Dianne Duvall: Darkness Dawns

No one knew.

The network had been hounding Roland to bring Sarah to the lab ever since word had gotten out, but he had flatly refused. He was protecting her, she knew, and had no interest in submitting to their tests himself. It was important, though, so Sarah decided she’d work on him later and see if she couldn’t coax him into changing his mind.

He may be a grumpy Gus with others, but with her he was a real softie.

“You really like it?” he asked.

“I love it,” she vowed as they climbed the steps to the covered front porch.

He paused and drew her into the circle of his embrace. “And I love you.” He dipped his head, capturing her lips in a slow sensual kiss. “Wife.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered against his lips, “husband.”

A soft growl rumbled forth as he deepened the kiss, sliding his hands down to cup her bottom and clutch her to him.

When she drew back, she knew her eyes were glowing green, could feel her fangs descending as they did whenever she was in the grip of strong emotion. Seeing herself like that for the first time had been quite a shock. She and Roland had just made love in the shower and she had caught her reflection in the mirror as they emerged.

Stunned speechless, she had gaped at her reflection so long the fangs had receded and her eyes had faded back to normal. Roland, seeing her disappointment and always happy to be of service, had stepped up behind her and palmed her breasts, teasing her nipples to hardness and making her breath catch. Her eyes had almost instantly begun to glow again. Her fangs had descended. Astonishing. That was going to be even harder to get used to than drinking blood, which really wasn’t that bad since she didn’t actually drink it. She just bit down into the bag and her fangs siphoned the liquid into her veins.

“Your eyes are glowing,” he murmured, rubbing noses with her.

“So are yours.”

He smiled. “They’ll always glow when I want you.”

Releasing her, he unlocked the door and punched in the security code. Then, turning, he lifted her into his arms, carried her across the threshold … and stopped short.

Sarah followed his gaze and stared at their living room in disbelief. “Wow.”

There were brightly wrapped gifts everywhere. On every surface. Every piece of furniture. Stacked nearly as high as the ceiling.

Roland lowered her feet to the floor and closed the door. “Seth warned me there would be wedding presents, but I didn’t expect there to be so many.”

The two of them had been married earlier that evening in David’s backyard in a private ceremony attended by Seth, David, Marcus, Chris, Lisette, and Étienne that was presided over by a minister friend of Chris’s.

Well, private wasn’t entirely accurate. The wedding had been broadcast live over the Internet on a heavily encrypted website only other Immortal Guardians and their Seconds could access. So many around the world had been awed and enchanted by their story that they had wanted to witness the historic event themselves.

Sarah and Roland had consented.

“Are these all from Seth and David?” she asked.

Roland glanced at the cards on the packages closest to them. “They’re from … everyone. Every immortal on the planet sent something, by the looks of it.”

“But they don’t even know me.”

“Most don’t know me either. And few that do like me. I’m as stunned as you are.”

They stood there for a long moment before he took her hand. “Why don’t we put off opening these until later. There’s something I want to show you.”

“Okay.”

Wending his way through the mountains of boxes, Roland led her to the back door. Sarah followed him out into the shadows that darkened the large deck.

A pretty meadow spread out before them and off to the side was …

She gasped. “A veggie garden!”

“I regretted that you never got to plant yours.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Roland. It’s perfect.”

He grinned, locking his arms behind her back. “You’re perfect.” Bending, he kissed her forehead, her cheeks, then her lips. “Thank you for saving my life, Sarah, in so many ways.”

She kissed him back. “Thank you for transforming mine.”