Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Both men looked at her with open mouths and wide eyes.

The transformation was perfect. Roxanne’s hair was now styled in the same fashion as Katie’s, hanging in soft curls over her shoulders. She wore identical clothes, which thanks to Katie’s extensive wardrobe had not been a problem at all. Her closet carried many duplicate outfits, a habit she’d acquired during her time in Hollywood. With two inch heels, Roxanne was now the exact same height as Katie, and a little bit of padding in Roxanne’s bra had boosted her cup size from a C to a D.

But the biggest change was visible in Roxanne’s face. Colored contacts Blake had quickly sourced from the large vault below Scanguards HQ, which carried everything from fake mustaches to silver bullets, had turned Roxanne’s grey eyes into stunning emeralds.

Professional stage make-up had changed the height of her cheekbones and plumped up her lips to make them as full as Katie’s. A slightly darker foundation made Roxanne’s skin color match Katie’s. With a kohl pencil, Katie had redrawn Roxanne’s eyebrows and shaped them so they were identical to her own. Roxanne’s nose was longer than Katie’s, but with the creative use of different powders and blushes, it now appeared shorter.

“Wow.” Luther let out a stunned breath. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Yeah,” Wesley added. “That’s totally creepy.” He looked Roxanne up and down. “You look like Katie. And that’s totally weirding me out.”

Katie suppressed a smirk. She’d noticed how Wes had looked at Roxanne earlier. Apparently her brother had a crush on the sexy vampire vixen.

“As long as Roxanne doesn’t have to talk, I think we’ll be fine,” Katie said. “I’m afraid we didn’t have time to work on her accent.”

“I’ve lived in this country for over three decades. I doubt even a whole semester of elocution lessons would get rid of my accent, dear,” Roxanne said.

“I find your accent charming,” Wes replied. “Don’t ever lose that.”

Roxanne didn’t verbally reply to Wesley’s comment, though her lips lifted into a soft smile. “I guess now the waiting begins.”

Luther nodded. “I just checked in with Blake. They haven’t heard back from Forrester yet. We still have a few hours until the exchange.”

Katie sought Luther’s eyes. “Do you, uh, could you, maybe…” She felt awkward trying to ask Luther in front of the others. “There’s something…” She motioned to the ceiling, indicating the upper floor.

Finally Luther seemed to understand. “Oh, yes, of course, there’s something we’ll need to take care of. Uh, excuse us.”

As Katie turned she caught Wesley’s eye roll. But to his credit, her brother didn’t make a snarky comment, though he knew what this was about: she wanted to be alone with Luther.

Because this would be their last time.

Luther didn’t speak, didn’t even take her hand as they climbed the stairs and walked down the corridor to her bedroom. She entered ahead of him and sensed him following her. When the door snapped shut a moment later, she just stood there in the middle of the room, not moving, not turning around.

She felt his hands on her shoulders, cupping them. His breath at her nape. She shivered.

“Katie,” he murmured.

“I don’t want to talk. We both know this is goodbye. Don’t make it any harder than it is.”

“Then tell me what you want.”

“Make love to me and pretend I’m the only woman in the world who means anything to you.”

Luther sighed. “Oh God, Katie.” He molded his chest to her back. “I wish I’d met you twenty-five years ago.”

“Let’s not look back. I only want to live in this moment.” She turned in his arms, facing him.

“Will it be enough?”

She forced a smile. “It’ll have to be.”

Luther’s hand came up to stroke her cheek. “You’re everything a man could wish for. Brave, beautiful, and loving.”

“But it’s not enough, is it?” she asked.

“On the contrary. It’s too much. I don’t deserve all that.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

“Because I know how this will end. With me hurting you, hurting both of us.”

“History doesn’t have to repeat itself.”

“What if it does?”

She put a finger over his lips. “I don’t want to think about what might happen. I just want to feel.”

He acknowledged her demand by blinking his eyes.

Katie let her hands slide to his chest, finding the buttons of his shirt. “I want to remember everything about you.” She popped the first button open, then the next. “I want to kiss every inch of your body.”

Beneath her palms she felt Luther’s heart beat frantically. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and a strangled moan came over his lips. Katie opened his shirt and stripped him of it. She ran her fingertips over his scars.

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured and meant it. His pectorals flexed under her touch, responding to her caresses.