish of heavy velvet as it cascaded to her ankles.

The image staring at her in the mirror was stunning. Sarah touched the glass, hardly able to believe it was her. “I look pretty,” she murmured.

Jazz played softly in the background as she went downstairs. In the dining room a polished walnut table was set with china, sparkling crystal and heavy silver. A setting of red poinsettias and fresh holly adorned the center. But it was Adrian, clad in a black designer dinner suit with a white starched tie and pearl-buttoned shirt, who made her breath catch.

She murmured a compliment, gratified at the admiration in his own eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” he said in a husky voice.

Her hand lovingly caressed the red velvet. “Your favorite color.”

A roguish grin touched his full mouth. “The color of passion.”

The same color tinted her cheeks. Adrian’s smile deepened. He held out her chair, but instead of pushing it in, easily lifted the chair with her in it to the table. Sarah turned with a teasing look.

“Show-off.”

“Always,” he murmured, and they laughed.

He expertly uncorked a bottle of wine and sampled it. He poured her a glass. They sipped the vintage. Sarah sighed with pleasure.

“You always did appreciate the finer things in life,” he noted.

More so now than before, since I have no money, she thought. But she wouldn’t let even that gloomy thought ruin the splendid evening. She raised her glass.

“To Rick,” she offered.

His dark, heavy brows knitted together until comprehension dawned on his handsome face. “Ah yes, Casablanca.” He looked boyish suddenly as they clinked glasses. “We’ll always have Paris.”

Sarah drank and set her glass down. “I always wonder whatever became of him. Did he ever find happiness after the war, after letting go of his one true love?”

A mask dropped over Adrian’s face. He toyed with the stem of his glass. “Maybe he couldn’t let go emotionally, but kept her guarded in his heart, like a secret never shared with the world.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that.

Dinner was rare prime rib. Sarah ate heartily as Adrian drank from a crystal goblet filled with dark crimson liquid. She gestured to it.

“Did you put a new lock on the fridge?”

“No, I simply warned them if they tampered with my food supply anymore, no more Friday night DVDs.”

“The gremlins like to watch DVDs?”

“Not watch. Eat,” he replied.

They laughed again.

He leaned forward, reaching out for her hand. “I’ve missed your smile, Sarah.”

Her hand trembled in his. Adrian stroked a thumb slowly over her wrist, the burning intensity of his gaze filled with sexual promise. Her nostrils flared as she caught his delicious, woodsy scent. She studied the hardness of his body, wondering what his muscled weight would feel like lying atop her as he pushed inside her. Moisture trickled between her legs, preparing her flesh for him. She wanted him with a hot, insane need.

Sarah withdrew her hand.

“I need to tell you. The pack I visited, the alpha called and they want to take in my father and me. When I leave here, I’ll have a family again.”

His expression quickly shuttered. “I’m pleased for you.”

But he sounded distant, as if her news was an unwelcome reminder of the barriers sharply dividing their worlds.

They finished eating. Adrian led her into the living room. A window was cracked open, allowing in the cold ocean breeze. Glittering with gold garland, colored lights and brightly colored balls, the Christmas tree stood in a corner. Sarah walked over to it, murmuring with pleasure.

“I wonder how they got it to stay upright.”

A small, teasing smile touched the corners of Adrian’s mouth. “Look in the back.”

She did. Sarah stared at the white, rust-stained garment tied to the tree and nailed to the wall. Her bra.

“They needed something rather large and supportive.” This time he chuckled openly and she went to mock-punch him.

He caught her wrists as the music system began playing a sultry jazz tune. His playful expression turned serious. “Dance with me, Sarah.”

So few indulgences she’d enjoyed. For once, she threw caution to the wind. One dance. All she had was tonight, and Adrian’s own special brand of magick.

She went into his arms. He held her tight as she rested her head against his broad shoulder. Adrian guided her around the room, humming into her ear. Each shift of his body pressed his hard muscles against her softness. It felt good, so right, as if she belonged here. He rocked against her, eradicating everything but the thought of him. If only the night were endless, and the hours would never cease.

All too soon, they would. And soon she would leave him once more.

“The night I fled the beach, I whispered a promise to you.” Sarah’s throat tightened with the admission. “You were my only friend, Adrian, and it broke my heart to never see you again. So as I ran away, I promised I’d come back to you someday.”

He stilled, his expression filled with tenderness. “I never stopped looking for you. Needing to lure in your enemies was an excuse. It was you I searched for all these years, Sarah.”

When his lips captured hers, she sighed into his mouth. It was here and right, this moment, living only for the passion of his kiss. Adrian cupped the back of her head, tunneling his fingers through her silky hair. He kissed her with an urgent desperation, as if he never wanted to let her go.

As she kissed him back, she remembered he would have to release her. Their people despised each other. Adrian was needed as his clan’s future leader. A Draicon like her, especially a crippled one that no man wanted, could never fit into his world.

All too soon he broke the kiss. Torment filled his gaze as Adrian solemnly regarded her. She put a finger to his warm, wet mouth. “Don’t say a word. Just dance with me, for every moment we have left.”

They resumed dancing, Sarah resting her head against him. She breathed deeply, taking in his delicious masculine scent of pine and forest, mixing with a faint, odd fragrance of…fruity cologne.

A familiar tingling ran down her spine. She only experienced it when a certain Morph was present. Sarah wrenched away and ran to the French doors.

He was right behind her. “What is it?”

“They’re out there.”

Adrian frowned. “I can’t scent them.”

“They’ve learned to disguise their scent. I’ve discovered how to detect it. The Morphs last night were sent in to assess weaknesses and find their prey. Now that they know I’m here…”

Her voice trailed off. “But how could they track me so fast, especially since you killed all the ones last night?”

Adrian studied her with a calm look. Suddenly she knew.

“You let a couple escape to bring the others straight to me. Adrian, how could you?”

“I did what I must. The safeguards around the property will protect you.”

“And I warned you they can find a way past your damn safeguards. Killing them is everything, isn’t it? And here I thought I mattered.” She clenched her fists. “You’ll do anything to get your justice, and you don’t care who stands between you and them. Even me.”

“Not true, Sarah.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But why have you spent the past ten years running away instead of confronting them? You’re a fighter.”

“I’m not running now. I’m going out there to face them, even if they kill me.”

“Dammit, why won’t you tell me what’s really going on?” He pushed forward, crowding her until she was pressed against the glass doors. “Don’t you trust in my ability to defeat them? I told you I’d never let them hurt you.”

“It’s not that. I have to do this alone.”

His gaze sharpened. “Why, when before, we faced them together?”

“Because there’s one Morph I must find the courage to face by myself.” She slipped beneath his grasp.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

“Upstairs to change. Then outside, to do what I couldn’t do ten years ago.”

When would Sarah trust him? Adrian wondered.

He sped outside into the cold, bitter air. Adrian loosened his tie, dragged in a lungful of air, smelled nothing. Even his adroit senses could not pick them out.

But Sarah could. She had spent years learning about them, fleeing from them. It was quite possible they could break past his defenses.

He couldn’t let her rush headlong into danger. Even though you placed her in it, his conscience nagged.

Minutes later, dressed in old jeans, a faded Steelers T-shirt and her sheepskin jacket, she burst out onto the deck. Adrian snagged her about the waist.

“I have to show I’m not afraid,” she shouted, struggling to release herself. “Let me go.”

“Why now, Sarah?” His arms anchored her to him. She possessed the strength of her kind, but he was far stronger.

“Because I can’t run anymore, I have to make a stand.”

“Just like you did on the beach? When you trusted me to stand with you?”

Her struggles ceased. Dark eyes wide in her face, Sarah stared at him with a woebegone expression. Adrian’s heart lurched. “Sarah, together we can defeat them. You can’t fight them alone.”

“I have no choice,” she whispered brokenly. “This is my problem. My war.”

“No, you made it my problem and my war the day you asked for my help.”

Her gaze grew flat. She inhaled deeply. “The scent’s gone. They’re gone.”

They went back inside. Adrian crossed the living room to stand near the Christmas tree and touched a seashell ornament. A hollow feeling settled in his chest as he stroked his fingers over it. Sarah had made the ornament for him as a gift.

A sickeningly sweet odor filled his nostrils. He studied Sarah shrugging out of her coat. “Are you wearing perfume?”

“I only wear it to cloak my scent and haven’t since I’ve been here.”

“Odd,” he mused. “I smell citrus. But I never eat fruit and the gremlins detest anything healthy.”

Sarah went preternaturally still. “Oh, crap, why didn’t I see it before? Those defenses you set, the safeguards, they were against anything coming onto your property unless it was invited in, right?”

“Of course. Why?”

She lifted a trembling hand to the tree. “Because you invited them in, Adrian. They’ve been hiding in the Christmas tree the gremlins brought into the house. That’s how they got inside past your safeguards.”

He swore softly, and went to her when a swarm of insects flew out of the pine branches, flooding the room in a dark cloud. Adrian’s protective instincts flared. He threw Sarah to the ground, covering her as the mosquitoes flew at them.

They were trapped.

Chapter 7

T he whine of thousands of mosquitoes rang in Sarah’s ears. She lay still beneath Adrian’s sheltering weight.

“Adrian, don’t let them suck your blood or they’ll absorb your DNA and can clone themselves into you,” she told him.

As he pulled her upright, a wave of enormous power filled the air. The black cloud of mosquitoes buzzed and then hit the protective magick shield he’d erected around each of their bodies.

The cloud divided into two. Half shifted into a pack of snarling wolves. They balefully eyed Adrian, growling as they tested the shield again. The other half remained mosquitoes and flew out the opened window.

Adrian’s power filled the room with crackling heat. “Stay here, don’t move from this spot or you’ll break the shield’s protective boundaries. I’ll kill the ones that escaped.”

He sped outside. Yellowed fangs dripped saliva as the wolves growled. Sarah caught a familiar scent from the lead wolf. Her heart shattered as the tingling down her spine felt like an electrical shock.

She was here. The Morph that had pursued her for ten long years. Sarah fumbled with the silver bracelet on her wrist. Reddened eyes crazed with bloodlust stared her down. She willed herself to see the Morph as it really was. Evil, twisted, greedy for power. Not the Draicon who had loved her.

From the opened doors, she caught the scent of scorched earth, heard bellows of outrage followed by loud cheers. The Morph clones, shifted into a dozen fire-breathing dragons, were being hit with a spray of water from a garden hose by the gleeful gremlins. As the water extinguished their fire, Adrian destroyed each dragon. Breath caught in her throat as one dragon’s jaws clamped around his arm before he could kill it. As the dragon died, she felt a faint connection die, as well. Sarah bit her lip. One of the Morphs that escaped ten years ago was now dead. Only one original remained: the deadliest Morph.

She had to help Adrian. Years ago she’d failed to eliminate her enemy and had abandoned Adrian on the beach. It was time to stand with him and finally do what she couldn’t face all these years.

Sarah viciously tugged at the bracelet, wincing at the pain as it scraped her skin, leaving her hand bloodied. The bracelet slid off. Magick flowed into her, closing the flesh gouges in her hand. She stepped outside Adrian’s protective shield.

She waved her hands, dispensing of her clothing, and transformed into wolf. Bones lengthened, her face became elongated, fur erupted on her body. Sarah snarled at the enemy, baring strong, white teeth.

The lead Morph raised its head. The wolf’s howl sang out in her blood and bones.

Memories surfaced of home and a love she thought would never die. Sarah, Sarah, remember me?

She could not move, think or even speak, only stand there in mute remembrance. The Morph’s form shimmered as if it shifted again.

Sarah raised her head and returned the wolf song in a long, mournful howl of her own.

Teeth bared, the wolves sprang forward. Once again she’d been a fool. Sarah cursed inwardly and mentally guarded her thoughts as she summoned the courage to defend herself.

Suddenly a microburst of air ruffled the fur on her back. Adrian.

He became a stunning blur of speed, attacking and ripping out Morph hearts. Sarah stared with dulled shame at the dead Morphs as their bodies dissolved into ash on the finely polished grained wood floor.

He’d destroyed them all, and she’d done nothing.

Holes made from the Morph’s acid blood dotted Adrian’s fine dinner suit. Adrian waved his hands, replacing the ruined suit with jeans and a black T-shirt. A single droplet of sweat trickled down his temple. He whipped around. “I see you removed the bracelet. If you were so damn intent on taking them on yourself, why didn’t you attack?”

Adrian dropped to his knees, ran his hands over her luxurious gray fur. He buried his head against her neck. “Dammit, Sarah, they could have killed you.”

She shifted back, then waved her hands to clothe herself. Energy drained from her, leaving her cold and shivering. Adrian helped her to her feet.

She stared at the piles of ash. “I couldn’t.”

“Why? You’re not a coward. What is it about these Morphs?”

Her throat closed up. Maybe it was finally time to confide in someone. Finally trust. How could Adrian hurt her any more than she already hurt?

Sarah fled into the kitchen, away from her dead enemies. She was finally safe.

And yet she felt only fresh grief, as if someone had sliced open a wound and let it bleed anew.

Adrian’s pulse raced as he followed her. Sarah seemed as frail as fine-spun glass.

A merry tune filled the air as a whistling, soot-covered Snark strolled into the kitchen. “What next, Adrian?”

“There are piles of ash in the living room. Put all of it into containers, Snark,” Adrian ordered.

Sarah watched the gremlin leave. “Of course. Morph remains are your trophy, to prove you defeated the enemy. Your ticket back to your clan.”

Her breath hitched as if she struggled to contain her emotions. Adrian’s heart shattered. He waited for her to let it out.

Sarah stared out the window as she braced her hands on the sink. “You lost your clan for a while, but you can return. Not like us. You don’t know what it’s like to run and keep running, and survive and just pray you can hang on long enough to bear the cold digging into your bones, the hunger digging into your empty stomach, afraid to shift, afraid of your own damn magick leading a trail for your enemy to track and finally kill you. Never fitting in, never belonging. Living as humans, never able to be one of them. Always outsiders.”

She whirled, facing him. Moisture sprang to her beautiful brown eyes, shimmering like diamonds beneath the overhead halogen lights. Her body went rigid as marble. He knew her, her strength and pride, and refusal to succumb to weeping.

“I didn’t want you to be hurt, Adrian. I never would have abandoned you if not for…”

Guided by the despair on her face, Adrian went to her. Gently, he cupped her cheeks as he tenderly regarded her.

“What, sweet? Why did you leave? Tell me.”

Trust me, his expression urged. With all his heart, he hoped she would open up to him.

Her trembling hands clutched his wrists as if hanging on to a life preserver. “I had to save my mother.”

“Why didn’t the other males in your pack defend her?”

A sob caught in her throat. “Oh, Adrian,” she half laughed, half cried. “Don’t you get it? The Morphs we fought that day on the beach were my pack. I was too ashamed to tell you exactly who you fought. You had a family loyal to you. They loved you. And mine was filled with hate and greed.”

Shocked, he could only stare. “How did this happen?”

Sarah released his wrists. “My parents had discovered that my mother was carrying a boy. Because my father hadn’t any children other than my sister and me, he’d appointed my eldest cousin to rule the pack after him. When he found out my mother would give him a son, my father renounced Dave as his heir.”

A sinking feeling settled in his chest.

“Dave was furious. After all those years, promised to be pack leader and then denied. My sister, Sandra, was angry, too. She was his oldest child, but wouldn’t inherit because she was female. Dave needed more power to take over the pack. The only way for a Draicon to obtain more power is to embrace evil and turn Morph.”

Adrian stared in growing horror.

“Dave killed his own father, and it set off a chain reaction in the pack, some killing to turn Morph, others dying trying to defend themselves. My parents, my sister and I went into hiding. I made sure they were safe, and begged for your help to stand down my cousin and the other Morphs who were roaming the beach, looking for us.

“That night we faced them, I knew I’d made a big mistake. I could sense it, feel it because she was family and we were closely connected. I knew what she was thinking and planning. I hadn’t hidden my parents to keep them safe. I had placed them with an enemy I didn’t want to see, an enemy working with Dave to take over,” she whispered.

“Your sister.” He rested his hands on her shaking shoulders, gently rubbing them.

“When I left you on the beach, it was because I knew something terrible had happened. Sandra killed my mother, blinded my father and was about to kill him when I arrived…My father screamed at me to kill her. I couldn’t. She was my only sister, and I loved her! She attacked me and then ran off. My father and I blended in the human world to hide because Sandra wanted us both dead. My only sister, my flesh and blood, who once loved me.”

Her voice died on a shudder. Adrian went still, his heart stuttering in absolute fury and grief for her.

Sarah’s mouth wobbled tremulously. She unfastened the metal button of her jeans, then jerked the zipper down, the rasp thundering in the kitchen.

“And this is the price I paid that night, when I couldn’t fight her, couldn’t see her for what she’d turned into. This is what she did to me.”

Adrian didn’t dare breathe. He struggled to contain his own emotions, knowing this was a moment he must not interrupt.

Color suffused her entire body now as she shoved the pants down to her ankles and stepped out of them. Sarah wrapped her arms about herself.

“Father and I gave our portion of rationed beef to my mom to keep her and the baby strong. My father and I lacked enough energy to heal properly. So now he’s blind and I’m a cripple. No Draicon male wants me. Who would want a lame wolf as a mate?”

Her voice was like the hushed breeze pressing against the kitchen window. Adrian’s gaze dropped to her left leg, the leg she instinctively tried to cover with her hand.

Deep, jagged scars zigged and zagged down from the top of her pretty lace panties, past her knee, down to her slender, muscled calf. Her flesh looked as if it had been shredded, the bones shattered and never fully repaired.

Silence draped the air between them. He studied her leg, then looked her in the face. Pride stiffened her stance as she yanked up her pants.

“Even when I shift, I can’t run properly. I’m not an asset to a mate, but a liability.”

Adrian cupped her chin in one strong hand, forcing her to turn his way. “You are strong, sweet. You are strength, and survival and light in darkness. Any male worth his mettle should be proud to call you a mate.”

Her mouth moved with uncertainty as she glanced at him. Lurking in her wide eyes were traces of suspicion and doubt, but a new emotion flickered there, as well.

Hope.

He dared to ignite the flame, make it burn brighter. Heaven knew what a cynical bastard he’d been, only green gremlins for company, but he could at least do this. For her.

Suddenly she meant more than anything else. Sarah in that moment became a beacon, focusing all his concentration. He must make her believe in her own worth, and see what he so plainly saw. Her courage, strength, and tremendous endurance, and the life that pulsed so fiercely within her. Like the brightest star in the heavens, guiding him home.

“I understand now, Sarah. If I had known what was happening to you, trust me, sweet, I would have fought my way through a thousand burning suns, a legion of Morphs, hell, a pit of lava, to reach you and keep you from harm. How I wish I could have spared you…”

His voice trailed off.

“I’ve been so lonely,” she said in a small voice. “But no man will ever look at me the same, no man will want me…”

Adrian pulled her roughly into his arms. “This one does,” he said thickly.

He kissed her, pouring all he had into the kiss, fusing their lips together in desperate urgency, as if his mouth could soothe away all past hurts. Heal all she’d hidden inside for so long.

After a long moment, he pulled away. Adrian traced the outline of her kiss-swollen lips. No longer could he hold inside what he’d felt.

“Do you know what it was like to be near you, and yet so far away?” he murmured. “Never to touch you, knowing I can never have you, each agonizing moment thinking you had a mate somewhere who would have everything I wanted so badly, to wake up besides you, spend the years with you…”

“I only wanted you. But it wasn’t possible,” she whispered.

He ran a thumb along her jaw, marveling at the delicate bones and frailness, knowing the steely strength inside the woman. Sarah’s eyes closed as she leaned into his touch.

“I don’t have a mate, and every male I’ve sought as one rejected me. I never really wanted them because I could never forget you, Adrian. I’d gladly damn any opportunity to be with another male, if you wanted me, too, even if it were only for tonight.”

Adrian brought her face closer to his.

“I’d rather risk a lifetime of loneliness than never touch you at all. One night would never be enough—hell, an eternity of nights with you would never be enough to satisfy what I feel for you, but I would take it and cherish each second. If I had you just for one night, I could walk into the sun and not regret my life leaving me, because I’d be carrying the memory of your smile in my heart.”

She tenderly caressed his cheek. “Then let’s have tonight.”

Chapter 8

T hey were naked together, just like in her dreams. Except this dream was real, and she was standing before the full-length mirror in his bedroom. Sarah stared at Adrian’s reflection, his muscles rippling with strength.

Behind her, Adrian gently wrapped her in his arms, as if he could shelter her from all past pain. He brushed aside her hair, blew a breath on her neck. He kissed her there, sending a quiver racing down her spine as he ran his tongue down her throat.

His hands slid down her trembling thighs, reached in front and cupped her. Spreading her wet folds open, he drew a finger across her slickness. Sarah threw her head back against his shoulder, moaning.

“Look in the mirror, Sarah. Look at yourself, and see how beautiful you are,” he softly told her.

She saw herself, flushed, her body trembling with desire, being loved by a man who could have any woman. He’d chosen her.

As she lay down on the massive bed, Adrian knelt before her. He gently pulled her thighs open and stared at her glistening center. Embarrassment at this vulnerable position faded beneath his worshipping gaze. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

Then he lowered his mouth between her legs.

She felt the slight scrape of his fangs as his wicked tongue stroked over her center. Each delicious flick made the waves of pleasure grow higher and higher. Her hips pumped upward in nameless instinct, but he held her down. Sarah cried out as she shattered like a million pieces of light.

Adrian’s gaze was fierce as he straddled her. He palmed her breasts, his thumbs flicking over her cresting nipples. Each sensation spiraled her higher as he gazed down at her with possessiveness. No man had ever wanted her this much.

Nor had she ever wanted anyone else.

As she slid her arms about his neck, Sarah bent her head to the curve of his shoulder, tasting the saltiness of his skin. She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, marking him with her scent. “Make love to me, Adrian, be with me, even if only for tonight.”

“I’d be with you forever, Sarah,” he whispered.

Her hand slid down his muscled abdomen, feeling him quiver beneath her touch. She slid her fingers through the dark, crisp hairs at his groin to his rigid, long arousal. Slight trepidation filled her. He was huge, and she didn’t know if she could take him.

He studied her with such a tender look, she felt nothing but absolute trust.

Nudging her thighs open, he settled his hips between them. The tip of his erection touched her wet core. He pushed forward slowly.

“Look at me, Sarah, when we become one,” he commanded.

As she did, he gave a powerful thrust, sinking deep inside her. The pain was sharp and immediate. She gasped and writhed, instinctively recoiling from it. He brushed his mouth against hers.

“Shh,” he murmured. “Hold on to me. It will get better.”

Sarah clutched his broad shoulders. Adrian’s powerful muscles quivered as he held still. He was thick and hard inside her. She savored the feeling of being joined so intimately with him at last.

When she relaxed, he began to move slowly. Pain faded into pleasure, then a deep, intensified need with each stroke. She raised her hips to meet him, demanding more.

“You’re mine now, Sarah. Mine,” he breathed.

With each commanding thrust, it felt as if he sank into her very soul. He took her, marking her as exclusively his, his cock buried deep inside her, his body melded to hers. As if nothing could ever part them.

Adrian loved it, her tiny, excited cries, the delicious scent of her sex, how her tight, slippery heat surrounded him. Masculine pride filled him as she moaned with pleasure. The tips of her hardened nipples brushed against his damp chest as he slid over her. Pushing himself up on his hands, he watched her face. Wonder filled her darkened gaze as he tutored her in passion. He wanted to claim each succulent inch of her, bond them together in the flesh so she could never forget him after this night.

Wrapping her legs around his pumping buttocks, Sarah raised her hips to meet the rhythm he taught her. The sweet, intense pressure built higher. She arched against him, crying out his name as it burst inside her. Adrian groaned, shuddering, as his own release came. He collapsed atop her, his breathing ragged against her ear as she tenderly caressed him.

When they’d lain awhile, trembling and spent, he touched her face. “Are you all right?”

Sarah nodded in a languid daze.

They had tonight, and with dawn, it would end. She must not think of tomorrow. Adrian pushed up on his elbows to regard her in the gathering moonlight.

The stark hunger on his face made her shiver with anticipation as he ran a thumb over the vein in her throat. “I want you, Sarah. I have to taste you,” he murmured.

“If you take my blood, won’t your clan banish you for good?” she asked.

“Only if you take mine. My blood is powerful and healing, and it’s forbidden for me to share with anyone except another vampire. But if I take your blood, I’ll create a bond you can never break.”

She tilted her neck to the side. “Do it.”

The look in his eyes made her heart turn over. “I will not hurt you, sweet. Just lay back, and try to relax.”

A low growl, startling in its possessiveness, rumbled from his deep chest. He brushed aside her hair, held her trembling body against his, murmuring reassurances. She felt the sensual sweep of his warm tongue. A slight, stinging pain followed, a sensation of pressure, then a warm tide of intense pleasure. Each erotic suck sent all her nerves tingling, as if his mouth were pressed between her legs. It was too much.

As the pressure built, her muscles clenched, and she shattered, screaming as another intense orgasm swept through her.

He ran his tongue over the puncture wounds, kissed her as she lay in his arms, her body still spasming.

“Wow,” she managed, staring up at his tender, amused expression. “No wonder you use a blood bank. You’d have legions of groupies banging at your door if you did this all the time. Even dignified blue bloods.”

Adrian stroked a thumb over her trembling lips. “I like hot, red blood. Yours.”

She cupped his face, searching his deep blue eyes. “You took me as your kind does, so I belong to you. Now take me as my kind does. Mate with me.”

Passion glowed in his hooded, dark gaze. Sarah rolled over and knelt before him. From behind her, he ran his hands down the backs of her thighs. Then he caressed the inside of her thighs, and put his hand between her legs, rubbing gently. She felt soaked from wanting him, every cell crying out for him to take her.

With one hard, rapid thrust, he entered her. Sarah cried out from pleasured shock. He was bigger, harder than ever. He cupped her hips as he rocked against her, his flesh slapping heavily against hers. His breath rasped out in rapid pants, thundering with hers in the night air.

In this position, her wolf flared to life. It howled and demanded. Adrian thrust harder and faster. She screamed, nearly blacking out as she climaxed, hearing him cry out her name as he followed.

Minutes later, they lay tangled together, sweat cooling on their bodies. Blissful and languid, Sarah snuggled against him. She felt cherished. In the safe cocoon of his bedroom, it didn’t matter they were werewolf and vampire.

But her practical side warned that time marched forward. They had the moment. The moment could never be enough for her.

Mirrored in his eyes was a reflection of her own torment. “I can’t let you go.” Adrian brushed back a strand of hair from her face. “I care about you too much.”

It felt like hot knives lacerated her heart. She pressed a kiss into his palm. “I feel the same way and I don’t want to go, either, Adrian. What can we do?”

“Let’s not think about it now,” he murmured.

He quieted her with a kiss, his mouth moving over hers. She ran a finger down his smooth, muscled chest, toyed with a small brown nipple, delighting in his sharp intake of breath.

What would it feel like to remain forever in his arms? But how could his family accept her, the despised Draicon?

Adrian glanced at the clock and muttered a low curse. “My father’s arriving tonight, Sarah, in preparation for the ritual. I must get ready.”

He gave her a tender kiss. She watched him walk naked to the bathroom, admiring the taut curves of his ass. Sounds of the shower began.

Sarah went to the French doors overlooking the dark, rolling sea. Beneath the silvery moonlight, foaming whitecaps crashed against jagged, unyielding rock. She and Adrian were like that, ocean and rock, smashing against each other in the stern restrictions of their separate worlds. How could they merge, and have a life together without one having to give up all together?

She went to her own room, showered, as well. When she returned to his, Adrian was toweling his long, dark hair. Her gaze met his in the mirror.

“I’d like to formally meet your father,” she told him. “And apologize for what I did to you that night on the beach.”

Vampires did cast a reflection, contrary to myth. But the tormented look in his eyes made her suddenly wish they did not.

He dropped the towel, braced his palms on the dresser. “It’s best you don’t, Sarah. Not now. He refuses to associate with Draicon.”

Emotion tightened her throat. “Why does your father hate werewolves?” she asked him.

“He doesn’t hate your people. He merely wants to preserve the purity of our bloodlines. Marcus has always held to the belief that our clan should never mingle with outsiders. He made that rule long ago for that express purpose. My family is one of the oldest and most noble clans.” He sat up, jamming a hair through his thick hair. “The rules must not be broken.”

“Then you can’t break them by having me in your life,” she pointed out in a small voice.

His hard jaw ticced violently. “I’ll figure something out, Sarah. In the meantime, you must remain hidden from my family.”

Hidden? In the shadows, lurking as before, never accepted? “So you want me to hide again, like I used to when your family came around at your beach house in North Carolina? Where this time, Adrian? Should I run into the closet and douse myself with cologne to mask my scent? Or do you have another hiding place in mind?”

Cold dread gathered in her chest as Adrian’s mouth thinned. “This convocation is critical to me, Sarah. I must show my father and my clan I’m worthy of returning as his heir.”

Yet in his family’s eyes, she would never be worthy. Suddenly she realized she no longer wanted to remain hidden. “I’ve been in shadow all my life, Adrian, even before I got injured. I was always hovering in the background. That’s not a life. If we’re to be together, I won’t be a secret. All that time we spent together, hiding our friendship from our families, as if you and I were something to be ashamed of. I can’t live like that.”

His knuckles clenched, he stared at her in the mirror. “I can never be ashamed of you, Sarah. But my family won’t understand or accept you and I together. Would your family?”

The truth hurt deeply. “No, they wouldn’t,” she whispered.

Adrian hung his head. Sarah realized what she must do. Once she had hurt him, deeply, out of necessity. Now she must do so again.

“I have to leave, Adrian. I need to get my father settled into Terrence’s pack, so I might as well do it now.” She struggled to keep her voice even. “It’s time for me to go.”

He lifted his head. For a moment something fierce glittered in his eyes. She rushed on. “It’s best if I leave. You know that vampires and Draicon, well, we’re like oil and water.”

His expression shuttered. “You and I aren’t. Sarah, I thought…”

“You thought wrong. I could never be happy with a vampire, anyway.” She offered a bored shrug.

The pain in his deep blue eyes felt like a hot razor across her skin.

“Sarah, I meant what I said earlier when I told you how much I care,” he said in a low voice.

Tears she seldom shed now clogged her throat. Sarah forced herself to speak past them. “I didn’t. I feel nothing for you other than friendship,” she lied.

Adrian’s expression shifted to ice. She turned away, each step like a lead weight.

Sarah went to her room to pack. It was time to return to her own world, and leave his behind.

Chapter 9

A drian was about to get everything back. Why did he feel as if his heart was shattering? He dressed for the convocation, his chest aching. He knew why. Sarah.

His father and elders from the clan waited downstairs to begin the ceremony of trust to return him to the fold. In the two days since Sarah’s departure, Adrian could not forget the Draicon sealed into his heart.

He wanted Sarah at his side each night, in his bed each morning, wanted to make her happy. Adrian longed to watch her eyes darken with arousal as he pleasured her, listen in loving tenderness as she clung to him and called out his name in passion.

But her needs came before his wants. And that was why he let her go. Back to her people, to forget this stabbing insanity crying out they could make it work. Too much was against them. She belonged with the Draicon.

He must release her forever, turn around and never look back.

Feeling as if someone crushed his heart beneath an uncaring fist, Adrian went downstairs to return to his old life.

A shaft of dying sunlight dappled balsam pine branches lining the pebbled drive.

The scent of pine mingled with tangy brine of the sharp, cold sea. Standing on the walkway, Sarah stared at the blue-gray shingles of Adrian’s house. She inhaled the crisp air.

James had arrived and settled into Terrence’s pack. They had both been welcomed. Sarah boldly faced them and told them she’d loved a vampire, but to her surprise, they accepted her anyway. Even her father seemed to understand. Cameron apologized profusely, confessing Sarah’s scars embarrassed him because she had been tested in battle, unlike him. Yet, for all the welcoming hugs and assurances of affection, Sarah found herself throwing up a mental shield.

The only one who could invade her mind and use her emotions against her was dead. Still, she felt the need for caution.

Returning to Adrian’s seemed foolhardy, but she couldn’t dismiss the urgent instinct to check on Adrian. Sarah glanced down at the notarized statement in her hand in which she testified that she’d witnessed Adrian defeating the enemy. The lightweight parchment was equally thin as an excuse to visit.

Her finger shook as it depressed the doorbell.

Adrian answered. No, not Adrian. This man had his prodigious height, the same chiseled features and burning blue eyes and air of quiet pride, but no scars were on his left cheek and his hair was silvered at the temples. Like Adrian, his fingers were long, lean, elegant, but one fact separated them. On his right pinkie he wore a gold signet ring with an elaborate crest.

The ring was a symbol of his power. Adrian once told her his father never removed it. Ever.

Behind him, she heard people talking, laughing and glasses clinking. The entire convocation must have arrived for the ceremony. But something felt off kilter. Every Draicon sense alerted her to danger. Hairs on the nape of her neck saluted the air.

“You’re Adrian’s father,” she said, studying him. “I need to give him this. It’s my signed statement that I saw him kill the Morphs that escaped him on the beach.”

The vampire’s piercing gaze focused on her like a laser. “You’re the one who asked him to fight on the beach. Sarah, the Draicon. The paper isn’t necessary. The Morph ashes are proof enough for tonight’s ceremony.”

She swallowed hard. “Had I known what would have happened, I’d never have asked him to fight with me, sir.”

Sarah looked him in the eye. As an equal, even though this powerful vampire could probably snap her neck like a matchstick.

Something flickered in his gaze.

“Please, I must see Adrian.”

Please, let me see him. Please, just one last time.

His fierce look thawed slightly. “He doesn’t wish to see you.”

“You’re assuming…”

“No,” the vampire said almost gently. “He looked out the window to see who was at the door. He asked me to answer it.”

Her heart lurched at the dismissal. Sarah clenched her fists. “I just want to see him, make sure he’s okay.”

“He’s fine…” Marcus frowned as he glanced around. An insect’s incessant whine buzzed in her ears. Scenting danger, Sarah went absolutely still.

“Damn mosquitoes! They’ve been buzzing around since this morning.”

Breath caught in her throat. Her senses cried out a warning.

One Morph wasn’t dead, after all.

Marcus flinched and then slapped his arm. “Dammit, missed again,” he muttered.

“There are no mosquitoes in Maine in winter,” she said, her heart pounding frantically. “Please, I must see Adrian. You’re all in danger.”

Pity shimmered in his gaze as he stepped back. “You need to leave. Now.”

Her fists pummeled the sturdy oak as the door shut in her face. “Adrian, open it. It’s me, Sarah. You’ve got to listen to me! Please.” Tears trickled down her face.

The door remained locked against her, while inside she knew what would soon happen.

A low, malicious chuckle echoed in her mind.

Sarah whirled and ran off. She could no longer handle this alone.

It was time to call in reinforcements.

Chapter 10

D arkness covered them as the twenty male Draicon hovered just outside Adrian’s mansion. The midnight hour rapidly approached. Alpha leader Terrence turned to her, his expression troubled. “Sarah, are you certain there’s something wrong?”

Besides her, her father tilted his head to the air. He cocked his head. “Trust my daughter,” he murmured. “I sense it. Something smells off.”

The other Draicon looked at James with respect. Of all of them, he had the sharpest sense of smell, another reason why Terrence wanted him in their pack.

Sarah took a deep breath. “The Morph that wanted me dead wants me to suffer first. It’s after Adrian. It knows how I’ll feel if something happens to him.”

The Alpha male nodded, his gaze narrowing. “Call us if you need us.”

Emotion overwhelmed her. She was alone no longer, and it felt good.

Hugging the fur collar of her sheepskin jacket, Sarah slipped through the shadows. Silent as her wolf, she crept around to the back French doors opening to the living room, and crouched down to watch.

The vampires entered the living room. Removed of furniture, with large red candles in ornate stands placed about the room and only the Christmas tree brightening the corner, the room looked slightly forbidding.

The twenty red-robed figures, cowls concealing their faces, could have been wraiths. She didn’t fear vampires, not even these, but something wasn’t right.

Marcus stepped in front of the vampires as they assembled in a line. Sarah’s nostrils flared. Head bowed in supplication and wearing his crimson robe, Adrian knelt before his father. A heavy sword in his hand, Marcus gazed down at his only son. The air thickened with malice.

If she interrupted this sacred ceremony now, Adrian would never forgive her. The other vampires might kill her.

Marcus raised the sword in the act of laying it just against Adrian’s neck in his gesture of absolute trust for his clan. Sarah’s gaze whipped to Marcus’s right pinkie.

It was bare.

Dread pooled in her stomach. She drew in a lungful of air, catching the fruity scent and feeling the tingle race down her spine.

The glass shattered with a direct pulse of her powers. Through the broken, wide opening of the doors Sarah burst through. “No!”

The shout was just enough to startle Marcus into pausing. Sarah didn’t stop, but barreled forward, pushing Adrian aside to safety.

Sarah’s frantic gaze met Adrian’s venomous one. He stood, tossed back his cowl, blue eyes icy as glaciers as he towered over her. “Sarah, what the hell?”

She heard the outraged murmurs. The others did not matter. Only Adrian.

“It isn’t your father, Adrian, but an imposter out to kill you.”

Adrian’s brow furrowed as Marcus lowered the sword, glaring at Sarah. “Enough, Adrian. Get rid of this intruder before I dispatch her myself.”

Ignoring all else but the vampire before her, Sarah raised her pleading gaze to Adrian. “Adrian, please trust me. I’m telling the truth. I can scent it, it’s a Morph.”

“Ridiculous,” one vampire scoffed. “Do you think we would not know our own leader, wolf?”

“Why would a Morph want me dead, Sarah?” Adrian remained motionless, pinning her with his intent gaze.

Sarah’s throat closed. “Because it knows if it kills you, I will die inside. And then when it then kills me, my grief will fill it with power it hasn’t experienced since the day it killed my mother. It’s my sister, Sandra. She knows how much I care about you. I was lying when I said I felt nothing for you other than friendship.”

Sarah prayed he would believe her, and take her side once more.

“My son, believe her and you will be banished forever,” Marcus warned.

Adrian hesitated and she saw his tormented indecision. Whom to trust? Side with his clan, or once more break with them?

Something flashed deep in his gaze. Adrian calmly regarded the others. “I trust Sarah and I’m taking her side.”

Through the ripples of shocked outrage, danger crackled in the air. Marcus snarled. The vampires cried out in alarm as vampire shifted.

The hunched figure with its wispy hair, black, soulless eyes and wet, red mouth hissed at them. The creature shifted, and burst into an explosion of bees, swarming straight at the vampires, then flying upstairs.

Looking severely shaken, the vampires stared at her. Sarah realized they finally understood she was on their side.

“I could use your help,” she told them. “You’re swifter and more powerful than we are.”

Respect filled his gaze as Adrian regarded Sarah. “None of us can scent the Morphs, but Sarah’s pack can.”

When the shaken vampires nodded, she stepped back and waved her hands, shifting into wolf. Sarah released a blood-curdling howl, calling forth her new pack. Minutes later, they streamed into the house, shifting as they ran.

Adrian took charge. “Each vampire team with a Draicon, find the Morphs and kill them.”

He bent down, caressed her fur. “You’re with me, sweet. We make the best team of all.”

They raced through the house. Sarah immediately scented Morphs hiding in Adrian’s closet. When she flushed them out, they shifted into wolves to attack and Adrian killed them. One by one, the vampires and Draicon hunted the enemy.

When the last Morph had been destroyed, and the other teams combed through each corner to ensure this, she and Adrian went downstairs. Sarah shifted back, clothed herself. “I think we got them all, but I need my father to sweep the downstairs,” she mused. “His sense of smell is the strongest.”

“I’ll get him.”

As Adrian raced upstairs, Sarah sank into a chair. Weariness overcame her. Still, she couldn’t erase the prickly feeling warning her it wasn’t over yet.

Sarah saw a small brown cockroach crawling toward her. A familiar, unwelcome tingling raced down her spine.

Pulse racing, Sarah waved her hands, summoning a steel dagger into her hands.

The roach wriggled, and began to shift. It became someone she once knew so well. Until the day she killed her mother.

“Sarah, I’ve missed you.” Large brown eyes, exactly like hers, gave her a pleading look. “Let’s forget all this. I’ll leave and you can go on your way. Truce, okay?”

The knife wobbled in Sarah’s hand as she stared at her sister, Sandra. Her mirror image.

“Remember all we shared, remember how we loved each other!” Sandra sobbed.

The dagger fell from Sarah’s outstretched fingers, clattering onto the floor.

“Sarah!”

The roar of that beloved voice broke through her anguish. Adrian regarded them with a shocked look.

“Hellfire. You’re identical twins. No wonder you couldn’t face her. It’s like facing yourself.” Adrian’s head whipped back and forth between them. “Sarah, which one are you?”

Sandra’s expression shifted into terror. “Adrian, end this before she kills me!”

But the vampire studied her twin. “Do you want me to prove my love by killing her?”

“Yes,” Sandra replied eagerly.

“Liar,” he said softly. “Sarah would never ask that of me.”

Sarah cried out as Adrian lifted his hands to blast her twin. He looked at Sarah, hesitated. Sandra sprang forward, retrieved the dropped dagger and tossed it at him.

“No,” Sarah screamed, flinging herself in front of Adrian.

White-hot needles suddenly pierced her chest. Gasping, she looked down at the dagger protruding from her body.

A cruel smile touched her twin’s face. Sandra shifted into her true Morph shape and opened her mouth. Finally, Sarah saw her twin for what she truly was. Sandra began to inhale, absorbing her dying energy.

With all her strength, Sarah wrenched the dagger out and raised it in her right hand. Gasping for breath, she stared one last time at her twin, the sister she once loved.

“You’re not Sandra. She died on that day.”

The dagger went straight into Sandra’s heart. Air blurred as an outraged snarl filled the air. Adrian. Her world going gray, she watched him finish off her twin.

As her sister screamed and died, Sarah collapsed.

Chapter 11

A drian’s blood ran cold as he ran to his lover. Blood gushed from the terrible wound in her chest. She must not slip away. He could make her live.

Around him, both vampire and Draicon gathered. Ignoring them, he dropped to his knees. Gently he cradled Sarah in his arms. Feeling her anguish, the agony from the deep wound piercing her heart.

He pressed his lips against her chilled forehead. “Take my blood. It will heal you.”

“D-don’t,” she pleaded. “If…if you do this, your father will forever banish you.”

Adrian removed his robe, unbuttoned his shirt. He forced his fingernail to lengthen and made an incision over his heart. His life’s blood.

Pressing her mouth against the wound, he urged her to drink. His eyes closed as she finally did. Pleasure at this intimate connection between them warred with frantic desperation. Gently he rocked her as color gradually returned to her pale cheeks. He felt the reassuringly strong pulse beneath his thumb as he stroked her throat.

Trembling, he allowed her to pull away, watching in relief as the wound closed over. The laceration in his own chest healed as he gazed tenderly at her. Nothing mattered at the moment but his beautiful Sarah.

He would pay for this later, but didn’t give a damn.

They found Marcus unconscious, gagged and tied with heavy silver chains to the cliffs. The gremlins were nearby, buried to their necks in the sand, gagged and tied with polyester.

After freeing them, Sarah wondered aloud why her sister hadn’t merely killed them. Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Your sister must have ascertained what you knew, that if they died, I’d instantly sense it. So she left my father to burn in the sun and the gremlins to drown at high tide, while she set about killing me.”

Minutes later, as her pack gathered on the patio, Sarah watched in stunned awe as Marcus walked outside, looking fully healed. The vampire clan chief thanked each Draicon. Respect filled his face as he shook her father’s hand.

“Once I thought vampires and Draicon could never be friends. I was wrong,” Marcus said.

James nodded. “It seems we were both wrong.”

At Marcus’s request, her pack went into the mansion for refreshments the vampires had prepared for them.

“I don’t understand how your twin knew what weakened the gremlins or what I meant to you,” Adrian remarked.

Sarah sighed. “We were so close we were psychically bound together. That’s how she knew I loved you, Adrian. She felt my emotions and knew my thoughts.”

“But how did you know Sandra was masquerading as my father?”

“Your father’s ring. You told me he never removed it because it was a symbol of his power. Sandra never knew it because when I remembered it, I had put up a mental block to keep her out.”

Marcus gave Adrian a long, thoughtful look. “You broke the rules, again. You gave a werewolf your blood. The consequences of this cannot be ignored.”

Adrian hugged her to his side. “I love Sarah,” he said quietly. “I don’t care that she’s a werewolf and I’m a vampire. All I know is I’d rather face the dawn tomorrow than spend another day without her. Even at the expense of losing my clan.”

She wrenched out of his grasp. “Adrian, you’re his heir.”

“That’s not as important to me as you are. I will always love my family, but I can’t bear the pain of being separated from you again.” His fingers trailed over her cheek. “But I’ll understand, and let go, if you wish to return to your new pack. I only want you to be happy, Sarah.”

Love for him filled her, so much she could see nothing but Adrian. She cupped his solemn face in her hands.

“My father has a pack now, but I never wanted that for myself. All I ever really wanted was you.” She struggled to speak through her tears. “I’d be honored, and happy, to be with you. Even if it means abandonment by everyone else.”

“Then I have no choice,” Marcus said gravely.

Adrian tensed. But the elder vampire’s next words filled her with shocked awe.

“In my foolish pride, I never wanted vampires and werewolves to be allies, for I saw our race as superior. Centuries ago I made rules to protect our people against involvement with the Draicon, desiring to keep us apart and separate from those I considered beneath us.”

“You always did live in the eighteenth century, instead of getting with the times, Dad,” Adrian said drily.

Marcus looked thoughtful as he threw back his cowl. “Indeed.” He glanced at Sarah. “It was a mistake. You saved my son, Sarah, and I am forever grateful. You taught us the value of trusting a Draicon and learning to work with others.”

The elder vampire studied Adrian. “I cannot break my own rules, son. But those rules could be changed by a new leader. It’s time for our clan to embrace this new century. If you will accept that leadership, Adrian.”

Hope filled her heart.

“If I do, you must know I will change the rules, even to the point of taking a Draicon as my mate. If she will have me.” Adrian’s gaze at her was tender. “If you will have me, Sarah.”

Her answer was to slide her arms around his neck and kiss him. When they finally parted, Marcus gave a deep, rich laugh startlingly like his son’s.

“I think a Draicon could teach our people much. We would welcome you, Sarah. And I look forward to getting together with your pack, to learn how we can benefit from working together.” Marcus clapped Adrian on the shoulder. “Now, if you will, I could use a glass of wine. You have a fine collection of vintages I’d like to sample.”

“Open a few bottles, Father. But what about the ceremony of trust?” Adrian asked.

Marcus looked emotional. “You have already proven your trust, my son. To the most important person of all. Her.”

Adrian’s father went into the house as they stared out at the ocean. Now she understood. The sea crashed against rocky cliffs, but their individual strengths gave the meeting a raw, powerful beauty. Between both existed an unbreakable bond. She and Adrian were the same. Their individual powers made their love even stronger. Theirs would never be a serene, unruffled relationship. Yet she wished for nothing less. Stormy sea meets strong rock in raw power and passion.

Sounds of merriment drifted through the smashed French doors. The gremlins were verbally butchering “Frosty the Snowman” into “Frosty the No Man.”

Adrian’s hands tightened on her waist. “I know why the gremlins turned you into a doll. We were watching a movie about a man who fell in love with a beautiful mannequin that came to life. They asked if I could ever love an ugly doll.” He brushed away a strand of hair from her face. “I told them yes, if the doll were you. Because you would always be beautiful in my eyes, Sarah.”

Joy filled her heart. She splayed her hands against his firm chest, feeling the reassuring, strong beat of his heart. “I always thought Christmas was a time of miracles. Now I know it’s true. Because I have you, Adrian. I know vampires and Draicon can be friends, and much more.”

“Much more,” he said softly, and then kissed her.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-4484-3

HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE III

Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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UNWRAPPED
Copyright © 2009 by Bonnie Vanak

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