Taken by Darkness

One week later

Seated at the small table he had situated before the fire in his lair, Victor sipped his aged brandy and watched Juliet absently nibble a piece of marzipan candy.

A frown touched his brow. She looked delectable, of course. Wearing an emerald satin nightgown that perfectly matched her eyes, and her fiery curls left loose to spill over her shoulders, she was the perfect image of Eve.

Feminine temptation at its very best.

But it was her obvious lack of hunger that caused a familiar stab of alarm to clench his heart.

“Shall I have the chef replaced, my love?” he demanded, his tone revealing he would happily go in search of a superior chef without hesitation.

“Good lord, no. This food is heavenly.” Juliet dropped the candy on the tray as she regarded him with astonishment. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

He waved a hand toward the table that was laden with lobster in butter, braised ham, creamed potatoes, steamed asparagus, and fresh pears from the hothouse.

“You have not eaten more than a few bites.”

She gave a choked laugh. “Because I am still stuffed from the enormous meal you served when I first awoke. Are you attempting to fatten me like a Christmas goose?”

“You need food to regain your strength.”

Leaning forward, she offered a slow, wicked smile that sent a predictable flare of hunger blazing through him. Juliet had only to be near for him to be hard and aching to be buried deep inside her heat.

“I would say that I effectively proved that I have fully regained my strength,” she husked. “Or have you so easily forgotten?”

He reached to grasp her slender fingers, his gaze searing over her beautiful face.

“I will never forget a moment of our time together.”

“Me either,” she breathed, holding his gaze as she deliberately allowed him to sense her stirring arousal.

Over the past days they had rarely left the lair as they gloried in the explosive passion between them. Now he savored her ready response even as he glanced around the candlelit chamber, for the first time noting the hint of shabbiness.

“We shall need a larger bed,” he abruptly decided.

“It seems just the perfect size to me,” she murmured. “Besides, it is very old. You must have owned it for centuries.”

He shrugged. “I have no sentimental attachment to the furnishings. In truth, I prefer they be disposed of so you can choose what pleases you. We can begin tonight if you are feeling strong enough.”

Hoping to please his mate, Victor was disappointed when she pulled her fingers from his grasp and studied him with a wary expression.

“Victor, are you…perfectly well?”

“Why would I not be well?”

She shook her head in bewilderment. “Since we defeated the Jinn you have hovered and fluttered about as if I were as fragile as Venice glass. For God’s sake, you even allowed Levet to visit when I said I wanted to see him.”

He shuddered at the hideous memory. “Do not remind me.”

“Is there something you are not telling me?” Rising to her feet, she circled the table and settled her hands on his shoulders, covered by his brocade robe. “Did my spell to break the Jinn’s connection to this world do something horrible to me? Am I dying?”

He surged to his feet, shocked by her question. “No. You are perfect, Juliet.”

She tilted back her head to meet his narrowed gaze. “Then why are you behaving so oddly?”

With a grimace he accepted there was nothing to do but confess the truth. No matter how it might expose his vulnerable heart.

“I want you to be pleased with me and with this lair,” he confessed, his voice raw with need. “I want you to feel as if this is your home.”

Her eyes darkened with an unwavering love that instantly soothed his fears.

“Victor, this lair is merely a place where we are currently residing.” She pressed a hand to his chest, a smile of satisfaction curving her lips. “My home is here…in your heart. And nothing, absolutely nothing, could please me more.”

With a smooth motion, he swept her off her feet, headed for their bed. The cold emptiness that had claimed his soul centuries ago was melting beneath the tender heat of her gaze.

“You will never leave me?”

“I am yours, Marquis DeRosa,” she promised, “until the end of time.”

He tightened his arms around her. “Until the end of time and beyond.”