He kissed the curve of her throat as his hands finessed the gown from her body until she wore only her lacy bra, panties, and high heels. “That’s a good look for you,” he said, a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“Well, you look a little overdressed for my taste.” Kneeling on the bed, she removed his jacket, tie, and shirt, then skimmed her hands over his shoulders and down his chest, loving the feel of his cool flesh beneath her hands, the way his muscles quivered at her touch.
His belt came next, then his shoes, socks, and trousers.
Rane slid his finger under the edge of her bra and suddenly it was gone.
“I see you haven’t lost your touch for magic,” Savanah remarked with a smile.
“Watch this,” he said, and an instant later her shoes and panties were on the floor.
Laughter bubbled up inside her as she tugged his briefs off and tossed them on top of her cast-off clothing.
“My way’s faster,” Rane said, tucking her beneath him.
“Maybe so.” She licked his chin. “But fast isn’t always best. Sometimes slow and easy is the way to go.”
“Is that how you want it?” he asked, nipping at her earlobe. “Slow and easy?”
“Yes,” she said. “This time.”
“Your way this time.” His hands moved over her, butterfly soft. “Next time, my way.”
Savanah snuggled against her husband, her fingertips playing in the hair at his nape. “I like your way best.”
His way, she thought, had been amazing. It had been like flying through rainbows, drifting through stardust, racing with the moon. She had never known such pleasure. She had often heard the term “two halves made whole” but never, until this night, had she truly known what it meant. There had been moments when she had been Rane, when she had known what he was thinking, feeling, desiring, and she had done her best to please him, and in so doing, found pleasure beyond anything she could have imagined.
Rane nuzzled the side of her neck. “Happy?”
“Oh, yes.” She smiled at him, and then her expression turned serious. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“I probably should have asked you about this sooner, or maybe later, but…well, I know this probably isn’t the right time, our being on our honeymoon and all…”
“Just ask me, sweetheart.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “If I decide I’d like to have a baby in a year or two, would you mind?”
“Are you talking about adoption?” he asked, thinking about how his grandparents had adopted his mother. She hadn’t found out they were Vampires until she was a woman grown.
“No, I was thinking of artificial insemination.”
Rane pondered that possibility for a moment. His first reaction was that he didn’t like the idea of Savanah carrying another man’s seed, but when he thought it out, he realized he was being foolish.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” he said, thinking it would be easier to love a child that was a part of Savanah than a child conceived by strangers. “Now that we’ve got that settled, would you think about doing something for me?”
“Something like becoming a Vampire?” she asked.
“Something exactly like that.”
“Yes,” she said, “I’ll think about it.” In fact, in spare moments, she had been thinking of it quite a lot. If she decided to accept the Dark Gift, she wouldn’t want to wait until whatever children she had were grown, the way Rane’s mother had. Savanah blew out a sigh. Rane looked thirty and he would always look thirty; she was twenty-five. If she waited until her children were grown to become a Vampire, she would be forty-five or fifty. No doubt people would think she was Rane’s mother instead of his wife. But it was a decision she didn’t have to make now.
Drawing Rane’s head closer, she brushed a kiss across his lips. “Let’s do it again,” she whispered. “Your way.”
Epilogue
Three years later
“Breathe, Savanah. That’s right, love. Slow, deep breaths.”
She glared up at Rane as another contraction threatened to split her in half. Why had she ever thought natural childbirth was the way to go?
Rane brushed a lock of hair from her brow, then took her hand in his. “Savanah, look at me.”
“I am looking at you.”
His gaze locked with hers, his mind melding with hers, blocking the worst of the pain. “Just keep looking at me,” he said, his voice low and hypnotic. “It’ll be over soon and you’ll be holding our daughter in your arms.”
Rane glanced at the doctor, who nodded at him. “Keep talking to her. The head’s crowning, we’re almost home.”
Rane rubbed his thumb over the back of Savanah’s hand. “You’re doing fine, sweetheart. Just another few minutes…” He continued to murmur to her, telling her that he loved her, until the doctor asked him if he’d like to cut the cord.
Feeling like he was in a dream, Rane looked at his daughter for the first time. She had pale skin, dark blue eyes, and a thatch of thick brown hair.
He cut the cord, which was thicker than he would have thought, hovered over the nurse while she checked the baby’s vital signs. When the nurse took the baby out of the room to clean her up, Rane returned to Savanah’s side. Bending down, he kissed her on the cheek. “She’s beautiful, just like her mother.”
Savanah smiled a sleepy smile.
“Thank you, love.” Never in all his life had Rane expected to be a father. It didn’t matter that the child wasn’t biologically his. From this day forward, he would be her father in every way that counted.
Murmuring, “I love you,” he kissed Savanah’s cheek again, only to realize that she had fallen asleep. He couldn’t blame her for being exhausted. Watching Savanah labor to bring their daughter into the world had given him a new respect for the strength and courage of females everywhere.
Moments later, the nurse returned and placed his daughter in his arms. “She’s adorable,” the nurse said, smiling. “Just ring if you need anything. I’ll be right down the hall.”
Rane stared at the tiny scrap of humanity cradled in his arms. She was small and perfect, from the top of her fuzzy little head to the soles of her adorable little feet.
“Hello, darlin’,” he murmured, and would have sworn that she smiled as she curled one of her fingers around his much-larger one.