Accidentally Married to…a Vampire?(Accidentally Yours #2)(45)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“Oh,” was all Helena could manage to say for several moments. “I guess I never thanked you, did I?”

“For what, my love?” Niccolo scooped Helena’s hand into his.

“For saving my life in the jungle that night. Rodrigo would have killed me.”

Niccolo pulled Helena close. “I should have killed him a long time ago. And it is I who should thank you.”

“For what?”

Niccolo held her tightly. “That is the second part of my story. It was the goddess Cimil who first told me of you. I thought the idea of having a mate was a myth, certainly a joke. But the moment I saw you, I realized how wrong I was. And now, for the first time in a millennium, I have love in my heart. You are a miracle.”

Niccolo bent his head and took her lips hard, the burst of emotions—his very own—griping him in a vice. He could still feel Helena, her light, trickling through him like a quiet stream. But his own light roared—a river, powerful and unstoppable. It plowed through centuries of desolate stone mountains of despair and hate, sweeping away the bleakness in its currents.

Helena tensed for a moment. Then her body melted against his. Her soft lips parted as he slid his tongue into her mouth. A tiny moan accompanied her breath, sending Niccolo over his last remaining edge of control. He wanted her. He loved her. He could not bear waiting to take her any longer. He needed to touch every inch of her. He wanted to taste her skin. He wanted to feel her writhe beneath him as he pumped his hard flesh between her thighs.

“I love you, Helena. My life means nothing if you are not happy and alive. I will tell you anything else you want to know. Today. I vow it. But I must have you,” he whispered.

Helena flung her arms around his neck and pulled herself deeper into his ravenous kiss.

That must mean she agrees.

“Let me take you somewhere private,” he panted.

Helena nodded. Her eyes said she was just as hungry for him as he was for her.

Niccolo’s heart continued pounding, and his breathing was hard. He pulled away, breaking the kiss. “Tell me what to do, how to sift you.”

Helena’s eyes were wild with passion. She shook her head for a moment trying to get a hold of herself. “Oh. Sift. Right.” She reached for the gold ring on her finger and slipped it off.

Niccolo quickly took her free hand and tried to sift her, but nothing happened. “It’s not working.”

Helena still held the ring in her hand.

“Give it to me. I will hold it.” Niccolo gestured frantically.

She eagerly handed it to him. He grabbed her with his other hand, but again, nothing happened.

“We must leave the ring,” he concluded.

“Wait! No. It’s my grandmother’s. I don’t want to lose it.”

Niccolo cupped her face and gazed into her eyes with affection. “Of course, I understand. I will bury it here and send someone back for it.”

***

Andrus opened his eyes at sunset and immediately knew something was amiss. The door to the room was ajar and Helena was gone. How could he have slept through the woman being taken? Which, obviously, she had. Her little slipper boots were still bedside.

“This isn’t over vampire,” he growled under his breath as one single thought plucked like a sour cord in the back of his mind. Mine, she’s mine.

But why? Because he needed her to exact revenge on the queen? Because Helena was the key to leaving him free from the vampire blood that flowed inside?

Or, was it because she brought him a sense of warmth and peace and, maybe, he wanted her for his own? No. Impossible. Yes, she was an irresistible mixture of sweet and sour, kindness and combustion. But Andrus was incapable of love. Reyna had murdered that piece of him.

He wanted to kill the queen. He had to see this through, rid himself and his brothers of this cursed vampire blood. One measly human woman, no matter how pure and kind, could not stand in the way of having justice for so many.

He would not allow himself to think of the possibility of having her as his own, no matter how sweet her kiss had been or what it made him feel. Besides, she was blood-bound to Niccolo the Executioner.

Yes, but once the queen is gone, Niccolo will be dead, the bond broken. She will be free to love another.

But it would be impossible for Helena to want him; after he betrayed her, she would never forgive him.

He slid on his jeans, pulled on his tee, and plucked his cell from the pocket. He dialed and held the device to his ear, hand trembling with anger. “Round up the men. We have a human to hunt.”

Chapter 15

Helena blinked, literally blinked, and found herself standing in a hotel room wrapped in Niccolo’s arms. She jerked her head back, noticing she was now standing right beside the bed. A big empty bed. “Wow. That was impressive.”

Niccolo released her, a hungry look in his dark eyes, and took several steps back. He began slowly peeling off his light gray sweater. “I am older,” he said slowly, his voice gruff, “and therefore more gifted than most. And there are many…” He paused and made a low growl as his eyes moved over her body. “Many things I can do which you have yet to experience.”

The muscles of his thick arms flexed as he revealed the solid ripples of his impossibly strong chest and perfectly sculpted abs.

Helena gulped. This man completely undid her. Just looking at him made the sexual tension pool in the depths of her core, flutter between her legs, and then radiate out, touching every inch of her skin like tiny shards of mind-numbing tingles. It was as if she’d plugged herself into Niccolo’s mind and was feeling every flicker of emotion, every pang of sexual desire, every impulse to take her completely. She could even swear that she was seeing images from his mind, of him drinking from her.

Helena shivered, trying to gather her thoughts. “What’s happening, Niccolo?”

Now shirtless, he slipped off his boots and carelessly tossed them aside, and then approached her slowly, popping the top button of his faded jeans.

If it weren’t for the fact that she knew something even more pleasing to the eye awaited her, she’d be feeling an extreme sense of loss for not being able to see him wearing those pants. The way they hung low on his hips, giving her a peak of those wicked ropes of muscles that ran just under his abs and disappeared down into the front his jeans…

Yum! She licked her lips.

Niccolo seemed to feel her every thought too. He paused just in front of her so she could continue admiring him.

He cocked one eyebrow. “Do you want to see the rest?” he asked teasingly, ignoring her earlier question completely. He slowly began opening the fly. She could see the dark patch of masculine hair just above his cock. He was commando. She loved that.