Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) Read online

  He hugged me tight. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you too,” I said then I headed off to my office. I hadn’t even made it to my desk when I knew that today was also the day of the storm. It hit me like a ton of bricks the second Carlos popped into my head. ‘Sarah,’ he thought.

  ‘Please, no, Carlos,’ I thought.

  ‘Don’t fucking do this. You could get seriously hurt today. You could be killed. You could be gone. Jesus, Sarah. I haven’t touched anything but your hand for months, not since we left Texas. At least let me kiss you and tell you how much I love you, damn it,’ he thought.

  ‘But there are cameras everywhere here. He could see us. And we can’t leave.’

  ‘No he can’t. I paid Derek to put in a kill switch on the two cameras in my room and the one in the hall outside my room. I told him some of the ladies I saw were protective of their privacy. Act like you’re turning into the kitchen. I’ll kill the cameras. He won’t see you going into my room.’

  Shit. That wasn’t what I needed to hear. ‘Just a kiss, please Carlos. Nothing more. Not this time.’

  ‘Fine. Just a kiss. I promise.’

  I stood up from my desk, knowing damn good and well that I wasn’t fooling anyone, especially myself. I quietly walked down the hall toward the kitchen. I wanted to run the other way, but my feet wouldn’t let me. Instead I turned as if I was going to walk into the kitchen and stopped. I heard his door open. I took a deep breath. Then I ran into his arms as the storm hit.

  His mouth crushed down on mine as he pressed me against the door. “God, I’ve missed you so much, Sarah,” he groaned.

  “I missed you too,” I whispered as I pulled him closer. I groaned as I kissed him harder. I shivered as his hand moved under my shirt and touched my skin. I groaned as his hand clasped my breast. Then the reality of what was about to happen hit me. I stopped. “Shit, no, wait, Carlos, please,” I said. I was gasping for air. My arms wanted so much to pull him closer to me. I looked into his eyes. “Carlos, I can’t. Not here. Not under this roof. Not right next to the room I share with him. I can’t. Please,” I gasped.

  He stared at me. I saw anger flash in his eyes. But then they softened. “You’re right, Sarah. I’ll wait, for now. But only until this is all over. When this is done, when the priest and those things are dead and it’s safe to travel again, we’ll be together. If only for a few hours, we’ll be together. We’ll go to the lake. We’ll go to the cave. We’ll go to the forest. I don’t know where, but we’ll be together. We have to. You know we have to. It hurts to stop this.”

  I put my hands on his cheeks and nodded, “I know Carlos. We will. Soon.” I brought my mouth to his. He pulled me tight again. I could feel every inch of him pressing against me.

  He stopped kissing and whispered into my ear, “I love you so much, Sarah. Do not fucking get hurt out there. Don’t die. I couldn’t handle it. I wouldn’t survive.”

  “I won’t. I promise. I love you too,” I whispered. He brought his mouth down on mine again and gave me a kiss like the kiss in the plane. A kiss filled with so much love and sadness that it hurt. I wanted him so much. I can’t stop myself, I thought. Even under my own roof, I can’t stop myself. I started to move my hands to his back, to the bottom of his shirt, but he reached back and stopped them.

  He pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “Last one, for now.”

  I smiled as I tried to catch my breath and said, “Last one, for now.”

  He kissed my forehead and mumbled, “Now, you need to get out of here right now, unless you want to see what I do every time I think about you.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” I whispered as I put my hand on the doorknob. “Will you be done in time to help in the courtyard,” I said, winking at him.

  He glanced down at the bulge in the front of his pants. “Oh yeah, this should only take a minute or two,” he smiled, making me blush.

  I kissed his cheek and pressed my hand to the front of his pants. “I wish it was me,” I whispered then I turned and ducked out the door. I had to steady myself against the wall as he popped into my head while he did it. ‘It is you, Sarah. Oh fuck… it is… it is… youuu,’ he thought. “Oh, you son of a bitch” I mumbled. On shaky legs I made my way the last few steps into the kitchen. I walked to the sink and splashed cold water on my face then I sank down at the table with my head in my hands. I heard him come bounding down the hall. He was whistling, frickin happy and whistling.

  “Hey there. You hungry?” he said. As he walked past me to the fridge he gently brushed his hand across my back. I inhaled sharply and shivered.

  “Yes, I’m hungry, asshole. I’m frickin starving.” I said into the table. I heard him chuckle. He clucked his tongue as he dropped four pints into the microwave.

  “Temper, temper, Sarah. You really should control yourself,” he said, grinning. My head flew up. I opened my mouth to yell at him. But I couldn’t. It hurt to just sit here while I was looking at him. My body wanted to be in his arms. I dropped my head back to the table with a loud thud. He sat across from me and pushed my meal against my arm. “Eat, Sarah. Please,” he whispered. I lifted my head up but kept my eyes squeezed shut. I drank quickly and then took a few deep breaths. I knew he was watching me and was enjoying the state he had put me in. Well, turnabout is fair play, right? I brought my arms over my head and stretched. I arched my back with my breasts pressing tight against my shirt. My nipples were still rock hard and they strained, trying to poke through the fabric. I seductively ran my hands down the front of my shirt, smoothing it. I smiled slightly when I heard him gasp. I opened my eyes and looked at him. His mouth was hanging open. I slowly stood up and walked around behind him. I heard him inhale and then hold his breath. I came up right behind him, pressing my body into his back, and brought my hands to his chin. I tilted his head back, forcing him to look at me. My breasts were pressed into the top of his head. I smiled at him.

  “You sure you’re strong enough to play this game?” I whispered. I didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, sweetheart, let the games begin,” then I leaned down and kissed his forehead.

  I smiled as I heard him mumble, “Oh, shit,” as I walked out.

  Chapter Nine

  After a few more minutes spent in my office, I made my way down the hall toward the courtyard. I smiled when I saw them waiting for me. All of them: Matt; Billy and Bahiti from the vampire council (of which I was the President); Derek and Troy from the security office and Carlos. Carlos smiled and winked at me. Matt smiled and held his hand out to me. “Everyone ready?” I said, trying not to sound nervous. They all nodded. I had a book and a towel in my hand.

  Matt’s face was concerned and serious. “Sarah. First thing you do when you walk out there is attach the wire. Okay? First thing. Got it?” he said.

  I patted the back of his hand and smiled, “Anchor first, got it sweetheart.”

  Matt turned and faced the others. “As soon as we get out the doors,” he began, but I stopped him.

  “Shhh,” I said. I was listening. He looked at me and waited. “Did you hear that?” I said. “Way off in the distance. Sounds like an eagle’s cry.”

  “It could just be an eagle, Sarah,” Billy said.

  “No, it’s them. It’s getting closer. They’re coming,” I whispered.

  “Shit,” Matt said.

  “You can’t go out these doors and up to the roof, Matt. They’ll see you. Run. Take the stairs, but run, please,” I said then I pushed my way through them and started to open the door.

  “Sarah! Wait!” Matt and Carlos both said then they glared at each other. Carlos dropped his eyes as Matt stepped forward.

  “Honey, give us a minute to get up there before you go out, please,” he whispered.

  I smiled and put my hand on his cheek. “Honey, they might be too close then for me to get the anchor on. I need to go right now. You’ll make it. I know you will.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek, then stepped out into the daylight.

/>   As the door closed behind me, I heard Matt yell, “Shit! Everybody, move!” I glanced quickly into the sky. I didn’t see anything, but I knew they were close. I walked deliberately toward the edge of the grass, quickly spread out the towel and sat down. I grabbed the anchor and tried to attach it to my ankle. My fingers were shaking and it took me a few seconds longer than it should have, but I finally got it attached. I folded the edge of the towel over my foot to hide it then picked up my book. The pages fluttered around as a gust of wind hit it.

  “Shit,” I muttered. I threw my mind into Carlos’, ‘Please tell me you’re in place ‘cause they’re here.’

  ‘Fuck, Sarah. Almost. We’re putting the loops at the edges of the net around our hands. Okay, got it. Holy shit, they’re huge,’ he thought.

  Then and only then did I allow myself to look up. I inhaled my scream. I didn’t want them to see my fear. I locked my eyes on the largest one, a male. He had to be over seven feet tall and he was one of the most beautiful specimens of man I had ever seen. I slowly lay back on my towel. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head at me. I could tell that he was confused and was trying to figure out why I wasn’t trying to run, why I wasn’t panicking. Suddenly he looked at the others and gestured to them. “Is unus est mei,” he growled. The others backed off and hovered higher in the sky. The male moved lower until he was hovering just inches above me. He sniffed me and ran his hands over my body. I couldn’t help but notice that he was getting aroused – and holy shit was he big. “Decorus proprius. I’m iens ludo per is unus primoris,” he whispered. I caught the shadow of Matt, Carlos and the others as they flew over. The other creatures issued a warning cry and the hovering male glanced up, but I reached up and grabbed his arms, holding on as tight as I could. Christ, his arms felt like granite. His head came back down to look at me. I saw the panic in his eyes turn to… was that anger? Or lust? He smiled and brought his mouth down to mine as he folded his wings and dropped the weight of his body down onto mine. Crack! There went a rib. Crack, crack! Two more ribs. Shit. I tried to push him up, but he was too much.

  I turned my head to the side, as I tried to get my mouth away from his, and croaked out, “Hurry,” as the net came down on top of us. He crushed his mouth down on mine again and I felt his foot move up my leg. His talon grabbed the pocket of my jeans and tore right down my leg, ripping open my pants and my leg. I screamed into his mouth. Dear God, he was trying to get into me before they could separate us. He was pressing his erection into my pelvis. His foot came up and again grabbed the top of my jeans. He scraped it down and tore another gash in my leg. But the rip in my jeans this time was much closer to my crotch. He shifted, breaking another rib, and I could feel him trying to find his way in. My eyes flew open and I screamed into his mouth again. He stopped kissing and grinned at me as his hand reached down to push what remained of my clothing that was covering my crotch to the side.

  I yelled “No!” as I felt his fingers touch skin and not material. “Get this fucking thing off of me now!” I screamed as loud as I could before his mouth came down and I felt his hard shaft press into my skin where the inside of my thigh and my pelvis met. I could feel the wetness of him. I could feel him trying to shift the few inches to the left that would give him what he wanted. I squeezed my eyes shut. And then I gasped as his weight came off of me. Troy, Billy and everyone else had shoved with all their might and pushed him off of me. They were trying to keep him in the net, but he was fighting hard. Matt pulled a huge syringe out of his back pocket and shoved it into its neck. It took a few seconds of fighting but the thing finally collapsed. That’s when the others began dive-bombing us. Matt and Carlos moved to either side of me to protect me. I couldn’t move and was completely vulnerable to everything.

  Suddenly Bahiti stood up. She turned to Derek and said, “Use my tracking device, Derek. Find me and find them.” We all realized what she was going to do a split second before she did it.

  “Bahiti! No!” Derek yelled as she jumped up into their arms. The creatures were surprised at first. Then, realizing that they had a prime female, they flew off with her in their grasp.

  “Shit, this thing weighs a ton. Derek, we need your help. You can worry about Bahiti later. Derek! Derek!” Billy said. Derek’s eyes finally moved from the now empty sky to Billy’s face. He slowly nodded and moved to help them. “Matt, Carlos, we’re going to need your help too. We have to get this thing into the cage before it wakes up.” Billy said.

  Matt and Carlos looked at each other. “But we can’t just leave her out here by herself. She’s hurt and can’t fight. They could come back,” Matt said as he pulled off his t-shirt and spread it across me as best as he could.

  Billy sighed, “Fine. Use the towel to carry her inside the doors, then come and help. You can get her to the clinic after we get this thing locked up, okay?” he said. Carlos began unbuckling the anchor from my ankle. I winced as he moved my leg.

  “Sorry, Sarah,” he mumbled.

  “It’s okay,” I said through clenched teeth.

  Carlos picked up the two bottom corners of the towel, Matt picked up the top two. “Sorry, honey. This is probably gonna hurt,” Matt said then he looked at Carlos. “On three. One, two, three,” he said then they picked me up. The pain made me inhale sharply, which hurt like hell. Every step they took sent a shock wave through my broken bones.

  I squeezed my fists until my fingernails dug into my palms, drawing blood. I knew crying out would hurt, but the more steps they took, the more I knew I had no choice. I screamed. “Stop, stop. Please stop,” I moaned.

  “We’re almost there, sweetie,” Carlos said. “Just a few more steps.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call her sweetie in front of me,” Matt growled.

  “What would you rather I called her? Lover?” he growled.

  “Fuck. Not now,” I hissed.

  Troy was holding the door open for them. “Sorry,” Matt whispered. “We’re here. We’re going to carefully set you down now. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back right back. I promise.”

  “Don’t go anywhere. Funny,” I whispered then I hissed in a breath as they set me on the cold, hard floor.

  “Sorry, honey. It’s only for a few minutes,” Matt said. I met his eyes and nodded slightly. He jumped up and ran out the door. Before Carlos followed, he knelt by my head and placed his hand on my cheek. He looked into my eyes, then leaned down and kissed my forehead. Then he quickly jumped up and raced out the door. I could hear them grunting and groaning as they pulled that thing closer to the doors. The closer they got, the more terrified I became. I turned my head to the side and saw Troy and Billy backing in. They were followed by Derek, who was on one side, and Miguel on the other. They must have pulled Miguel off of guard duty to help, since we had lost Bahiti. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second when I thought of her. Why had she done it? She knew that these tracking devices only worked if you were within a few hundred miles of them. It was going to take us time to figure out which direction they had taken her. What if we were too late? Suddenly my eyes popped open again as the scent of that thing hit me. I gasped. It was only a few inches from me. Even though it was unconscious, I still started trembling, which made me groan. “Sorry honey,” Matt grunted, “we’ll have this thing away from you in a second.”

  A second wasn’t soon enough for me. That thing was strong enough to do anything it wanted to any of us. And it was intelligent too. “Latin,” I croaked.

  “What was that?” Carlos said as they moved past me.

  “It spoke Latin to me. Bring a laptop to the clinic later. I’ll try to remember what it said so we can translate.” Suddenly I screamed as the thing’s arm shifted and came down on my leg. It felt to me like it was grabbing for me. Matt leaned over and kicked the arm away from me, then knelt down and caressed my forehead as he tried to calm me down. It hurt so much to move anything but I was dangerously close to a full-blown panic attack that would have me thrashing around and trying to ge
t up. “Shhhh. It’s okay, Sarah. It won’t touch you ever again. I promise.”

  “Just get it the hell out of here, please,” I whispered as I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t look at it anymore. Thankfully I must have passed out because the next thing I knew Matt was kneeling by my head.

  “Sarah? Wake up, Sarah. Honey? We’re going to get you to the clinic now. We’re going to get you fixed up,” he said then he exhaled as I opened my eyes and looked around.

  “We? I don’t see any we,” I said as I struggled to stay conscious.

  “He went to get Cameron and a gurney,” Matt said.

  “Christ Matt. It’s Carlos. Are you going to tell me that you won’t even say his name anymore?”

  Matt squeezed his eyes shut. “Okay. Carlos went to get a gurney. Happy now?”

  “What? What is the issue now?”

  “I’m just having a hard time dealing with how concerned he is about you right now. He’s acting like, well, like he loves you.”

  “He does love me, Matt. He loved me before everything happened and he still loves me now. Just like I love him too. He’s still my best friend, Matt, and he always will be, regardless of whether or not we’re sleeping together. Of course, he’s concerned about me. Did you see what that thing did to me? Did you see what it tried to do? Do you know how f-ing close it came to succeeding? One more quarter of an inch to the left and that huge thing that he’s got between his legs would have been inside me tearing me apart and we wouldn’t be dealing with just some messed up ribs and a cut leg. So he’s worried too, just like you, Matt. Cut him some slack, would you? Please?”