Angie Fox - Love Bites

The intimacy of being here, with him, caught her off guard. She felt claustrophobic all of a sudden and, at the same time, exposed.

Kat schooled her expression. He couldn’t know how he’d gotten to her. Just because she’d never been alone with a man who wasn’t a relative didn’t mean she couldn’t handle this. Times had changed. She had changed.

She willed herself to stop shaking as she marvelled at the warmth of his hand, the taste of the air around him. He felt and smelled alive and vibrant, not at all like her recently deceased husband, or even her father for that matter. Kat hadn’t been this close to a vamp her age in, well, too long.

Finn slid a heavy leather coat over his shoulders. “Ready?”

“Oh yes,” she said. She’d never been more ready for anything in her life.

He led her out of the studio and to the sleek black Harley parked outside. She hitched one leg over the monstrous machine and watched in sheer delight as he did the same. It was time to prove Princess Katarina Volholme D’Transylvania could take care of herself.

Finally.

She scooted forwards until her hips nestled against the bunched-up fabric of his kilt. “No helmets?”

“We’re immortal,” he said, leaning back into her, “what can happen?”

Kat curled her toes in delight as he took off for the open road.

The wind tore through her hair as the bike zipped through a row of posh stores on Kiev’s premier Khreshchatyk Street. Wrought-iron street lamps cast a warm glow on outdoor cafes and the well-dressed pedestrians winding in and out of each other. Finn gunned the engine as he turned down the narrow Kiev Passage that led out of the city.

Free at last!

Her fingers played along his waist under his jacket. She ventured further, slipping under his fine linen shirt and feeling rock-solid abs. Oh my. Katarina stroked him lightly, revelling in the smattering of goosebumps she left in her wake. She’d ventured and he’d responded. How long had it been since someone, anyone, reacted to her with any kind of feeling other than respect? Or mere tolerance?

The one time she met Vlad, he’d looked straight through her, as if she didn’t exist. She had no doubt he’d marry her without even seeing her, if it was at all possible.

Kat pressed her cheek against the back of Finn’s buttery leather jacket. If the night ended right now, it would have been worth it.

Plus, she realized, a thrill rippling up her spine, they were going the wrong way. The airport, and Love Bites’ private jet, was to the rapidly fading east. Finn was headed west.

She was so right to pick the Scotsman!

Kat wiggled against his firm backside and wondered if there might be a way to glamour him into kidnapping her to the coast. Royal blood had its advantages, or so she’d heard. Oh this was going to be fun, indeed.

On the way through the centuries-old town of Vinnystia, he took advantage of a stop light to twist around in his seat. He was rather dark for a Scotsman, and a vamp. The soft glow of the street lamps played off his features. The night was still young. Finn was supernaturally fast, even when he obeyed pesky things like traffic signals.

She licked her lips. “So what’s the plan, Braveheart?”

He stiffened. “William Wallace was a patriot and a martyr. I’ll not have you making glib comparisons.”

She cocked her head to the side, studying the thunderclouds that rolled across his brow. “Did you know him?” Kat had certainly heard the stories. Her father had called the Scottish rebels a bunch of damned fools. Technically, she shouldn’t have been in awe over a rebel to a king, but darned if she didn’t find the whole thing a touch romantic.

Finn cranked the engine, almost as if he was buying time. Finally he said, “I knew him. I fought under Wallace, and King Robert the Bruce.”

A vampire who fought human wars? Interesting. But not as interesting as what she wanted to do next. She ran her nails to his elbow and smiled inwardly as she felt him stiffen. “So where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice huskier than she’d intended.

Finn gave her a wicked smile. “I thought we’d go on our own adventure.”

“Oh,” she managed, almost surprised that her plan had actually worked. He wiped away that and every other thought when he lowered his mouth to hers.

His lips felt warm, firm and . . . Oh goodness . She’d dreamed of this for centuries and it was so much better than she imagined.

Finn was a man who knew how to take his time. Spirals of pleasure wound through her as he kissed her, slowly. Gently. There was an intimacy she’d never expected from all of the kisses she’d watched on daytime television. He took his time savouring her, tasting her. She loved every second of it.

Just for her.

He wasn’t looking to her out of obligation, not because she was a princess or because this was something owed or something due. For once, it was about Kat as a person, as a woman. It was as if this kiss was the first thing she’d truly owned in her entire life.

She pressed herself against him, hands splayed on his chest. He was so warm, so vibrant. And the way he was making her feel. He took her mouth, her lower lip, her mouth again, with a raw sensuality that made her ache. When his tongue swept hers, she thought she might burn to a cinder on the spot. Just when she was thinking she could lose herself for ever, he pulled away, a mere breath from her.

Dazed, she watched him. The hunger in his eyes, the glaze of her kiss on his lower lip. She was glad to see how it affected him. Other, more modern vamps might do this all the time, but she certainly didn’t.

The closeness, the feel of him. It was almost too much. Her confidence stuttered.

“I’m not easy,” she told him. She didn’t know why she’d said it, exactly – only that she’d needed him to know.

He levelled her with a conspiratorial grin, as if he understood how tough it was sometimes to reconcile this century with all the ones that had come before. “No worries, Princess. It was just a kiss.” He leaned towards her again, ever so slowly, and, just when she thought she would erupt from the anticipation, he brushed his lips over her nose. “Green light.”

She felt the sides of her mouth quirk as he turned forwards. The shock of the engine lurched her against him as they tore off into the night. It was almost like flying.

Closing her eyes, she relished the pleasure rippling through her veins. He couldn’t have known he was only the second man she’d kissed. He made her whole body thrum with anticipation for – Oh my.

Whatever she was going to have to pay for this night, it was so going to be worth it.

She closed her eyes and savoured him for a long while, until the familiar scents of oak and hornbeam trees, roe deer and foxes ebbed into her consciousness.

Kat stiffened against him. Were they in Romania?

His muscles tightened, as if he could sense what she was thinking. “Trust me,” he said.

Finn turned the bike onto a black asphalt road that led through a grove of immense beech trees, their bare trunks like hundreds of soldiers reaching up to the night sky.

Panic skittered down her spine. How could she trust him? She didn’t know him. Not that she had to worry about defending herself. She was a royal vamp, and as strong as a Carpathian wild cat. Still, she wasn’t about to be played for a fool.

Kat reached out with her senses. No, her father wasn’t nearby. She sighed with relief. Still, why would the Scotsman take her to her homeland for a romantic getaway?

The blacktop ended at a painted monastery unlike any she’d seen before. North-eastern Romania was famous for them. They were usually large, ornate affairs, with striking medieval art decorating the outside and inner walls. This one almost looked as if it had been abandoned.