Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) (16 page)

“I desire you more than anything, Josephine.  You must believe me,” I murmured.  My hands ghosted across her lower back to encircle her in my arms.  We were so close together that our faces were inches apart and I could feel her warm, fragrant breath against my lips.

“Stefan, I want to believe you.  I want to believe you've spent 200 years looking for me.  Anyone that I've let get close to me has left me or lied to me.  And all of this is almost too much to believe.  But I’m willing to try.”

“Then I will have to prove otherwise.  I will make it my mission to explain everything to you,” I promised her, gently stroking her back.  I was unsure if my words or touch assured her, but either way she relaxed against me.  We stayed like this for some time.  Every second I was with her was bliss…and I was willing to do anything to put her troubled mind at ease.

I pulled away from her only to lift her in my arms, tucking her gently into her bed. Unzipping my jeans, I kicked them away to rejoin her.  She turned to face me and my hand cupped her cheek, my fingers tracing over the side of her face as I leaned in to press a light kiss on her lips.  She was eager, instantly responding to me.  She attempted to deepen the kiss, hooking her leg over my thigh to gain the upper hand.  It took all of the strength remaining within me to stop her.  My hand gripped her leg and I ended the kiss, shaking my head unhappily.

“As much as I want you Josephine, we will not make love again until we talk.” I had learned my lesson and bypassed her mouth to kiss her forehead instead. “Tomorrow.”

“Fine.  Tomorrow,” she reluctantly agreed and let out an almost comical sigh of disappointment.  Her head fell to my chest and her fingers splayed over my ribs.

Pulling her closer to me, I relished the heat and silkiness of her body.  Despite our size differences, her graceful curves seemed to fit and mold to the hard lines of my much larger frame.

As she drifted off to sleep, my own mind was still reeling in the events of the night and sleep was eluding me.  Seconds, minutes…hours passed and I found myself studying the woman in my arms.  She really was quite beautiful.  As I watched her sleep, my fingers gently stroked the warm, delicate skin of her neck and shoulder.  Her thick hair was a rich copper, highlighted with streaks of blonde that complimented her lightly tanned skin.  Her face was as stunning, with gorgeous cheekbones and delicate brows, but it was her lips that drew my attention.  Luscious, rose pink lips had parted in sleep slightly, begging for me to kiss them.  Even though I had only hours ago, I wanted to devour them. I wanted to feel them against my own, and if I played my cards correctly, they would be mine forever.

What had happened to me? I had changed from the uncaring, aloof man from a day ago.  Her touch, her very presence had altered me already.  She brought out the instinctual urge to protect and love; further proof she was my mate.

My mate…
the reality of my internal musings and feelings were foreign to me.  I felt as if I no longer knew myself.  I had never wanted the affection of a human or immortal more than I did from this creature.  My soul screamed out for her; insisting that I change her. I was petrified to lose her after my long quest.  Fighting my greedy nature to take what I wanted, I vowed to myself that I would never change her against her will.  I was not Solveig, nor would I ever be like my maker.

Shaking my jumbled thoughts, my attention drifted downward, taking in her body. Perfection.  Tucked against me, her body was a siren's call to my weary soul.  Her breasts were magnificent; high, firm and round.  Her waist dipped in before flaring out in the most wonderful way into hips that had driven me to distraction tonight.  And finally, her long, bare shapely legs were tangled with mine.  As sure as I lived a thousand years…I knew this body.

Just as I knew her very soul.

Yet it was her scent; her very scent that was stripping away layers of my rigid self-control.  She was delicious.  She smelled strongly of the sun and salt air, mixed with a heady dose of arousal.  She smelled of me and of sex.  My lips curled into a smug smirk as my nose burrowed into her skin.  She had willingly accepted me into her bed.  Much more perceptive than I had anticipated, she had easily discovered my secret.  Instead of rejecting me, she had ultimately accepted me for what I am with only a brief moment of disbelief.  One could never fathom my surprise when she offered herself to me again.

Through the disbelief that clouded my rational thinking, I had a brief moment of clarity and had stopped her seduction.  Little did she know, I was only preventing myself from a mistake I would regret for the rest of my immortal life.  If she chose to come over…

My smirk transformed into a full-fledged grin as I thought of the possibilities of Josephine as an immortal.  She would be glorious in immortality, her beauty alone enough to wield power that could send men to their knees at her feet.  My years on this earth knew that buried deep within her was a power she had yet to discover.  I had so many things to tell her and many things to ask…but where to begin?

"Josephine, all of this time…not a day passed that I never faltered in my belief I would find you," I whispered, placing a kiss to her forehead as she slept.  She barely stirred at my light caress.  "All that I am is because of you.  You made me a better man simply knowing you would be waiting for me."

Reaching over, I brushed her hair back from the curve of her cheek with my index finger, admiring the high arch of her cheekbone.  "One day, I will tell you everything…the way I lost who I was...how the very image of you in my vision made me strive to remember what I had buried away.  You brought me back."

It was simpler to speak to her while she lay sleeping, confessing my secrets and failings.  There would be no questions to field and no explanations would be required.  There was no judgment awaiting me, no disappointment to bear.  I had no worries of losing her because of my admittance.  It was only the promise of her that had saved me from the darkness that had threatened to consume me.  I had sold my soul to free myself from my maker, only to have hundreds of deaths rest on my very soul.

She would be my light, the first glimmer of a chance at happiness.  I would shelter her from my dark side.  I could only pray to the gods that once she witnessed what I was capable of, she would still love me.

Rolling to my back, my throat burned as the steady beat of her heart pumped her aromatic blood through her veins. Her quiet breathing hitched once or twice as she reached out for me.  It was not until her hands met my cool skin that she relaxed back into sleep, her soft sigh fanning across my chest as she snuggled closer to me.

Her reaction sent my mind reeling.  Perhaps subconsciously, she recognized me as her mate.  She had had dreams of me…no visions, yet we were drawn together by something more profound.  When I was with her, the tattered ribbons of my soul were repaired by every touch of her skin against my own.  With a single kiss, I felt alive once again.

Alive
.  If there was a way, I would become human to live out a normal life with her.  She would feel how my heart pounded in my chest when she drew closer.  I could witness her stomach swollen with our child…
my
child.

No good would come out of thinking like this.  It was an impossible dream.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I cradled her in my arms.  I closed my eyes and for the first time in nearly a millennia, I felt whole.

Chapter Seven-Love And Other Complications

Late the next morning, I reluctantly left her under the guise of running errands.  Her annoying friend (who apparently was also happened to be her neighbor) had made her appearance to check on Josephine and I did not want to spend any more time than necessary with Georgia Turner.  She was going to be bothersome and if I were to trust my intuition, she would prove to be nothing but an interference.

My beach house was not too far from her villa.  I came here only out of necessity…stopping long enough to collect what essential items I needed and then I would return to her.  And I would stay until she sent me away.

No sooner had I pulled into the garage that Lukas appeared at my door.  He was livid; his handsome face contorted in anger as he stared through the glass at me.

It was then it hit me.  I had forgotten to text him.

Feigning ignorance, I simply opened the door and closed it behind me, strolling through the garage into the kitchen.  I tossed my keys on the counter and headed through the large living room to the steps that led to my bedroom.

“What the fuck, Stefan?  You turn off your phone and stroll in here smelling like sex and reeking of humans.  You have nothing to say to me?”

I glanced down at my child.  He was furious, his hands fisted on his hips and his icy blue eyes shot daggers at me.  “Good morning, Lukas.”

His answer was a loud scream of frustration.  Swallowing the laughter that was building, I took two steps at a time and hurried into my room.  I pulled a large duffel bag from my closet and began filling it with clothing.  I barely glanced up when Lukas stomped into the room.

He watched me pack suspiciously. “Where are you going?”

My answer was short and sweet.  “Out.”

Lukas yanked the bag from the bed and tossed it to the floor.  He sat in its place, his arms folded like a sullen child.  “No shit, Sherlock.  It was Josephine, wasn’t it?  You found her and fucked her?  Just like that?”

“It is never polite to kiss and tell, Lukas.  Perhaps you should remember that when you torture me with your tales of seduction.”  I skirted his question and raised an eyebrow at him.  I reached down and picked up the bag, adding two more shirts before zipping it closed.  Crossing the room to my desk, I unplugged my phone charger and grabbed my laptop.  “Your tantrums are unbecoming.  You are much to old to act so petulant.”

“Oh my god…this is precious.”  Lukas clasped his hands over his heart.  With an evil gleam in his eye, he let out a loud cackling laugh.  “You
did
find her and now you’re going to do what exactly, Stefan?  Follow her around like a lost puppy?  This isn’t like you.  You should just turn her and bring her with us.  It’s inevitable and what you are doing is foolish.”

My amusement was rapidly shifting towards anger.  There were times that I wished I had cut out his tongue before I turned him.  After a century and a half together, I knew my child well enough to see what he was doing.  He was attempting to goad me into taking the course of action he wanted.  “You know nothing, Lukas.  I would remind you that no one is asking your opinion on this matter.”

“I’m allowed to have an opinion, Stefan.  And I knew this would happen.  I knew you’d find her and you’d act like a infatuated fool.  You’re acting like the sun rises from her pussy, Stefan.”