Daric’s Mate (The Vampire Coalition #5)(24)
Author: J.S. Scott

Daric gaped at her, still incredulous that it was actually possible to speak to the Ancients. No. Not once had he ever called on his ancestors for help, tried to speak to his family.

“Because you never needed it,” Hannah said wistfully. “I did.”

Daric looked at his lovely mate with a frown. “You were worried? Why didn’t you say something? You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“I love you, Daric. I want to be a help to you, not a burden that you have to protect.”

Once, he had thought that having a woman would be a burden, a complete nuisance that he didn’t want to deal with. “You saw my memories,” he stated flatly, knowing she had seen his previous attitude at having a mate.

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes leaving his face and staring at the buttons on his shirt. “You never really wanted a mate.”

“I want you,” he growled. “I didn’t know what it would be like to have a woman who filled my heart and soul with happiness. I was f**king clueless, Hannah. I saw the worst example of what could happen with Nolan. I wouldn’t change a thing about you and I damn well wouldn’t do things differently. I didn’t know that you would fill all the emptiness inside me. Hell, I didn’t even really know it was there until I found you.”

“I’m glad you feel that way because I think you’re stuck with me,” she answered, her laughter spilling over into her words. “I got bridal jitters after I saw your memories of not wanting a mate. But I think I’m over it now.”

Damn well better be. If she wasn’t over it, he’d take all the time he needed later to convince her of just how much he loved her, wanted her. “What did my mother say?” he asked, curious.

Hannah sighed. “She said to run my business, be happy with you, and everything else would work itself out. She has a very calming nature,” she said thoughtfully.

Daric had never known his mother, but he knew she must have been an extraordinary woman for his father to have descended into madness from losing her.

“Would you like to talk to her? We could call her again,” Hannah suggested, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and nuzzling her tempting mouth into the side of his neck.

Daric shuddered. He would call his family and talk with all of them. Later. He would like to see Nolan again, get to know his mother and share ideas with his father. He was happy that Hannah had discovered that conversing with them was possible, but it wasn’t his priority right now. “Later,” he answered, pulling his mate snugly against his body. “Right now I want to discuss the fact that you left without telling me or anyone else.”

“Your mother called me here, Daric. She said it was safe,” she answered, rolling her eyes at him.

Daric had to admit that Hannah had been good about not wandering away or doing things to endanger herself since the fallen attack. And his mother had called. Still, she had disobeyed.

Daric’s c**k twitched, swelling at the trail his thoughts began to take. “A minor infraction, then,” he told her, his voice harsh and coarse with desire.

His heart started beating at a frantic pace as Hannah smiled up at him with that sinful expression that always made him insane, desperate to take her, to remind her that she belonged to him and only him.

What the f**k. It was his wedding night. It was making him possessive.

Hannah tugged on his bow tie, pulling it loose and drawing it from his neck. “Anything makes you possessive,” she reminded him as she tossed the tie over her shoulder.

Well, yeah. He couldn’t argue that point. He swallowed the lump in his throat as her nimble fingers started unbuttoning his shirt. God, he loved it when she stripped him, even though he could easily divest them of their clothing with just a thought. “About that infraction,” he grumbled. “Very naughty, wife.”

He groaned as she started to trail her tongue over his chest, skin that she was quickly unveiling by tearing open his unbuttoned shirt. “Vampire, you haven’t seen naughty,” she answered in low, aroused voice. “Bring it on. I’m willing to obey your every command tonight.”

Christ! Daric didn’t bother to remind her that he was actually a vampire healer, because he didn’t give a shit. She could call him any damn thing she wanted as long she claimed him as hers. “Home,” he grunted, wrapping his arms around her, one at her waist and the other in her hair as he tilted her head to devour that wicked mouth of hers.

The two them disappeared as Daric swung his bride into his arms, clutching all that really mattered close to him as he teleported them away from their reception, unable wait another moment to get his wife into his bed.

Hannah’s laughter rang out beside the moonlit water as they departed, the couples’ happiness and love strong enough to penetrate the barrier between earth and the world of the Ancients.

Somewhere, beyond the barrier, Daric’s mother, father and brother sighed in relief and rejoiced.

~The End~