"It looks like Lady Kathryn was busy in our absence," he remarked.
"She's a dear old soul," Vicki said. "I'm glad she's here."
"I have a feeling the two of you are going to conspire against me every chance you get,"
Antonio remarked with mock despair.
"Well, maybe once in a while," she said brightly, "but… "
" Victoria."
She looked up at him, everything else forgotten as he whispered her name.
"I never believed this day would come," he said. "I never believed you would truly be mine."
"Oh, Antonio, I think I've always been yours." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly. "Yours," she murmured. "Now and always. And don't you forget it!"
she warned with a saucy grin. "If I ever catch you even looking at another woman… "
He laughed as he pulled her back into his arms. "It will never happen, my sweet."
"Well, it better not."
Antonio shook his head in disbelief. "We have not yet been married for an hour and already you are jealous of a woman who does not exist."
"You're right, I'm just being silly."
His hands skimmed over her body, lightly, possessively. Reaching around behind her, he began to unfasten the back of her gown, inch by slow inch. She shivered with anticipation when his fingers brushed her skin. With a whisper of silk against silk, her dress slid over her hips to pool around her ankles, leaving her standing there clad in nothing but her underwear.
Antonio whistled softly. She wore a white bra and bikini panties that were little more than wisps of lace, white silk stockings, white satin heels, and nothing more. She was beyond beautiful, her body supple and slender with delectable curves and valleys he was eager to explore. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, begging his touch.
She blushed under his heated gaze and then, surprising him once again, she began to undress him, her fingers trembling as she removed his coat and shirt, unfastened his belt and his zipper. He stepped out of his trousers. She pulled his shorts down and he kicked them aside.
Vicki waggled her eyebrows at him. "Hubba hubba."
"Hubba hubba?" He shook his head in wry amusement.
"You're very sexy, you know." He should have looked silly standing there in nothing but a pair of black leather boots and an erection. But he didn't. He looked altogether gorgeous.
"Indeed?" Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled off his boots and socks.
Feeling suddenly brazen, Vicki kicked off her high heels, then removed her bra and panties and flung them aside. She peeled her stockings off slowly, one at a time, and tossed them aside as well. And then, hips swaying provocatively, she moved toward Antonio, coming to rest in the vee between his thighs.
She leaned against him. He circled her waist with his hands and then fell back on the bed, drawing her with him, so that they lay together, heart to heart and heat to heat.
Knowing that it was his bride's first time, Antonio tried to be gentle, tried not to rush her, but she was as ardent as he, her hands exploring his body as eagerly as his hands explored hers, learning each line and curve, the texture of flesh and form, the way the softness of her body complemented the roughness of his.
With a low groan, he rolled over until she lay beneath him, her eyes glowing with hunger and desire. He kissed her deeply, savoring the taste of her, the silky texture of her lips.
His tongue slid across her lower lip and when she opened for him, his tongue dueled with hers in a mating dance as old as time. Her legs tangled with his, her foot running suggestively up and down his calf while her hands moved restlessly over his back and shoulders.
Reining in his own need, he caressed her until she writhed with impatience. Only then did he possess her, his body melding with hers, two halves of one whole now forged together, two hearts beating as one.
He felt her teeth nip at his neck, moaned with pleasure as heat flowed through him.
Because they had shared blood, their union was explosive, a shared moment that went beyond anything mortal lovers ever knew. He knew what she was feeling, what she wanted, what she needed at the same instant she did. He saw the wonder of it in her eyes as she shared in his pleasure. She turned her head, giving him access to her neck when she saw his fangs. When he tasted her, their joining was complete. A moment later, she shuddered beneath him, moaning with pleasure as her body convulsed. His release came seconds later.
Sated and feeling complete for the first time in centuries, he rolled onto his side, carrying Victoria with him. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her body to his while his other hand stroked her hair.
If he'd had any doubts about what his bride was feeling, they vanished when she looked at him, her smile that of a woman who knew she had pleased the man she loved, a woman who had been well and truly pleasured in return.
"Is it always like that?" she asked. "If it is, I'm sorry I waited so long."
Antonio laughed softly. "Believe me, my sweet, for us, it will only get better."
"Really?" She raked her nails down his broad chest. It had never occurred to her than a man could be beautiful, but he was, from head to foot and all the good places in between. She loved looking at him, touching him. Loved the way his muscles rippled at her touch. "I'm not sure I could survive anything better."
"Ah, but you will."
He rained kisses along the length of her neck, his breath hot against her skin, his touch awaking her desire. It surprised her that she could want him again so soon. She remembered reading in some magazine that it took a while for a man to be ready for lovemaking again. But as she caressed Antonio, she realized he was more than ready.
Grinning in anticipation, she wrapped her arms around him.
Later, lying exhausted in his embrace, she closed her eyes. Antonio had been right, she thought as sleep claimed her. It did get better.
Epilogue
A year later
Vicki strolled alone under a blanket of stars, her thoughts erratic. Being a vampire was far different from anything she had imagined. She had expected to miss so many things— cheeseburgers and fries and chocolate chip cookies, coffee and malts and soft drinks, taking long walks in the morning, sitting on the front porch watching the sun go down, having lunch with Bobbie Sue, eating popcorn at the movies.
But the truth was, she didn't really miss mortal food and drink. In the beginning, she had missed the sunlight, but she had quickly discovered that the moon's light was equally beautiful. She and Bobbie Sue remained the best of friends. They saw each other often, though long lunches were out of the question.
Antonio had been right, Vicki thought with a grin. She had been born to be a vampire.
She loved staying up late at night. She loved the fact that she no longer had to work.
Best of all, she loved Antonio, because he was willing to let her explore her new lifestyle. If she felt the need to be alone, he understood, because there were nights when he, too, needed time alone. But those times were few.
Vickie hadn't thought that she and Antonio would have any social life to speak of. All the books and movies implied that vampires were solitary creatures who did little more than drink their victims dry and sleep in coffins. And while she knew that wasn't true, she hadn't expected to have vampire friends. To her surprise, Antonio, Grigori, and Ramsey had become friends, which worked out well, because Marisa, Kelly, and Vicki had also become good friends. The six of them got together several times a week to watch movies or play cards. Sometimes the men got together to watch football while the women went to the mall to shop. At other times, they all got together to play croquet in the moonlight. That was another good thing about being a vampire, Vicki thought.
Traveling long distances wasn't a problem. Even though they all lived in different parts of the country, they were able to get together whenever they wished.
Vicki had to laugh sometimes when they were all gathered together doing something as human as playing canasta. Who would have thought that vampires did anything so mundane?
She had talked Antonio into getting a telephone. It made getting in touch with the others so much easier, plus it meant they could have a computer.
Vicki had only one real regret, and that was that she and Antonio couldn't have children.
She didn't know how she was ever going to accept that part, especially now, when Bobbie Sue was pregnant with twin girls. Still, Vicki was happy for Bobbie Sue and Tom and contented herself with the fact that she was going to be a godmother to Bobbie Sue's children. If she couldn't have a child of her own, Vicki thought, then being a godmother was the next best thing. She would be part of the twins' lives. She would be able to buy the girls presents on holidays and birthdays, and watch them grow.
Vicki's steps slowed when she heard Antonio coming up behind her. No mere mortal would have heard him, she thought with a smug smile.
Coming up beside her, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Are you tired of walking yet, my sweet?"
"Not really. It's so beautiful out here. Was there something you wanted me for?"
"Several somethings," he replied with a wicked grin. "Shall I whisper them in your ear?"
"Oh, I don't know," she said with an exaggerated sigh. "Why don't you just show me instead?"
"Even better."
Swinging her into his arms, Antonio carried her swiftly into the castle and up the stairs, his nostrils filling with the fragrant scent of her skin and her hair. He would have been able to find her in the dark, he thought, even without the benefit of his vampire senses.
He carried her into the bedroom and nudged the door closed with his heel. He undressed her slowly, marveling anew that she was his, would always be his.
He made love to her for hours, worshipping her with every touch, every breath.
As always, dawn's early light came all too soon. They showered together, then returned to bed. He hadn't slept in his coffin since Victoria was turned. Though she had taken to every other aspect of vampire life with enthusiasm, she had refused to sleep in a coffin of her own, or share his. But he didn't mind. Sleeping beside her in bed was infinitely better. Her beloved face was the last thing he saw before the Dark Sleep carried him into oblivion, the first thing he saw when he awoke. And should they wish to make love on waking, they were already in bed. What man could ask for more?