“Maybe we should do lunch next time instead,” Rowena said. “We’ll host since the wards make me nervous. Ifsomething were to go wrong…. It’s why I hate you living here. I feel horrible, like I’ve abandoned my only child to this monster.”
“He isn’t a monster,” Belladonna said.
“Don’t be fooled by that handsome face,” her mother reprimanded. “That man is the worst breed of danger to walk this earth.”
“Well…” She glanced at Vlad again, and this time, their eyes met. She read the apology in his gaze. The hurt, the frustration, the affection. “He isn’t a monster to me.”
Vlad crept into his dark bedroom, the outline of his sleeping wife and all her cats just visible in the moonlight. He’d offered to clean up the kitchen after Gabriel, Rowena, and Magnus left. It was the least he could do after he’d screwed everything up. He only hoped he could mend his relationship with his son. He hadn’t set out to steal his fiancé, but no vampire, not even one as strong as him, could fight fate.
Belladonna’s soft breathing told him she was asleep, and while she’d stayed in his room every night over the past week, their opposite schedules ensured they never shared the mattress. He wasn’t sure how she would react to sleeping beside him, but his entire body screamed for her. After the evening they had, he needed to hold her in his arms, to assure her that his son’s cruel words were not his own.
Vlad stripped down to his black boxer briefs and climbed under the sheets, sliding Broomstick and Batty out of the way. Fang eyed him warily, but Vlad was smart enough to leave the little demon where he lay. Thankfully, the cat let him get into the bed without drawing blood, and Vlad wrapped his wife in his arms. She wore one of his tee shirts, and he was once again struck with awe at how perfectlyprecious she was, protected by his clothes and surrounded by fluffy cats.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” he whispered into her hair as he pulled her to his chest. She was fast asleep and couldn’t hear his apology, which was why the words came easier. Vlad wasn’t a man who apologized… ever, yet he’d done so twice in the same evening.
“I wanted this to be an enjoyable night for you,” he continued, his broad hand gripping her belly as he dragged her further against his chest, his heart swelling at how perfectly she fit against him. “I always want you to have nice things because I… I lo…”
He couldn’t say it. Even with her asleep, he struggled to voice the words. He’d never said them to any woman, and the reality that he’d finally found his other half terrified him. If he admitted the truth, everything changed. And not just for him, not just for his marriage, but for every vampire and witch that walked the earth.
Aweight settled on Vlad’s chest, the pressure pushing him into the mattress, and instincts had his fangs readying to rip out the intruder’s throat when the scent of fragrant skin filled his nostrils… and pumpkin spice.
“You’re up early,” he groaned, gripping his wife’s thighs as she straddled his waist.
“It’s Halloween,” Belladonna said, her tone signaling that the holiday would be her explanation for everything. “Are you going to get up, or are you going to be a grumpy old man like Fang and stay in bed?”
“Stay in bed.” Vlad’s hands traced her bare thighs to her hips. The lacy thong did little to shield her from his abs, and the sensation urged his exploration to continue up her toned waist to her ribs. When she didn’t protest, he slid his broad palms to her bare breasts. She moaned, and he pinched her peeked nipples between his fingers, rolling them slowly as he enjoyed how wet she grew on top of him.
“Yes,” he growled. “I’m going to stay in bed.” He opened his eyes, catching sight of her straddling his torso, and thevision of her wearing only his tee shirt with tussled hair framing her makeup-less face and a mug of coffee clutched in her hands made his chest tighten. They’d never slept side by side before, had never greeted the morning as a couple, but if this was how she woke him up, he was pissed he hadn’t climbed into bed with her sooner.
“But it’s Halloween,” she moaned, gripping her coffee with white knuckles as he tugged her delicate nipples harder. She gasped, nearly dropping her latte onto his chest, but she didn’t stop moving. She ground her soaked panties into his abs, and it was possibly the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Just the sight of her trying to keep her drink from spilling as he tortured her made him almost come in the sheets.
“We have… we have things to do.” She struggled to breathe as she rocked against him, and while every part of his body wanted to grab those talented hips and shove them down until her dripping pussy sank onto his cock, he forced himself to watch her mesmerizing movements. She’d cried herself to sleep last night. He’d held her and stared at her puffy eyes, angry that her heartache was because of him. He’d been the one to disrupt her life, to steal her from her parents, to lock her away and force her to forget her fiancé. He was at fault, so this wasn’t about him. The sunshine bathed her in a goddess glow. His black tee shirt clothed her in sin, and her face was perfection. He wished he could video her so he could forever remember how magnificent she looked.
“I want to make you feel good, little witch.” He twisted her nipples, and she yelped with pleasure. He knew they would be swollen and red when he was done, and that image made him tug harder. “Last night was a mess, so let me make it up to you,” he groaned. “I want you to start Halloween off right. Don’t you want that?”
“Yes, sir.” She gripped her mug so hard that he thoughtshe might break it, and his abs were dripping with her bliss. He felt a god with his hands on her body.
“Don’t you want to come?” he growled as his thumbs rubbed over her pebbled peaks until she was panting.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then let me hear you scream.”
Belladonna did not disappoint. Her hips moved faster as she leaned into his palms. She ground her clit against his abs, and as he pinched the swollen buds hard, she gave him her voice. She threw her head back without restraint and came so magnificently he thought he might pass out at the sight. She moved so well on top of him; he was almost nervous to fuck her. Being inside her would irrevocably change him, altering him to his core, and he was afraid to let a woman—a witch, no less—have that level of power over him. It would be absolute and consuming. If he slipped inside her, she would own him. For the rest of his life, he would belong to Belladonna.
“Hmmm, and here I thought I was waking you up with a treat,” Belladonna said wistfully as she crashed from her entire body high. “I made this coffee for you. I figured it was time I let you try it, but your surprise was much nicer.”
“You made this for me?” Vlad reluctantly pulled his hands from his wife’s breasts and sat up, shifting until he leaned against the headboard. He dragged her forward until they sat chest to chest, and he sucked in a pained breath. He was an idiot, but he wanted her close, even if it meant her dripping wet core landed on his rock-hard length. He’d slipped out of the top of his boxers, and the lacy fabric of her underwear was now all the prevented him from slipping inside her. “You’re finally going to let me try your famous pumpkin spice?”
“It might be a little cold, but it’ll taste just as good.” She handed it to him, wiggling her hips mischievously.
“Stop.” Vlad’s firm voice froze her in place, and she looked at him with confusion. “Don’t get me wrong, little witch. It’s taking all my self-control not to rip that lace you call underwear off and show you what it really means to be fucked by a vampire, but this isn’t about me. I want to give you a good day since last night was so shitty.”
“It’s why I made you a latte,” she said, tracing the artistic black tattoos on his chest with delicate fingers. “I’m determined to have a great day, and I…”
“What?” Vlad urged.
“I want you to spend it with me,” she blurted. “I would like to spend Halloween with you, Vlad. From the pumpkin-spiced lattes to the movie marathons to the trick-or-treaters.”
