Accidentally…Cimil? (Accidentally Yours #4.5)(23)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

I so hated him for that!

“I know you are lying, Cimil. But I do not care. I know the truth about you now—you’re not evil—and I am relieved because I love you and there is no denying it. Not anymore.” He dipped his head and kissed me deeply. His soft lips moved over mine, gently at first, then harder. His tongue slid into my mouth, and he tasted sweet like cinnamon and sugar. His masculine scent was even sweeter, as if time had only made him more potent and delicious like a fine wine.

With one hand planted firmly on my backside pulling me into the hardness jutting from his groin, he moved the other to cup my face. “You feel it, too. Don’t you, Cimil?” he whispered in that deep, lusty tone.

“Uh. Yeah. How could I not feel a giant pyramid stabbing me in the stomach?” I looked into his eyes, and that is when I saw it again.

Crap! I scrambled away and held him back with one arm. This time I hadn’t seen destruction in his eyes, I saw my life. I saw him. I saw our lights pulling toward each other on an unavoidable crash course, destined to become an inseparable life force. I felt our hearts beating to the same easy-listening love ballad compilation that would someday haunt every high school prom for an entire cheesy century.

He is my mate?

No. No. No. The one male in all the Universe born for me, with the ability to make or break me. This guy? Why hadn’t I seen it before? But now it all made so much sense. The way I felt about him even before he became a vampire, the Universe speaking to me through him, and my inability to move on.

“This can’t be happening.” I covered my face with my hands.

“Do not push me away, Cimil. You and I have unfinished business, and you know as well as I that there will be no moving forward until things are settled. We are meant to be.” He lowered his voice. “You are mine.”

“Yours?” I asked.

“Yes. Mine.”

There he was. That man. The fearless king who stood before an ocean of people, daring them to defy him. Oh, the confidence, the power, the light of raw conviction and sheer determination. It radiated from some place deep inside him. He was magnificent.

And I would crush him before I’d let him own me. I would not let the Universe dictate one more piece of my life. Yes, I’d let him have a taste of me, of heaven, and then I’d leave him.

I pasted on a smile. “Perhaps I feel something for you, but the apology is not enough. How do you propose to make amends?”

Roberto’s lips formed an arrogant smile. “I merely ask you to give me the chance to redeem myself, to complete the thirty days.”

“Okay.” I headed for the bath but hit a hard wall of muscles before I reached the doorway. “No. No other male shall touch you. And we will spend the rest of the month at the estate I’ve purchased for you.”

Oh. I’d forgotten about that. “Is it nice?”

He nodded. “I spent half my fortune on it before giving the rest to the local orphanage. They are now the wealthiest children on the planet.”

Awww… that was so nice. I loved children. Especially when they were rich. And boogerless.

“So do we have an agreement?” he asked.

There were nineteen days left. “Yes. But I’m bringing Pepe.”

“No. No males. I meant what I said, Cimil.”

“So, you’re telling me that you will not touch another woman for nineteen days?”

Roberto’s eyes narrowed. “You do realize I must feed, and I cannot take from you—you are not human.”

Oh, I knew. “Yep. Deal or no deal?” I couldn’t wait for television to be invented. Watching TV through the memories of the dead from the future was so lo-fi. It sucked.

Roberto winced. “I will not bed them, Cimil.”

“Nope. Not good enough. You can drink from all the dudes you like, though.”

He stared.

“Men. I mean men,” I clarified.

His lips scrunched up into a sour little pucker. “I disdain the feeling of holding a man in my arms. Women are much nicer. Soft and curvy and luscious.”

Idiot. “Not winning.”

“My apologies. Of course, I will make the sacrifice. I would do anything for you.”

I felt sorta tingly with anticipation. I was so going to enjoy breaking his heart. Or maybe I wasn’t. A part of me wanted him to triumph as much as I wanted to punish him. How could I want both?

Ummm…’cause you’re Cimil?

Good point!

“All right,” I agreed. “I will go and see this magical oasis you’ve acquired for me. But if I don’t like it, you’re taking back your money from those orphans and buying me another.”

Roberto studied me for a moment. “You jest.”

“Not really. Why? Is that wrong to take money from orphans?” His mouth twisted with disapproval. I made an awkward little chuckle. “Oh. I’m only… jesting away.”

Damn. I really am evil.

Chapter Ten

The villa wasn’t more than a few hours by horseback from Barcelona. Of course, we took Minky, so that was, like, a two-second hop. (Insert visual of a large, well-built, powerful vampire riding on a unicorn with me driving. Two words: Fun. Knee. As in, to slap.)

In any case, I had to admit, the ex-king had taste. Exquisite taste. Hundreds of acres of rolling hills, thousands of vines bursting with grapes, fountains, fruit trees, and a beautiful rose garden in the back. The gorgeous three-story house was like heaven on earth. He’d spared no expense.

“You did all this in a week?” I asked.

Roberto gloated. “If you are not pleased, I will gladly live here.”

“You’re trying to mooch off me already? I’m not going to be your sugar mama, you hobo.”

Roberto tilted his head. “Your vocabulary has become most peculiar these past millennia.”

“Tell me about it.” It was impossible to maintain a time-period-appropriate vocabulary when I constantly listened to and conversed with dead from multiple “time zones.” Luckily, I’d been able to give up grunting after most of the cavemen left the pool of souls. But the dead from the present and future? They were abundant.

I entered the foyer, and the vaulted ceiling with an enormous wrought iron chandelier immediately caught my attention.

“Ah yes,” he said. “I had that brought in from a small village in Northern Italy.” He waved his hand in the air. “My army has been working around the clock for a week, sifting to the farthest reaches of the globe to find the perfect furnishings.”