Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(13)
Author: Erin McCarthy

He wasn’t sure if now was the best time to tell her that the baby wouldn’t die either, that Corbin strongly suspected this child would be born immortal—not vampire, since he wouldn’t need blood, but not mortal either. Corbin expected the only one who would die in the equation would be Brittany herself and that thought was disquieting in the extreme. He had lost many people he had cared for in his early years as a vampire until he had isolated himself, focusing on his research, avoiding relationships.

Now he was in one up to his eyeballs.

“Brittany, hush, it is not so bad as all that.” What the hell was he saying? It was a goddamn mess. And she was out and out sobbing now.

Corbin stood up, unable to sit still. “We will take things one day at a time, yes? Let’s enjoy this blessing we have been given, and live in the now.” Vampires were good at that. You had to be, or you’d go mad. Though he was lousier at it than most, and prone to melancholy. Perhaps he should keep that flaw to himself, though.

Conviction swept over him. He pulled her to her feet and wiped her tears. “And I will not be dating a South American woman because I will be married to you.” That was the right thing to do. He knew it both intellectually and emotionally. It was the responsible, moral, and safe thing to do to ensure Brittany and the child’s protection. He knew all that, had determined it was the proper course of action.

Plus he found the idea of being married to Brittany Baldizzi appealing in the extreme. He wanted the right to make love to her whenever the urge struck him, and he wanted to be there with her and his child through all the trials and triumphs. He had been given a gift. For a brief period in his long, long vampire life, he could live as a mortal man did, with a beautiful wife and a child. He wanted that with a fierceness that surprised him.

Her shoulders slumped and she looked nervous. “Corbin… ”

“Do not protest. Let me show you how it can be between us.” Corbin brushed back her hair, certain he had found the answer, the solution to all the confusion and guilt he’d been feeling. Yes, a marriage of convenience, but one that was passionate and comfortable. “Let me court you, Brittany, and show you that together we can raise our child, enjoy each other’s company.”

“Court me?”

Brittany was easy to read. Her face hid nothing, and she always spoke the truth. At the moment, she looked intrigued and pleased by his proposal. Her cheeks were pink, and she was a bit glassy-eyed.

It seemed a very natural thing to kiss her. To just close the space between them. “Yes, court you.”

“I guess that would be okay,” she said in a whisper, his mouth cutting off any further words.

Her lips were warm, plump, open for him, and Corbin savored the taste of her. He put his arms around her, drew her tight in to him, and took the kiss deeper. Brittany was delicious, felt so good against him, and that was why he had lost control the first time he had kissed her, and turned a simple touching of the lips into impending fatherhood. He wouldn’t do that again—lose control, that is. But on the other hand, he could not get her pregnant a second time, and she felt so right, her soft sighs, her body flush against his spiking hot, eager desire. Surely he could indulge in a small taste of her charms.

She pulled her mouth back enough to murmur, “Corbin.”

“Yes, ma chйrie ?” He buried his hand in that thick dark hair that flowed down her shoulders and back. That sigh she gave was very pleasing and he wanted to taste more of her, deeper. He kissed her again, sliding his tongue inside to mate with hers.

She groaned, echoing his own.

“Corbin, I… ”

“Shh, I know.”

“You’re making me dizzy, it’s too much,” she said, her voice breathless.

“That is good.” Corbin was wondering if it was much too soon to make love to her fully. Surely not. After all, she was carrying his child, would soon be his wife. It was logical that they would be intimate again. Though he imagined logic was not what was driving him.

“We shouldn’t… ” she murmured, but there was a clear lack of conviction in her voice.

Corbin moved his lips over her long, pale neck, loving the scent of her dewy flesh, the hint of rich, strong blood pumping through her juicy veins. “We shouldn’t have the first time, but we did and I do not regret it. This time there is nothing to stop us.”

“I’m not normally easy.”

“Of course not,” he reassured her, hearing the doubt in her jumbled thoughts, but feeling the compliance in her body. He brushed his hand over her breast and reveled in the shiver she gave. “It is just you and I have something different, yes? We desire each other very much, have from the first day we met.”

“That’s true… you looked so sexy in your suit. But it was terrible of you to leave me on the roof like that.”

He had left her on the roof because her cheerful acceptance of his vampirism had appalled him, but it had been uncalled-for behavior. Corbin kissed the corners of her mouth, slid his tongue along her bottom lip. “That was the second time we met, not the first. But it was bad of me, and I most humbly apologize. Perhaps you’ll allow me to make restitution for my earlier rudeness, as well as for my rushed lovemaking.”

Brittany gave a hearty sigh that veered into a moan when he rubbed his thumb across her nipple. “I’m definitely feeling like I could use a little restitution.”

Corbin loved the way she reacted to him, the way her body leaned toward his, the way her fingers gripped the sleeves of his shirt. And he was well aware this might be his only opportunity for intimacy with her in several months. It suddenly felt akin to taking a last swallow before a long drought. “Then this is good timing, Brittany.”

Eyes half-closed, she murmured, “I’m really, really tired lately. You know, since you got me pregnant. So I’m just warning you, you’re going to have to do all the work.”

Corbin felt his body—actually, a very specific body part—greet that information enthusiastically. “Of course. I am making this up to you, remember? All you need do is tell me what you like and what you don’t like and leave the rest to me.”

“Okay, then.” She pushed his hand harder against her breast. “I like this.”

Corbin never had to doubt Brittany’s feelings. She never hesitated to share them, and he liked that. No guesswork.

The shirt she was wearing, a tight pink T-shirt, needed to disappear. Corbin lifted the bottom of it and dragged it off over her head. Brittany’s bra matched her T-shirt, a vibrant, energetic pink satin. Her br**sts were pale luscious mounds, pushed up and together by the magic of the modern bra. It almost matched the beauty of what a good corset could do, and had the added benefit of allowing her total movement, and him free access to her waist and navel.